December 22, 200322 yr Try making a team from the White Sox 40 man roster that could contend. It's gotta be very very very....hard. Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 37 Jon Adkins L/R 6-0 200 08/30/77 56 Mark Buehrle L/L 6-2 200 03/23/79 38 Neal Cotts L/L 6-2 200 03/25/80 54 Felix Diaz R/R 6-1 180 07/27/80 20 Jon Garland R/R 6-6 205 09/27/79 32 Matt Ginter R/R 6-1 220 12/24/77 -- Jason Grilli R/R 6-4 185 11/11/76 44 Billy Koch R/R 6-3 215 12/14/74 21 Esteban Loaiza R/R 6-3 215 12/31/71 -- Gary Majewski R/R 6-2 200 02/26/80 29 Corwin Malone R/L 6-3 200 07/03/80 43 Damaso Marte L/L 6-2 200 02/14/75 -- Ryan Meaux R/L 5-11 170 10/05/78 49 Arnaldo Munoz L/L 5-9 170 06/21/82 Enemencio Pacheco R/R 6-1 170 08/31/78 51 Jon Rauch R/R 6-11 260 09/27/78 52 David Sanders L/L 6-0 200 08/29/79 -- Ryan Wing L/L 6-2 170 02/01/82 46 Dan Wright R/R 6-5 225 12/14/77 60 Scott Schoeneweis (don't know why he wasn't on here) 65 Kelly Wunsch L/L 6-5 225 07/12/72 Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 15 Sandy Alomar R/R 6-5 235 06/18/66 27 Jamie Burke R/R 6-0 190 09/24/71 8 Miguel Olivo R/R 6-0 220 07/15/78 -- Mike Rivera R/R 6-0 210 09/08/76 Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB 24 Joe Crede R/R 6-2 195 04/26/78 Ross Gload L/L 6-0 180 04/05/76 13 Willie Harris L/R 5-9 175 06/22/78 14 Paul Konerko R/R 6-2 215 03/05/76 -- Juan Uribe R/R 5-11 175 07/22/79 22 Jose Valentin S/R 5-10 185 10/12/69 -- Ruddy Yan S/R 6-0 165 01/13/82 Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB 25 Joe Borchard S/R 6-5 220 11/25/78 45 Carlos Lee R/R 6-2 235 06/20/76 30 Magglio Ordonez R/R 6-0 210 01/28/74 33 Aaron Rowand R/R 6-1 210 08/29/77 Designated Hitters B/T Ht Wt DOB 35 Frank Thomas R/R 6-5 275 05/27/68 Rotation Esteban Loaiza Mark Buehrle Jon Garland Scott Schoeneweis Neal Cotts I think that Loaiza will be the ace over Buehrle because he was our ace all year long in 2003. I'd guess Buehrle would say the same thing as he did with Colon, backing into the #2 hole and being humble once again. Garland has been in the rotation for years, he may breakout or go 12-12 again with a mid 4 ERA. He's gotta bust loose, we've seen him dominate and struggle, but he's getting there. Then there's Schoeneweis. He started for Anaheim, gave them 205 IP one year, and a 5.00+ ERA too. Why are the White Sox giving him $1.5 M in arbitration? They're probably afraid that they'd lose out on free agents, which is rediculous. Cotts is the only other person on that roster that's been a White Sox starter. He's got loads of potential, but I think he could use some time in AAA. The Sox will probably start him at No. 5 nonetheless because they don't wanna sign anyone decent to start in this rotation, and it kills me. Loaiza and Buehrle will likely win 14-18 games with a mid 3 ERA. Past that I see Garland waivering in and out, or suprising us all. Then Schoeneweis probably wouldn't win 10 games and Cotts is very hard to predict, so I won't. Bullpen Closer Marte? I'd think that Marte is our most talented reliever and I would want him in there to close our games, but we lose a valueable left arm out of the bullpen. Billy Koch I don't trust to close games, and it's sad because he's making like $6.5 M next season to come in middle relief or something. Setup I'd have to go with Koch. I mean he's a righty and throws hard, somewhat like Bob Howry was in his healthy days. Putting Wunsch there would be stupid, because throwing 2 lefties in a row could mean trouble. Wunsch I'd go with for short and middle relief. He knows how to pitch. Dan Wright is good for long relief, but it'd be nice to see him develop into a setup man. Then we have Jose Santiago in the minors whoop-de-fricken-doo. Maybe Sanders and Munoz will come up. I can see Sanders here, because he's been here before. Munoz