Instead of projecting how the Sox will do this season, i94 Sports takes a look at each position and asks: Is this the best the Sox could do?

Top Available Second Basemen

• Orlando Hudson: Signed with Minnesota; 1 year, $5 million
• Felipe Lopez: Signed with St. Louis; 1 year, $1.75 million
• Placido Polanco: Signed with Philadelphia; 3 years, $18 million
• Mark DeRosa: Signed with San Francisco; 2 years, $12 million
• Ronnie Belliard: Signed with Los Angeles Dodgers; 1 year, $825,000

On the criteria of these preview posts, this is one of the easier ones: At second base, this is the best the White Sox could do. Gordon Beckham’s experience as a middle infielder, and how well his bat projects as a second baseman, makes him the clear choice.

Though, Beckham may be the team’s best shortstop, too.

When the Sox announced Beckham's move to second base, some wondered why he didn't go to his original position: shortstop. That way the Sox could move Alexei Ramirez back to second. This is understandable because Ramirez was bad defensively last season; he was also a bad defensive second baseman in 2008. At both shortstop and second, according to Baseball Prospectus 2010, Ramirez allowed more runs than the average player at his position.

However, Ramirez’s propensity for the highlight reel play makes some believe his defensive lapses are the result of lackluster concentration; because of this, because Beckham’s defensive ability up the middle is a mystery, and because there were some scouts who believed Beckham was “fringy” as a shortstop when he was drafted, I think the Sox made the right choice moving Beckham to second.

Aside from Ramirez, Beckham is a tremendous upgrade over the other second basemen on the 2009 Sox roster: Chris Getz and Jayson Nix. This isn’t a tremendous feat though. Getz (who was traded to the Royals in November for Mark Teahen) is extremely grindy, but that’s about all he contributes. And Nix couldn’t overcome Getz’s grindiness for more at-bats, at least partly, because he failed to reach the “Mendoza Line” against right-handers.

But more telling than Beckham being better than those on the roster, Beckham is a better option than any of the top available second basemen, listed above. So unless you really like Orlando Hudson, you'll agree, the time has come to hand second base over to Beckham for the next few years or so.

At second, Beckham's bat is even more valuable, especially in the power categories. About the only question remaining with Beckham's skill set is his power, but this is hardly an issue up the middle. Even if Beckham just matches last season's production (14 homers), he'll be among the AL's second base leaders.

But considering Beckham was a rookie, learning a new position, it's fair to expect improvement across the board. The only question is how much more productive will Beckham be than the average second baseman.

Erick is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Outside the Clubhouse.

Instead of projecting how the Sox will do this season, i94 Sports takes a look at each position and asks: Is this the best the Sox could do?

Top Available First Basemen

• Nick Johnson: Signed with New York Yankees; 1 year, $5.75 milion
• Adam LaRoche: Signed with Arizona; 1 year, $4.5 million
• Carlos Delgado: Unsigned, considering retirement
• Aubrey Huff: Signed with San Francisco; 1 year, $3 million
• Ryan Garko: Signed with Seattle; 1 year, $550,000

The end is near. Signs point to this being Paul Konerko’s last season with the White Sox, and it won’t take a trade with the Angels to make it happen. But as for this season, is Konerko the best the White Sox could do for a starting first baseman?

No. But is it worth the trouble to fix the position?

Trading Konerko isn’t a prerequisite to another move; there’s still the designated hitter issue they have to deal with. If they wanted to move him, it would be difficult because Paulie’s 10-and-5 rights allow him to veto any trade. The Sox first baseman also, recently, told Scott Merkin that he’d like to stay in Chicago beyond this season. Still, waving his rights for anything less than an ideal situation isn’t high on Konerko’s to-do list.

Even with Konerko on the roster, the Sox have had discussions about a possible replacement. Recently, rumors insisted that the White Sox have (or did have) interest in Adrian Gonazalez. Having interest in Gonzalez isn’t news because I’m sure the rest of MLB has interest in him, too. It passes as news because Jake Peavy used to play with Gonzalez, and Peavy doesn’t have a bad word to say about the guy.

An extensive search on the World Wide Web resulted in no substantial rumors – just that Gordon Beckham would, likely, have to be the center of a deal. And on Sunday, Joe Cowley reported, “A Sox source said last month that the feeling around 35th and Shields was it would take a package that included Gordon Beckham to get Gonzalez, and that's not really an option.”

With no deal in mind, it’s hard to say, with absolute certainty, if a Beckham/Gonzalez deal would benefit the Sox. Who else would be involved? But, at least, if you are as high on Beckham as I am, you understand the Sox’s position: Despite having a chance to upgrade at first base, I’m not interested in including Beckham for Gonzalez.

At Outside the Clubhouse, I've started a series of baseball prviews. The concept is simple: Is the current roster situation, really, the best the Cubs/White Sox could do?

