The Sox and the No. 5 hole

Most of the other 29 other MLB clubs would love to have the Sox starting 4 and the group of young strong arms in camp as the Bull-Pen looks to be definitely strengthened and a core of possible 5th starters could be picked eeney-meeney -miney- Mo, as Floyd, Danks, Haeger,and even could be Masset...SO the Big problem is Ozzie and Coop have to eliminate 3 and any of the 4 could fill the 5th spot (NO PROBLEM) So put Masset in the pen and only 2 to drop out. Also great looking youngsters, Gonzalez and Broadway may find there way on the roster before the year is over. Eat your hearts out 29 other MLB clubs some of whom will be unloading (or trying to) worn down hi- dollar vets and mediorce some injury prone pricey pitchers that were nothing more than desperation by clubs to get pitching.(sic' Cubs) and others..Again K. Williams defies the skeptics..(especially Mariotti and Rogers)

Not so sure I am that concerned about the 5th starter. As a Sox fan I am more concerned about Burhle being Burhle, and Contreras being himself. Has Vasquez gotten over his 6th inning slide? These are the things that will make or break their season. If we are relying on the 5th starter to do more than win 10 games we aren't going to go very far anyway.

ooops...wrong room. BTW I didn't think the sox had any fans...but I see one..........hahahahahaha one! gooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Cubbbbbbbbieesssss!!!!!!!!!!!! Also goodluck to Chicago's second most favorite team......go Brewwwwwwwwwwwwers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahhahaahahahaha

I've been wrong before about Williams & his moves but this time I believe he may be wrong? You can't trade proven talent for prospects. Trade a vibrant young CF for a wash up DH in Thome!Yah,Thome had good numbers but his age showed in final months of season. Id say sox will have trouble staying above KC! All the sold out seats last year & this is what the fans get in off season? Probably a fourth place team! Satan Reinsdorf & his puppet at work!

Whitesox fans have nothing to say because our bellies are still full from our Title and YEARS of competitive baseball. We can do nothing but BELCH our success in the face of cubdom. We have something they don't and that is the RESPECT of other clubs in our division. We are a BASEBALL team with a World-Class announcer. We are the lead dog in this town, and until someone up North wins, let them bask in our view and swagger. They don't concern me, Ozzie does. We need Ozzie back, and our edge. I don't like the muzzled Ozzie, I like wild Ozzie. Let em hang Oz, and Go Go Go SOX!

Ok, seriously...I remember the day the Sox signed Jermaine Dye. I being a die hard Cubs fan begrudgingly emailed one of my best buds who is a die hard Sox fan...and proclaimed the Sox to be the world champs(still have the saved email-date and all)in a fit of jealous rage. They did win. However looking back, it was purely accidental that they won...with all the money that the 'stillnotasbadasWirtz' duo
had to pay out the next year I was surprised they did not fire Ozzie right then and there. What was he thinking? Nobody in Chicago cares if the WhiteSox win the world series, and here they are paying out all this money because of it. What a costly mistake. BTW not one person outside whitesox fans would for a minute....even think that the most embarrassing person to ever represent the GREAT city of Chicago is a "world class announcer". Please tell me you were not talking about Hawk Harrelson. Pllllllease. If you were, then you now know why you have no credibility. Now, back to losing with Lou Vanilla.

Man the Sox got pasted in Spring Training today.....I mean I know it's early but wow, Burhle is still concerning me. I think Garland will round into shape but my gosh. As for the Cubs fans that are posting here why are you concerned about "our blog"? If you morons want to talk real baseball fine, otherwise go somewhere else. Now let's talk about your "TEAM" for a while. They remind me of the Portland Trailblazers from the early 2000's, they are the "BEST TEAM MONEY CAN BUY"...well not really. Why can't the Cubs home grow "any talent"? They have noone on that team that has come up through the ranks, because the Cubs don't have a good farm system. Ramirez isn't worth anything close to what he was signed for, Soriano is a good pick up, just too bad he has never played center field which is a pivotal posisition. Mark Derosa? Uh he is noone. Who is in right and left for you guys cuz I honestly don't know, does it matter? Who is leading off for you? Who is pitching? Let's see it's Zambrano and uh who? Oh that's right you guys are still waiting for Kerry Wood(failure living off his 20 k Kid K legacy), and Mark Prior(failure #2)....Ted Lilly? Overpriced.......Marquis? Loser....Rich Hill(has potential but relying on him this early could break the kid). The only things you guys have going for you is Soriano, Lee and Zambrano. Everyone else is an unproven commoditity. As I said, when you morons who want to post here have something baseball worth to say, be my guest. Till then, enjoy watching your over priced team flounder, barely make the playoffs and lose in the first round due to a lack of chemistry.

