Quick Indians thought: Grady Sizemore is my favorite non-Red Sox related player.
THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Pitching: The ChiSox have four big names loaded with a lot of talent. Names and talent, however, don't win on their own. Jose Contreras, Mark Beuhrle, Javier Vazquez, and Jon Garland are all capable of winning 15 games, but only Garland pulled it off, and even he stunk up the 2nd half of the season while posting a season long 4.51 ERA and getting bombed this spring. This is all my roundabout way of saying I don't know what to expect from these four potential aces, but if forced into a corner, we're looking at several 12-11 seasons.
The bullpen has two guys with closing experience, both of whom have great heat and good stuff. They can also be wild. They also both have the potential to have their arms fly into the 3rd base dugout after it snaps off at the shoulder. I mention this because they'll need both of these guys healthy, as no one else in that pen can pitch in the late innings. As long as these guys can go in the 8th and 9th, Chicago should be all right. But as soon as one of Thornton, Aardsma, or Masset is forced to strand the tying run on third base with one out in the eight, this team will have problems.
Hitting: I can't think of ten better lineups, so it looks like they make the top 10. Speed with a healthy Scotty Pods, smarts with veteran Darren Erstat, power with musclemen Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, clear the bases potential with Jermaine Dye, a jerk catcher who hits .300 and pumps up his teammates, and then a bottom third of the order that has exactly the positions you want at the bottom third - 2B, 3B, and SS. And Iguchi and Crede aren't even that bad of hitters.
Miscellaneous: Am I the only one that is infuriated by David Aardsma's existence in Major League Baseball? I mean, HIS name is going to appear before Henry Aaron's in the baseball encyclopedia? Really? Aardsma?
White Sox-related Ridiculous Proposition Bet: Line on the date when someone gets angry with the antics of manager Ozzie Guillen: Right now.
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