Tag Archives: Alex Rios

April Recap: Giants/White Sox

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The first month of baseball has come to close and the White Sox and Giants are sitting in pretty good positions. While the Giants have underachieved at times, the White Sox have either played as predicted or have exceed expectations.

When I look back on the Giants’ first month they really have played some good baseball, it’s just that Tim Lincecum has had some early season struggles and the Dodgers had such a hot start.

Giants Recap                        Grade: B

The Giants have played through adversity to come away with a 12-10 record to close out the month of April. They’ve lost Brian Wilson for the season, Aubrey Huff for an undisclosed amount of time from a nervous breakdown, and of course Lincecum’s control and velocity issues.

Despite all this Bruce Bochy has the boys playing with confidence, and the Giants are getting some early season swagger and confidence at the plate.

Positives include an offense that can produce runs; Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and Barry Zito have all pitched spectacularly; Santiago Casilla has emerged as the closer with four saves; and Buster Posey seems to be fully recovered, as he’s batting .353 with four homers, nine RBIs, and an OPS of 1.016. I’d call that recovered.

I’m fairly confident that they will catch the Dodgers by the end of May, but it should be a battle the entire the year.

White Sox Recap      Grade: C

The Sox already have 11 wins that took 30 games last year and only 22 this year, already an improvement. They finished the month of April even instead of a losing record that had been the case for Ozzie Guillen every season except 2005, and the bigger “what-ifs” are producing.

ESPN the Magazine picked the Sox to finish last in the AL Central with the caveat, “best case scenario: all their veterans have bounce back years and they compete for the division and playoff spot.” I’m paraphrasing what they wrote, but I found it amazingly true and funny. How could you pick a team to finish last in their division and in the next breath say they could compete for the playoffs and division title. It seems almost ludicrous, to use Smitty’s favorite new word, but it really wasn’t at all.

The Sox needed three big things to happen, Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn, and Alex Rios to show-up and play their game, and it’s happened.

The reason the Sox are only .500 is because they have other issues, like finding a legitimate number two hitter and what to do with Gordon Beckham if can’t hit. The easier of the two is leave Beckham in the nine spot and enjoy his play in the field, but the number two spot remains an issue. Brent Morel has started so poorly that Robin Ventura has been forced to go with Alexei Ramirez in the two spot, but he’s also a notoriously slow starter so that really hasn’t solved the problem. At the moment your three candidates for the number two spot in the line-up are Morel, Beckham, and Ramirez; they are batting .178, .153, and .207 respectively, which is not good. At least Ramirez has respect for the Mendoza-line.

Also, Hector Santiago as the White Sox closer has looked great and horrible, but no one is a lights out closer these days. With two lefties coming up in the Red Sox line-up on Sunday Ventura left Thornton in and it worked. Ventura said Santiago is still the closer, but he felt better about the match-up against two lefties with Thornton; so did I.

Looks like the AL Central is going to be a dogfight this season.

Week Two Recap: White Sox/Giants

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What a week in baseball or should I say the weekend in baseball. The biggest news is Phil Humber’s perfect game for the White Sox, the 21st in MLB history. For me a close second is the Sox are only 1/2 game behind the Tigers for the AL Central lead, although they did get some help from a bad call in the 10th inning that went in the Rangers’ favor. Still, the Sox swept Seattle.

Saturday was a crazy day for sports as a whole, as the Giants added to the madness by tying the Mets in the ninth with a two-out routine pop-up that turned into a two-run double as it fell between three Mets’ players. Unfortunately, a questionable slide took Posey’s left ankle out and caused an errant throw that headed up the first baseline allowing the winning run to score.

Minutes later the Sox game began and history was made, phew!

