2023 AL Central Predictions

[Tnetennba]

2 hours ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

I just can't fathom how we can get worse with the following happening:

1. Got rid of Larussa.

2. Got rid of our DH who played LF.

3. Got rid of our 1B who played RF

4.  Gradal, Moncada, Giolito, Kelly, Leury had career bad years.

5. Eloy, Robert, Lynn, Kopech and Anderson, missed gobs of time. crochet whole season

 

I think people will be shocked how a competent OF makes a difference.  Sure we lost abreu (though I'd argue this makes us better), Hendriks (assume whole year), and Cueto after his best year in 5 years. Obviously our injury prone players will get hurt again, but to that extent?  And practically all of them?  

But our lineup is FAR more balanced (which matters) and our defense will take massive strides.  Plus we have a coach that won't fall asleep each game. I just can fathom being worse than last year. 

Hey, I hope I'm wrong.   If they win 90+ and take the division I will happily admit how wrong I was.  It just feels to me that way more has to go right.  Again.  There are a lot of IFs being counted on, and they haven't exactly had the most inspiring offseason.

[ChiSox59]

9 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

Not lose their best offensive player, their 2nd(?) best starting pitcher, and probably their closer for a good chuck if not all of the season?  I haven't followed them too closely, but I think they will feast on the Sox, KC, and Detroit enough to have a better record.

Interesting take considering they were worse than the Sox last year, and did lose a good bit of their roster and didn't have a manager that was basically throwing games.  

As @Squirmin' for Yerminand @hogan873 alluded to above, it sure feels like most these takes of the Sox being bad are just being negative for the sake of being negative and completely ignore context and what has happened around the rest of the division.  

[Tnetennba]

11 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Interesting take considering they were worse than the Sox last year, and did lose a good bit of their roster and didn't have a manager that was basically throwing games.  

As @Squirmin' for Yerminand @hogan873 alluded to above, it sure feels like most these takes of the Sox being bad are just being negative for the sake of being negative and completely ignore context and what has happened around the rest of the division.  

I'm not being negative just for the sake of being negative.  Being critical doesn't automatically equate to negativity.  I don't have a lot of faith left to put in the FO, and rationally I just don't see all of the IFs bouncing the Sox way.  There are simply too many questions unanswered for me to be confident that they will be significantly better aside from excising the massive cancer that was TLR.  If that is negative simply for negativity's sake, then I can't help you.  I may not share your optimism, but I'd like to think there is some level of objectivity in my views.  Again, I hope I am wrong, and everything breaks right, and instead of rehashing everything that went wrong we are celebrating come October.  I just can't squint that hard at this point.

[SoxBlanco]

3 hours ago, ChiSox59 said:

What have the Twins done to improve from a team that lost 2 more games than the Sox last year? 

I’m not sure how anyone can look at the two rosters side by side and think the Twins are better. 

[pcq]

The negativity here is obsessive and disease-worthy. I would tell them to take up soccer. If you come here to hate on your team every day something is wrong.

[hogan873]

3 minutes ago, pcq said:

The negativity here is obsessive and disease-worthy. I would tell them to take up soccer. If you come here to hate on your team every day something is wrong.

After being pessimistic and grumpy for far too long, I decided to be more hopeful.  I was just getting too angry.  I recognize that the team should be better constructed, but that's not on the players.  I do feel pretty good about the 2023 team, knowing that a lot of stuff has to go right.  But a s%*# ton of stuff went wrong last year, and they still ended up at .500.

[Lip Man 1]

Things may change for the better when new ownership arrives, at least there is a chance it will do so. Until then enjoy what you can and hope to live long enough to see it. 

[CentralChamps21]

Sox 84-78

Guardians 82-80

Twins 79-83

Tigers 71-91

Royals 70-92

Wild Card Round: (6) Mariners 2, (3) Sox 1

[chitownsportsfan]

48 minutes ago, pcq said:

The negativity here is obsessive and disease-worthy. I would tell them to take up soccer. If you come here to hate on your team every day something is wrong.

Didn't know you had an account here Stone Pony.

