Who would have guessed the Chicago White Sox could potentially be the best team in the American League Central in 2015? The way things are going, they have a realistic shot.
The White Sox added Melky Cabrera today, giving them one of the most well-rounded outfields in baseball.
Along with Cabrera the outfield will include the speedy singles hitter Adam Eaton and the young slugging Avisail Garcia. This is far different than the outfields they had on opening day in recent years with the Dayan Viciedo-level players headed to the bench or to a new city.
Not perfect, this lineup only lacks a catcher and second baseman. We can’t expect them to improve in these areas too greatly and they may not actually need to do a thing about to remain competitive. The top part of this lineup is already so good they can get by with a little less offense at the bottom.
I still do believe on paper the White Sox are a little short when compared to the Detroit Tigers. At the same time, the Tigers seem to always win less games than we thought they would then fail in the playoffs. They will have one less Max Scherzer this season and Miguel Cabrera is spending his offseason recovering from a bone spur in his foot. Woes for the Tigers are growing.
Since the Kansas City Royals haven’t done a thing to get better, the Minnesota Twins remain in the distance, and the Cleveland Indians’ top acquisition was Brandon Moss–I’m liking the odds the White Sox currently have.
It would be a crime for me to not at least make some mention of this starting rotation. Chris Sale, Jeff Samardzija, and Jose Quintana are a very good 1-3. They may actually end up better than the David Price/Justin Verlander/Anibal Sanchez trio in Detroit.
The White Sox are going to make 2015 matter and it starts with how in one month they changed the direction of the team. They’re not adding players for the sake of filling roster spots. They see their time might be right now and are doing what they can to not waste a day.
The Cleat Report 