White Sox Recap      Grade: B

Looks more and more like Jim Leyland was correct in his assessment of the White Sox last week. It was a strange week for the Sox fans watching them drop three of four to the Orioles at home before sweeping the Mariners this weekend that included Humber’s perfect game moving them within a 1/2 game of first place. Both the Tigers and Sox should probably both get an “A” compared to where they were at this time last season, the Tigers had just reached .500 and the Sox were four games under. A much improved start to 2012 for both teams, but Sox had trouble at home against the Orioles that’s unforgivable. The biggest issue was game one of the series where the bullpen allowed 9 runs from the 8th – 10th preventing Humber from his first win of the season. Maybe, after watching that Humber decided he needed to go the distant to preserve a win, so he decided to throw a perfect game.

The other issues with the Sox are the usual slow starts of Gavin Floyd and John Danks. Floyd worked hard to allow only five runs in his performance in Thursday’s game and Danks survived Seattle to escape with the win yesterday. It’s time for these guys to step-up and perform like they are capable of performing.

It is good to type that Jake Peavy seems to be back and is pitching like the ace of the staff, he takes a 2-0 record with a 2.75 ERA into tonight’s game against the Oakland A’s.

There are lots of good things happening offensively for the White Sox, AJ Pierzynski is number 4 on the RBI list in the AL (tied with three players), while Dunn is right behind him at #7 (tied with three players). I guess the production problems from left-handed hitters exited the White Sox organization with Ozzie Guillen.

Three thru six are producing for the Sox, which had to happen for them to have success this season, Dunn has 13 RBIs, 6 doubles, and 3 homers with a .246 avg; Konerko has 11 RBIs, 6 doubles and 3 homers with a .362 avg; Pierzynski has 14 RBIs and 4 homers with a .348 avg; and Rios has 7 RBIs, 3 doubles, and homer with a .333 avg. Pretty good production from the heart of the order.

It’s the Sox and Tigers for the division if things continue like this, let’s go SOX!

Jake Peavy(2-0) takes on the surprising Bartolo Colon(3-0) tonight in Oakland at 9:05 pm CST.

Giants Recap                        Grade: B

Well, the week started off with a dud as Tim Lincecum versus Roy Halladay had more offense than anyone anticipated. Lincecum struggled to get through six innings even though he looked good at times. Hopefully this was the tune-up start before he returns to form.

The incredible game was Matt Cain against Cliff Lee, as Cain went 9 innings and Lee went 10 before the Giants won 1-0 in the 11th inning. Cain was almost as brilliant as he was in his one-hitter the prior weekend, allowing only two hits and one walk over the nine innings. Cain has made a total rebound from his debut outing allowing no runs over his last 18 innings pitched. The pitching staff has looked solid again, except for Lincecum who has a chance to redeem himself today against the Mets in a scheduled doubleheader. This is a classic doubleheader when the second game will begin about 1/2 hour after game one ends. Do you get to drink the whole time?

The Giants offense continued to score at least four runs in three of their five games this week, the two games they didn’t were against Halladay and Lee, so that’s excusable. The Giants went 3-2 during the rain shorten week, not bad. Things are pointing in the right direction.

The Freak(0-2) vs. Miguel Batista(0-0) this afternoon at Citi Field at 3:10 pm CST.

Sox Opening Series Recap; Grade: C

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The first series of the year is in the books for the White Sox and they look pretty average, so far. There are a few subtle changes that are worth noting, but the biggest similarity with the 2011 White Sox is the inability to get a hit with runners in scoring position.

The Sox squandered opportunities the entire series against the Rangers, that ultimately lead to their demise in game one, and putting no real pressure on the Rangers starter, Matt Harrison, along with a subpar performance by Gavin Floyd did them in last night.

For most part the starting pitching was solid in the series, both John Danks and Jake Peavy turned in quality starts, but the long ball did Gavin Floyd in as he let up three homers leading to five runs. All the home runs were allowed because Floyd missed his spots on those pitches and paid for it. He only allowed five hits over 5-2/3 innings, but gave up two-strike home runs to both Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton; almost unforgiveable.

