Take a real look at the 2008 White Sox

Have you honestly looked at our lineup, yes, this offseason we(Sox Fans) wanted the big signing of Torri Hunter or Aaron Rowand, Cabrera, ect. But have you honestly looked at who we have? The whole nation knows that we had a horrible hitting season and our pitching was pathetic (except for Jenks' record and Buehrle's no-no), we all and so do the White Sox expect to bouce back with a dominating performance this 2008 season. Nobody is gonna sleep on us, we have so much to prove and we are plenty ready to make another run to the playoffs. I'll prove it to you.

1B- Paul Konerko, averaging 35+ HR, 100+RBI and a .280+ AVG the past 4 years. He is an all star and will continue his pace this season, Defensively he is improved to a gold glove 1st baseman.

2B- Richar is unproven, but brings speed and slick glove work. He has a lot of energy and can spark us just like Tadahito did. Don't slack on his power, he's a lefty in a homer friendly park. I predict him hitting .280, 20 HR, 75 RBI...I'll take that any day from my 2B.

SS- This was a major upgrade for us, more so offensively. He's not a power hitter but in this park, he will hit 15+ HR. When was the last time the Sox had a SS that hit .300? He swiped 20 bags last season, Ozzie loves to run, I might give him 35-40. Also he drove in 86, if we get men on base this season, he could possibly pass the century mark in RBI's...and he doesn't strike out a lot.

3B- I'm going to keep Crede here, I don't see us trading him. He's going to be healthy and ready to go. Look for him to have a break out season, its a contract year for him and he's going to prove everyone that he's healthy and worth signing a long term contract. .290-.300+AVG, 30+HR, 100+RBI. I don't need to say anything about his glove work, it speaks for itself

LF- If we keep Crede, Fields is gonna play Left. If the Cubs can turn Soriano into an Outfielder, why can't we? He's very athletic and has an arm, don't forget he used to be a mobile QB at OSU. Look for him to have numbers comparable to Crede, but does need to cut down on his strike outs.

CF- I love Rowand and do miss him but Owens is the leadoff hitter we need. He slaps the ball in the holes, he has speed to stretch it into 2. He was getting on consistantly, towards the end of the season. Look for that to carry into 2008, defensively he's got range as good as anybody i've seen and is not afraid to give his body up. He knows how to go up and get the ball, just like his wideout days in UCLA.  .315+AVG, 100+RUNS, 75+SB.

RF- This is my suprise MVP, JD is a beast and will put up comparable numbers to his 2006 if healthy. Not much to say because we all know what he's capable, 2007 is just a season we need to forget as a team.

C- A.J. controls a staff better than anyone I've ever seen, he does have a weak arm. But team don't take advantage of the situation like they should. He hits in the clutch well and is good for 15+HR, 75 RBI, .275 AVG, prove me your better than that A.J.

DH- Thome hit BOMBS, WALKS, OBPand RBI's. The Sox need him to be healthy all year, its as simple as that.

With the mix of Veterans and young talent we have we are very dangerous. We have speed, we need to utilize it. We have power and we are going to utilize it. We have one of the top 5 defensive infields in the league with Crede, Cabrera, Richar and Konerko. Plus we have great depth with Ozuna, Uribe, Hall and Quentin

Pitching- We have a nice 1-2-3 combo and the Sox need Danks and Floyd to step up prove they are ready for MLB. Look for our starters to get back under 3.80 ERA. We got some nice help Linebrink, and we have one of the best closers in the game. We are going to depend on our starters pitching late innings and hope our bull pen is going to rebound from a disapointing season. If we struggle here, then its going to be another long season.

Kenny and Ozzie, keep doing what your doing. We didn't win the World Series with a bunch of stars, we had timely pitching and hitting, where everyone seem to come up in the clutch. We played small ball and smart ball, lots of base runners, hit and runs and somebody going deep. We played as team and we won as a team. Look for a similar 2005 repeat in 2008.

Team Predition stats 2008:  102-60

.292 AVG, 245 HR, 3.45 ERA, 55 SV.

Give me your feedback, let me hear what you have to say, even if you think I'm full of it;)

I like it, especially the record..

But Kenny has already said that Josh Fields is not an option to play left field anymore, and that he is going to play everyday at the big league level, so I guess Carlos Quentin is our LF.

Teams are probably going to see what Crede does in spring training, and then try to get him if he lights it up.

If this lineup can A) get on base and B) improve on their clutch hitting, 85 to 90 wins are not out of the question.

P.S.  Find a way to trade Uribe.

There is no way the White Sox will have over 100 wins in 2008.  I doubt they will have 80 wins. We were horrible last year, and we did nothing to improve this offseason.  Scott Linebrink isn't an all star reliever, plus, he was in the NL.  Our bullpen will continue to struggle.

As far as you prediction for AVG., that is also way off.  If I remember correctly, the only player to hit .300 over the past 3 years (including 2005 stats) was Jermaine Dye.  I don't see how this team will just be able to hit.

The HRs are quite posssible, but I think the ERA will be much higher, more like 4.05.  And the Saves will be in the 30s, because of less amount of wins.

I am sorry, but I am being a little pessimistic, but it is how I feel.

