Jake Peavy

As a fan, I try not to be too harsh on players when they speak their mind. After all, don't we as fans want to hear the truth?

But in the case of Jake Peavy and his feelings about sticking with the White Sox through a rebuilding phase, I'd rather he kept them to himself.

On Thursday, Peavy was asked about the position the Sox are currently in and the possibility that some of the veterans could be moved in the next month-and-a-half.

Like Carlos Zambrano, big-time pitchers Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, and Josh Beckett are off to awful starts. They are not alone. Names like Jon Lester, Aaron Harang, Javier Vazquez, Chad Billingsley, and Jeremy Bonderman join them on this list of the top ten worst pitchers in 2010.

Virtually all of these pitchers have two things in common. They were expected to be aces, stoppers, shutdown grinders, strike-one dealers. They are all disappointing.

Let’s take a look at how bad they all really are, see if they’re improving, and ask ourselves:

Is this just an April shower?

Of course, mere hours after writing an article bashing the White Sox lineup, the team puts together a perfect mixture of baserunning, power, and scoring in an 8-7 win on the road over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The White Sox put together 14 hits, three of which were home runs, scored eight runs in 11 innings, and stole four bases with four different runners without getting caught.

The team also didn't put down one sacrifice bunt.

This is what the White Sox lineup can do, but whether it will do it on a daily basis or not is yet to be seen.

So, I was Jonesing (get it?) for some Sox news and decided to make my way to BleacherReport. 

And by the looks of things, there is pandemonium, chaos, and a lost season on the South Side. 

All of you in panic mode are fools, and I'm going to show you why.

The Hitters

Much has been said about the production—or lack thereof—from the Sox lineup. Let me sprinkle some reality into your lives.

The American League Central has consistently been one of the most competitive divisions in baseball in recent years. In fact, 162 games have not been enough to decide the division pennant the last two seasons, requiring a play-in game to award the Central crown. The AL Central figures to be tight at the top once again in 2010. The following is a completely unscientific prognostication of whom will be the key figures will be in this season's race.

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The San Diego Padres have seemingly been the joke of the NL West.

Even in the years they ended the season as the Western Division champions, there were still people who didn't take the Padres or the NL West seriously. Some even said the Padres shouldn't be allowed in the playoffs due to how weak the division was.

But in 2010, all that has changed. The entire division, from top to bottom, has become both younger and stronger. 

Before we get to Mr. Scruggs' comments during his "Newy and Richie" show on 105.3 FM in Dallas this morning, let me start by saying that I'm a big fan of Newy's and a loyal listener to his show.

That being said, I grew up as a San Diego Padre fan and lived in Southern California for almost eight years of my life. I spent a lot of Sunday afternoons at Petco Park watching the Padres and guys like Trevor Hoffman, Jake Peavy, and Adrian Gonzalez.

Have people forgotten about Mark Buehrle?

I am a Chicago White Sox fan who lives in Chicago. Naturally, many of my peers are White Sox fans as well.

They, like myself, are very excited for this year's team, which features one of the best pitching rotations in baseball.

While I am with one of my friends, he decides to bring up the upcoming season. He tries to spark up a conversation about the potential of the Sox this year, but he fails miserably by saying, "How 'bout that offense, huh?"

"Oh yeah...all that power..."

After winning the AL central in 2008, the White Sox had high expectations going into the 2009 season.  Unfortunately for them, these high expectations turned into large disappointments after a third place finish. 

So what should we expect in 2010? 

With the Winter Meetings just around the corner, the San Diego Padres are in a position to possibly make a few moves to turn this team into a contender in the National League's West Division.

The payroll may not reach more than $40 million next season, but new general manager Jed Hoyer admitted that they may have some wiggle room to sign one or two free agents.