Steve9347 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 they have them over the Cards. Championship cooking By Stan McNeal - SportingNews To craft a great dish, you first need the right ingredients. The same goes for a championship baseball team. Just look at the White Sox. They again have all the components required by the Sporting News' winning recipe for a World Series champion: # Rotation as deep as Giordano's stuffed pizza. # Bullpen as hearty as a pot roast. (Steve EDIT: I'm not so sure about this one!) # Enough power to make Emeril unleash a "Bam!" # Bench as versatile as ground beef. # A dash of speed. # A special ambience in the clubhouse. Mix in master chef Ozzie Guillen's ability to set the team temperature to happy and the White Sox should be cooking for the next six months. Although the defending World Series champions may be a prime choice to wash down the season with champagne in late October, no fewer than 21 other clubs will begin 2006 with a legitimate chance of tasting the playoffs. Say what you want about revenue disparities -- and they're still there -- but only eight teams will start the season without enough in their cupboards to contend: the Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Nationals, Orioles, Reds, Rockies and Royals. And when you consider no team has repeated since the Yankees in 2000 and that long shots have won two of the past three World Series, it's easy to work up an appetite for another sweet season. The necessary ingredients # Starting pitching # Power to score # Productive leadoff hitter # Lights-out bullpen # Deep bench TSN's postseason predictions ALDS White Sox over Red Sox Yankees over A's ALCS White Sox over Yankees NLDS Cardinals over Braves Mets over Giants NLCS Cardinals over Mets World Series White Sox over Cardinals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hi8is Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 id have to say that those are pretty solid predictions all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodAsGould Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 only thing im worried about our bullpen right now is Jenks... if he can repeat last seasons performance I think we are set and ready to rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Mar 23, 2006 -> 02:15 PM) only thing im worried about our bullpen right now is Jenks... if he can repeat last seasons performance I think we are set and ready to rock. I have to agree. If he is what we think he is then the back end of the bullpen is nailed down. If he can't perform then the bullpen gets real shakey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pants Rowland Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 YAWN! Can we PLEASE get this season started?! I am so tired of talking about predictions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 From ESPN Towards the bottom • Amid reports that Bobby Jenks' velocity is down this spring, the White Sox say they're not concerned. They clocked him at 95-96 mph in a Cactus League game against the Cubs on Saturday. While Jenks always warrants monitoring because of his history of weight and maturity issues, one big-league GM thinks he should be OK. "Two years ago Joe Nathan was throwing 90-91 in spring training and people said, 'He's going to close for the Twins?'" the GM said. "Then as soon as the lights go on, he's throwing 98 with a 90-mph slider. I don't think closers turn the dial up sometime until they need to." Let's hope that's the case. There's also something written under it about a certain former Sox prospect. I hope people don't get pissed off, I know this is a touchy subject, but it makes the Sox look good: • After Mariners center fielderJeremy Reed hit .409 for the White Sox's Double-A Birmingham club in 2003, Baseball Prospectus labeled him its No. 2 prospect and tossed around a few Tony Gwynn and Don Mattingly comparisons. The hype seemed overblown when Reed hit .254 with a .674 combined on base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) for Seattle last season. Reed's fans in front offices cite a wrist injury for his offensive problems, but there's skepticism among scouts that he'll never develop into an impact offensive player. "He's good defensively," a scout said. "But he doesn't show a lot of bat speed, and he doesn't run all that well for a table-setter." Now the most prominent comparable to Reed is Mark Kotsay, and even that might be wishful thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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