CUBS VS SOX

the white sox began their rebuilding phase back in july when they moved MATT THORNTON to the red sox and followed that with plane tickets for JESSE CRAIN, JAKE PEAVY and ALEX RIOS, dumping 37 million dollars in the process and making their team so young that ADAM DUNN at 33 is now the senior leader along with ALEXIE RAMIREZ & GORDON BECKHAM.  if PAUL KONERKO retires and they can dump GAVIN FLOYD (remember him), the sox will be SIXTY FREAKIN MILLION DOLLARS lighter in the budget for 2014 and their average age will fall almost five years.

will they pursue a free agent to get back in the chase? the wish list would include JACOBY ELLSBURYin center and BRIAN McCANN would certainly look nice behind the plate and both will be affordable, as will outfielder SIN-SOO CHOO and they're all under 30. ROBINSON CANO will probably be re-signed by the yankees and that wraps up the big time free agents unless you count MATT GARZA who is going to ring the register big time with his new contract. as a realist, you have to hope the sox get at least one of the above but as a fan you'd like two.

as mentioned in an earlier blog, the cubs are doing it the correct way and have decided to play the youngsters and HOPE something good happens but now they have to bite the bullet and get the crap beat out of them for the next two years. no way around it and they have to keep their fingers crossed that a handful of their prospects grow up fast. even the cub diehards realize that the cupboard is bare and they need the kids to come through big time plus their pitching is dismal compared to the white sox.

the white sox have solved part of the puzzle already with a superior starting pitching staff that has 5 studs all under the age of 28 and in fact have been lights out all year but the sox couldn't hit and buried themselves. JOHN DANKS has an e.r.a. of 4.2 and he is the WORST of the starting staff. no one else is higher than 3.7 and this is the american league.

the cubs?  not so much. TRAVIS WOOD is the best at 3.1 but SAMARDZIJA is a run higher at 4.1 and EDWIN JACKSON is 4.9. and this is the national league where the 8 & 9 hitters are almost always automatic outs. (still can't figure out the jackson signing--FIFTY TWO MILLION over 4 years for a thirty year old pitcher with a losing record. wow)

the advantage is clearly with the white sox because two players might put them right back in it but the cubs look like they're not going to participate in the major free agent market until the kids are ready.   and so it goes............