On the plus side of things in the series, the bullpen has pitched 7-1/3 scoreless innings to start the season, and a save from rookie closer, Hector Santiago. The best part was it was three-up, three-down for his save, no drama. Alex Rios hit the game winning home run in game two and Adam Dunn had a home run in game one and a hit off a lefty in game two. With his hit against a lefty, Derek Holland, that brought Dunn within six hits of surpassing his total number of hits against lefties in 2011. As sad of a stat as that is, it’s a positive that he’s getting some of last year’s demons exorcised early on in the season.

Of course, Paul Konerko is going about his business as usual, batting .417 with 3 RBIs in the first three games. He’s on pace for 162! Unfortunately, that will fall well short of the 300 RBIs Prince and Mig are each on pace for with the Tigers. The Tigers basically broke Boston’s back early in the season by sweeping them including two come from behind victories over the three games. That makes the Sox 1-2 start a bit more painful as they already trail the Tigers by two games.

The most painful stat for the Sox is their lack of execution with runners in scoring position, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph. The Sox were 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position over the three game series, which makes it near impossible for a team to win with those types of stats. What’s even more depressing about that stat is if they had gotten one more hit with runners in scoring position, they would have won game one. Somehow they would have won two games going 3-for-19. The only positive to take from that stat is that they had a runner in scoring position 19 times, which means they are hitting and getting on base.

It’s only three games, so I’m not going to freak out nor am I going to declare a big year for Rios. I do think that Dunn will have a close to normal Adam Dunn year for the Sox, but I said at the end of last season.

Chris Sale is on the bump tonight against division opponent, the Cleveland Indians, who did not play very well in their opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Hopefully, the Sox can take advantage of that. Key pitching match-up is game three where John Danks squares off against Justin Masterson; it should be a dandy.

Smitty’s Predictions: 2012

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The Tampa Bay Rays will complete their journey from perennial doormats to world champions.

Twenty-twelve will be a season of tempered expectations for the Cubs and Sox who are in varied states of rebuilding—the Cubs are a gut rehab and the Sox are in a hazy state of limbo. Things couldn’t be more opposite in Motown with the Tigers coming off an appearance in the ALCS, having the reigning AL MVP, Cy Young and Batting Champ in Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera respectively on the roster, plus the huge (literally) acquisition of Prince Fielder. It’s tough to contain the excitement coming out of Detroit these days.

When it comes to my predictions, I think I’m of the same mindset as the Cubs’ new front office—I’d really rather not dwell on the past and would much rather look to the future. I only predicted 2 out of 8 playoff teams in 2011 and while batting .250 would be like making the Hall of Fame to Adam Dunn, that’s simply not good enough. I was overly optimistic in 2010 and too pessimistic in 2011, so I think I’ve found the happy medium this year.

AL East Division Champions: Tampa Bay Rays
It’s still baffling to me how the Boston Red Sox could completely dismantle their proud organization just because of a three-week slump in September. Just think, If they had won only ONE MORE GAME, Theo Epstein wouldn’t be in Chicago, Terry Francona wouldn’t be working for ESPN and I would be picking the Sox to win the AL East for the second year in a row. It’s amazing how much crap a few beers and some KFC can create—believe me, I know. The balance of power has shifted away from the aging Yankees as most of their core is over 34 years old and now Andy Pettite is their savoir? I don’t think so. That power shift has headed straight south to Tampa. The Rays have the deepest rotation in the division and more than enough offense to take their third division crown in five years. I didn’t forget about the usually forgettable Toronto Blue Jays. They won’t win the division, but I’ll have more about them in a minute. As for the Orioles? You can definitely forget them.

AL Central Division Champions: Detroit Tigers
Of course I’m picking the Tigers, but I don’t think it’s going to be a 15+ game runaway as most have predicted. The Tigers certainly made a splash with the aforementioned Fresh Prince, but he’s just replacing Victor Martinez in the lineup so I’m not expecting a 10-game improvement over last year. The rest of the division isn’t just going to lay down and die. Sadly, the White Sox aren’t going to be as bad as many have said—there’s just too much dormant talent there. Dunn can’t be as lost as he was last year, can he? Will the real Alex Rios please stand up? Jake Peavy can’t really be this fragile? Cleveland was a beast for most of last season. The Twins still have Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau (remember those guys?) so they are still another potential thorn in the side. Kansas City is the team that intrigues me the most. Losing closer Joakim Soria to Tommy John surgery is tough blow, and the rotation is thin, but the offense could be special this year with the bats of Billy Butler and everyone’s favorite fantasy league sleeper, Eric Hosmer.

