Why the Dodgers are better than your team: Chicago White Sox

The White Sox have lost one of the most important players to their franchise, A.J. Pierzynski. The 28th worst farm system in the game wont be able to improve on the success they had last year. While they don’t have any major holes on their team, they are susceptible to injury and a severe lack of depth.

If there should be any major injuries to this team, there aren’t many options for the Sox to fill internally. I can’t imagine that Alex Rios will have another good season. He hasn’t put together solid back to back seasons since 2007/2008. Is this the year that Paul Konerko finally falls apart? There are just too many holes and question marks for the White Sox to suggest that they are better than the Dodgers. This is the weakest division in all of baseball. Either the front office in Chicago thinks that they are already good enough to win it next year, or they are booting the season before it even starts.

March 3, 2013; Peoria, AZ, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko (14) hits against the San Diego Padres in the first inning during a spring training game at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

How many delusional GM’s actually think they have put together a reasonable team over the winter? Seriously. We all know that the Astros are the worst team in baseball right now. And the Twins are right there with them. At least the Astros made moves over the winter to try and rebuild a somewhat respectable farm system. One could argue the twins sat on their hands and burned a whole lot of money. Are there 10 other teams that thought, “Hey, we had a nice off season and we fully expect to compete for the division title this year”? Probably. But 9 of those 10 will likely fail because they had one player that they “trusted” too long instead of signing a legitimate 2 WAR contributor.

February 19, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Alejandro De Aza (30) poses for a picture during photo day at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

One of those guys on the Dodgers is Mark Ellis. Mark had a decent season last year. If anything one might argue he had a fantastic season last year. He certainly played more games than we thought he would, and he did much better with the bat than expected. He has a good enough glove to be a steady contributor that when his bat shows up, its just enough for an everyday job. But how long should the Dodgers trust him as our regular guy? Maybe that is why Skip Schumaker was brought in. I certainly can’t envision Nick Punto playing everyday! The same concerns can be made of Juan Uribe. Though it is clear that the Dodgers have trusted Juan Uribe far too long. I fully expect Uribe to be gone before too long and Ellis to be platooned against righties.

Ellis’s costly Tootblan screwed the Dodgers-Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

The Dodgers aren’t without their holes, but the White Sox holes are just far too big to easily cover. I really can’t see them winning more than 80 games next year and falling to 4th in the division.