The Tribune and the Sun-Times have taken enough time away from
debating Ozzie Guillen’s patriotism to start pondering the top five questions for the White Sox entering Spring Training.
Oddly enough, 4 1/2 of the five questions from both papers are the same, pointing to either a lack of creativity of a lack of legitimate issues. I’d consider it the latter, because it took me awhile to think of ones that didn’t repeat the same themes.
Here were the ones that matched:
#1: Can Jim Thome and other assorted Sox stay healthy?
#2: Can Brian Anderson handle center field?
#3: Can Uribe hit in the No. 2 spot?
#4: Who will be the bullpen's second lefty?
The
Sun-Times additionally asked “What about Brandon?”, a question the
Tribune addressed in the health issue. The Trib asked about positional depth, which is somewhat redundant when considering they asked about injury issues earlier.
Either way, that’s not a particularly troubling batch of questions. I’ll take my stab at answering them:
#1: Thome’s injuries are the only ones that could potentially cripple the
team, so the Sox better hang onto Ross Gload. Herm Schneider generally
does an excellent job with helping players stay on the course to
recovery, although it seemed he couldn’t do much for Frank Thomas. I’d
consider it a victory if Thome played 120 games, and I wouldn’t mind
seeing a voluntary DL stint or two just to keep him fresh throughout
the season.
Otherwise, Crede has a backup in Mackowiak. Scott Podsednik can be
replaced by Jerry Owens, although Pods can first help himself by not
running so often. Jermaine Dye would be difficult to replace – as it
stands now, Joe Borchard would be the first in line to replace him if
Guillen preferred to keep Mackowiak in the supersub role.
#2:
As I said a couple of days ago, Anderson should be fine as long as he can passably fill in for Aaron Rowand defensively.
#3: Uribe was fine in the No. 2 spot in 2004, hitting .285/.331/.515 in 260
at-bats. I’d put more stock in those numbers than the ones he put up
over 23 at-bats in 2005. He hit for better contact last year, and is
probably the best bunter on the team. I don’t see what the big deal
is. Of course, I’d be happiest with Tadahito Iguchi hitting second and
being allowed to swing the bat like he would in the No. 6 spot, but I
guess Pods has to run.
#4: The easiest job in baseball has to be the second lefty out of the pen –
people are ecstatic whenever you don’t suck. So I’m glad the Sox
avoided spending big money on a Scott Eyre type when he may only pitch
40 innings. What’s strange about the fixation on Lefty No. 2 is that
for years, the best bullpen in baseball has belonged to Anaheim, and
Mike Scioscia typically doesn’t deploy even one lefty reliever. K-Rod,
Brendan Donnelly, Scot Shields and Kelvim Escobar usually overmatch
hitters no matter which side of the plate they’re standing on.
This lefty situation we can explore a bit further. The Sox bullpen will need to put up another year like 2005 before they’re considered on the same level as the Angel firemen, but here’s what the team’s righties did against lefties in terms of OPS (righties’ OPS in parentheses):
Cliff Politte: .579 (.576)
Bobby Jenks: .414 (.795)
Dustin Hermanson: .721 (.556)
Brandon McCarthy: .602 (.879)
Throw in southpaw Neal Cotts, who shut down both lefties and righties, and the Sox should be fine with whatever LOOGY they come up with…as long as it’s not Kevin Walker. Of course, they’d be fine with 11 pitchers, but Ozzie seems hell-bent on carrying 12, so we may as well plan for it.
As far the other half-issues are concerned. I’m happy with McCarthy in the bullpen. We’re all excited to see what he can do, but when Contreras is traded, Tim Redding will be the new emergency starter. Not so fun now, is it?
Depth? Well, the Sox bench can be more balanced than last year depending on who they decide to carry. They’ll have all the positions covered with Ozuna, Mackowiak and Widger, which will leave the last spot between Joe Borchard and Ross Gload – Gload gives them another lefty hitter, while Borchard gives the Sox a true fourth outfielder. I’d be more concerned if the Sox were a NL team.
Now, if I were to come up with five questions that 1) are significant and 2) I couldn’t answer myself, it’d probably be:
#1: How many games can we squeeze out of Thome?Like I said, anything more than 120 would be outstanding, but it’s the No. 1 question mark.
#2: Jose Contreras and Jon Garland – flukes or for real?Both pitchers established new standards of performance, but they’re far from sure things entering the season. That is especially the case for Contreras, who won’t have El Duque as a second pitching coach this year.
#3: Will we see any help from Charlotte or Birmingham? The trades for Javier Vazquez and Thome depleted the farm system of some of its most MLB-ready candidates.
#4: Are Joe Crede and Juan Uribe on the same cycle? Like women who spend a lot of time together, the South Siders’ third baseman and shortstop had their ups and downs at the same time in 2005. If you were to list their months in order from best to worst in terms of OPS, they’d both look like this:
September – April – July – June – May – August
We’ve seen what the offense can do when they’re both hitting.
And finally,
#5: Is Ozzie Guillen un-American or what? We should know after a few more months of solid discussion.