AL West Division Champions: Texas Rangers
I love how everyone is wetting themselves over how the aging Albert Pujols is going to revitalize their #10-ranked offense in the AL.  The 10-year, $240 million deal for a 32 (ahem… more like 34) year old who’s numbers are already in decline will go down as the worst deal is the history of baseball.  Say what you will about similar deals to A-Rod and now Fielder, at least those guys were/are young enough to have their best years in front of them.  The Rangers are just way too strong in every facet of the game for anyone else in the division to compete with.

AL Wild Cards: Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees
The additional Wild Card might cause some logistical issues this first season since it was implemented after the schedule came out, but it will prove to be as successful as the original Wild Card has been and a welcome change placing much greater emphasis on winning your division.  The best division in baseball will take two more spots in this year’s playoffs with the Yankees making a big trade deadline deal for the final push and a very talented, yet overlooked Jays squad clawing their way in.

NL East Division Champions: Miami Marlins
I have to admit I could make arguments for four of the five teams in the NL East winning or losing the division, but I settled on the Marlins (much to my blogging counterpart’s chagrin, I’m sure). This is a watershed year for Miami as they have not only stolen the White Sox’ manager and ace, but also their “ALL IN” mentality.  The gaudy new rebranding, the audacious new stadium and massive new payroll are all part of owner Jeffrey Loria‘s last ditch effort to make baseball work in south Florida. Despite last night’s inauspicious debut, Miami has just too much talent across the board and too much on the line not to get it done.  The Phillies are battling injuries to Ryan Howard and Chase Utley so they are coming back to the pack despite their dominant rotation. The Braves are always in the mix somehow and maybe this is finally the year when all those #1 draft picks finally pan out fo the Nats.  I guess the only thing you can bank on is the Mets will suck (and still be in debt).

NL Central Division Champions: St. Louis Cardinals
I’m giving the hated Cardinals the nod only by default.  The Brewers have taken too many steps backwards to contend and Dusty Baker is sure to ruin a couple more young, promising arms in Cincinnati.  Of course I’m not expecting anything from the Cubs this year (but I’m looking forward to 2014) and I can’t even remember who else is in this shitty division.

NL West Division Champions: San Francisco Giants
It’s hard not to pick the Dodgers with Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw on the roster and the dark cloud of the McCourt debacle lifted, but it’s going to be another year before Magic Johnson and Co. can turn things around completely—and then look out! Pitching is obviously the key to my choice here as SF has more than just about anyone in the league. A healthy Buster Posey will anchor an offense just good enough to get it done. Arizona will make another run at the division under the tutelage of my childhood hero, Kirk Gibson, but they will fall just short. Lucky for them, there’s an extra Wild Card now.

NL Wild Cards: Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks
With stalwarts like Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Cliff Lee at their disposal, it’s impossible to keep the Phillies out of the playoffs no matter what offensive obstacles they may face.  The D-backs proved they were for real last season and won’t disappoint this year with my annual NL MVP pick, Justin Upton leading the way.

World Series: Tampa Bay Rays over the San Francisco Giants in 5
It kills me not to pick the Tigers, but this won’t be their year.  Now 2013 will be a totally different story with V-Mart returning to Motown to create one of the greatest 3-4-5 combinations ever.  But I have to curb my enthusiasm for now and realize this is Tampa’s year to finally break through and make their journey from perennial doormats to world champions complete.

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, DET

AL Cy Young: David Price, TB

NL MVP: Justin Upton, ARI

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, PHI

Sox shaping up, questions remain

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It will take big balls to make run at the Tigers

As we enter the last week of Spring Training the White Sox roster is pretty close to the Opening Day roster, but several question remain. The first question is off topic and MLB related, could someone in Bud Selig’s office explain the difference between “Opening Day 2012″ and “Opening Series 2012?”