[Bob Sacamano]

11 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Didn't know you had an account here Stone Pony.

Stone Pony or Don Cooper.

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

2 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Given the track record of this ownership/franchise it is well deserved. 

Then stop following the team.

[Lip Man 1]

12 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Then stop following the team.

Looks like you are one of those fans who can't fathom reality. That's not my doing nor my concern. 

In sports the numbers don't lie, like TLR told me, at the end of the day it's all about if you win or lose.

That being said the White Sox are part of my collective memory for as far back as I can recall. I became a fan around 1960 when I was five. This will be my 63rd season. 

I won't turn my back on them but I will keep calling out their stupidity and dysfunction (which the record clearly shows) and hope to outlive current ownership and see a better situation.

If that bothers you, again, that is not my concern.

[ChiSox59]

2 hours ago, Tnetennba said:

I'm not being negative just for the sake of being negative.  Being critical doesn't automatically equate to negativity.  I don't have a lot of faith left to put in the FO, and rationally I just don't see all of the IFs bouncing the Sox way.  There are simply too many questions unanswered for me to be confident that they will be significantly better aside from excising the massive cancer that was TLR.  If that is negative simply for negativity's sake, then I can't help you.  I may not share your optimism, but I'd like to think there is some level of objectivity in my views.  Again, I hope I am wrong, and everything breaks right, and instead of rehashing everything that went wrong we are celebrating come October.  I just can't squint that hard at this point.

I get all that and think its fair, but the Twins and Guardians also need an awful lot to go right (either again in the case of the Guardians, or different than 22 in the case of the Twins).  That just gets completely ignored in the analysis of the division by many.  

[Jack Parkman]

2 hours ago, SoxBlanco said:

I’m not sure how anyone can look at the two rosters side by side and think the Twins are better. 

I'm not sure how anyone can look at the two rosters side by side and think the Sox are better without overrating the crap out of the Sox hitters. 

The Twins lineup is superior and the they also have way more depth on the pitching side, even if the Sox have higher end pitchers at the top of the rotation. 

The Sox are, at best, a 3rd place team in the ALC and depending on what KC does they could even be 4th. The only team the Sox are definitively better than is Detroit. 

There's a reason why even with bounceback seasons from Sox players, Zips has the Sox at 74 wins. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Jack Parkman

[Snopek]

44 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'm not sure how anyone can look at the two rosters side by side and think the Sox are better without overrating the crap out of the Sox hitters. 

The Twins lineup is superior and the they also have way more depth on the pitching side, even if the Sox have higher end pitchers at the top of the rotation. 

The Sox are, at best, a 3rd place team in the ALC and depending on what KC does they could even be 4th. The only team the Sox are definitively better than is Detroit. 

There's a reason why even with bounceback seasons from Sox players, Zips has the Sox at 74 wins. 

I'm not all that optimistic about the Sox, but how can you say the Twins lineup is superior without, you know, overrating the crap out of the Twins hitters?

[SoxBlanco]

1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'm not sure how anyone can look at the two rosters side by side and think the Sox are better without overrating the crap out of the Sox hitters. 

The Twins lineup is superior and the they also have way more depth on the pitching side, even if the Sox have higher end pitchers at the top of the rotation. 

The Sox are, at best, a 3rd place team in the ALC and depending on what KC does they could even be 4th. The only team the Sox are definitively better than is Detroit. 

There's a reason why even with bounceback seasons from Sox players, Zips has the Sox at 74 wins. 

I guess that’s why they play games. Can’t wait to find out who is correct. 

[Lip Man 1]

1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'm not sure how anyone can look at the two rosters side by side and think the Sox are better without overrating the crap out of the Sox hitters. 

The Twins lineup is superior and the they also have way more depth on the pitching side, even if the Sox have higher end pitchers at the top of the rotation. 

The Sox are, at best, a 3rd place team in the ALC and depending on what KC does they could even be 4th. The only team the Sox are definitively better than is Detroit. 

There's a reason why even with bounceback seasons from Sox players, Zips has the Sox at 74 wins. 

