Voices From The South Side: With The End in Sight...

It's not often that a team gets a chance to win a World Series, so when you do, you take it no matter the costs. You couldn't blame Konerko or Quentin if they wanted to shut it down for the sake of their career, but if they're willing to do whatever they can to make the playoffs and give the team a chance to win a World Series, you take it and run.

You have to play this year as if there is no next year, and that's exactly what Konerko and Quentin's mindsets are in making these decisions.

CP: As much as I'd like to see them back, it wouldn't be productive with CQ and Konerko at less than 100 percent. Carlos Quentin has a lot more seasons to win MVP awards and if he rests, he can be back for the postseason. So I would rather see them take the full time and get healthy. Besides, it's looking more and more like Paulie will be back for the final week of the regular season.

 

5. I picked 92 games to win the division when the season started. In your estimation, how many games are going to win the division now?

TB: I would say that 92 should still stand as the target number of wins, but even 90 could end up being enough to win the division.

CW: I honestly think it's going to be between 88-90 games. If you look at the schedule, say the White Sox go 5-5 on their road trip. That puts them at 86 wins with three games remaining; two of three from Cleveland and they're at 88 wins. If they improve that 5-5 mark by a few games it could hit 90, and if they're any worse then the 5-5 mark, they don't win the division.

CP: 91 is never a popular number. But taking into account the second Sox-Tigers game tonight, the Sox need to go 9-5 over these last 14 games. That puts them at 91 wins and a division crown.

 

Bonus: After last night's loss, the Toronto Blue Jays were 12 games over .500 and 5.5 games back of Boston for the Wild Card spot. Based on what you've seen this week, will the Blue Jays make the playoffs?

TB: If the Blue Jays had played this level of ball earlier, I would say yes, but like the Houston Astros in the NL, they're just trying to leap frog too many teams to stand a chance. The Red Sox have gotten their act together and the Rays would never fall off enough to allow either the Blue Jays or any other team catch them.

CW: The Blue Jays are a really fun team to watch. They're led by Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, and Adam Lind, and their pitching staff is unbelievable. Their chances to win the wild card are not horrible, but they must at least split the four-game series they have  with the Red Sox at Fenway.

If they do that, they have the next nine games at home, including three against the Red Sox. If they take care of business on that home trip, they can do it. But it's also likely that they come down to earth sometime in the next couple of weeks.

CP: The Jays have the pitching and talent to be a force in the AL East year after year, and year after year, they tank midseason and take themselves out of it. The AL wild card is not as weak as the National League, where the white-hot Astros have played themselves back into playoff contention. So unfortunately for Toronto (and fortunately for the White Sox), there will not be October baseball in Canada.

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