the baseball excitement will be on the south side this year as the pitching rich white sox duke it out with detroit and minnesota for the central division crown.
the depending champion twins were dealt a heavy blow when all star closer joe nathan went down for the season but they're the champs until someone knocks them off and that someone should be the white sox in 2010. but, although loaded with pitching, the sox are not without question marks in their outfield lineup.
carlos quentin has never played a full season in professional ball so his health is certainly an issue. alex rios has to bounce back from that disastrous two months after being traded from toronto because hitting .199 ain't going to cut it.
on the plus side, juan pierre is a huge upgrade from scott podsednick. better hitter, faster, better base stealer, well liked in the club house and a very intelligent player. but the pearl of gm kenny williams' off season activities might be andruw jones. a ten time gold glover, he's 35 pounds lighter and pounding the ball. look for him to get more playingtime than expected.
they have a solid infield and the bullpen is lights out. jenks, thornton and putz will twist you in knots. as mentioned, the starting 4 is the best in the american league.
this is a ball club with very high expectations. if you play on the north side and stay healthy, you're still playing for second place but if the white sox stay healthy, it could be a repeat of 2005.
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