Hot Stove:  A rundown of each team in the offseason and what they are looking to improve in 2012. 

Chicago White Sox:            The next team we will look at is the Chicago White Sox, the first team (alphabetically) in the AL Central.

Projected Starting Lineup:

1B            Paul Konerko

2B            Gordon Beckham

SS            Alexi Ramirez

3B            Brent Morel

LF            Alejandro de Aza

CF            Alex Rios

RF            Dayan Viciedo

C              A.J. Pierzynski

DH           Adam Dunn

Projected Starting Rotation:

John Danks

Jake Peavy

Gavin Floyd

Philip Humber

Chris Sale

Projected Batting Order:

LF            Alejandro de Aza

2B            Gordon Backham

1B            Paul Konerko

DH           Adam Dunn

CF            Alex Rios

C              A.J. Pierzynski

SS            Alexi Ramirez

RF            Dayan Viciedo

3B            Brent Morel

The White Sox didn’t get it done last year.  They finished the season with a 79-83 record, which put them in third in the AL Central, 16 games behind the first place Tigers.   Expectations were much higher for Chicago, who spent a lot of money putting together last year’s team.  But after horrific years from two of the middle of the order bats and pitching injury/inconsistency, manager Ozzie Guillen moved on to the Florida Marlins.  Robin Ventura, who has no managerial experience at any level, is going to replace him.  In addition, last year’s closer Sergio Santos was traded to the Blue Jays, Carlos Quentin was traded to the Padres, and Buehrle left as a free agent to join Ozzie in Miami.  There will be lots of new faces in the South Side this season, and GM Kenny Williams hopes this year’s team is able to meet some of those expectations from last season.

The best offensive player for the White Sox last season is still with the team.  Paul Konerko led the team in AVG (300), HR (31) and RBI (105).  He continues to defy age and turn in brilliant season after brilliant season.  In addition to the fine numbers I’ve already mentioned, his OBP was through the roof at 388.  He is the leader of this club and returns for another season at first.  After him, there weren’t too many bright spots.  Carlos Quentin was second on the team with 24 HR in 118 games he’s played.  But he’s no longer with the team.  The next best offensive force on this squad was probably Alexi Ramirez, who hit 269 with 15 HR and 70 RBI.  He led the team in R with 80.  And he did all that playing the toughest position on the field defensively (short).  The Sox have no complaints about his output.  They’d love to see that AVG and OBP creep up, and perhaps his SBs (7 last season), but he wasn’t the problem for this club.  The problems are at CF and DH.  Alex Rios and his monster contract that came over from Toronto hit a measly 227 last year.  He added to that only 13 HR in the launching pad at U.S. Cellular Field, and 11 SBs.  He wasn’t strong in any part of his game.  But he makes too much money to see the bench.  He has to turn it around.  He’s got talent, and his salary is tying up a lot of Chicago’s money.  He hasn’t returned to the All Star form he once showed since leaving Canada.  A lot of people think that player no longer exists.  But if he can bring back his 2010 self (284, 21 HR, 88 RBI, 89 R and 34 SBs), the White Sox would be jubilant.  The other player who hasn’t earned the big payday that the White Sox gave him is Adam Dunn.  Dunn’s struggles have been well documented and some believe he turned in the worst offensive season of any player, ever.  A 159 AVG with 11 HR and 42 RBI is certainly bad.  Dunn has always had his problems (stone glove, tons of Ks, middling AVG) but what you paid for was his consistency.  He hit 40 HR or more for 5 straight years, followed by 2 years with 38 HR.  He’s had 100 RBI every year but one in that span (that year he had 92) and his great eye also saw 100+ BBs every season until 2010.  You get great power and OBP from this hitter.  And his AVG has never been that bad (260+ the last 2 years).  So this was highly unexpected.  No one really knows what happened, though injury could have something to do with the beginning of it.  The end of it was all head games.  But he’s tried to put it behind him and get ready for this year.  If he can return to his former self, 40 HR and 100 RBI could be a lock.  If Chicago wants to win this year, he has get those numbers.  Because after Konerko, Rios, Ramirez and Dunn, the offense drops off.  Long-time catcher A.J. Pierzynski continues to hit for a high average (287 last year), but does little else.  Beckham and Morel are unspectacular.  Vicideo and de Aza are young and unproven.  They like the potential, but they don’t know what to expect.  The White Sox let lots of other veterans from last season go (Juan Pierre, Omar Vizquel, Mark Teahen).  The key for this club is a return to form for Rios and Dunn.  Otherwise the rest of this offense doesn’t have the chops to support this pitching staff and win games on their own. 