PS, the National League Central is a HORRIBLE division, while the AL Central is the BEST DIVISION IN BASEBALL, put that in your watered down beer and chug it down like everything else the corporate "CUBS" sell you and keep showing up to watch the "unbearable losers"!

I purposely did not mention the Hawkeroo because I dont have to. Call it luck or whatever you want, trophies and rings are tangible evidence of victory. I got all kinds of momentos, and they are recent. Goats and Bartman are the discussions those who are second class citizens where it COUNTS. People who love baseball love the way its played, not WHERE its played, and way before the Sox ever won a ship, they played the game competitively. Rich, Smug, Holly-wood cubfans (as a whole - not all) are not interested in anything but the drinks, celebrities and the ambiance. That fanbase is not even reflective of diverse Chicago. There is nothing at Wrigly you cannot get in any nightclub on the Northside. Everyone in Chicago knows, there are two girls in Chicago, the one you marry because she is real and the fake one you visit at Wrigley Field.

I agree with other posters in saying that I'm more worried about the known starting 4 keeping up their game. Last I checked there was still an APB on Buehrle's whereabouts, and Vasquez is 2 different pitchers within the same game much of the time for some mysterious reason. If that happens, and the 5th starter turns out to be no worse than average, look out.

BTW why do so many Sox topics degenerate into the same crap all the time? If people are gonna troll all the threads, message boards, and blogs, at least come up with some new one-liners.

I agree with Keith. This discussion is being waylaid by angry and bitter Cub fans who haven't seen a World Series championship since Teddy Roosevelt was President.

I'm sure they can find a fifth starter out of the clump of young pitchers Ken Williams has assembled. I'm more worried about Buehrle, Contreras and Vasquez pitching to their capabilities. If they do, the Sox will be in the playoffs again in 2007. If they don't, we may see another fire sale in August.

Sox starting pitching should be solid, but question marks definitely remain. I think Garland and Contreras will be above average. Not so sure about Buerhle and Vasquez. I think one of the young pitchers will step up and pitch around or just below .500, which should be fine as long as the top 4 pitch to their abilities.

Ultimately I think Floyd will start the year in the 5th slot. Masset and Haeger will be in the bullpen. If Floyd falters, it will go to whoever is pitching best in the minors at the time...probably either Danks or Gonzalez. I could see Haeger becoming the starter too, but it seems they like his versatility in the 'pen, which I agree with. I don't forsee a repeat of '04, someone will step up...too much talent for someone not to be good enough to be 5th starter.

Finally, fellow Sox fans, just ignore the haters, they're just trying to get under your skin. We've clearly been the better team, and don't need to say a word to justify it...

Hey Roman,first controversy of the year for Sox: do you think that Ozzie should have responded to McCarthey's comments that the atmosphere was better in his new club house compared to the Sox? Do you think he should have taken the high road and said "no comment",which we all know isn't in his vocabulary?

Roman responds: I don't think it's that big of a deal. By Ozzie standards, it's pretty mild stuff.

yup this thread is 4 days old and only 13 comments in which 3 of them are by me. So that means only ten people in Chicago care about the Sox. Which is ten more than I thought.

Roman responds: A lot of people who would have posted to this thread posted on the Baseball Prospectus one instead. I should have deleted this one, but I knew how much you like having one all by yourself. Enjoy.

thankyou.

I hope Floyd wins the 5th starter's spot, and turns out to be a quality pitcher so the Garcia trade doesn't end up being a waste. I agree with the previous posters about Buehrle, Contreras, Garland and Vazquez: if they pitched to their capabilities and average 15 wins each, then the 5th starter just needs to be decent. Go Sox!

The Sox have not had a starting pitcher truly emerge from the minor league ranks since Buehrle did back in 2000 and subsequently entering the rotation in 2001. There have been a lot of names penciled onto the lineup cards over the years and aside from a mediocre (at best) season or two from Danny Wright, they have all failed. Before everyone throws Jon Garland's name out there, I'd like to say that he shouldn't count as someone that emerges. He was going to get his chance in the big leagues whether he wanted it or not.

I like what Kenny is doing. Assembling a long list of top prospects with good arms is the strategy of a smart betting man, which I believe Kenny is. This is not blind faith, but I truly think the organization is due for a pleasant surprise from one of these young pitchers. Looking back on the #5 troubles we had in 2003 and 2004 I am beginning to think it was a function of having mediocre talent, not mismanagement, injuries, or anything else. What we have today seems far superior in terms of raw talent and I think Cooper's track record is much better than Nardi Contreras in terms of getting pitchers to improve. As cliche as this sounds, I think this is the year that the Sox get that surprise performance from one or more young pitchers. Like everyone else on this board though, I think the more pressing issue is what our other 4 starters are going to do.