The White Sox have released 1B/DH Eduardo Perez.  The Sox didn’t have room on their roster for Perez despite the fact that he was 11 for 22 (.500 avg) with 3 homers and 9 RBIs this Spring.  He will likely hook on with another team in the majors because he hits really well against left-handed pitchers.

The White Sox really like playing for Ozzie Guillen and it shows on the field.  In three seasons the White Sox are 272-214 (.560) in the regular season.  They are also 11-1 (.917) in the post season under Guillen.  As long as he keeps winning the White Sox will put up with Guillen’s strange antics.

The White Sox will lose Toby Hall for the season after he tore his right labrum while playing first base.  The Sox will have to either go with young Chris Stewart or Wiki Gonzalez unless they make a trade for a legit major league catcher to back up A.J. Pierzynski.

Everyone in the Sox bullpen can light up the radar gun…but can they pitch?  We will soon find out.  26 year old righty Bobby Jenks first full season as the closer had some up and down points.  He was 3-4 with 41 saves, a 4.00 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP in 67 games games in 2006.  Batters hit .253 against Jenks and he walked 31 batters in 69.2 innings and that was just a tad too many.  Jenks still had the gas as he whiffed 80 batters last season.  Look for Jenks to pitch a little better this season because if he doesn’t Mike MacDougal might try to take his job away.

30 year old righty Mike MacDougal was 1-1 with 11 holds, a save, a 1.55 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in 29 games for the the White Sox and the Royals.  Batters only hit .206 against MacDougal and righties only hit .171 against him.  Look for MacDougal to do a really good job in the 8th inning for the Sox this season.

30 year old lefty Matt Thornton finally found a home in the majors as he really stepped up last season for the White Sox.  He was 5-3 with 18 holds, 2 saves, a 3.33 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 63 games for the Sox in 2006.  Batters only hit .229 against Thornton last season and he whiffed 49 batters in 54 innings so he was showing off how strong his arm was.  Look for him to have another strong season in 2007 for the White Sox.

24 year old lefty Andrew Sisco had been brought the White Sox in an off season trade with the Royals.  He followed up his good rookie season with an absolutely awful 2006 season.  He was 1-3 with 5 holds, 1 save, a 7.10 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP in 65 games for the Royals.  Sisco allowed batters to hit .289 against him and he walked 40 batters in 58.1 innings last season.  He will need to improve his control if he wants to stay in the majors.  In Sisco’s two major league seasons he’s walked 82 batters and whiffed 128 in 133.2 innings.  It will be very interesting to see what Sisco does for the White Sox this season as he has the tools to dominate.

25 year old righty David Aardsma was brought in from the Cubs in the trade of Neil Cotts.  Aardsma was 3-0 with 5 holds, a 4.08 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in 45 games for the Cubs last season.  Batters only hit .214 against Aardsma last season but he walked 28 batters and gave up 9 homers in only 53 innings.  Aardsma has a great arm like all of the pitchers in the White Sox bullpen but he will need to throw strikes to be truly effective.

24 year old righty Nick Masset was brought in from the Rangers in the Brandon McCarthy trade.  He pitched in 8 games for the Rangers last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  Masset was 6-7 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 32 games (15 starts) in AA+AAA ball.  Masset is another pitcher in the Rangers collection of hard throwing relievers as he whiffed 105 batters in 115.1 innings in the minors last season.  Look for him to get a job in the White Sox bullpen and for him to do a decent job in 2007.

22 year old lefty Boone Logan had a tough time as a rookie last season.  He was 0-0 with 2 holds, 1 save, an 8.31 ERA and a 2.08 WHIP in 21 games for the Sox.  Batters hit .288 against Logan and he walked 15 batters in only 17.1 innings in 2006.  Logan will start the season in the minors and he will only get a call to the majors if he’s pitching well and Sisco falters.

The White Sox have 4 good starting pitchers and have 4 talented youngsters battling for the #5 starter job in the rotation.  28 year old righty Jon Garland has been the leader the last two seasons for the White Sox as he’s compiled a 36-17 record over those years.  Last season Garland started 32 games and he was 18-7 with a 4.51 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.  Garland has really improved his control the last two seasons and that has paid off but he did allow 247 hits last season in 211.1 innings.  Garland will need to miss more bats this season if he wants to win 18 games again.  Look for Garland to win about 15 games with a ERA around 4.50 in 2007.

35 year old righty Jose Contreras had another solid season for the White Sox in 2006 as he was 13-9 in 30 starts with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  Contreras has great stuff as his fastball is still in the mid-90’s and his split is an unhittable pitch.  It seems like sometimes Contreras has problems with making the big pitch on occasion so he will need to do that if he ever wants to have his production equal his stuff.  Look for Contreras to win 14-16 games and have an ERA around 4.30 in 2007.

28 year old lefty Mark Buehrle had a bad season for the White Sox last season and they need him to rebound this season.  Buehrle started 32 games last season for the Sox and he was 12-13 with a 4.99 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP.  He allowed 247 hits and 36 homers in 204 innings last season and those numbers were by far the worst in his major league career.  Batters were running up to the plate against him as they hit .305 against him last season.  Still, Buehrle is in his free-agent season so look for him to be very focused and productive.  After all, between 2001-2005 Buehrle had a record of 81-52 with a 3.61 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.  Write last season off as a bad year and watch Buehrle bounce back and win 15-18 games with a sub 4.00 ERA as he will be motivated by the $.

31 year old righty Javier Vazquez will be the #4 starter for the White Sox this season.  His first season with the White Sox was up and down as he wound up with a 11-12 record with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.  Vazquez still throws very hard as he whiffed 184 batters in 202.2 innings but their just seems to be something missing with this guy.  Despite having great stuff Vazquez is only 100-105 in his career with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  Look for Vazquez to win 10-13 games with around a 4.50 ERA for the White Sox in 2007.