Most of the country was unaware that two regular season games had been played between the Mariners and A’s in Japan on Wednesday and Thursday, but it was not marketed as “Opening Day 2012,” in fact it was not really marketed at all in United States. I only stumbled across it because I was looking up the remained of the Spring Training schedule. “Opening Series 2012″ was really bust back in the U.S., but it allows Selig to continue to market his product overseas in hopes of expansion outside of North America. I had to get that off my chest.

Now, let’s talk about another disaster, Dyan Viciedo. Viciedo has had a disastrous Spring and while Spring means nothing, you expect a little more out of someone who’s projected to hit 24 home runs this season. His only home runs came in a minor league game in which he hit three. Yesterday he had a hit off the end of his bat to go 1-3. Viciedo was supposed to be an improvement over Juan Pierre in left this season, but at the moment it seems more like a lateral move. Before you scream better defense, he misplayed a ball yesterday that turned into a double; sound familiar?

It looks like Thornton will attempt to be the White Sox closer again this season, and that is a huge question mark. When handed the duties last year he completely imploded, and then when the duties were officially taken away he as lights out. Does he have the confidence that he lacked last season? Hopefully, we’ll find out on April 6.

Every Sox fan’s favorite player, Alex Rios, came up gimpy yesterday with a strained Achilles heel, not a kind injury and difficult to play through. He wanted to play, but the training staff would not clear him to play. New manager, Robin Ventura, claims there’s nothing to worry about and he’s penciled in the line-up today batting third.

Other questions seemed have been answered thus far in Spring. Chris Sale seems to be adjusting to the starting role splendidly, with only two walks in 24 innings. His last two outings he was dominant, he struck Matt Kemp out three times yesterday.

Adam Dunn has had a nice Spring, which he did not last season, so that’s a positive sign. He’s kept the strike outs to minimum and walked a lot. In for 43 ABs he has 4 HRs, 13 RBIs, and 13 walks with only six strike outs. His

is an impressive .429 and his OPS is .997. He’s at a home run in about every 10 ABs. A solid Spring, we’ll see what the season brings.

Those were the biggest questions facing the White Sox this offseason besides how will the new coaching staff handle the team. So far, I would give the coach staff an “A” in Spring Training. They’ve reinstated the importance of doing the little things in the game that sometimes lead to bigger things happening for your opponent when not done correctly. Something the Ozzie Guillen coached team lacked.

I’m cautiously optimistic going into 2012, but I think this team will definitely be more fun to watch than last years team. If things go well the Sox are looking at 83 – 79, but if everything clicks you have a 90 – 72 team looking at a possible Wild Card birth.

What if?

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The key to 2012

As I read an interview with Paul Konerko this morning in the Chicago Tribune I realized that the White Sox would be more fun to watch this season than last season, especially since the expectation level is lower. Should it be?

At first glance I immediately say, yes! A season with 75-wins would be great for this team, but is that really accurate? Other than losing Mark Beuhrle have the White Sox lost all that much compared to last season? Let’s really break it down.

Ozzie Guillen is gone and that may be 5 -10 more wins for the White Sox this season. Konerko admitted that a lot of the Sox woes towards the end of the season were related to the Guillen/Kenny Williams drama, “…there was definitely sometimes late in the year last year, especially where there as probably games and days given away because of people worrying about things that were not related to the game of baseball.” Pretty ridiculous for professional players and managers but the good news is that sideshow is gone.

Carlos Quentin headed west and took his injuries with him. CQ only played in 117 games for the White Sox in 2011, but had a stat line of 24 homers and 77 RBIs, not too bad for only 117 games. The two biggest issues with CQ have been the aforementioned injury bug and his streakiness as a hitter. Half of his home runs last season were hit during an 11 game period between July 9 – 25, he only hit 12 homers over the other 106 games he played. The young Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro DeAza should breathe new life into the outfield. Viciedo has the ability to easily hit 24 home runs.

