2011 MLB Preview: Chicago White Sox

2010 Record: 88-74

Lineup:

1 Juan Pierre OF
2 Alexei Ramirez SS
3 Adam Dunn DH
4 Paul Konerko 1B
5 Alex Rios OF
6 Carlos Quentin
7 Gordon Beckham 2B
8 Brent Morel 3B
9 A.J. Pierzynski C

Bringing in Adam Dunn I thought was a great move by the White Sox. Dunn has had DH written all over him for years, and now that he is protected by guys like Konerko and Rios he should easily hit 40 HRs. The big thing for the White Sox is not having guys take a step back. Rios and Konerko had great seasons last year, if they do it again then this might be one of the most dangerous lineups in the MLB. Even if they don't think lineup is still going to put up a lot of runs. I am really interested to see if Gordon Beckham is going to live up to any of his hype. I'm personally not sold on him at all, but if he can improve and Quentin can stay healthy this will be a great lineup top to bottom.

Rotation:

1 John Danks
2 Mark Buehrle
3 Gavin Floyd
4 Edwin Jackson
5 Jake Peavy
CL: Matt Thornton

I really like this rotation. Granted that could be because two of these guys are keepers in my AL only keeper league (Danks/Floyd). Danks had a career year last season and seems like he is really making strides to become an "ace". Floyd was great from June through Auguest, then ran out of steam and got lit up. If can he play like he did midsummer that would be huge from this team. I don't really know how much Buehrle has left in the tank, and that makes the play of Floys just that much more important. I have always loved Edwin Jackson, and I see him winning 13-15 games this year for the White Sox. The wild card in all of this is Peavy. As of now he has looked fantastic this spring and should start the year in the rotation. IF he can stay healthy this will be an incredibly good rotation. Their bullpen should be good if Chris Sale lives of up his hype, and Thornton has always been solid for them.

Overall:

I really like this team. They have a lot of power in that lineup, and their additions this offseason only made it better. On top of that they have a very good rotation, especially if Peavy proves to be healthy. I see big things for the White Sox this year.

2011 Record: 96-66