Preview #19 of 30: Chicago White Sox

The White Sox finished third in the AL Central in 2006, despite a 90-72 record -- that tells you how tough this division is.  (Okay, so the four non-Royals teams in the division inflate their record by beating up on the Royals a bunch.)  Of course, the team should be on the short list of World Series contenders for 2007.

There's power in the middle of the order.  Four players hit 30 or more homers last season: Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, and Joe Crede.  GM Kenny Williams looked like a genius when he acquired Thome, who looked done at age 35, and watched him hit 42 homers and drive in 109 runs.  He also looked genius for holding onto Crede, who had been a disappointment up until he hit 30 homers last season.  And then there was Dye, who followed a .321/.390/.561 season in 2000 with four years of disappointment, but knocked 44 homers and drove in 120 runs last season.

And that's not even all of it.  Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, shortstop Juan Uribe, and catcher A.J. Pierzynski are all decent power threats, while Ryan Sweeney -- projected to be the starting left fielder -- has that potential.  Speedster Scott Podsednik went under the knife and isn't expected to be ready for Opening Day, so the Sox signed Darin Erstad to fill in.  There's also Brian Anderson, who was the starter in center last season but struggled.

The problem last season was the pitching -- lights-out in 2005, but several pitchers struggled in 2006.  Mark Buehrle and Javier Vazquez -- added in the offseason, and expected to make what was already a strength even better -- combined to go 23-25.  Jon Garland won 18 games, but also had a 4.51 ERA.  Jose Contreras was great for about half the season but faded in the second half.  Closer Bobby Jenks saved 41 games but had a 4.00 ERA.  With Freddy Garcia out of town, Gavin Floyd could claim a spot in the rotation; he has potential but hasn't shown it much over the last couple of years.

However, as we saw in 2006, the offense can carry this pitching staff, perhaps to a playoff appearance.  Despite all five starters having an ERA over 4, the White Sox won 90 games, and Garcia and Garland won 17 and 18 games, respectively.  As long as the starters aren't so bad that they pitch the team out of games -- and while none of the starters are great, they should be good enough not to do that -- this team should be successful.

Projected 2007 finish: 2nd, AL Central

Projected Starting Lineup

Iguchi 2b
Erstad cf
Thome dh
Konerko 1b
Dye rf
Crede 3b
Pierzynski c
Sweeney lf
Uribe ss

Projected Starting Rotation

Jose Contreras
Mark Buehrle (L)
Jon Garland
Javier Vazquez
Gavin Floyd

Projected 2007 record: 92-70