Sergio Santos was the most puzzling trade from a dollar and cents point of view, but not from a White Sox needs’ point of view. Trading Santos for the talented Nestor Molina was the right move as the Sox are in desperate need of starting pitching for the future. Santos is unproven, but seemed to have the raw talent to be a successful closer for years to come. The Sox have stock piled young arms this offseason, planning for the future for the first time in almost five years. Jessie Crain and Matt Thornton will be available to close games.

Juan Pierre… who cares? I already talked about Beuhrle.

So now I’ll move on to what the Sox have, they have a young managerially and coaching staff except for Don Cooper, Harold Baines, and Juan Nieves, Guillen left overs. There’s no love loss between Cooper and Guillen, but I see Cooper as a no-nonsense guy and with Guillen there was a ton on nonsense. Again, I will wait to pass judgment on Robin Ventura and his crew until mid-season. One thing’s for sure I like the fact that that catchers and pitchers are working out 90-minutes prior to the rest of team to fix the Sox getting more bases stolen on them any other team. According to AJ Pierzynski this was not a concern of the prior coaching staff. Really? While that seemed obvious it’s ridiculous to hear someone finally say it.

Then you have the “Trio of Terror;” Adam Dunn, Alex Rios, and Gordon Beckham. If these three guys hit then you will definitely see Smitty and I at the Cell on September 10 – 13 during a four game series against the Tigers. I look at like this, if Dunn and Rios produce 75% of their best years then the White Sox will not have any problems producing runs. Dunn would have 30 homers and 80 RBIs, while Rios would have 18 homers and 66 RBIs; both would be acceptable rebound years. For Beckham, he just needs to get back to driving the ball and hitting above .300, and the rest will fall into place. He was so deadly when he first came up because he covered the entire plate and hit to all fields.

Finally, you have three pitchers that are more than capable of winning at least 15-games each; Jake Peavy, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd. For Danks and Floyd it’s about keeping their concentration during key moments in games, but Peavy is all about health. He plans on pitching like he always has because that’s the only way he knows how to pitch, at least that’s his stance at the moment. When his two-seam fastball is moving he’s almost unhittable, the question is does he have enough giddy-up on his four-seamer to throw it bye hitters. We’ll find out soon enough.

I’m feeling a little more like the glass is half full versus half empty as Spring training kicks into full gear, but these mysterious questions surrounding the White Sox players could change that in a split second.

Let’s say the perfect storm occurs and everything that I mentioned happens, I would put the Sox at 88-90 victories and a possible Wild Card birth. Yes, only a Wild Card because those stacked Tigers should win at least 94 games this season. If not, then the Sox will probably be within five games of .500 on either side. Now is the time to dream. Go Sox!

They’re back?

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Look at the swelling head on Peavy

The news of the day is not that the Sox have swept their first series in Minneapolis since 2004, or that Alex Rios has decided to adjust his batting stance (5-for-8) now rather than the offseason since I called him out on it days ago, or that Jake Peavy seems to be getting his arm strength back to a Peavy-like level. That’s not the news, the news is the White Sox have figured out how to beat their division again, and the opposition should be worried.

Since the All-Star break the Sox have gone 10-4, the only real blemish in their division is the bad series they played in Kansas City, other then that they’ve been nearly perfect. They’re 4-2 against the Tigers, 2-0 against the Indians, and 3-0 against the Twins. Not too shabby for a team that could not beat any of those teams except the Indians in the first half. If the Sox can keep their winning ways within the division they definitely have a chance of sneaking up on the Tigers and winning this thing.

The Sox had 48 games to play against the AL Central in the second half, if they can maintain their current pace they would finish an impressive, 34-14, and that could be enough to win the division. The Sox will play 25 games against the AL Central in September including two-doubleheaders, and of the 34 remaining games, 18 of those will be played at US Cellular Field.

