Since winning the 2005 World Series, the Chicago White Sox have been under .500 for the third consecutive year and the fourth since bringing home the World Series trophy. The Sox have missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Some key changes might be able to change that from a four-peat of missing the playoffs.
Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen went to be the skipper for the Miami Marlins, and pitching stud Mark Buerhle followed him. Now the Sox have skipper Robin Ventura, and they also have 2007 Cy Young winner Jake Peavy putting up numbers like he had with San Diego. Adam Dunn was batting .159 last season, with 11 home runs and 42 runs batted in. He should be able to play like he had with the Washington Nationals, batting .260 with 38 home runs and 103 runs batted in.
The Sox made some changes to their roster, including former Chicago Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. Kosuke batted 8 home runs and brought in 35 runs while posting a .262 batting average. The Sox, though, got rid of some winners. They traded the beloved Carlos Quentin to the San Diego Padres. Quentin played for four years with Sox, with a batting average of .257 in four years the Sox had him. Quentin also had 107 home runs and 320 RBIs in those four years.
It’s tough to say what the new manager will bring to the team. Robin Ventura has never coached before, but he has an impressive history with the Sox. His career batting average is .267 with 294 homeruns, and an outstanding number of RBIs (1,182). His career rankings include being the third in the category of third basemen with most 90 rbis (8 seasons); and eleventh all time with the highest career slugging average (with a minimum of 1500 games at third base) with an average of .444. Good resume, huh? Let’s see if his statistics as a player can be used to help him coach the 2005 World Series Champions.
With the roster that they have, however, I predict that the Sox will go third place in the AL Central, with a record of 83-79. However, most analysts say that the Sox would go 75-87 and fourth place in the AL Central, making the Sox go under .500 for the fourth consecutive year.