Brian Anderson also deserves to see some significant playing time after his excellent spring in which he is hitting .353 with a few home runs all while playing sparkling defense. Anderson has struggled at the plate over the course of his MLB career and is in Guillen's doghouse for no apparent reason. He'll likely spend this season as the team's fourth outfielder, but he should be starting somewhere in the majors.
I don't see this lineup struggling like they did last year. Thome is still productive at his old age and the rest of the players who struggled still should have a good year or two left in the tank. The additions of Swisher and Cabrera could really spark this lineup back to a level a few ticks below their 2006 form.
Lineup grade: B (If Fields takes over at third and Ramirez at second, would move up to B+)
Bench
Pablo Ozuna is one of the better utilitymen in the league, able to play second, third, and left field all while brining a certain spark to the lineup when he plays. He'll get the Opening Day start against Cleveland's CC Sabathia and will see a lot of playing time against lefthanders this year.
Ramirez will be an excellent utility player before he earns a starting spot somewhere on the field sooner rather than later. He can play second, short, and a bit of center and will find his way into more than a few games early in the year.
Anderson is an excellent defensive outfielder who, if he finds himself on the bench, should at least be used as a late-inning defensive replacement for Swisher or Owens.
Quentin will be a very good pinch hitter and late-inning defensive replacement if he's relegated back to the bench. If he somehow keeps his job over Owens, then Owens will be a very good pinch runner for some of the "slower than molasses" runners of the middle of this Sox lineup (Konerko, Thome, Crede, and Pierzynski, I'm looking at you).
Toby Hall isn't exactly an ideal backup catcher, as the offense loses a significant amount of production when he and his .225 on-base percentage is in the lineup.
Bench grade: B
Like I said earlier, what this White Sox ballclub does in 2008 hinges on Danks, Contreras, and Floyd. If all three of them pitch well (average of 13 or so wins, ERA around 4.00), the White Sox will contend for the AL Central.
If two of the three pitch well, the Sox will end up a strong third in the division.
If one of them pitches well, the Sox will hover around .500 and will still finish third.
If they all struggle, the Sox will be headed back to fourth place in the division.
The bullpen should be decent and so should the offense. The problem is is that the pressure for this team's success falls on two pitchers who are both under 25 and somebody who's about double their age.
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