[Santana Traded to the Mets]

Mets, Cubs, Diamondbacks

 

Well it should be a good race for the wildcard at least.

[The Bench]

The Opening Day bench: Owens, Ozuna, Ramirez, Hall

[Swisher, jersey #30]

Couple number changes:

 

Fields will wear 22

Quentin will wear 20

[Uribe vs Richar BATTLE for 2nd Base]

I think it's all talk. I firmly believe both Uribe and Crede will be traded before opening day.

[Octavio Dotel signs with Sox]

I agree.

 

But I also think that Adam Russell breaks camp with the sox. he performed well last year and I look for him to impress again this year.

 

Adam Russell has very little chance of making the Sox out of spring training. He only pitched at AA last year, and had his struggles there. He'll go to Charlotte and hopefully have a nice season there.

 

The bullpen seems set to me: Wassermann, Thornton, Logan, MacDougal, Dotel, Linebrink, Jenks

 

[Starting Lineup]

I'm assuming Crede and Uribe gone

 

vs. Sabathia

 

Cabrera- SS

Swisher- CF

Thome- DH

Konerko- 1B

Dye- RF

Pierzynski- C

Fields- 3B

Quentin- LF

Richar- 2B

 

Vazquez on the mound. Buehrle set up to pitch the home opener.

[Octavio Dotel signs with Sox]

I think we've seen the last of Masset, Sisco, and Aardsma, regardless of their option situations.

 

If they end up signing Dotel, I'd go with a 7-man pen:

 

Wassermann

Logan

MacDougal

Dotel

Thornton

Linebrink

Jenks

 

 

[Octavio Dotel signs with Sox]

This is starting to become embarressing. Reports that we sign a player than he signs elsewhere. I hope for the Sox sake this isn't the case and that he does sign. But i wouldn't be suprised if now goes elsewhere.

 

BFD. The guy has pitched 56 innings over the last 3 years. If he signs with another team, no big deal.

 

$11 million for 2 years seemed farfetched. If he gets more than that, more power to him.

[Floyd vs. Danks]

I think 2008 will be Floyd's breakout season. Assuming about 32 starts, 13-15 wins and 190 innings would be a very good year.

 

To me, Danks is the 5th starter. He has to throw more strikes, and get guys out faster. Pitches way too deep into counts. If that continues into this season, I can see a Jack Egbert or Lance Broadway replace him fairly quickly.

[Swisher, jersey #30]

1 Danny Richar

3 Harold Baines

5 Juan Uribe

7 Jerry Owens

8 Jeff Cox

12 AJ Pierzynski

13 Ozzie Guillen

14 Paul Konerko

17 Carlos Quentin

18 Orlando Cabrera

21 Don Cooper

23 Jermaine Dye

24 Joe Crede

25 Jim Thome

26 Paul Phillips

27 Josh Fields

28 Joey Cora

29 Greg Walker

30 Nick Swisher

32 Brian Anderson

33 Javier Vazquez

34 Gavin Floyd

36 Juan Nieves

37 Matt Thornton

38 Pablo Ozuna

39 Jeff Liefer

40 Charlie Haeger

41 Lance Broadway

43 Ehren Wassermann

44 Toby Hall

45 Bobby Jenks

46 Nick Masset

47 Mike MacDougal

48 Scott Linebrink

49 Carlos Vasquez

50 John Danks

51 Andrew Sisco

52 Jose Contreras

53 DJ Carrasco

54 David Aardsma

55 Donny Lucy

56 Mark Buehrle

57 Boone Logan

58 Oneli Perez

59 Mark Salas

60 Dewon Day

61 Adam Russell

62 Jack Egbert

63 Cole Armstrong

64 Lucas Harrell

66 Brad Eldred

67 Mike Rouse

68 Jason Bourgeois

70 Royce Huffman

71 Miguel Negron

74 Chris Getz

75 Ryan Smith

[Tigers not a lock for AL Central title]

Barring a trade or injury, the Sox order will be Vazquez, Buehrle, Contreras, Floyd, Danks.

[Tigers not a lock for AL Central title]

Why can't we just give those two a chance? Danks is a bulldog, he showed me a lot last year. He doesn't hang his head, he just goes back out there and pitches. Now he has a year under his belt and one of the better lefties to learn from in Buerhle. Floyd is definitely more of a question mark, but he has the stuff, and he's the 5th starter and someone that can be replaced or skipped easily, especially at the beginning of the year. If all SPs can pitch to their potential, you have a very good rotation.

 

I agree with you, and I don't agree with you.

 

I agree with you about giving thes guys a chance, but I think Danks is more of a question mark. He had a really BAD second half last year. He had 8 quality starts out of 26.

 

Floyd had 6 out of 10 quality starts, and I really liked his mound presence late in the year. I hope I see that in spring training, and for about 32 starts this season.

 

As for the overall team, they have a lot of question marks, but they have a lot of talent on this. A lot of things have to come together, but I think they can contend. I'm looking forward to seeing Richar, Quentin, and Fields play a full season with the Sox. Those three may play a huge role in whether the Sox are poised for a championship in the next few years.

[Rich Gossage: A Hall of Famer]

He had his Hall of Fame press conference today (mlb.com), and he was really a class guy.

 

I'm sure during his his induction speech, Chuck Tanner and Dick Allen will get major mentions.

 

I didn't see him pitch for the Sox, but it's cool he's been vocal about his time with the Sox, and not just focusing on the Yankees years.

[The White Sox and Alexei Ramírez agree to 4 year deal]

Ramirez was supposed to have a physical shortly after New Year's, before the deal was finalized. Anyone heard if that went through OK?

 

I've heard he's having trouble getting out of the Dominican, with Visa issues or whatever. I would assume it'll be finalized in the next two weeks.