The Sox season will live or die on health. They simply don't have a lot of depth to withstand the rash of injuries that have hit this franchise at all levels since around 2018.

[Jack Parkman]

34 minutes ago, Snopek said:

I'm not all that optimistic about the Sox, but how can you say the Twins lineup is superior without, you know, overrating the crap out of the Twins hitters?

If we get the same baseball as last year, Eloy and Robert are the only Sox hitters capable of 20+ HR. Maybe Grandal if he stays healthy. 

Twins have a way more powerful lineup. Even with all of the crap, the Sox still hit for average last year. It didn't matter much. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Jack Parkman

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Looks like you are one of those fans who can't fathom reality. That's not my doing nor my concern. 

In sports the numbers don't lie, like TLR told me, at the end of the day it's all about if you win or lose.

That being said the White Sox are part of my collective memory for as far back as I can recall. I became a fan around 1960 when I was five. This will be my 63rd season. 

I won't turn my back on them but I will keep calling out their stupidity and dysfunction (which the record clearly shows) and hope to outlive current ownership and see a better situation.

If that bothers you, again, that is not my concern.

I absolutely fathom reality. But from the looks of it, this team provides you no happiness whatsoever. If that is indeed the case, then I don’t understand what you gain from following the team.

[Harry Chappas]

18 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The Sox season will live or die on health. They simply don't have a lot of depth to withstand the rash of injuries that have hit this franchise at all levels since around 2018.

Can't that be said of every AL Central team and 90% of MLB?

[Snopek]

23 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

If we get the same baseball as last year, Eloy and Robert are the only Sox hitters capable of 20+ HR. Maybe Grandal if he stays healthy. 

Twins have a way more powerful lineup. Even with all of the crap, the Sox still hit for average last year. It didn't matter much. 

But by that logic, it's the same for the Twins. Correa and Buxton. Maybe Polanco if he stays healthy. Gallo had 19, so if we get the same baseball as last year, not him.

[DirtySox]

29 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

I absolutely fathom reality. But from the looks of it, this team provides you no happiness whatsoever. If that is indeed the case, then I don’t understand what you gain from following the team.

This is just his shtick. Repeatedly complains and whines about the same things ad nauseum while frequently mentioning his "sources" and linking to his articles. He's been doing for it years on WSI and now he's made his way to Soxtalk. It's become beyond obnoxious.

[Lip Man 1]

1 hour ago, Harry Chappas said:

Can't that be said of every AL Central team and 90% of MLB?

There is some truth to your comment but given the dysfunction as well apparently in the Sox training, medical and conditioning staffs, it appears to be even more critical to this team that they actually stay on the field. 

Keep in mind the Sox have gone through three head trainers in the past few years, Herm, the guy who is suing for discrimination (sorry I can't remember his name right now) and James Kruk. They have gone through strength and conditioning coaches like Alan Thomas and Dale Torborg and the Senior Medical Advisor, Mike Reinold, was fired by the Red Sox for giving the players Toradol which was illegal.

They have had their problems. They have got to figure out a way to keep the key players in this rebuild on the field and not on the IR list.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Lip Man 1

[Lip Man 1]

33 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

This is just his shtick. Repeatedly complains and whines about the same things ad nauseum while frequently mentioning his "sources" and linking to his articles. He's been doing for it years on WSI and now he's made his way to Soxtalk. It's become beyond obnoxious.

Dirty: You have the option to place all my comments on ignore if you wish.

It won't bother me in the slightest.

Would love to be all sunshine and roses about the Sox but the numbers don't lie do they? 

Just have a winning season this year...at least that's something positive.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Lip Man 1

[ChiSox59]

1 hour ago, DirtySox said:

This is just his shtick. Repeatedly complains and whines about the same things ad nauseum while frequently mentioning his "sources" and linking to his articles. He's been doing for it years on WSI and now he's made his way to Soxtalk. It's become beyond obnoxious.

I have him on ignore but can’t help myself sometimes. Had him ignored on WSI back in the day too. I see him pop up on Twitter all the time. Always the same BS. Quite a way to go about fandom…all those years. Mercy!