2008 Chicago White Sox Playoff Chances

As a lifelong fan of the Chicago White Sox, expectations going into this season were not all that high for me. I assumed with a mediocre offense and a questionable starting pitching staff that they would finish third or fourth in the AL Central. Never assume anything...

 I believe that the White Sox have the second best playoff pitching staff behind the Angels and that they have the best lineup in the AL. The one team that does scare me a little bit if we do make the playoffs are those Angels of Anaheim. They sent two starting pitchers (Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders) and K-Rod to the All-Star game, and have a more than reliable starting staff with Weaver, Lackey, and ex-White Sox Jon Garland who played a huge role in the White Sox's 2005 World Series run. Their lineup is a good mixture of speed with Chone Figgins and Gary Matthews, and a bit of power with Guerrero, Hunter and Teixera.

 The teams that I think the Sox will match up well with are the Rays and the Red Sox, with a young inexperienced team in the Rays and a Manny-less injury plagued Red Sox, I feel the White Sox will have little trouble with them.

 The players that need to step up if they want to go far is the bullpen. Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton, and Octavio Dotel need to return to their earlier season form so they can hold the lead for Jenks in the Ninth. The White Sox had arguably the best bullpen during the first half of the season and the injury to Linebrink and Jenks made it tough. If Ozzie was smart he would leave off guys such as Ehren Wasserman and Mike MacDougal, if I see Mike MacDougal pitch another game I'm going to have to start taking blood pressure medication. We have a good starting pitching staff and a good closer, all we need is the bridge to Bobby in the ninth for success.

 Other factors that could contribute to the Sox playoff chances are whether or not they will be able to start playing some more small-ball and stop relying on the home run as their only means of offense. Our fast guys need to get on base so they can cause problems on the base paths and being able to do things like bunt and sacrifice fly. I know that it's not as exciting as hitting home runs, but it provides a much better chance of success if they learn how to execute the small ball. It seemed to work well for us in 2005.This also might be the only time veteran players such as Thome, Griffey, Linebrink, Swisher, and Vazquez might ever be in the playoffs again. If they can step up and do whatever they can to win, I believe the 2008 Chicago White Sox will have a good a shot as anyone to win the World Series.