Sox Stuff from ESPN

[AnthraxFan93]

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Forgive Paul Konerko if he feels naked this season. Or maybe exposed would be a better way to put it.

 

For 5½ seasons, the unassuming first baseman was one of the four run-producers that the Chicago White Sox were built around. These right-handed hitters were bunched in the middle of the lineup, and seemingly all essential to the team's success.

 

Ozzie Guillen

Speed on the basepaths is enough to make Ozzie Guillen smile.

 

The Sox won a division title only in 2000, when Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee and Konerko all had at least 29 home runs and 92 RBI. Let one of those parts misfire or be injured, and there was never enough talent around them to pick up the slack.

 

But since the 2004 season ended, Ordonez has left via free agency and Lee has been traded. Now comes word Thomas is recovering slowly from surgery to repair a broken bone in his left ankle. Konerko is the last man standing.

 

That seems to be just fine with Ozzie Guillen, the former All-Star shortstop who managed the White Sox to 83 wins and a second-place finish last year.

 

"A lot of people say we lost a lot of home runs,'' Guillen said. "We made these changes because they give us a better chance to win. We had the same team the last few years and didn't win anything.''

 

Between Ordonez, Lee and shortstop Jose Valentin, they earned $25.5 million last season. That was almost 38 percent of the White Sox' payroll -- a higher percentage than Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams cost the Yankees or that Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra and Johnny Damon cost Boston. Think about that for a minute.

 

General manager Ken Williams apparently did.

 

Konerko's $8.75-million salary is tops on the Sox this season. Williams spread his resources around to beef up the pitching staff and add both balance and speed to the lineup. This version of the White Sox won't have as much thunder as recent issues but will be a much deeper team and potentially a more dangerous one.

 

Jermaine Dye, Scott Podsednik (acquired along with right-hander Luis Vizcaino from Milwaukee in the Lee trade), A.J. Pierzynski and Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi join a lineup that sees the underrated Juan Uribe (.283-23-74 last year) moving from second base to replace Valentin. Carl Everett, somewhat slimmed down after an unproductive 2004, will fill in at DH until Thomas returns.

 

That might be a while, too. This is likely Thomas' final season in Chicago, as the Sox are faced with paying him $10 million or buying him out for $3.5 million after 2005. In the switch-hitting Everett and left-handed reserves Ross Gload and Timo Perez, Guillen has some options that fit into the new approach.

 

"If Frank is not working at 90-100 percent, it's going to be hard for him to be in the lineup,'' Guillen said after the first workout of the spring. "We have our goal, and it is to win.''

 

Like Jerry Manuel before him, Guillen was given a team that was dependent on home runs and big innings. Last year's White Sox hit 242 home runs -- including 145 at U.S. Cellular Field, where the upper deck got a shave that seemed to create a hitter-friendly jet stream -- but were third in the American League with only 5.3 runs per game. Their .333 on-base average was eighth in the league, and only Willie Harris, Aaron Rowand and Lee stole 10 or more bases.

 

"We couldn't execute,'' Guillen said. "We had guys with a lot of good numbers but we finished 10 games behind ... We had a good enough team to win but we didn't win.''

 

Early in the season, White Sox pitchers were unexpectedly effective. The staff was third in the AL in ERA on June 6 but finished the season 12th at 4.92. Midseason trades for Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras did not add enough depth. Pitchers other than Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Garcia made 78 starts, compiling a 6.22 ERA. Those were fatal numbers.

 

Jose Contreras

AP

Contreras finally has some stability in his life.

 

While the shuffling of the lineup gets more attention, Williams might have done his most important work with his pitching staff. He did not lose a significant pitcher and has added three -- free agents Orlando Hernandez and Dustin Hermanson along with Vizcaino. The Sox will also have Garcia and Contreras for full seasons.

 

How much deeper is that staff? Garland opened 2004 as the No. 3 starter, won 12 games and worked 217 innings, and has been dropped to fifth in the rotation. Cliff Politte was the right-handed setup man when last season began, compiled a decent 4.38 ERA over 54 appearances, and now finds himself the fourth right-handed option in the bullpen. Hermanson and Vizcaino are first in line behind closer Shingo Takatsu, who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting after converting 19 of 20 save opportunities.

 

Buehrle, who led the AL in innings last season and is the major-league leader in innings since 2001, and Garcia are a very solid 1-2 combination but haven't had the recent success of Minnesota's Johan Santana and Brad Radke, who have become the measuring stick. But if Hernandez stays healthy and Contreras stops being a tease -- the Cuban Bobby Witt -- the White Sox could have the pitching depth to win 90-plus games and a Central title.