The other good news is while the Sox epically failed against the Red Sox and Yankees they have a very favorable schedule outside of the division, with four against Baltimore this week, two against the Angels, three against the Seattle, and three against the Blue Jays. Their toughest opponent is the Texas Rangers who they’ll play host to for a three game series, Aug. 19 – 21.

The funniest thing about all this is I was probably a little premature on pronouncing the season over on August 4, but hey baseball’s a funny game and the Sox looked pathetic against the Yankees. The Sox have sucked me back in and have reinstated my optimism for the season. Hopefully it will not be a waste of time. GO SOX!!!!

This Season is O-V-AR!

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2011 in a nutshell

Not much more to say other then the White Sox 2011 campaign has been a major disappointment, and some wholesale changes are most likely to occur next season. Unfortunately, the Sox hands are going to be tied on some of the wholesale changes they’d like to make.

Chicago sports radio and Chicago sports fans spend a lot of their time talking about the bad contracts and trades that Jim Henry has made in his tenure as the Cubs’ GM, but Kenny Williams isn’t exactly batting a thousand either.

Getting Rios of waivers seemed brilliant last season and looks like a complete disaster this season, just like Hendry’s moves looked brilliant when the Cubs’ were six outs away from going to the World Series. Williams not wasting time and getting Adam Dunn seemed one of his best off-season acquisitions since he signed Jim Thome, oh well, maybe next year will be better with “Big Donkey” as his season has been a complete disaster. The Sox are already doing damage control in the press for next season.

The Chicago Tribune published an interview with Greg Walker focusing on Rios changing his batting stance in the off-season, apparently he’s not mentally strong enough do this now? Screw next season, you were 3-1/2 games back less then a week ago, make an adjustment now. Paul Konerko makes adjustments from bat to bat if necessary, man-up!

I’m all for giving Adam Dunn a reprise on this season, but next year the pressure will be greater if can not find his groove before the season ends. As for Rios, well we’re stuck with him since he’s owed $41 million over the next two seasons. Ouch! While Williams did not structure that contract, he claimed it off of waivers. Not a smart move.

Jake Peavy also brings a hefty contract, but based on his performance on Monday night against the Yankees, I think Jake Peavy is going to pay big dividends next season. Fans act like Peavy tore his latissimus dorsi muscle on purpose and expect him to suddenly be great again after having experimental surgery. I think he will be great again, and think Williams will come out fine on that move. Clayton Richard has come back down to earth and has suffered a few of his own setbacks for the Padres.

Since these big contracts and the lack of attendance due to a poor performance by the team will prevent them from re-signing Carlos Quentin, Mark Buehrle and/or John Danks they should move someone now.

I hate to give up CQ, but the reality is he has value to a team actually in it, and would only be able to stay with the team if he gave the Sox a hometown discount. In regards to Buehrle and Danks, I would try to move Danks. The reason is the Sox offered Danks a contract two years ago and he scoffed at it, so it’s obvious he’s looking for a payday. Buehrle may be willing to stay for the same money he’s making now, which the Sox should be able to manage.

Besides all of that, the Sox will be probably be replacing their manager next season as Guillen is most likely getting a big payday from the Florida Marlins. This comes as no surprise, but the ability of Williams to prepare for the future while attempting to compete for a division is what is impressive.

The whole reason that Colby Rasmus is not on the Sox or the Cardinals any longer is because of Tony LaRussa. The Cardinals are going for it this year while they have Albert Pujols on their roster and Rasmus and LaRussa did not see eye to eye. While the Sox needed a righty in the bullpen to replace Tony Pena, they would have gladly acquired Rasmus to replace the vacancy in right next season that will most likely occur due to Quentin leaving.

The entire reason the rumored trade ended up going through Toronto was because the Sox already have their replacement manager in LaRussa. Of all the mishaps that have happened this season this is one of the smartest moves Williams has done. Both Williams and Jerry Reinsdorf have regular contact with LaRussa, and they usually have dinner when he’s in town with the Cardinals.

Kenny Williams is always one-step ahead and while it doesn’t always work out you have to respect his aggressive nature and passion for the White Sox.

