I plan on doing this every 2 or 3 weeks.

 

This poll is not incuding Damon or any minor leaguers maybe getting a spot on the 25 man in Spring Training.

 

This is the roster right now.

not a fan of the Jones/Kortsay/Vizquel/Nix DH rotation.

 

Don't think we have enough pop.

 

not convinced Rios will bounce back.

 

not convinced Garcia is ready to deliver in the five-hole over a complete season.

 

And I have lost faith in Jenks and Linebrink -- and need to see proof Putz is healthy.

Love the Rotation, Love the Pen, Like 2/3's of the OF, love the infield, not happy at all with our DH platoon. I do like our bench though.

This team, as constructed, could win it all if everything goes right.

 

This team, as constructed, can't take having 1 or 2 guys not at the top of their game.

I like the pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation, but I feel that our lineup is going to put too much pressure on the rotation to hold teams down day after day. I feel that a potentially very good pitching staff will be wasted by an offense that doesn't score enough runs.

I love our rotation. It's just the 1-9 i'm worried about mostly. If we take an injury to anyone in the lineup, I don't think this team can overcome that.

how do you vote for all of the options?

We just need way too many things to go right.

 

Rios bounce back

CQ bounce back

Teahen get back to 08 form (or 07?)

Pierre get on base at a decent clip after a good year last year.

Garcia be good

JJ be healthy

Jenks bounce back

Kotsay/Jones be decent

 

There just aren't enough 'knowns' other than the starting rotation.

Damon solves a lot of problems. That's all I have to say.

I voted for the 2nd option, though I think "satisfied" is a bad choice of wording. I'd say I'm content with what we've got, but craving more. We can succeed with this roster, but we can also improve.

not a fan of the Jones/Kortsay/Vizquel/Nix DH rotation.

 

Don't think we have enough pop.

 

not convinced Rios will bounce back.

 

not convinced Garcia is ready to deliver in the five-hole over a complete season.

 

And I have lost faith in Jenks and Linebrink -- and need to see proof Putz is healthy.

I completely agree.

 

 

We just need way too many things to go right.

 

Rios bounce back

CQ bounce back

Teahen get back to 08 form (or 07?)

Pierre get on base at a decent clip after a good year last year.

Garcia be good

JJ be healthy

Jenks bounce back

Kotsay/Jones be decent

 

There just aren't enough 'knowns' other than the starting rotation.

And this.

 

I'd feel a lot better about the team if they got one more bat.

 

Other than that, I can't wait to see a really good starting pitcher every night, and Gordon Beckham for a full season. And if Rios plays to his career average and Carlos Quentin stays off the DL, this team has a real good chance at the postseason. Then anything can happen in October.

 

I voted for the 2nd option, though I think "satisfied" is a bad choice of wording. I'd say I'm content with what we've got, but craving more. We can succeed with this roster, but we can also improve.

Agreed.

I'm in the "Damon makes it all go away" camp. I think that solves a world of problems, and brings us to the top of this division. As it stands, i'm concerned.

I voted for the 2nd option, though I think "satisfied" is a bad choice of wording. I'd say I'm content with what we've got, but craving more. We can succeed with this roster, but we can also improve.

 

Very well said Slav.

 

I gotta say I hope our rotation and bullpen can hold down 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games at the moment. Not that Damon would drastically improve our overall offense, but he would certainly help it. Hopefully Teahan, Rios, and Alexei have big years, Pierre gets a serviceable OBP etc..

I'm a little concerned, only because I don't sense a majority of the question marks coming through.

I remember our offensive problems during stretches last season and I think we have on paper a worse club offensively than a year ago.

Who knows? I do hope we get off to a good start, not the five under .500 thing the whole first half.

It would help if Rios emerged into a hitting star, ditto Lexi.

I think we know what we're going to get from Paulie and AJ. We need many other guys to produce.

 

I think our ceiling is 10 over .500.

 

And I can't see us getting Damon cause of the Boras thing.

I put the pessimistic I'm concerned.

 

It really isn't that I don't think this roster could win this division, because it certainly wouldn't be shocking, nay it would would be a disappointment if we didn't.

 

What makes me evermore angry is it seems like Kenny is taking huge not-needed gambles on offense when he has the first or second best pre-season rotation of his tenure (depending on how you want to use foresight with 06).

 

I don't see any reason to experiment with bad offensive players on offense when it appears 5-6 mill would have done so much to secure this offense. We could have never been explosive, but we could have at least been "good enough"

 

and now it's like Balta said. We need a run of things, I guess like 05. Lexi needs to be his rookie of the year lexi. Ditto CQ his MVP CQ. Rios ideally needs to be 07 Rios. Beckham doesn't have much room for regression. Pierre please god re-create last years numbers over a full season. And it would do a whole hell of a lot to have a consistent Paulie and a 35 HR paulie, though that's just a fool's projection at this point.

I'm not satisfied, but I'm not indifferent either. If the Sox acquired a real DH like Johnny Damon, I would move up into the satisfied category. It wouldn't make the Sox a great team, but it would make them the slight AL Central favorite IMO. As of now, the Twins are the slight favorite IMO.

I'm satisified. I think with this pitching staff, there's no way we dont compete for the playoffs. The offense definitely seems to be lacking though, a signing like Damon would make a big difference. Our probable inability to score runs is what keeps me from thinking we are a WS contender.

Did anyone see the baseball special on ESPN last night. They let a very uncomfortable looking Mark Gonzalez on the panel with Eduardo Perez, Bobby V (I love Bobby V), Kurtjian, Olney, Gomez and some host. They each had to name the top team in baseball that wasn't the Yankees, Boston, Philadelphia or St. Louis. The writers named TB, Perez and Gonzalez named the Angels. Bobby V named Minnesota and the host and Pedro Gomez each went with Detroit. I was pretty shocked, although Bobby V seemed to indicate he believed the White Sox were far better than Detroit.

Edited February 15, 201016 yr by Dick Allen

This team has improved in lots of places since late last year. Problem is, the one place they stepped back, they stepped WAY back - at DH. Overall, this team looks stronger than the 2009 Opening Day team did. But right now, I think the Sox could finish anywhere from 1 through 3 in the division, and it will be a close race. I think we're a slightly better team than Minny, but I still think the new stadium messes them up a bit.

 

If we go into the season as is, and everyone stays basically healthy, I think the Sox have about a 50% chance of winning the division (MIN 40%, all else 10%). If we can improve the DH slot with Damon, that adds a few points.

 

The Thome thing took the wind out of people's sails, based on his big name and the place he ended up. That will pass and we have a couple guys who can wipe out thoughts of that with an above-average offensive year.

One thing I'm fairly certain of is Verlander will win about 5 or 6 games against us since we have no one in our lineup that can do much against him.

One thing I'm fairly certain of is Verlander will win about 5 or 6 games against us since we have no one in our lineup that can do much against him.

AJ is 14/42 against Verlander with a .968 career OPS. Quentin is 6/20 with a .917. Rios is 3/7 career against him, Pierre went 2/3 against him.

AJ is 14/42 against Verlander with a .968 career OPS. Quentin is 6/20 with a .917. Rios is 3/7 career against him, Pierre went 2/3 against him.

 

Johnny Damon is 5/16 career vs. Verlander with a .978 OPS