To go from horribly putrid to playoff contenders in one off season almost never happens. We addressed some issues, but there's still big holes - namely 2B, 3B & C. I think most projections have us right around .500, but if there's any sport where projections should be taken with a grain of salt - it's baseball. Too many variables.
Bottom line, we had major issues and we addressed as many of them as possible. Personally, I think the success of this team will hinge upon the health and production of Adam Eaton, and Avi Garcia. High hopes for them both.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/avisail-garcia-dayan-viciedo-and-giving-up-on-potential/
This is a really great read, but not for the weak of White Sox fan's hearts. A examination of fan expectations for Avisail Garcia and their perhaps unwarranted loftiness.
I'm as guilty as anybody in thinking he's twice the player Dayan was, but I'm also a huge advocate of advance statistics.
You hit it on the head Bailey. Too many holes on offense.
Regarding the offense here are the questions that will define the success of the Sox this year.
1. Is Abreu a real MVP-type player? Can he reproduce the power he had in the first half of last year? I think that he's a good player, but not quite the level we saw. A little step back really hurts our already weak offense.
2. Can Eaton stay healthy? I like Eaton, and think he will produce if he's on the field.
3. Can anyone play 3B? I'm not buying Gillaspie yet. He really tailed off in the second half and I think that that is the player he is.
4. Can anyone play 2B? Sanchez can handle the defense but there is little evidence that he is significantly better at the plate than Gordon.
5. Can Garcia be productive in RF? I am not super optimistic. I think he'll be better than Dayan, but my 8 year old might be able to accomplish that.
6. Can Flowers hit? This is actually low on my list because the number of Catchers that can hit is very low.
So what am I confident about? Not much. Alexei is Alexei and Melky will hit for a decent average and a few HRs while being only a bit below average defensively. I think Abreu and LaRoche will be solid contributors, but in this weak lineup, we really need Abreu, LaRoche, and Melky to really mash the ball.
But, the pitching is really strong and we'll be in a lot of 3-2 ballgames. If we have an outlier season where we win more than our fair share of close games then we could be in the playoff picture late.
More likely, we finish a couple games under 0.500 IMO.