The White Sox have been at the top of the division with the Tigers and Twins for several years. They stayed in contention until September last season, and they hope that their health and the addition of Adam Dunn will put them over the top. They’ve got all their pieces back, and expecting better years from Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel in more regular playing time.

The White Sox offense is a nice mix of young players (Beckham, Morel, and Ramirez) and veterans (Pierzynski, Konerko, Rios, and Dunn). Although they lack a superstar bat, they hardly have a weakness in the lineup. Their pitchers are very talented. If the staff can remain fairly consistent, the White Sox will win the Division.

Key Additions: Adam Dunn

Key Losses: Bobby Jenks

Lineup:

C: A.J. Pierzynski
1B: Paul Konerko
2B: Gordon Beckham
3B: Brent Morel
SS: Alexei Ramirez
LF: Juan Pierre
CF: Alex Rios
RF: Carlos Quentin
DH: Adam Dunn

Rotation:

1: Gavin Floyd
2: Mark Buehrle
3: John Danks
4: Jake Peavy
5: Edwin Jackson
CL: Matt Thornton

Critical Players to Success:

Matt Thornton: This team has enough talent to put Matt Thornton in a ton of save situations. Chicago needs him to take the reins from Jenks and shut down the 9th inning the same way he shut down the middle innings for the last three seasons.

Jake Peavy: Jake Peavy hasn’t been healthy since coming to Chicago. Whether or not it’s a curse from singing “Go Cubs Go,” remains to be seen. He’s performed pretty well when he actually gets on the mound, so the White Sox hope to get at least 20 starts out of him this year.