The Sox may look something like this next season:

Manager – Tony LaRussa

Starting Lineup:

1 – LF – Alejandro De Aza

2 – SS – Alexei Ramirez

3 – DH – Adam Dunn

4 – 1B – Paul Konerko

5 – CF – Alex Rios (This might be generous at this point)

6 – RF – Dayan Viciedo

7 – C – AJ Pierzynski

8 – 2B – Gordon Beckham

9 – 3B – Brent Morel

SP:

1 – Mark Buehrle

2 – Jake Peavy

3 – Gavin Floyd

4 – Phil Humber

5 – ?????????????

Now or never

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Hot and sucky, another game against the Yanks

With the Detroit Tigers playing very good baseball right now, the White Sox can ill-afford to go on an extended losing streak. The Yankees handled John Danks as they have for his career against them, by pounding him. Danks had an ERA close to eight coming into the game, so I can only imagine that he’s surpassed that mark.

The biggest blow to the White Sox has been not having the services of their captain, Paul Konerko, for the last two games with a bruised calf. The Sox offense which barely has had a pulse can be pronounced dead without Konerko in the line-up. The games against the Yankees should have been getting easier after Monday night’s 3-2 loss to C.C. Sabathia with their sub par pitching staff, instead the Sox made Phil Hughes look like an ace as he shut them down in a rain shortened affair.

When the Sox assembled this team in the offseason, losing Konerko for a few games surely seemed survivable. The Sox brought in a 40 home run hitter in Adam Dunn, but that’s turned into a complete bust. Dunn sits at 10 homers and while he’s hitting more fly ball outs over the last week, they are still outs. Even worse than Dunn is Alex Rios, who has 6 homers and 24 RBIs in contrast to 21 homers, 88 RBIs, and 34 stolen bases a year ago. If you look at both of their numbers the Sox at this point are lacking 27 home runs and 78 RBIs they were expecting to have.

They were counting on a bounce back year from Carlos Quentin and he has done just that, the sad thing is Rios isn’t even producing half the numbers he produced last season.Dunn on the other hand still has a chance to salvage the season, somewhat. If he does that the Sox may still make some noise, but at 5-1/2 games back the Sox continue to make things more difficult for themselves.

It’s desperate times, in fact I’m so desperate I shaved off the soul patch in an effort to switch things up for the team. The history of the soul patch is as follows; I grew one in 2005 and the Sox won the World Series. Since, I usually grow one every summer, I hadn’t last season, then grew one and the Sox went on their epic run. I know this is all ridiculous, but it is how much a part of my life the White Sox are and even though the logical side of me knows my facial hair or lack there of does not affect the team, I sadly do what I do.

Tonight they face AJ Burnett, another very hittable pitcher. Maybe, Paulie can come back to tonight and DH, and act as a defibrillator for the Sox offense so tomorrow I can proudly write, soul patchless face, 1- 0. Go Sox!

The Sox Offense has been sighted

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Paulie and CQ a White Sox winner!

The White Sox scored more runs in last night’s 6-2 pounding of the Arizona Diamondbacks then they had in their previous three. Apparently and thankfully it was just a mini-slump for the Sox offense as the busted out last night including participation from Alex Rios. Yes, that is correct, Alex Rios participated in the fun last night in the desert.

Rios drove in four that included a three-run homer in the top of the eight to give the White Sox some breathing room. They were leading, 3-2, up to that point thanks to Paul Konerko’s 18th home run of the year. The Sox also took their lumps in this one. Carlos Quentin was hit again, for a league leading 16th time this season and second night in a row, John Danks took a liner off his skull but stayed in the game to pitch, and Konerko’s Dad was hit by a foul ball; he too was fine.

I did not know how to react on Friday night when we lost a game to a National league team in late June, I was expecting a 10-game win streak, well maybe that started last night. I mean, well, the Cubs are coming in tomorrow and I believe Big Z is slated to start in one of those games, so the question is will he get out of the first? Let’s go SOX!!!!