Blackt.net

With Opening Day approaching quickly, it’s about time to take a good look at the 2006 defending World Series Champion Chicago White Sox. What can we expect? We should we expect? Is Boone Logan a real person? Will Joe Crede have sideburns or not? Will Jermaine Dye be seen around the DePaul University campus with young ladies? I will try to answer some of these questions for you.

DH / Backups
DH Jim Thome - The large Peoria, IL native was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason for hitting-challenged Aaron Rowand, and Thome is a HUGE improvement in the White Sox lineup.  With Carl Everett out of the picture (thank god), the 1-2 punch of Konerko and Thome should be pretty unreal.  His 2005 was cut short and he suffered from injuries, but as I’ve pointed out so many times, he has no history of injuries, and I expect him to be completely healthy this year.  Not to mention, if this Spring Training is any indication (.404/.508/.904), Thome should hit about 100 HR and have an OPS of infinite.
IF/OF Rob Mackowiak - In the offseason the Sox picked up a much needed lefty bat off the bench, and a decent utility man to boot.  Mackowiak is good insurance for the third base position if Crede’s back gets all f’d again or he under performs (which he will).  I honestly don’t know much about the man, and I’ve seen him in limited play, mostly mashing against The Cubbies.  Injuries aside, he won’t get as many plate appearances as he did with the Pirates — but a guy who swings from the left side of the plate and can play just about any positiong in the field can’t be bad — especially since the Sox acquired Mackowiak and got rid of my permanent brain tumor known as Damaso Marte.

IF/OF Pablo Ozuna - I’ll never forget what Pablo Ozuna stole home against the Royals — mostly because I was at the game and got kicked out an inning or two before the said steal.  So I didn’t actually see it.  Eitherway.  Ozuna is a servicable utility man, although he actually kinda sucks in the field.  He managed to scrape by with hits here and there and made himself somewhat valuable in little playing time (203 at-bats).  I hope he has another great game this year so the douchebags at Baseball Tonight can call Ozuna a “hot young prospect” again not realizing that he’s actually 32 years old.  I don’t expect much from Pablo, but as a backup utility man he’ll be about as valuable as he was last year.

1B/OF Ross Gload - This guy can’t catch a break.  In 2004, he hit .321/.375/.479 while filling in at first base and right field.  Last year, at age 29, he hit .364/.416/.657 in AAA Charlotte, but with Konerko as the Sox’s 1B, it was apparant that he wasn’t going anywhere — and in his 42 AB in the bigs last year he didn’t exactly prove himself hitting .157.  With many  of the “Group 4″ guys leaving (Timo, Willie) in the off season, Gload will get his chance again to to serve as a backup for the Sox.  Unfortunately for him, he’ll never get the chance to be an everyday starter in Chicago.  Fortunately for the Sox, with Gload on the team Jermaine Dye will never have to play infield.

C Chris Widger - The Widge is back.  I love the guy, even if he isn’t very good.  My favorite story about Chris Widger is that he was seen playing in the CMBA at some point last year.  He’ll continue to rock the classic baseball goatee and throw out no runners while catching for the Sox.