Chicago White Sox

Going into the 2010 season, the White Sox starting staff of Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and Freddy Garcia was thought to be a top three pitching staff in all of baseball.

So far, however, the starting staff has simply been awful, sporting ERAs of 3.27, 4.82, 4.93, 5.62, and 5.64 in 377.1 innings pitched, while the offense has taken most of the blame for the 28-34 record.

Over the last five games, of which the White Sox won four, we may have seen a sudden awakening to the starting five.

As a fan, I try not to be too harsh on players when they speak their mind. After all, don't we as fans want to hear the truth?

But in the case of Jake Peavy and his feelings about sticking with the White Sox through a rebuilding phase, I'd rather he kept them to himself.

On Thursday, Peavy was asked about the position the Sox are currently in and the possibility that some of the veterans could be moved in the next month-and-a-half.

Carlos Pena who had been slumping hit a home run in his fifth consecutive game and he has hit six home runs in those five games.

Carlos Pena hit a home run in his fifth consecutive game while breaking a Rays franchise home run record of 129 home runs, which had been held by Aubrey Huff until last night.

While the MLB Amateur Draft doesn't get as much attention as those of the NFL and NBA, that doesn't mean that it's any less important. Cheap, young talent is the most valuable commodity in baseball and can help close the revenue gap between some teams.

The Sox own the 13th pick in the draft, which starts on Monday. While they won't get a sure-fire impact player at their pick, there are a number of players that could make a difference in a few years.

I made a couple of assumptions in cutting down to this short list.

1) The Sox will take a college player.

Paul Konerko has had his bags packed to head to the Los Angeles Angels on more than one occasion.

Now, however, it seems as though Konerko could actually be getting on the plane.

With Kendry Morales celebrating a walk-off grand slam by breaking his leg, the Angels could use another first baseman. 

With the White Sox "grinder"/Ozzie ball/don't score runs and have awful defense experiment putting the team in a battle for third place in the American League Central division, it could be time for the White Sox to look toward 2011...or maybe 2012.

It has been reported that Major League Baseball has fined Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, pitcher Mark Buehrle, and umpire Joe West an undisclosed amount for the actions during Wednesday's game against Cleveland, leading to the ejections of Guillen and later Buehrle after they disputed two balk calls.

After the game, Guillen went on a tirade against West, done in classic Ozzie Guillen fashion. Major League Baseball said it would begin investigating Thursday night, and quickly came to a decision Friday afternoon.

Like vultures surrounding a dead carcass, teams are flying overhead of the Chicago White Sox, hoping for some scraps to add to their contending team as the White Sox slowly waste away in the American League Central race.

The Texas Rangers have already shown interest in 33-year-old catch A.J. Pierzynski and the latest whispers say the Philadelphia Phillies, among others, are scouting reliever/setup man J.J. Putz and closer Bobby Jenks, with a focus on the latter.

With the Sox on the verge of losing again, I have felt the need to get back into blogging with a similar article to what I had gotten recognition for last summer.

Hopefully you enjoy—I am open to comments and opinions.

Five Reasons to Give Up on White Sox

1. Gordon Beckham

Sometimes we as fans forget that professional sports are not just around so we have an excuse not to go to the store with the wife or something to talk about with that uncle who insists the Bears will never win again until they bring Ditka back.

The fact of the matter is professional sports are around so that the owners of the teams can make money. Sure, the owners aren’t the only ones making money when you go to the stadium or buy a jersey. Everyone from the players and coaches down to the ticket takers and security guards make money from a professional sports team. Why?

The Sox have been hard to watch this season. Most expected them to be roughly .500, but the pitching hasn't been nearly as strong as expected and only two players are hitting over .260. The Sox are seven and a half games back after their win today and could be selling at the trade deadline if things don't improve relatively quickly.

However, that's not what this article is about. Not everyone on the Sox is struggling, and rather than dwell on the negative I'm going to highlight these players.

Somehow I found 6 slides for this article.