I agree our AVG has to go up. It certainly couldn't get much worse. I question whether our starting rotation has a nice 1-2-3 combo with Contreras in there. Jose is the Rex Grossman of the MLB. He finds a rhythm and dices teams, only to lose the angles on his delivery and watch his ERA shoot back up. 

I definitely see our team doing better at the plate and hopefully on the field. WE HAD 2 MORE ERRORS THAN THE Royals LAST YEAR!!!! We must improve our fielding. We were 8th most errors and 23rd in fielding percentage. We only beat the Devil Rays and the Rangers in the American League in either category. To win 102 we must improve this.

Small ball? I say the most important piece of this puzzle is Ozzie. It's his leadership that turned our team in 2005 into a juggernaut. That needs to come back. In 2005 we won 1-run games. In 2006 and 2007 we lost them.  Look at how we bunted in 2007. Terribly. Our team didn't execute and that starts with the skipper. Love Ozzie, but he needs to find a way to re-connect with the team and get them to respond to him. "It's a simple game: you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. Got it?"

"And the Saves will be in the 30s, because of less amount of wins."

Bobby Jenks had a 40 save season last year, when we won 72 games.

He's a stud, he'll have around 45 again.

I know everyone has can be optimistic about there own teams performance but come on.  100+ wins are you serious?  Have you forgotten that you have to play Cleveland and Detroit plenty, you guys seem to always struggle with the Royals and even if it's not that easy to see in wins and losses you should cream them year in and year out.  The Twins still a tough team at the moment with Liriano and Santana has yet to be dealt.  They have a nice offense even with losing Torii Hunter, they added Delmon Young.  So with all that said you still have to play the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, and don't sleep on the Mariners they are tough.  And her it comes, "oh the N.L. is so much weaker and the Cubs suck wah wah wah"  well you guys went 4-14 against that N.L. last year.  Come on buddy 100+ wins get off whatever you are on before you hurt someone.

If everyone on the Sox does end up with 100+ RBI like you predicted I will come back and apologive but are you serious?

Cabrera won't steal 35-40 bags, the Angels let Figgins run more and they would have let Cabrera steal more if he was faster.  He will put up the 20-25 like he always does and theres nothing wrong with that.  Owens stealing 70+ bags seems a little high don't you think?  Maybe 50

Well if your predictions are correct props to you, but even the most loyal of White Sox fans will say you are on something that is impairing your judgement.

And did Kenny Williams really get outbid by the Giants for Aaron Rowand? Ouch

Did anybody think the White Sox were going to win the World Series in 2005? Hell no, I believe everyone picked the Indians take the division and look how bad they were. They bounced back and have been on a tear since. Yes, the 100+ is a stretch but I think with all the Veterans we have, teams are gonna sleep on us. We got our bad year out of the way and I know there is no way that they are going to let that happen again. Why is everyone saying our bullpen sucks, does anybody believe that we just sucked last year as a team? We didn't play to the level of our competetion, we didn't hit or pitch.

Yes, the Angels, Tigers and Indians are gonna be good. But how many times have we seen teams overpay for stars and they have bad first seasons. The Yanks lack in pitching, almost everyone on there team got votes for this years hall of fame balloting, there old. The Tigers are thinking easy domination, just like we did after the World Series. The Indians also lack in pitching, I think there staff is so overated.

Most of my stats are far fetched but, you can't deny the fact that all of our players are capable of putting up those numbers individually and as a team. They just have to go out and do it.

102 WINS! NOT EVEN IF YOU ADD SPRING TRAINNING WINS WILL THEY REACH 100!

Wow.....

uh.....

who's our 4 & 5 Starters again?........right....

my prediction=84-78, 3rd AL Central

Rggns, I gave you a 10 just for your optimism. I have been so down this off-season, I haven't looked at any positives that the Sox do have.

Now I don't think all those stats will come to fruition, but I think offensively they will rebound from last season. PK, and JD should be just fine if they can stay healthy. Same with Thome, but that's a big if. I do disagree with you on the pitching however. Their 1-2-3 is not very impressive, and their BP is a joke. If Aardsma can somehow, someway, figure out what he was doing the first month of last year and keep somewhat close to that, it will help. MacDougle also needs to step up. No more walks!!!!

It is true, whenever you count out the White Sox, they surprise you. So here's hoping for a big time year. Who knows, maybe Quentin will finally live up to his early hype and really take off. And maybe the young pitchers will come up and prove something. That's why they play the games.

Anyways, thanks for the good thoughts instead of the usual doom and gloom.

P.S. I love how the random Cubs fans weigh-in on the Sox situation. Like we care at all about what their opinions are. Please do us, and yourselves, a favor and stick to your board. I'm sure it's brimming with hope and confidence just like every other year. 100 coming up if I'm not mistaken. How about worrying about that instead of our Sox.

P.S. I love how the random Cubs fans weigh-in on the Sox situation. Like we care at all about what their opinions are. Please do us, and yourselves, a favor and stick to your board. I'm sure it's brimming with hope and confidence just like every other year. 100 coming up if I'm not mistaken. How about worrying about that instead of our Sox.