The Chicago White Sox are off a miserable 2013 that saw them go 63-99 and finish last in the AL Central. This year they did make a few solid moves, but will it be enough to get them back to respectability. Vegas Odds have the White Sox at +1500 to win the AL Central, +4000 to win the AL Pennant and +7000 to win the World Series.
The White Sox were 29th in the league in runs scored (598), 19th in homeruns (148) and 19th in batting average (.249). Im not sure the offense will be any better this year. The best power threat is Adam Dunn, as he has hit 75 HRs the last 2 year, but he only hit .219 and .204 those two year and has struckout 411 times over that stretch. Adam Eaton was brought in to be the new leadoff man, while rookies Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson could be surprise power contributors. The bottom of the lineup is very average at best, but it does have some speed with Alexis Ramirez (30 steals) and a little power, with Connor Gillespie (13 HRs). Still overall this is not a lineup that will scare many.
Chris Sale is still the ace of this staff and while he went just 11-14 last year, he did post a 3.02 ERA, while getting 226 Ks to just 46 walks. Felipe Paulino had just 7 starts for the Sox last year and went 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in those starts. Jose Quintana was solid last year with a 9-7 record and a 3.51 ERA, while John Danks looks to rebound from a tough 2013, in which he went just 4-14 with a 4.75 ERA. Danks is healthy right now, but has spent plenty of time on the DL the last 2 years. Eric Johnson rounds out the staff and has just 5 career starts under his belt. This staff has potential to be solid, but only if a couple of unproven youngsters can step up. Gone is closer Addison Reed, but the Sox did pick up Mitchell Boggs and he along with Scott Downs, Matt Lindstrom and Nate Jones for a good core of relieve, but not sure they will be as good as last year’s group.
Outlook: The Sox are not going to make a whole lot of noise in the AL Central this year as their offense is really stuck in neutral and doesn’t look all that improved over last year’s team. The pitching has the potential to be solid, but that is on paper as most of the rotation is really unproven or struggling. The pen is solid and was a strength of the team last year, and should be a gain this year. Very hard to expect more than 73 wins from this club this year.
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