How good is a team, where the go North with Bartolo Colon?
Where is all this great young talent Kenny has gotten?
Which is worst the AL Central or NL Central?
Is Wise an everday player/leadoff man( where are all you OBP freaks)?
This team is still old in key postions Dye,AJ,Paulie and Thome if one of them goes down who does Ozzie plug-in?
MCDougal makes this team how good is the middle relieve?

A lot of questions for a divisional winner

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

There were more questions than this in 2005. You never know.

The key to this team offensively is CQ and Ramirez. They both have career years and a solid pitching 1-4 and we take this division easily in my non biased opinion (dont look at my avatar).

Probably not that good at least in the starting pitching.

Still coming up through the minors (maybe they should send a hitting instructor down there.

I am going to go with the NL Central... they have more teams, so therefore more bad.

This is not in the form of a question.
Whoever plays that position and is in a backup role on the team.

Probably better than McDougal in your eyes if you believe that McDougal is the worst of the middle relieve on the team.

I provided you with some answers free of charge!

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I'll answer all of these questions on August 30th.

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a FEW questions?! ah, marone.

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Member of the 1 username club.

1) As good as just about every other team in baseball. I will judge them more on the top of the rotation. I have a feeling Danks and Floyd are going to be great this year.

2) Well Getz, Ramirez, Fields, Quinten, Danks, Floyd and Richard will all be at the Cell on April 6. Beckham, Poreda, Flowers, Viciedo and Marquez will be in the minors to start the season.

3) The Sox would hands down be the second best team in the NL Central. Some people are picking them for last in the AL Central.

4)No. I expect Street Wise to play himself out of a job by July. Conversely Getz will have shown he is more than capable and will be moved to leadoff. CF will be relagated to a defensive position and Anderson will start full time.

5) Take a look at my review of the minor leagues. Thome goes down, Viciedo gets called up. Paulie goes down, Viciedo gets called up. Dye goes down, Viciedo gets called up. I admit they are placing a lot of stress on AJ to play 5 nights a week. He is not exactly old at 32, but I would like to see him able to lift a bat by the second half of the season.

6) Very good. I expect Richard to excell in middle relief with Linebrink and Thornton locking down the 7th and 8th.

I won't deny there are a lot of questions. I'm not deluding myself into saying 95 wins. I do think they get 81. If Colon and Contrearas are good 50% of the time, they should get to the high 80s.

Play Ball!

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Agreed, but Wise until July? It will be a very long spring if thats the case.

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Linebrink's arm will fall off before July.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Really Dolphin? any team? So the white sox are as good as the Red Sox Yankees Rays Phillies Dodgers and Mets? and Cubs?

It's easy to rip a team when almost all your questions are regarding their 5th starter, the worst pitcher out of the bullpen, the worst hitter in the lineup. I can do that with every team. And why do I keep hearing how the Sox are so old? People have been saying this that last couple of years... Konkerko just turned 33 this month, Dye just turned 35 a couple months ago and AJ is 32. They're not in their prime but they're certainly not ancient...even by MLB standards. Thome's 38, Dye's 35, so what! They also both hit 30 HRS and had 90 RBI. What does Ozzie do if one of them goes down to injury? ...well what does any manager do in that situation? how is this a special situation for the Sox?
If the Sox make a run at the division or wildcard this year, it'll be done with the bats and arms of their best players, not their worst.... and a shitload of luck!

Here is one for all the pundits. Who is AJ's backup???????

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Bako.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Go ahead do it with the Northsiders/Tampa/Mets feel free.

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

I am not sure how you can say that bullpen is really fine. Thornton and Jenks are great, but after that it is a crap shoot. Linebrink will not hold up all year. You never know what guy is coming to the mound with Dotel. And any pen that relies on Macdougal for any type of role is in trouble.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I can only do one at a time ... I'm pretending to do work also.

Cubs

How good is a team, where the Sean Marshall is the 5th starter. He's never had a record above .500 and his career ERA is almost 5...in the NL?
Where is all this great young talent Hendry has gotten?
Which is worst the NL Central or AL Central?
Is Fukodome an everday player ()?
This team is still old in key postions Lee, Soriano, Lily if one of them goes down who does Lou plug-in?
Vizcaino makes this team how good is the middle relief?

A lot of questions for the best team in the NL

from a 5th starter perspective

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I think differently...and that dramatically changes the bullpen analysis.

If Thornton, Linebrink and Jenks are all healthy, you only have to worry about 6th inning relief. I'll take my chances with one of Dotel or Richard getting the job done.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Walt, it's actually Corky Miller. Unless you follow MLB full time, and to borrow a line from former White Sox & "SCORE" Baseball Analyst Jimmy Piersall, "Who the hell is he?"

I do not have a good feeling about this year, and it has everything to do with the starting rotation (again).

Contreras and Colon are simply not what they used to be, or at least not able to hold it together for a full season. Danks and Floyd are decent, but not as strong as they are going to have to be to get past the Twins and their strong rotation.

I have strong doubts in the abilities of anyone names Corky. Is that wrong of me?

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That is a HUGE if.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Agreed. Thorton seemed to lose a lot of what he was known for towards the end of last season (overpowering fastball and tailing action), and it was obviously due to his time on the DL. Same can be said for Jenks, who seems to be more worried about location that just breezing through hitters now.

Not every guy in the bullpen is going to be a shut down guy. Dotel, as we saw last year, is going to implode from time to time, and Linebrink has durability concerns. Saying that, when healthy, Linebrink has proven to be a reliable set-up guy. The trick is to not overwork him. Dotel has been able to be a big strikeout guy from the bullpen.

Again, nobody is perfect, but going into the season, the Sox should have 4 mostly reliable late inning options.

You can probably raise that exact question on at least 2/3 of major league teams.

Absolutely. Even if Linebrink does stay healthy, he hasn't been a good 2nd half performer.

Hopefully, Thornton and Linebrink can split the duties in the 8th to keep both fresh.

I see now...my mistake "the where the go north with bartolo colon" threw me

Wasnt it Joe Morgan who said last year-

"the White Sox have the Best Bullpen he's ever seen"

I know Joe's kinda lost astep or two in the baseball knowledge dept but our bullpen is the least of my worries. If the starters cant get to the sixth inning then 80 wins is wishful thinking.