Talkin' Sawx (of the White persuasion)

BobbyStompy's NCAA finals preview gets de-railed after watching ESPN2 Sunday Night baseball...maybe we'll see it Monday

Rickhouse and I might not agree on everything White Sox (actually, that's not true, we mostly do), but the one thing I know we both have a pretty solid consensus on is how fun the 2008 version of this White Sox team is to watch. I don't want to go overboard with prognostications or talk in crazy absolutes, but it's just a damn solid lineup and a more entertaining team.

After taking in every inning of all but one game, I feel confident in saying...

Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, and Paul Konerko all provide power and stability in the heart of the order. Orlando Cabrera (at least last year) hits for average and plays good defense. It seems as if pitchers are afraid to throw Nick Swisher strikes with the way he draws walks. A.J. Pierzynski is your current AL batting average leader (seriously). I know Alexei Ramirez might have some flaws, but it's still a little early to write him off. I don't know much about Carlos Quentin -- though I recently found out he's only 25 -- but he appears to be pretty competent already. He's batting .313 and bringing up the rear on the payroll, so there's not a whole lot to complain about.

Do I cringe when Uribe and Crede come up to the plate? Sure, a little bit. But both of those guys play solid defense that more than enough makes up for the plate misfortunes. At least when the team's winning. Plus -- not to sound too much like Hawk -- but it really does seem like Crede has a flair for the dramatic when the game hits the 7th inning and beyond.

There's one point above all else I'd like to make about the White Sox: they have the fourth highest payroll in the American League.

Now, I know payrolls toppers and off-season winners don't necessarily translate to championships (ask the Yankees), but loading up your lineup will all but certainly buy you a substantial amount of regular season wins (ask the Yankees). And from the playoffs on, who knows? I know the argument sounds flimsy, but look at these payrolls from top to bottom and tell me which teams have the most success. It's mostly towards the top, and that's the way of major league baseball; especially contrasting the top-8 with the bottom-8.

A lot of the success and failure of this Sox team is riding on the young arms of John Danks and Gavin Floyd (let's not put any burden on Jose Contreras just yet), but I feel more than confident in this offense's ability to stay consistent throughout the year. 2007 was an aberration, and I have no idea how the offense was 14th in just about every AL offensive statistical category. But it really shouldn't happen this time around.