Would it be a smart move or not?

[AutoMick]

The White Sox are supposedly set with a rotation of Buehrle, Vazquez, Contreras, Danks and Floyd for 2008. The question is most asked if that will be good enough to win the division.

Yesterday on the Score in Chicago Cooper, the Sox' pitching coach said they needed their top three guys to win 45 to 55 games this year. That's unbelievable to me and most Sox fans when you are asking for 15 to 18 wins average for the three of them when we had only one guy do it last season, Vazquez.

After hearing that I had to wonder if the Sox wouldn't be better off going after Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia to pitch in the four hole in the rotation next season. I know we had them both and Freddy was more successful than Bartolo but would either of them or both of them bring us more stability and a better chance to win this upcoming season?

I know we still need a centerfielder and possibly a second basemen or and a left fielder if Quentin isn't able to go on opening day but this is about the rotation. What do you think

[Imgran]

IMHO, Colon is done. He has been unable to remain healthy or pitch effectively each of the last 2 years.

Garcia still has a chance to be an effective SP for someone. He might be worth the gamble.

[jim_mud]

I think that Colon would be a very worthwhile gamble on a one-year, heavily incentive loaded contract.

[Rapmaster]

The White Sox are supposedly set with a rotation of Buehrle, Vazquez, Contreras, Danks and Floyd for 2008. The question is most asked if that will be good enough to win the division.

Yesterday on the Score in Chicago Cooper, the Sox' pitching coach said they needed their top three guys to win 45 to 55 games this year. That's unbelievable to me and most Sox fans when you are asking for 15 to 18 wins average for the three of them when we had only one guy do it last season, Vazquez.

After hearing that I had to wonder if the Sox wouldn't be better off going after Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia to pitch in the four hole in the rotation next season. I know we had them both and Freddy was more successful than Bartolo but would either of them or both of them bring us more stability and a better chance to win this upcoming season?

I know we still need a centerfielder and possibly a second basemen or and a left fielder if Quentin isn't able to go on opening day but this is about the rotation. What do you think

The rotation is kind of a mystery. I don't think Buehrle is really a #1, I see him more as a #2 or 3 guy for some reason. I understand he puts up great ERA (and all other associated metrics regarding runs given up), but his strikeout totals are a bit on the low side and he gives up a fair amount of hits. Vazquez is plagued with inconsistency, but last year he looked much better. Clearly his best year since coming to the AL. His homerun rate is a bit of a concern, especially considering U.S. Cellular. If he returns to his pre-Yankee form, he could be a surprise this year (following up a very good season). His once burdensome 12.5 million dollar salary next year really isn't that bad when you compare to some of the other ones made (Padilla, Schmidt, Zito, etc...) in recent history. Contreras got old quick, and he's really got something to prove this year.

The fact that the Sox are really relying on two very unproven youngsters is also a bit worrisome. Danks gave up quite a few homeruns and walks (always a bad combination) last year and seemed pretty much lost for large chunks of the season. Floyd doesn't walk many but is also prone to the longball. He actually gave up only 2 more walks than homeruns (19 vs. 17), this may be acceptable (and very good) given 150 or so innings, but this was in 70.

That being said, the Sox do not have the best rotation in the central.

Indians
1.) C.C. Sabathia
2.) Fausto Carmona
3.) Paul Byrd
4.) Jake Westbrook
5.) A reenergized Cliff Lee?

Tigers
1.) Verlander
2.) Bonderman
3.) Dontrelle Willis
4.) Kenny Rogers
5.) Nate Robertson

Royals
1.) Gil Meche
2.) Brian Bannister
3.) Zach Greinke
4.) Luke Hudson
5.) Kyle Davies, possibly Luke Hochevar?

Twins
1.) Johan Santana
2.) Francisco Liriano (if he's back)
3.) Boof Bonser
4.) Scott Baker
5.) Kevin Slowey?

I'd say that the Tigers have the best rotation, they really minimize risk. The Twins are definitely the most top heavy, with Santana and Liriano being outstanding and Bonser being formidable. They have some questionmarks in the back. The Royals are likely the weakest, but that's to be expected considering that they're rebuilding. The Indians have some question marks in the back end of their rotation, but they also have a real nice front end of the rotation. I'd say the Sox have a formidable two (assuming Vazquez doesn't go missing again), but so does everybody with the exception of the Royals. The difference is really found in the depth, depth that the everybody seems to lack aside from the Tigers.

[AutoMick]

Mark Buehrle pitched out of the 3 hole this past season behind Contreras and Garland. However he has been and probably will be again this season back int the "ace" position in the rotation. As far as being good enough to be an "ace" that can be debated easily when you look at what he has done over the past six seasons, his quality starts are up amongst the best in the league, his ERA has been in the good range more times than not, and his strikeout to walk and Whip is also respectable. He's won in double digit wins consistently.
Javier Vazquez had his best season since his Montreal days last season and this his second season with the Wsox. He had to learn to adjust pitching in U.S. Cellular which isn't the best park to pitch in and far more difficult than it is in Detroit. He has a great strikeout to walk ratio and is a 200 plus strikeout pitcher.
Jose Contreras went through some nasty off field events in his life that tore apart his attention and affected his performance. He was excellent with a great winning streak coming into the season last year enough to grab the one hole over Jon Garland who had won 18 two years in a row and ahead of Buehrle who held the posisition for three or four seasons before that. Contreras looked back last season, sure did, but I think he's still going to come back again.
John Danks in his rookie season pitched in "hard luck" in the beginning of the season when his offense was absolutely terrible behind him. He tired and eventually was rested toward the end of the season as a prevention of possible arm injury since he hadn't pitched that many innings in his young career. All I can say about him in respect to your opinions is that he deserves as much lead way as you have given the Tiger and Twins' pitchers. He too has great promise and is young.
Gavin Floyd has struggled for a few years now especially while in Philly. He was brought up at an early age and got lit up in the process. The change of scenery for him could be the answer. The first few times out with the Sox he didn't look good after a respectable spring training but his last six starts of the season he was great. Again he is still in position to become a very respectable pitcher especially out of the fifth spot in the rotation.

The offense was terrible last season especially in the first two and a half months. The Sox fell out of it before the bats started coming around, followed by some injuries and the next thing you knew they had lost 90 times. However anybody can tell you that this was not a 90 loss team but rather a good team that loss 90 times. Don't forget that basically the same team won 90 the year before that. Detroit and Cleveland both didn't do it with their pitching last season but rather with excellent offenses. The bullpens were good but so was the Sox bullpen for the first six weeks, check out those stats, until they started getting overworked and run down mentally with the thought process being that they had to pitch shutout baseball every time they were called on. That kind of pressure was caused by a lack of offense and some poor defense. Injuries to Joe Crede, Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Scott Podsednik, Toby Haell etc.

The White Sox pitching IS NOT as bad as it would appear looking at statics but in fact can bounce back and surprise apparently even you my friend.

Thanks for replying with such a great post and enthusiasm.