Offense:
Catcher:Ron Lipp should carry the bulk of the load behind the plate once again for the Sox. Coming off of his 1st 30+ HR season, Lipp also drove in 106 runs last season. One of the premier offensive catchers in the league, Lipp is also a very strong defender and calls a solid game. A FA at the end of the season, Lipp will most certainly be looking for a raise on his $6.5m contract. Miguel Pereira should end up being the backup. A fantastic defender, he has never had an AB at the ML level.
First Base: Orlando Chavez started 160 games in 2012 for the Sox and belted 29HR's and had 105RBI's. His 6th straight 20+ HR season. While not exactly a household name, Chavez continues to but up solid, but not spectacular numbers. A weak defender he may be better suited as a DH in this league. One of the Sox better prospects Walter H. 'Who' Uno is a similar 1B who looks to take over in the next couple of seasons.
Second Base: Enrico Torres is the man here for the Sox. While he doesn't posses a ton of power, Torres is a good on base guy. He finished last season with a .382 OBP while knocking in 74 runs. He should continue to hit at, or near the top of the lineup for the Sox. With his ability to get on base, and some of the bats behind him, Torres has the potential to be among the league leaders in runs scored this season.
Shortstop: Big loss here for the Sox as Alonso 'Biceps' Rodriguez tore his ACL and will be lost to the team for 3 months. The slick defender who also banged out 21HR's last season will be missed by the Sox. It looks as though Caleb Stuart will get the chance to play every day for the Sox. This could be a chance for Stuart to finally break through with some regular playing time. At 25yrs old, he only got his first taste of big league action last season when he got into 21 games. The former 2nd round pick hits LHP well and had a solid spring hitting .276 with 3 HR's.
Third Base: Yet another 20+ HR guy to the lineup in Eric Thorne. The 27yr old enters his 3rd full season as a starter in Chicago. Thorne is coming off a season that saw him it .271 with 26 HR's and 90 RBI's. A quality defensive player as well, Thorne rounds out one of the better offensive IF's in the game today when healthy.
Outfield: The outfiled is not as strong as the IF for the Sox. Bart Lavigne is the table setter here for some of the big boys that follow. While not overly fast, Lavigne is a smart base runner and is capable of putting up some high stolen base numbers. Xander Jones looks like he will play the majority of time in LF. Jones has put up some solid numbers in a platoon role for the last couple of seasons. He has averaged about 13 HR's and 60 RBI's in the last two years and has stolen 43 and 32 bases respectively. Jones seems to have the tools to hit LHP as well and will get a shot to do just that this season. Youngster Matthew Stuart appears to have locked down the RF spot. A right handed bat with some power, Stuart looks to have a breakout season for the Sox hitting somewhere in the bottom half of the lineup.
Overview: This is a very good offense. Lacking any real superstars, there isn't any easy outs in this lineup. They should be capable of putting up some good offensive numbers supporting a very strong pitching staff.
Pitching:
Rotation
The Sox have a very strong rotation led by Tom Madonald. This guy is an ace. The 2012 JL Nebraska winner was outstanding last season going 19-7 with a 2.85 ERA. Locked up long term at a bargain rate of $7.5m, Madonald looks to anchor this staff for the near future. Stud #2 in the rotation is Antonio 'Flying Frenchy' Rodriguez. Don't let the nickname fool you, this guy is about as good a number 2 as you will find. Getting by on mostly tw pitches, if Rodriguez could ever develop that third pitch then the sky would be the limit for him. Even with only two pitches he managed to go 17-6 with a 3.16 ERA last season. Former 1st overall pick Roy Nevel Jr is next out of the box for the Sox. After suffering a serious injury in 2011, Nevel bounced back in 2012 to post 9 wins in 28 starts. Not great, but he did have a respectable ERA of 3.66. Fully healthy again, he hopes to regain his form of 2010 when he won 15 games with a WHIP of 1.14. Not much of a drop off at #4 with Jason 'Bun Bun' Brooks. While Brooks has been a little inconsistent of the years, he has great stuff and control. He is capable of shutting down the opposition on any given night. Acquired in a trade in 2005 where he wasn't really developing, Brooks has turned himself into a legit ML starter. Ah...you get to the 5 spot and you think you may finally get a stiff out there? Not really. Veteran Jerome Powell is a hard throwing LH who is probably the best #5 man in the league. He will give up his fair share of hits, but has great control which keeps his WHIP in the 1.20 range.
Bullpen:
Former EBA player Lionel Sanguinacco looks to be the closer this year after spending the last couple of years in more of a setup role. At $19m per season, maybe he should be starting as well?? He just signed an extension at a much more reasonable $6.2m per season. Sporting a nasty fastball and curve, Sanguinacco should get plenty of save chances. After a couple of mediocre seasons Jonathan Sorensen seems to have lost his job as closer and will now setup. His back to back 38 save seasons are not the problem, but an average ERA of about 3.50 and a WHIP of about 1.40 has cost him his job. Another key member of the pen is Victor Waller. A very similar reliever as both Sorensen and Sanguinacco, Waller looks to build of a solid season in 2012 which saw him post a 2.73 ERA. He will be counted on to be a setup man and possibly be groomed as a potential closer. Veteran Dave Corrigan starts his 11th season in Chicago. Having been a starter for most of his career, Corigan starts 2013 in the pen. The hard throwing vet is one of the leaders on the team and could very well find himself back in the rotation if there are any injuries to the starting staff. Young prospect Craig Murray makes the team out of spring training. The young LH has some serious upside. A former 1st round pick in 2008, he made his ML debut in 2012 after a less then stellar year in the minors. He has the potential to be the whole package. Velocity, movement, and control. Sox management hope that he can learn at the ML level and one day possibly take over as a closer.
Overview: The Sox have a staff that most teams can only dream of assembling. From top to bottom in the rotation they have the ability to shut down opposing teams. Their bullpen is like most good pens in the league where they have some big arms to do the heavy lifting and some other guys for mop up.
Prediction: 95-67. Should probably win the JL Midwest again. It'll be close.
