Chicago White Sox

The White Sox lineup is filled with question marks, old guys, young guys, lots of strikeouts and low on-base percentages, but at the same time has the possibility of a solid statement, revamped turnarounds, breakout seasons and lots of speed.

It is is truly a perplexing lineup to predict.

The only two stable players you can truly predict to do what they have always done is Paul Konerko and A.J.

The Chicago White Sox tried to make enough moves last year to give them a final push towards the playoffs, but they ended up falling short. Hopefully, the acquisitions of SP Jake Peavy and OF Alex Rios will work in their favor in 2010.

The White Sox had trouble scoring in the second half of the season, but this team had a 4.14 ERA which was good for second in the American League. Chicago is one of the favorites to win the Central, but are still slight underdogs to the Minnesota Twins.

Pitching

Small talk is almost never fun. Small talk while being cornered in an elevator is even less fun.

Such was the case for me yesterday on the way down to the first floor from my job on the eighth floor to go home for the night. I stepped on the elevator and some guy from a different office got on as well.

He saw I was wearing a White Sox hat and lobbed over this grenade, “So you think the Sox will do it this year?”

The AL Central, in my opinion, is a tough division to call.  There are several viable teams that should be fighting for the title come the first week of October.  Let's take a team-by-team look at the offseason moves and forecast how the season will play out.

Chicago White Sox

Since signing with the White Sox out of Cuba, Alexei Ramirez has been a player on the radar of fantasy owners.  His rookie campaign started off slowly, but by year’s end he was thought of as a potential stud.  How could a 20/20 threat out of a middle infield position not be?  Unfortunately, he took a small step back across the board in 2009, posting the following line:

On the one hand, you have the throwing of the 1919 World Series by eight players, which acts negatively and selfishly toward the team, fans, and everyone surrounding baseball.

However, although the thought process of steroids could be to support one's team, in most cases it's just as selfish and used by ego-maniacs in search of personal glory.

On the other side of things, the White Sox were throwing a World Series for a bigger cause; to revolt against a cheap owner in the form of Charles Comiskey.

Recently there have been trade rumors circulating the Internet involving Adrian Gonzalez moving from San Diego to the White Sox.

The Sox acquired Jake Peavy from the Padres last year before the trade deadline on July 31, 2009. Now it appears that Peavy is lobbying for GM Kenny Williams to strongly pursue his former teammate, Gonzalez. Peavy said that Gonzalez "can blink his eyes and hit 40 home runs in our park".

The thought of trading young talent away is always a scary one.

“But what if he comes back and kills us for years?”

“Who knows how good he’ll become!”

“Uhhh…two words, Lou Brock.”

The AL Central looks to be a great race this year. They have the reigning division champions in the Minnesota Twins returning with what might be a better team than last year. They have the Chicago White Sox who look to boast one of the MLB's best starting rotation this year. They have the Detriot Tigers who lost the division last year in an epic game 163. Then they have the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians who are, for lack of a better word, miserable.
In this slideshow, I will reveal who I think will win the division.

I agree with White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen.

What is the big deal about a big league manager having a life away from the diamond and interacting with the masses via a popular social networking website?

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco is a regular presence on the evil Internet forum known as Twitter. So is Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal. Sadly, both seem to be more productive on Twitter than they have been on the field or court as of late.