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;)
