If you followed baseball last year, you’re probably well aware about how the Chicago White Sox were one of the biggest disappointments in the American League. The White Sox were expected to compete with the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, but instead finished in third place with a record of 79-83. The White Sox made plenty of changes for the 2012 season, but will it be enough for them to win their division?
The biggest change took place in September of last year, when the White Sox traded their manager (Ozzie Guillen) to the Marlins. They hired Robin Ventura as their manager during the offseason, despite having no previous managerial experience at the professional level.
It almost seemed like the White Sox were having a fire sale during the offseason, as they lost numerous players to free agency and a few questionable trades. Some of these key losses included Mark Buehrle, Sergio Santos, Carlos Quentin and Jason Frasor.
You look at all the talent they lost, and you would imagine they’d at least be getting a lot of impact players in return. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case at all. The White Sox instead chose to stockpile a lot of prospects, many of who could make a significant impact in the upcoming years. The only player who entered the 2012 season as a proven veteran is Paul Konerko, who should continue to be one of the best hitting players in all of baseball.
I think two of the biggest factors in determining whether or not the White Sox can get back to their winning ways are Adam Dunn and the starting rotation. In 2011, Dunn had statistically one of the worst offensive seasons in the history of Major League Baseball, hitting .159 with 11 home runs. If the White Sox are going to compete, they desperately need some sort of production from Dunn.
There’s also a lot of questions in regards to the White Sox rotation. With pitchers like Jake Peavy, John Danks and Chris Sale, the White Sox could end up having either the best or worst rotation in the division. There’s a lot of concerns specifically with Sale, with critics wondering if he can hold up as a starting pitcher for the entire season. For Peavy, the question is going to be can he stay healthy. When Peavy has been healthy, he’s got good enough stuff to be a top of the rotation kind of guy.
Overall, I think the White Sox are going to still be on the outside looking in. Unless they make some big moves during the course of the year, I think they’re no better than a third place team in a rather weak division.
Fun fact: The White Sox have had to un-retire two different numbers. The first was number 11 (Luis Aparicio) when Aparicio requested the Omar Vizquel wear it when he played with the White Sox from 2010-11. The number 3 (Harold Baines) has been un-retired three times, once for each time he’s returned to the team.