 

The two Cubans, who seem overjoyed about the idea of being together at least through 2006, could give the Sox a sizzle they have lacked.

 

Several Cuban pitchers have had big impacts -- most notably Luis Tiant, Hernandez and his half-brother, Livan Hernandez -- but to have two Cubans together for a season, giving each other support, what could that mean?

 

"That is one of those questions that is going to be for the end of the year,'' Hernandez answered. "If we do what we can, you probably won't have to ask the question because you will see what it means. It will be a big year for both of us and for the team. We will enjoy each other and help the team win.''

 

Having learned to win in Cuba, both used the Yankees' firepower to put together enviable won-loss records. Between them, they are 81-51 in the majors, a .614 winning percentage.

 

If Hernandez and Contreras held up for 64 combined starts this season, and the White Sox won at the pace teams have had with their getting the decisions, this would translate to a 39-25 record in those starts. Few teams see such possibilities out of their third and fourth starters.

 

That's the view with rose-colored glasses, of course. The reality is they no longer have Jeter and Williams to help them win, that Hernandez hasn't made even 29 starts in a season since 2000 and that Contreras must rebuild his confidence after ending his first two seasons with a 4.85 ERA.

 

Contreras enters this season with as much intrigue as any pitcher in the majors.

 

"He's got a chance to be dominating,'' said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, who grew up as a devoted Tiant fan. "He has the 95 [mph] fastball he can run up there, at the top of the strike zone, and then he has the forkball from hell.''

 

Hernandez, who first saw Contreras pitch when he was in Cuba's developmental leagues, believes his friend just needs to get back to being himself. He thinks Contreras should rely more on his forkball, which is his best pitch.

 

The White Sox had counseled him to throw more fastballs and fewer forkballs last season, when he went 5-4 with a 5.30 ERA in 13 starts in August and September. He had 42 walks in only 74 2/3 innings after leaving New York, where he was deemed excess baggage after allowing Boston to score 28 runs in 15 innings in five career starts.

 

"One thing that has hurt him is he listens to everybody,'' Hernandez said. "Everybody tells him what to do. He wants to make them happy so he does it. Everybody sees he has all the pitches to be successful. They say he throws too many fastballs or too many forkballs or too many sliders ... He was a good pitcher before he got [to the United States]. He needs to pitch like that.''

 

This will be the first season Contreras has pitched in the majors without worrying about his wife, Miriam, and their two daughters. He left them behind in Cuba when he jumped Fidel Castro's national team during a tournament in Mexico and until last June thought he wouldn't see them for years.

 

When Miriam applied to travel to the United States in late 2002, she was told it would take at least five years before permission was granted. She came the hard way, making the journey with her children and other refugees in a speedboat that wasn't stopped by the Coast Guard until it reached the Keys.

 

Contreras said last year that he sometimes cried when he awoke after dreaming of his family. Hernandez saw his friend's loneliness when they were together last spring, when they were briefly together with the Yankees, and believes happiness could lead to a turn-around on the mound.

 

"The family thing, that was really, really tough on him,'' Hernandez said. "When you leave [Cuba] like we left, you know you cannot go back. You do not know if you will ever see your family again. That is real, real tough.''

 

Williams was thrilled to add Hermanson and Vizcaino to a bullpen that carried three rookies for all of the 2004 season. Hermanson started last year in San Francisco's starting rotation but wound up with 17 saves in 20 chances after supplanting Matt Herges as the closer. Vizcaino was mentioned as Milwaukee's likely closer after the Brewers dealt Dan Kolb to Atlanta.

 

Guillen is going to miss players such as Ordonez, Lee and Valentin but believes his team can be more successful without them. Look at what the 2001 Seattle Mariners did after parting company with Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson.

 

But Guillen doesn't want to be greedy. He doesn't need 116 victories. Ninety-six would be just fine.

 

Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a Web site at www.chicagosports.com.

Edited March 4, 2005 by AnthraxFan93

[hi8is]

Contreras enters this season with as much intrigue as any pitcher in the majors.

 

"He's got a chance to be dominating,'' said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, who grew up as a devoted Tiant fan. "He has the 95 [mph] fastball he can run up there, at the top of the strike zone, and then he has the forkball from hell.''

 

I loooove that quote! =) Don Cooper rocks

haha

[nitetrain8601]

great read

[ihatethecubs]

great read

agreed.