I was going to take a look at what I thought would be the White Sox anticipated 2006 lineup, but Winning Ugly beat me to the punch (and did a much nicer job then I would have). The only difference I have is that Tad Iguchi will probably bat second and Juan Uribe will probably hit seventh or lower. Of course time will tell. Here’s some additional thoughts.
Out lineup has a lot more punch then it did last year. At least it should. You’d hope Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko could replicate what they did last year with the wild card being Jim Thome. Personally, I think Thome is going to hit 40 homeruns this coming year. Maybe 50. He’s had plenty of time to rest his injuries and you’d hope we did our due diligence when the physical happened. Last year, I predicted a breakout season for Joe Crede and I was wrong. This year he’ll turn 28, which is magical in some ways (most players breakout right around 28) so I’m hoping Crede can put it together and finally hit 30 dingers.
The other thing that impresses me is the rotation which is essentially six deep. Brandon McCarthy will probably be the odd man out. Having Jose Contreras as essentially your fifth best starter isn’t too shabby. Out of the bullpen, we’ll have Bobby Jenks for an entire season with Dustin Hermanson and Cliff Politte as setup men. McCarthy will be a spot starter/long relief and hopefully Guillen will get him as many innings as he gave Luis Vizcaino (70) last year.
In conclusion, while the White Sox won’t be the best offensive team, they’ll at least be in the top half (as opposed to the bottom half last year). Their pitching will be the best in the American League. I see them repeating in the AL Central.
