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
You can't argue that Peavy along with Mark Buerhle give the White Sox as good of a 1-2 punch as anyone in the league. Even though Peavy was hurt for much of last season, he still compiled a 3.45 ERA and 9-6 record.
The last two seasons that he was healthy saw him post a 2.54 ERA in 2007 and a 2.85 ERA in 2008.
Buerhle has had a 3.84 ERA or better in each of the last three seasons. John Danks and Gavin Floyd are both solid behind the two aces. Danks posted a 3.32 ERA in 2008 and a 3.77 mark in 2009.
Rounding out the rotation will most likely be Freddy Garcia. The bullpen has Bobby Jenks to finish off games and even though he is shaky at times, he does have 29 saves or more in each of the past three seasons.
Matt Thornton is one of the best setup men in the game. The lefty mowed down opposing hitters last year, striking out 87 in 72 1/3 innings.
Lineup
A.J. Pierzynski isn't a big produced at catcher, but he's not a black hole either. He hits for a decent average and is good for a few home runs.
Paul Konerko is still contributing a lot of pop at 1B. The rest of the infield is manned by some young guys.
Alexei Ramirez dropped off a little bit at short last year, but is a candidate for a bounce back season in 2010.
Gordon Beckham is making the move to 2B and there has been quite a bit of hype around this youngster.
Mark Teahen will be the team's opening day 3B.
In the outfield there are plenty of new faces. Juan Pierre adds some speed to the lineup, having stolen 30+ bases the last three years. Rios played 41 games in a White Sox uniform last year, but hit under .200.
The wild-card is Carlos Quentin, who missed a lot of time due to injury last year but had 36 home runs and 100 RBIs in just 130 games in 2008. If this guy can stay healthy, he's an All-Star.
Prediction
Right now the baseball odds makers have set the over/under on wins for this team at 82.5. You can read my full 2010 Chicago White Sox predictions to see why I think they go OVER that number and take home the AL Central in 2010. Also, don't miss any of my MLB picks during the regular season as I break down several games per day.
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