Location: Chicago, Ill. | Ballpark: U.S. Cellular Field (40,615) | Spring Training: Glendale, Ariz.
Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf | GM: Ken Williams | Manager: Ozzie Guillen | World Championships: 3
Season in seven words: "We're competing! We're bailing! We're competing! Etc." ... Hero: There were no real world-beaters here, so bully to the trio of Mark Buehrle, Jon Danks and Gavin Floyd, who combined for more than 600 above-average innings ... Loserhead: Again, nobody really stunk up the joint that badly. Even perennial Power Rankings punching bag Scotty Podsednik exceeded expectations ... Key need: A few chill pills for GM Ken Williams, who's more hyperactive personnel-wise than anyone with whom I've ever been in a rotisserie league. The quick-fix approach can't be sustained for long ... Prognosis: They'll need to add a few hitters, but the Peavy/Buehrle/Danks/Floyd rotation alone makes them the early 2010 favorite in the AL Central.
09/29/2009
21
19
Uh-oh. Ozzie's playing the "these young kids today, they gotta have more respect for the game" card again. Can a formal apology, a make-good donation to some inadvertently slurred minority population and government-mandated sensitivity training be far behind? ... I know we're not supposed to project future performance into our Rookie of the Year selection, but I'd still have a hard time choosing anyone -- the silky Elvis Andrus, the surging-at-long-last Matt Wieters, whoever -- over Gordon Beckham. What Beckham was able to do -- learn and occasionally excel at an unfamiliar position, while wielding the bat to the tune of a .272/.349/.467 line -- is no small achievement.
09/22/2009
19
16
A goodly percentage of the time, Carlos Quentin looks miserable while playing baseball. Somebody give that dude a lollipop. ... I'm sure Jake Peavy wants to pitch, but there's little to gain by trotting him out there at a time when he's very possibly less than 100 percent. "Making the GM look slightly less dumb" isn't reason enough.
09/15/2009
16
17
Gotta love Ozzie Guillen's martyr act in the wake of this fiasco, complete with a monologue about how he ought to be blamed for everything short of the power-sander currently being deployed outside my window. ... Alex Rios: "I'm not pressing." Me: "Then, Jesus, press! Press harder than you've ever pressed before! Do some $&%#in' thing!"
09/08/2009
17
18
Oh, so now they start winning games against above-average competition. ... Let me give the White Sox this much: Few franchises are as compelling to observe from afar. Now that we've entered an era in which prospects and the possibility of drafting more prospects trump actual, proven talent in many teams' minds, the White Sox remain one of the few risk-takers out there (go ahead, just try and find a story about the team or GM Ken Williams that doesn't employ the phrase "roll the dice" or some other tortured gambling metaphor). I love moves like the Jake Peavy trade and the Alex Rios waiver claim from a guy-who-analyzes-stuff perspective. Of course, I'm not so sure I'd love that kind of high-stakes recklessness if I were a fan. ... As for on-the-field stuff, maybe they oughta shut down Carlos Quentin for the year. He's moving as if carrying the unrequited hopes and dreams of Cubs fans on his shoulders.
09/01/2009
18
16
A certified FOPRRP (Friend Of Power Rankings' Ranking Person) bet the over on a 77-win season for the White Sox back in March. Even with the team's slow descent into sub-mediocrity in recent weeks, I thought he would win that wager with ease. Until last night. Holy white flag. ... If the White Sox played in any other division –- the NL East, the ACC, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, whatever -– we would long since have stopped paying attention. But the Peavy and Rios deals, and the implicit "we're going for it, dude!" message they sent, kept the ChiSox in the spotlight. Now that they've reversed course and punted, they're basically an object of ridicule. This won't be a fun week for Ken Williams.
08/25/2009
16
15
Losing two of three to a young, indifferent Orioles squad playing out the string isn't any way to bolster your we-are-for-real candidacy. ... Once again: This is a mediocre team playing, uh, mediocrily. If you've got evidence to the contrary, please send it my way.
08/18/2009
15
14
Heck to Betsy, it's fun to watch Gordon Beckham play. ... Kidney stones or no, Bobby Jenks just can't be giving up game-winning dingers to the likes of Mark Ellis at this point in the season. If Jenks is still a closer with a capital "C" next season, in Chicago or elsewhere, somebody didn't do his homework.
08/11/2009
14
14
Say what you want about the White Sox and GM Ken Williams' frequent lapping at the trough of unconventional wisdom. But in the wake of the Jake Peavy acquisition and the Alex Rios donation, he's acting aggressively to grab once-coveted players when their value is at its nadir. That's a smart way to go about your business, price tag be damned ... The Rios acquisition really helps, if for nothing other than his defensive prowess and the upgrade he represents over Scott Podsednik (who does, to be fair, lead the AL in cheeriness and slide-induced raspberries). He makes the roster much, much more flexible. Nicely done.
08/04/2009
14
12
Week 2 of the Sox's baptism by schedule fire ended in much the same manner that Week 1 did: without a verdict. They looked dreadful against the Twins and beat the religion out of the Yankees' pitchers in winning three of four. To recap: Their record in 15 games against the Rays, Tigers, Twins and Yankees: 7-8. So far, they've revealed themselves to be exactly what we suspected they were: a thoroughly average team destined to flitter just above .500 before running out of games in September ... Up next: three against the Angels, then a 2½-week breather against the Indians, Mariners, A's, Royals and Orioles.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/16/2009
23
-
Before you start sending cards and letters: I recognize that the White Sox were a playoff team last year. I also recognize that my calendar currently reads "2009," not "2008" or "2005." ... The rotation should be solid enough, even assuming some regression from 2008 surprise Gavin Floyd. It's the everyday gang that should give Chisox fans pause. I count one guy on the way up (Carlos Quentin) and four on the way down (Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski), plus nobody seems to know who will man third base (a Fields/Betemit platoon?), second or center field. This could be ugly.
