Mound Talk

2007 was a hard year for the Chicago White Sox as they continued to fall from 2005 World Series form. Near the end of the year they were in last place behind the Royals but they were able to finish forth, three games ahead of the Royals. They largely maintained their 2005 team but their aging players and lack of depth in their farm system has prevented them for have capable replacements when injuries and poor performance occur.

The White Sox 2007 payroll was at $108.6 million (they had $9.5 million coming from the Phillies and Diamondbacks to help pay the contracts of Jim Thome and Javier Vazquez) and should continue to stay in that range. Chicago has already addressed a few of their issues heading into the 2008 season with the free agent signing of Scott Linebrink (RP) and the trades bringing in Orlando Cabrera (SS) and Carlos Quentin (LF). They would still like to bring in a center fielder but many of the free agent centerfielders have been signed. They may try to make a trade for the Red Sox Coco Crisp, Angels’ Gary Matthews Jr or the Dodgers Juan Pierre. Pierre would require lesser prospects to obtain and they may not have to take on his entire salary. Crisp would be a lower risk with his contract but would garner a higher prospect and they would have to wait for the final decision with the Johan Santana deal (Crisp could be part of the that deal), The Angels seem content to hold on to Matthews but would be willing to trade him in the right deal.

Potential players leaving

Scott Posednik (OF) – $2.9 million
Darin Erstad (OF) - $1 million
Mike Myers (RP) - $0.38 million

The White Sox have $8.78 million coming off their books (They received $1.5 million from the Angels in the Garland/Cabrera trade to offset Cabrera’s salary), and after salary increases they will be increasing their payroll by $6.8 million. It is unlikely that Chicago will bring back any of their free agents and could be done with any major free agent pickups for the year. They could still use a centerfielder but the only likely free agent targets for them would be Mike Cameron or Corey Patterson. Kenny Anderson has a tendency to do something each off-season but the Garland/Cabrera trade could likely be it. The White Sox are an aging team and do not go through rebuilding times so it is unlikely they will make any trades to build their farm system. The one exception could be Joe Crede which would Josh Fields the third base job permanently. Crede’s recent injuries could scare several teams away but if they do trade him the Dodgers and the Phillies would be the most likely destinations. If they trade with the Dodgers their could be a swap of Crede for Pierre and depending on who picks up how much of salaries the Dodgers would likely have to send someone else in the deal.

Strengths

Starting Staff – The starting staff isn’t one of the best in the AL but it is solid and consistent. It will be interesting to see how Gavin Floyd does filling in after the departure of Jon Garland. Mark Buehrle may not be an ace but he is a solid number one starter who has pitched 200+ innings every season since 2001 with an ERA under 3.80. Jose Contreras and Javier Vazquez can be an adventure but when they are on their game they make this staff very imposing. The wild cards that could make or break this team are Gavin Floyd and John Danks, if they can continue to improve it will go a long way to making this team competitive.

Weaknesses

Bullpen – The White Sox bullpen finished 12th in the league in ERA and WHIP & 13th in K/BB. They have a solid closer in Bobby Jenks and he appears to be getting better. His strikeout rates have gone down but so has his ERA and WHIP, he is starting to become a pitcher instead of a thrower. They tried to upgrade the bullpen with the acquisition of Scott Linebrink but they over paid for his services and he has been declining in production over the last couple years. He is an upgrade to the bullpen now but will likely be part of the problem in the near future. The rest of the pen isn’t very good and they do not have any good young arms to bring up to replace guys. Until they are able to upgrade this area they can not be competitive in the AL Central regardless of the success of their starters.

Off-season Priorities

Chicago has already fulfilled some of their off-season priorities. They upgraded left field with the trade for Carlos Quentin, shortstop with Cabrera and the bullpen with Linebrink.

They still need a centerfielder and have some options through free agency for trade. The only trade that seems to fit for them would be with the Dodgers for Juan Pierre. The Dodgers may still be looking to upgrade at third base with a veteran and a Crede for Pierre swap would make a lot of sense for both teams. Mike Cameron may be out of their price range, for what his production will be, and they may not be sure Corey Patterson is a big enough upgrade over Jerry Owens.

The bullpen needs a major overhaul but Chicago may have prevented themselves from upgrading through free agency after they set the salary expectations for this class after their signing of Linebrink. Relievers who would be an upgrade for them are likely now to command too much to make it feasible for the White Sox to pick one of them up. If they want to go for some low cost options they could target Eddie Guardado, Jorge Julio or Aaron Sele, although none of them would be significant upgrades. Their only likely minor league call up would be Gio Gonzalez and while he is a starting pitcher they may give him a shot to get time in the majors as a reliever and move him over to a starter during the season if needed or in 2009.

The White Sox farm system is in shambles and they do not have any major league ready talent to come up. They have some guys who could fill gaps due to injuries but no one to take over a starting role permanently. Check out Koby’s Top 10 rankings for the White Sox farm system.