IWishIWasAPro
EOG Master
So many predictions for them to win.
Who else is?
Who else is?
A lot of people drinking the White Sox kool aid?
- Thread starter IWishIWasAPro
- Start date
I've seen this movie before.
The year was 2015.
The White Sox spent $128 million in free agency.
They signed Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche and acquired Jeff Samardzija.
Hopes were high on the south side of Chicago.
The White Sox finished the season with 76 wins.
The year was 2015.
The White Sox spent $128 million in free agency.
They signed Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche and acquired Jeff Samardzija.
Hopes were high on the south side of Chicago.
The White Sox finished the season with 76 wins.
How are they going to get outs? I think they will score some runs but they will give up plenty. Twins lineup probably drooling over it. And the Indians clearly have best staff by far in Central. I think it may come down to how horrible are KC and Detroit. If both combine for no more than 110 wins, then the over has a decent chance. But if both combine for less than 200 losses, no way the Sox get over
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
I've seen this roster construction before - 8 miles north of 35th and Veeck. The main contributors are the younger players in the lineup. They will go as far as their pitching takes them. They have one big advantage over Cleveland - they will add a player or two during the season.
35th and Veeck, I like it.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
The white sox success will be determined by the kids taking the next step, not if encarcion can recapture his form from 3 years ago.
The White Sox were 72-90 last year with huge turnaround seasons by THREE different players. Giolito went from one of the worst starters in MLB in 2018 to a legit All-Star, Tim Anderson went from a .240/.406/.687 to winning a batting title with a .335/.508/.865 line. If someone told me a year ago that Tim Anderson would win the 2019 AL batting title, I would've said they were on crack. Of course a .399 BABIP played a big role. Moncada went from .235/.400/.715 line to .315/.548/.925. Moncada's BABIP? An insane .406. Giolito did make a change in mechanics and IMO is the most likely of the three to repeat their 2019 season. Grandal was the most important addition. He will help both offensively and defensively. Mazara is ok. He won't hurt them. Gio? He pitched a total of 87 innings last year for the Brewers. We will see how many he can go. And Keuchel is a shell of the guy who won the Cy Young.
Last year, the Sox were 3rd worst in strikeout percentage while having the lowest percentage of walks drawn. Hard to see the strikeout numbers improving with additions of Encarnacion, Mazara and Grandal, all who project to fan well over 100 times. So the back of the baseball card looks good on quite a few players, but digging deeper we can see some serious issues. A lot of variance with this team. The upside could be as high as 92 wins. But the floor is a repeat of the 72 wins.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
I’m not totally sold that Renteria can make the next jump Valuist. I’m thinking of Luis Roberts and Eloy Jimenez adding to the lineup. Thr strikeouts will be a concern, like you pointed out. They are third in the division with a lot of upside. Cleveland really doesn’t have any IMO and the Twins are coming off a big year themselves.
I'm not sure if I will play any season win totals for the AL Central. You had two really bad teams last year; one of them historically bad at 47 wins. Detroit expected to lose another 105 games or so. KC is given a bit more hope with about 9 more expected wins. By accident a team should be able to get to 60 wins. I think there's a decent chance we see a return to a more "normal" baseball instead of the juiced superballs. If that's true, we know the Twins aren't going to come close to 300 home runs. Even with a juiced ball, they probably don't approach it, even adding Donaldson. Will the Indians keep Lindor all season? They won over 90 games last year with Kluber only making 7 starts and Carrasco missing most of the season. But the bottom half of their lineup scares nobody. Their season win total is down to 85 1/2. I don't think I can bet that under.