The White Sox had the best off season in ages and after me predicting them to do badly the last two seasons, they have finally earned my respect.  The White Sox have had a great off season.  They upgraded their lineup to an extreme, acquiring/signing a couple of powerfully slugging stars.  In this article I’ve reviewed the White Sox’s off season and and talked about some questions going into Opening Day.

 

Off-Season Review

The White Sox made some off season moves that could lead them to a playoff berth.  However, they do have serious weaknesses as well that they just didn’t end up filling.  Will the White Sox go big or go home?

The Sox started the off season pretty quietly.  Their moves were minimal, but could pay off big.  Most of their moves also came late, they didn’t look like playoff team until late in the off season.  They didn’t start making any moves until late November, and they were small.

They acquired Tommy Kahnle from the Rockies to start, and they signed both Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro at catcher, replacing the trio of Geovany Soto, Tyler Flowers and Rob Brantly.  At the Winter Meetings however, they took part in a blockbuster 3-team trade.  They gave Frankie Montas, Trayce Thompson and Micah Johnson to the Dodgers, who gave the Cincinnati Reds Jose Peraza and Scott Schebler, and the Reds gave Chicago Todd Frazier, their star third baseman.  This was a good move for the rebuilding Reds and the Sox, the Reds needed to go young, and the White Sox needed a starting third baseman.  They also acquired Brett Lawrie from the A’s.  He’s also a 3B, so he’s projected to start at second base instead.

After the meetings, the White Sox were extremely quiet.  It wasn’t until February until they signed any free agent not on the 2015 White Sox, as they re-signed reliever Matt Albers in January.  Then they really went on a shopping spree.  They got starter Mat Latos, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, outfielder Austin Jackson and Travis Ishikawa.  Rollins will fill the hole at shortstop, even after rumors of Ian Desmond coming to the White Sox.  Latos will fill a hole at the bottom of the rotation, and Jackson will bring power to the lineup, but wasn’t necessarily a fit until the whole Adam LaRoche thing.  Now either Avisail Garcia or Melky Cabrera will make room by becoming the new DH.

No matter how many moves they made, the White Sox wouldn’t be any better than 2nd place in a wild card, but I think they can do just that with the bold moves they made, and no more.

 

Opening Day Questions

The rotation looks young and awesome on paper.  Is it for real?

Who knows?  This rotation may be one of the biggest analysis mysteries of the league.  Young pitchers Carlos Rodon and Jose Quintana backed up ace Chris Sale last year, but I think Rodon is being rushed to a crucial position at such a young age, and that concerns me.

Quintana is another story, he’s been in the majors quite a while now and the 26 year old has potential for a monster season.  But sleepers who are projected to breakout aren’t always the kind of guys I like, even though that’s my weakness in predictions, breakouts.

I get it, I don’t like young guys, I don’t like breakout candidates, who do I like?  Yes, the experienced veterans.  Although this league may be getting younger, in my opinion, older veterans can still leave a big mark on the league.  A perfect example is Mat Latos, another White Sox pitcher.  The guy used to be a middle to high rotation guy who was a star, but he’s really tapered off recently, enough to get released by the Dodgers one week before the season ended.  I think he still has his Padres days in him, pitching like that will do the Sox a big favor.

With Quintana on an uptrend, the White Sox have a power three in the rotation with Sale, Quintana and Latos or Rodon, whoever emerges into the White Sox rotation better.  It could be a foursome even.  John Danks has never been the best, but he can pitch, and for now, he’s earned himself the final rotation spot.  So yes, I like this rotation, and think that they will succeed, but there is a chance they won’t perform.

 

Will the off season moves significantly improve the lineup?

Todd Frazier is a big upgrade from a combo of Conor Gillaspie, Tyler Orr and Tyler Saladino in 2015, and I like Austin Jackson as a boost of speed and power in the lineup, and Avisail Garcia can still play in Adam LaRoche’s place.  Jimmy Rollins could do well, but I’m a little worried that he’s lost it at the age he’s at.  Brett Lawrie lost his stuff he had in Toronto too.  It’s funny, Lawrie now sucks, and he was traded to Oakland for defending AL MVP Josh Donaldson who suddenly emerged into a star.  I’m a little worried about the Sox’s lineup, but hey, second and third are an improvement from last year, and that will boost the lineup along with the presence of Austin Jackson.

Is new shortstop Jimmy Rollins going to make an impact this season?

I don’t know.  I liked what he had to prove in Dodger Town but he’s just getting older by the year, it’s life everybody.  He still looked decent in his last years with Philadelphia too.  Rollins got just a minor league deal in Chicago, and after my prediction of Ian Desmond signing here, I was a little disappointed, but Rollins did still enter the off season looking like a top FA shortstop, just nobody wanted to sign him because they wanted someone who would last.  Still, Desmond’s deal was small anyways.  This could be his last year before retirement, but hey, I think he’s had a good career, and he can be a placeholder at short and in the lineup, and have one last acceptable year.

 

White Sox Projected Roster

 

Rotation

 

Chris Sale

Jose Quintana

Mat Latos

Carlos Rodon

John Danks

 

Bullpen

 

David Robertson (CL)

Zach Duke

Dan Jennings

Zach Putnam

Jake Petricka

Matt Albers

Tommy Kahnle

 

Lineup

1. Adam Eaton CF
2. Melky Cabrera DH
3. Jose Abreu 1B
4. Todd Frazier 3B
5. Brett Lawrie 2B
6. Austin Jackson RF
7. Avisail Garcia LF
8. Alex Avila C
9. Jimmy Rollins SS

Bench

 

Carlos Sanchez

J.B. Shuck

Dioner Navarro

Travis Ishikawa

 

That’s all for my analysis on the White Sox.  I will continue this series through the first month of baseball, starting with the Reds coming up next.