Here's a surprise, Downey picks Cubs and Sox 4th

[caulfield12]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...cs-home-utility

[whitesoxfan101]

You could easily a make a case he's right on both counts right now.

[BearSox]

What will the roster look like come July/August??? Will it be full of guys like Fields, Sweeney, Russell and missing some names such as Dye, Iguchi, Buehrle... or will the White Sox somehow not suck even though right now the org. is putting them in the worst situation to succeed right now...

 

[TitoMB345]

I agree with him. It's going to be a rough year. I hope on all counts I am wrong, though, for the record.

[nitetrain8601]

I shall agree to an extent without even reading the article. I won't say 4th in the division, more like 3rd. Our pitching has looked poopy overall still, hitting's pretty good, but Pods and Erstad as a 1-2 against any pitcher doesn't bode well.

[sircaffey]

I'll be shocked if we finish higher than 3rd. 4th place is a good estimate at the current moment.

[RME JICO]

Baseball Prospectus predicts 72 wins and everyone becomes a pessimist.

 

Everyone had this team neck and neck with Detroit for the Division title, then the Sox trade Garcia and B-Mac and they all of a sudden drop to 3rd, then Hall gets hurt and they are now in 4th.

 

This season will be dependent on how well the rotation performs (especially the big 4).

Edited March 29, 2007 by RME JICO

[Hideaway Lights]

Baseball Prospectus predicts 72 wins and everyone becomes a pessimist.

 

Everyone had this team neck and neck with Detroit for the Division title, then the Sox trade Garcia and B-Mac and they all of a sudden drop to 3rd, then Hall gets hurt and they are now in 4th.

 

None of those moves really matter, it will all be dependent on how well the rotation performs (especially the big 4).

 

1) No, actually everyone railed against that article when it was published. The Sox haven't won less than 75 games in 18 seasons. They shouldn't win less than 80 this year with the talent they have on this team.

 

2) No, everyone still had Detroit and the Sox neck and neck even after the trades, because they somehow expected a miraculous year out of Vazquez and that the fifth starter wouldn't matter. They are now suddenly seeing the reality of the situation.

 

3) The Garcia and B-Mac moves matter a whole lot, since we have a bad pitcher in the 4 slot now and a total question mark in the fifth slot.

 

3rd place is still the most likely outcome.

[shawnhillegas]

"Worse yet, big Bobby Jenks appears to have taken a big step backward. If he can't close, who on this team can?"

 

 

now this is just uninformed. the sox have some problems but thornton and macdougal are perfectly acceptable options to close, and BOOOOOOOONE will have 30 saves in Charlotte this year.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

I hate Chicago Media.

[RME JICO]

1) No, actually everyone railed against that article when it was published. The Sox haven't won less than 75 games in 18 seasons. They shouldn't win less than 80 this year with the talent they have on this team.

 

2) No, everyone still had Detroit and the Sox neck and neck even after the trades, because they somehow expected a miraculous year out of Vazquez and that the fifth starter wouldn't matter. They are now suddenly seeing the reality of the situation.

 

3) The Garcia and B-Mac moves matter a whole lot, since we have a bad pitcher in the 4 slot now and a total question mark in the fifth slot.

 

3rd place is still the most likely outcome.

1. Yes, almost everyone has turned into a pessimist. This team has won more games (including playoffs) than any other team in baseball over the last two years. All teams have holes.

 

 

 

2. Yes, are you kidding me? The sky starting falling when those trades went down. Just look back at the tone of this board before and after those moves.

 

 

 

3. There was only one starter move. Danks for Garcia. That "bad pitcher" was here last year. All I was saying was if the top 4 don't perform better than last year, none of these moves will really matter.

 

 

 

The starting pitching under-performed horribly last year, and the bullpen was pretty bad as well. If the starting pitchers perform between 05-06 levels, and the bullpen is better, there is no reason to believe they will not win 90 games again.

[3 BeWareTheNewSox 5]

I think the season will depend on Vazquez and those bridge guys in the pen. I pretty much know what I'm going to get from everyone else (well Vazquez too, which is what worries me). Not as pessimistic as 4th, I've seen Sox spring trainings before, that changes nothing for me, but was a little worried in the offseason. Still though, we will compete. The division/leauge has some real good teams, but a lot of people overrate them a LOT.

[caulfield12]

I think the season will depend on Vazquez and those bridge guys in the pen. I pretty much know what I'm going to get from everyone else (well Vazquez too, which is what worries me). Not as pessimistic as 4th, I've seen Sox spring trainings before, that changes nothing for me, but was a little worried in the offseason. Still though, we will compete. The division/leauge has some real good teams, but a lot of people overrate them a LOT.

 

The bullpen blew 5-6 games in April and May alone, mostly due to Politte's ineffectiveness, but Cotts, Nelson and Jenks also. Then Jenks wore down in the 2nd half.

 

We just need to survive the month of April without any major injuries and within 7-10 days of outstanding play within first place (or not being in 4th and having to jump two teams), aka hailing distance. The Twins came from 12 games back, but I don't see us having the two shutdown starters to win almost 90% of their starts like the Twins had in Santana and Liriano from June onward last year.

Edited March 29, 2007 by caulfield12

[Rowand44]

This team wont finish 4th.

[ShoeLessRob]

The bullpen blew 5-6 games in April and May alone, mostly due to Politte's ineffectiveness, but Cotts, Nelson and Jenks also. Then Jenks wore down in the 2nd half.

 

We just need to survive the month of April without any major injuries and within 7-10 days of outstanding play within first place (or not being in 4th and having to jump two teams), aka hailing distance. The Twins came from 12 games back, but I don't see us having the two shutdown starters to win almost 90% of their starts like the Twins had in Santana and Liriano from June onward last year.

 

Ha... I forgot all about the Nelson experiment.

[elrockinMT]

How many armchair managers get these things right anyway? I pick Downey for last place. I think the Sox will be contenders and that's all you can ask for or predict right now.