24 year old Gavin Floyd is the favorite to win the #5 job in the White Sox rotation.  He had a rough season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006 as he started 11 games and was 4-3 with a 7.29 ERA with a 1.88 WHIP.  He allowed 70 hits, 14 homers, walked 32 batters and allowed a .315 batting average in only 54.1 major league innings last season.  The White Sox really hope that Floyd’s head matches his talent and arm.

23 year old righty Charlie Haeger will also be vying for the #5 starter job in the rotation for the White Sox.  He’s a knuckleballer so that would provide a nice change up for the White Sox as the rest of their starters all have really good arms.  Haeger pitched in 7 games (1 start) for the White Sox last season and he was 1-1 with 1 save and a 3.44 ERA with a 1.36 WHIP.  He whiffed 19 batters in only 18.1 innings so his pitch has a lot of movement, and he only allowed 12 hits.  Still, he will need to work on his control as he walked 13 batters and that could be a huge problem for them.  Haeger was really solid in the minors as he was 14-6 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in 26 games (25 starts).  Look for Haeger to be solid for the White Sox if he wins the job.  He could be the next Tim Wakefield.

Soon to be 22 year old lefty John Danks was acquired from the Texas Rangers in the trade for Brandon McCarthy.  Danks has an electric arm as he whiffed 154 batters in 140 innings pitched last season in AAA+AA ball.  Danks wound up pitching in 27 games (26 starts) and he was 9-9 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.  Look for Danks to start the year in AAA ball and be the first guy called up if he proves he’s ready.

21 year old lefty was a pitcher that GM Ken Williams liked so much that he re-acquired him one season after trading him to the Phillies.  Gonzalez also has a really good arm just like Danks does.  He pitched in AA last season and he whiffed 166 batters in 154.2 innings and that shows his arm strength.  He started 27 games last season and he was 7-12 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP so he has some work to do before he’s ready for the majors.  He will likely start the year in AAA ball for the White Sox and could get a September call up if he’s earned it.

33 year old Jermaine Dye was awesome last season.  He played in 146 games and he hit .315 with 103 runs scored, 44 homers, 120 RBIs and a 1.006 OPS.  He played in 146 games in RF last season and he made 6 errors, but he showed outstanding range.  Look for Dye not to be able to have another season like 2006.  Look for him to hit in the .270’s with 25-30 homers and 90+ RBIs. 

30 year old lefty swinging Rob Mackowiak will be Dye’s back up this season.  Mackowiak played in 112 games last season for the White Sox and he hit .290 with 5 homers, 23 RBIs and a .769 OPS.  He played in 21 errorless games in RF last season despite showing below average range.  Look for Mackowiak to have another solid season in 2007 for the White Sox.

25 year old Brian Anderson had the starting job last season but he had big hitting problems.  He played in 134 games and he hit .225 with 46 runs scored, 8 homers, 33 RBIs and a .649 OPS.  At least Anderson didn’t let his hitting problems follow him out to the field on defense.  He only made 2 errors in 134 games in CF last season while showing outstanding range.  I think Anderson will be hard pressed to hold off Darin Erstad for the starting job in 2007.

32 year old lefty swinging Darin Erstad will return to center field and try to take the starting job away from Brian Anderson.  Erstad has two Gold Gloves as a CF, but he’s coming off of a severe ankle injury that limited him to only 40 games last season.  He hit .221 with a .605 OPS in 2006.  Erstad is a career .286 hitter, so look for him to rebound in 2007 if he’s healthy which he claims to be.  Erstad will win the starting job in CF as long as he doesn’t hurt himself running into a fence or a teammate.

22 year old lefty swinging Ryan Sweeney is the darkhorse to win the CF job in 2007.  He played in 118 games in AAA ball for the White Sox last season and he hit .296 with 64 runs, 13 homers, 70 RBIs and a .802 OPS.  He came up at the end of the season and played in 18 games for the White Sox going 8 for 35 (.229 avg).  Look for him to begin the season in AAA again, but he will get the call if Anderson or Erstad are injured.

31 year old lefty swinging Scott Podsednik had an off year last season and the White Sox need him to rebound in 2007.  He played in 139 games last season and he hit .261 with 86 runs scored, 3 homers, 45 RBIs, 40 stolen bases and a .684 OPS.  He’s a better player than that.  He also had huge problems in the outfield.  He still showed great range because of his speed, but he made 8 errors in 135 games in LF and that’s just too many.  Look for Podsednik to hit around .275 with 35-40 steals if he stays healthy this season.

32 year old Pablo Ozuna could work his way into a platoon with Podsednik this season.  Podsednik only hit .216 against lefties last season while Ozuna hit .322 against them last season.  Ozuna played all over the place last season for the White Sox and Guillen will use him at places other than LF.  He played in 79 games last season and he hit .328 with 2 homers, 17 RBIs and a .809 OPS.  He played in 39 games in LF and he didn’t make an error, but he showed very poor range.  It will be really hard for Ozuna to duplicate what he did last season, but I think he could hit in the .280-.290 range for the White Sox.

30 year old lefty swinging Rob Mackowiak is another one of Ozzie Guillen’s favorites.  He played in 112 games last season for the White Sox and he hit .290 with 5 homers, 23 RBIs and a .769 OPS.  Mackowiak also plays all over the ball field for the White Sox.  He played in 28 games in LF last season and he didn’t make an error there, but he didn’t show much range.  Look for Mackowiak to be a valuable piece off the bench for the White Sox again this season.