The White Sox had solid, though unspectacular pitching last season.  Mark Buehrle led the team with 15 Wins and a 3.59 ERA.  He’s a workhorse who has been in the White Sox organization for the last decade.  But he’s since moved on to the Marlins.  (I already used the “he’s taking his talents to South Beach” line in the Cubs post in reference to Zambrano.  It’s a good post.  You should read it).  The new ace of this organization is John Danks.  He signed a new contract extension and the White Sox are expecting him to be the ace.  In 27 starts last season, he went 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA.  That came with a 1.34 WHIP and a 274 BAA.  He needs to bring those numbers down, or else that ERA could creep in the opposite direction he wants it to go.  If he’s going to lead this staff, they need a winning record and an ERA a little closer to 4.  Ideally they’d get one closer to 3.50.  Gavin Floyd was the only starter other than Buerhle to start 30 games last season.  He was second on the team in IP with 193.  They like his workhorse mentality, and it came with a 12-13 record and a 4.37 ERA.  The WHIP and BAA were pretty strong, and he’s a solid option as a number 2 starter for this organization.  If he wants to become a true number two starter he’ll trim a little off that ERA, but at minimum he’s a solid number 3 starter who could develop into more.  He led the team in Ks, but he only whiffed a 151 batters.  U.S. Cellular Field is a good hitters park, so it would behoove all the White Sox pitchers to miss a few more bats next season.  However they are hoping that Floyd only has to be the number 3 starter on this team.  They want former Cy Young Winner Jake Peavy to step up and seize the number 2 spot.  They’d be even happier with him as a number 1 starter leading this club.  Injuries have slowed him down in recent years.  His last full season was in 2007, when he won the Cy Young going 19-6 with a 2.54 ERA and a career high 240 Ks.  And while he hasn’t pitched a full season since, his 2008 and 2009 seasons were strong with lots of Ks and a low ERA.  But he’s struggled in his two full seasons in Chicago going 14-13 in 35 starts with an ERA around 4.50 and only 188 Ks.  He’s had a solid WHIP, but his BAA shows that since he’s been striking out fewer guys they’ve been hitting him better.  He needs to learn how to pitch to contact, or go back to striking people out.  If he’s healthy, they hope he can go back to his dominance from San Diego.  But if he can’t, then he needs to figure out how to be an effective pitcher in a hitter’s park.  If he can, then he will be the third solid pitcher on this staff.  Philip Humber was a pleasant surprise in his first full season as a starter.  He went 9-9 in 26 starts with a 3.75 ERA.  His 243 BAA was good and his 1.18 WHIP was even better.  He figured something out last year, and was able to be an effective starter.  If he can keep it up than it would give the White Sox a 4^th reliable pitcher.  And that seems to be the story with this rotation.  They have no ace, but they are deep with multiple starters that could be middle of the rotation guys.  They’d like Peavy and Danks to become aces and Humber and Floyd to pitch more like number 2 starters than number 3 starters.  The last starter will probably be Chris Sale.  He’s going to try moving to the rotation this season after being really strong in the bullpen.  He had a 2.79 ERA and 8 Saves in 58 games last year.  He struck out 79 in 71 innings, and hitters hit a measly 203 against him.  If he can make it work, then he’ll be the 5^th solid pitcher on their staff.  The White Sox can exist with 5 solid pitchers, but they might not win.  Their bullpen is questionable without a proven closer.  But if any of these pitchers can be aces and the closer situation is resolved, this pitching staff can be pretty decent. But if the offense struggles, that may not be enough.

2012 Prediction…The White Sox are in a little trouble.  Their division got a lot tougher when Detroit improved so much. Their offense is spotty.  If their offense plays well, and someone ends up pitching well as the closer this team could be pretty decent, but they need aces and a strong offense.  That’s not a sure thing with this team.  In addition, with the Detroit Tigers in their division, they are at best playing for a wildcard slot.  I don’t think this will be a team we will see in October unless everything breaks right for them.

Up next…Cleveland Indians.