The trade deadline came and went a couple of hours ago, as the White Sox stood pat with their current team.
While this may have frustrated some fans a bit, as the hype surrounding the deadline has all fans hoping a trade of some sort will transpire, you have to remember what General Manager Kenny Williams has done to this point (acquired Kevin Youkilis, Brett Myers, and Francisco Liriano). After answering the questions on the ball club about a third baseman and depth in the bullpen & starting rotation, the Sox are in a pretty good place roster-wise.
“Youk” has been rejuvenated since switching “Sox.” Credit: USA Today
On paper, it seems that the White Sox are rather complete. The only true question mark that remains is with the team regards the utility man on the bench, as Eduardo Escobar went to Minnesota as a part of the deal that brought Francisco Liriano to the south side of Chicago. What you have to remember is that there is no team in baseball with no question marks, let alone no holes.
The Sox do have question marks, whether it’s Chris Sale’s health, Jose Quintana’s consistency, or Addison Reed’s lack of experience. But there are not really any glaring holes.
Ray Olmedo was recently called up to replace Eduardo Escobar, and while E.E. was a fan favorite, he was only hitting around .200 and had a couple of questionable moments on defense in recent games. I was one of his supporters; I don’t want it to sound like I’m ripping on him. Fact of the matter is that he wasn’t going to be the difference maker throughout the playoff race. Ray Olmedo should be able to do pretty much everything that Escobar was.
Even with that question mark looming, though, you have to realize that’s a good thing for a contender. All other teams you’ll find have much more major, pressing doubts than their bench, which is why I think the Sox are in a good place.
With 2 months of baseball left, 1.5 games ahead of Detroit is a good place to be. Sure, they have a lot of talent, but the Sox do too, and have played with much more consistency than them throughout the last 4 months. Thinking that the Tigers are going to prevail in the central division is a completely legitimate belief to hold, but there aren’t many glaring holes looming for the Sox, which is why I think fans should try to be as optimistic toward the race as possible.
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Currently riding a 2-game losing streak, the Sox take on Nick Blackburn and the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd of the 3-game set at Target Field in Minneapolis tonight. Francisco Liriano takes the hill for the first time as a member of the White Sox, facing off against the team he has called his own for his entire career.
Despite the rough start he endured against our club last week, he’d been pitching very well of late. So it seems like the Sox are in good shape for this evening’s bout, as long as they execute much better than they have defensively in the last two games. They’ve been so solid in that aspect all year that I’m expecting them to bounce back in that regard immediately.
Bear down, Sox fans…these next two months are going to be fun ones.
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Posted by GSB! Founder & Managing Editor, Zach Gropper.