had a bad year, but he has some nice stuff. Our pen is a mess. Lineup 2B Willie Harris? SS Jose Valentin RF Magglio Ordonez (as stated by Ozzie) LF Carlos Lee DH Frank Thomas 1B Paul Konerko 3B Joe Crede CF Aaron Rowand C Sandy Alomar/Miguel Olivo the Sequel I have to think that Willie Harris will win Ozzie's heart at 2B. He's quick and could be taught how to slap hit and bunt. So if he hit's .275 with 25 steals, I'm all for it. Valentin is going to be our #2 because of what I know from Ozzie. He's said he wants Mags at #3, but then who goes to cleanup? It makes sense to put Lee there because he had the most RBI and is at this point, a better contact hitter than Thomas. Putting Thomas behind Lee will make him better, and Thomas will see better pitches if Lee gets on base. Konerko can give us 25 HR at #6 and hopefully a good average like he always had done. Crede is solid, and young, and hopefully going to breakout. Rowand isn't bad, I believe he hit .286. He wants to start, and he could prove it. Then there is that mess at catcher. The Alomar/Olivo platoon lives on, with neither hitting well. Bench? Who really is a lock anywhere on the bench? Uribe is the only one I can see there right now. Maybe we can bring up Kelly Dransfeldt. I don't like the look of things. White Sox baseball looks like the remains of a once prosperous city, like Babylon or something. I can see us winning 75 games to 85 games with this team, but certainly not a title. Maybe it's possible, with our offense and 2 good starters. But looking at the big picture, hello 2005!
December 22, 200322 yr I'd project Rauch over Cotts for the Number Five starter spot. More experience at a higher level. Much better command. And, if you believe the hype from three years ago, a higher ceiling. But there is little doubt that somebody -- Cotts, Rauch, Wright, Diaz, Pacheco -- has to step forward as a starting pitcher or WE GAWN
December 22, 200322 yr I think we'll go pretty far if we can snag one more quality starter. Dont ask me to identify this savior cause I cant but we had Colon and we let him get away.
December 22, 200322 yr Author It funny how we offered Colon $13,000,000 and now we won't even go after Mark Redman for $4,000,000.
December 22, 200322 yr It funny how we offered Colon $13,000,000 and now we won't even go after Mark Redman for $4,000,000. I dont know about this bunch. KW gives us hope last july when he grows a brain and does something to improve the team then he turns around and dismantles the whole thing. Now he wont do anything to build this team. What's he doing? Biding his time till July?
December 22, 200322 yr It funny how we offered Colon $13,000,000 and now we won't even go after Mark Redman for $4,000,000. There was no going after Mark Redman. The A's had a deal all but done with him at the deadline, which is why he was non-tendered. They knew they would never lose him.
December 22, 200322 yr It is still way too early to get all worked up about what our lineup will look like or who will be in our rotation. It's an unfinished product. The club does not have to be set (nor should it be) by January. Relax and give it time.
December 22, 200322 yr The Sox will be fine, they have some power and a okay pitching staff, even without one free agent that we will get (Moss, Ponson or Johnson). Look at the Twins, Royals, Tigers and Indians; we still have the most talent, even though talent doesn't always win. But I think Ozzie will get the best of his new players.
December 22, 200322 yr Author There was no going after Mark Redman. The A's had a deal all but done with him at the deadline, which is why he was non-tendered. They knew they would never lose him. We wouldn't have signed him if we had the chance though. It's quite sad.
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