2009 Preview: Chicago White Sox

The 2008 season was a very good one for the Chicago White Sox. They won the division and had a couple of players really break out throughout the season in Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez. Carlos Quentin was having a monster year and was in the AL MVP talk, until he went down with an injury late in the year. Alexei Ramirez was in contention for the AL Rookie of the Year last year with his play at second base and with his amazing bat. Also, the pitching staff stepped it up last year and players like Gavin Floyd, Mark Buehrle, and John Danks really pitched well for the White Sox. The underrated pitching staff and the break outs of Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez fueled Chicago to an 89 - 74 record and the AL Central title.

Projected Lineup:
C - A.J. Pierzynski
1B - Paul Konerko
2B - Chris Getz
SS - Alexei Ramirez
3B - Dayan Viciedo
LF - Carlos Quentin
CF - Brian Anderson
RF - Jermaine Dye
DH - Jim Thome

Projected Rotation:
#1 - Mark Buehrle
#2 - John Danks
#3 - Gavin Floyd
#4 - Clayton Richard
#5 - Bartolo Colon
Closer - Bobby Jenks

Position Battles:
2B - Right now it looks as though the job is going to go to Gentz, but Brent Lillibridge or Jayson Nix have a chance to win the position in spring training.

3B - Dayan Viciedo is a Cuban rookie trying to make the team at the age of 20 and he is good enough to actually do that. Josh Fields and Brent Lillibridge could take the spot if Chicago feels that Viciedo needs some time in the minors first, but do not expect that to be long.

#5 Starter - If Bartolo Colon is not fully healed from his surgery the obviously he will not be in the #5 spot, but Lance Broadway or Jose Contreras could fill that spot.

2009 Outlook: This team will be very good on offense. Carlos Quentin should have another really good year, Alexei Ramirez should continue to get better and establish himself as one of the best middle infielders in the game, Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye should continue to produce power. Dayan Viciedo can provide a spark for the offense and add more power to the already powerful lineup, which might not be right away, but at some point in the season it will happen.

Age and the pitching staff are the the weaknesses of this team. Thome, Dye, Pierzynski, Dye, Colon, and Contreras are 30+ years old and so that could start to be a problem for the team. Also, the pitching staff could hurt Chicago because Contreras, Colon, Broadway, and Clayton Richard are not the most reliable pitchers right now and they really need to pitch well for this team to make the playoffs this year.

I think that the race for first in the AL Central will be a very close battle, but I do not know if the White Sox have it in them again this year. It will be tight at the end though, I believe that.

Projected Finish: 2nd Place, AL Central