Chicago White Sox

2009: 79-83 (3rd)

So Long: Scott Podsednik, Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Octavio Dotel, Chris Getz, Josh Fields, Dewayne Wise, Jon Link, John Ely, Wilson Betemit, Jerry Owens, Bartono Colon

Welcome: J.J. Putz, Juan Pierre, Mark Kotsay, Mark Teahen, Omar Vizquel, Freddy Garcia, Ramon Castro, Andruw Jones

Projected Starting Lineup (courtesy of rototimes.com)

1. Juan Pierre
2. Gordon Beckham
3. Alex Rios
4. Carlos Quentin
5. Paul Konerko
6. A.J. Pierzynski
7. Alexei Ramirez
8. Mark Teahen
9. Andruw Jones

Rotation - Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Freddy Garcia
Setup - Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton
Closer - Bobby Jenks

Last year was a bit of a disappointment for the Sox but Kenny Williams is always looking to make the next move, sensible or not. He managed to land Jake Peavy last year along with Alex Rios. Those TWO guys combined will earn more than $111 million over the next five years. He also managed to bring in a couple of wily veterans. Teahen has a lot of upside but hasn't hit very well in about 5 years. Vizquel is old enough to be the father of a few guys on the team and Pierre has been rolling balls down the lines for the past few months waiting for the opportunity to not get on base. Andruw Jones....why the hell not? And, of course everyone from the tire yards to the public housing can't stop raving about golden boy Gordon Beckham. Will he be the phenom that everyone expects or will be turn into Josh Fields 2.0?

The pitching for the south-siders looks much better than their offense. Buehrle will continue to pitch quickly and inconsistently. Expect ~4000 references to his perfect game this year from Hawk. Peavy is still a bit of an injury question mark but all signs point to him being back to 100%. Let's see how he holds up changing venues from a pitchers park to U.S. Cellular. This is probably Jenks' last chance to prove himself before they cut the cord. Look for impressive seasons from John Danks and Gavin Floyd.

PRESEASON AWARDS

If this team were a disease/ailment it would be: Chicken Pox. Why the chicken pox you ask? Because no one cares about the chicken pox anymore. There's a vaccine to prevent it now and no one should contract it ever again. This team is a mix of very young and extremely old ball players and won't be able to generate the wins needed to pass the Twins and probably the Tigers to win the division. They started to clean house this past season but signing Rios to a huge deal was a big step backwards. Until they make some changes, look for a spotty performance.

The Innernetz Award: Ozzie Guillen has discovered Twitter. Nothing is safe. Now we don't have to wait for snippets on the news or SportsCenter to enjoy his thoughts on things from the lovely towns in Arizona during spring training to recreation to foreign relations. Keep 'em coming Ozzie.

The Methusehla Award: Omar Vizquel. This guy is going on 43 and in his 22nd season in the bigs. Forty. Three. To compare, the youngest guy on the active roster is Gordon Beckham who will be turning 24 in September. Someone hide the Brylcreem.