There are a thousand different books, magazines, Web sites and TV programs trying to predict what’s going to happen this season. Some use formulas that project how many games a team is going to win; some say a team is looking confident and the writer just thinks they’re going to win. Whether they use objective statistics or old-timey anecdotes, it’s still only a prediction.

As spring training starts, pitchers and catchers' first workout is Sunday for the White Sox, there are issues that aren't predictions any more. For the most part, rosters are set. And I'll be moving my White Sox previews to i94 Sports. So, is this the best the Sox could do?

Every season it happens: In the middle of a week long losing streak or an individual’s 2-for-23 slump, someone asks, “Why didn’t they sign so-and-so? So-and-so was a free agent. And yesterday, he hit two home runs. So-and-so would have definitely signed here, if only the Sox would have been smart enough to go after so-and-so.”

Point is, it gets tiresome to have the same hindsight conversations. And when so-and-so wasn’t, in fact, going to sign with the South Side, it is just pointless.

This series of posts will go over each position; take a look at who will get the at-bats, and check who could have been getting them. Then, later this season – when you have these conversations, wondering why someone isn’t on the Sox – you can come here, and see if the Sox are as dumb as you think they are.

Of course, everyone will probably forget, and just have the argument anyway. But so you know, the information is here.

"Red flags should be raised when the Sporting News -- in a players poll -- voted Beckham the AL Rookie of the Year last month. Around that same time, Beckham's peers in the players association selected him as the top AL rookie."

The winner was Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics, and Deluca has no issue with that. What he takes issue with is Gordon Beckham's fifth place finish,

"...they flubbed by giving Beckham zero first-place votes and two second-place votes."

2009 AL roy voting

Keith Law of ESPN writes today regarding Deluca's comments,

"Rookies of the Year were named Monday, and we get some hometown whining from Chicago (about Gordon Beckham) and Philly (about J.A. Happ). The Chicago writer, Chris Deluca, argues that the players should vote on the award instead of writers who don't take it seriously (a conclusion he draws from the fact that they didn't choose his local guy), even though a look at any year's All-Star reserve selections would tell you that players aren't going to do any better of a job at this than the writers would."

I'm not sure if I agree with Law's assessment that Deluca was "whining" because they didn't pick Gordon. He readily admits that the correct pick was made. His issue comes with the zero first place votes that Beckham received.

"Bailey also opened the season on the A's roster, but he worked his way into the closer's role. The right-hander started out in the stress-free world of middle relief. He clearly had the most impressive rookie season, actually getting stronger after being the A's lone representative at the All-Star Game."

I have never been a fan of the writers handling the voting for anything. That being said, I'm not sure that giving the players the votes cures anything. There are no statistical guidelines for this kind of vote, and whenever you add the human element to anything you will have flaws.

Bailey was obviously the deserving winner of this honor, and I'm not sure anybody ever remembers the runner up for ROY. You either win the award or you don't.

Take a look at the stats above. Do you see anything wrong with the way the vote went?

I am not the resident White Sox writer for this site, but I thought I would chime in after yet another loss on this brutal road trip the South-siders have embarked on. Last night it was the Twins who handed the White Sox their ninth loss in eleven games, essentially forcing GM Kenny Williams to wave the White Flag and ship out Jim Thome and Jose Contreras in preparation for 2010.

On Friday, August 21st, the Sox found themselves just 2.5 games out of first place with the Baltimore Orioles coming to town. Baltimore took two of three at the Cell and sent the Sox out of town for what many knew would be a make a break portion of their schedule. It broke.

They now find themselves 6 games out and 2.5 behind the Twins; the Wild Card unattainable.

It must be nice to be able to see the end of the tunnel and be able to make the moves accordingly. Unlike the Sox, the Cubs are left clinging to hope for a shot a the Wild Card. Unlike Jim Hendry, Kenny Williams is able to shed some dollars in 2009 to begin to prepare for 2010. And what might 2010 look like for the White Sox?

According to Beyond the Box Score, the White Sox added over $110M in payroll with the additions of Jake Peavy and Alex Rios.

What you see above is just guaranteed money. Jermaine Dye has a 2010 buyout option for $1M or a $12M mutual option. Matt Thorton has a $0.25M buyout option, or a $2.25M club option. I used the numbers from Beyond the Boxscore, which estimated some of the arbitration figures.

It depends on who you ask when it comes to how much the White Sox should spend. In 2009, according to ESPN.com, they had a payroll that ranked them 10th in the majors at just over $100M. Not exercising the option on Dye could free up a ton of money, but would also force this team to fill two spots in the outfield next season.

The rotation appears to be solid for next year. The only hole to fill is the fifth starters spot. Daniel Hudson could fill the role or they could turn to free agency. The bullpen will need some fill ins as well and most likely they will turn to the free agent market for that. The 40-man call up will certainly give Ozzie and Kenny a better perspective on what kind of arms they have going forward.

2009 didn't go as expected for the Sox following their 2008 playoff berth, but Kenny has this team in good position to compete in 2010 and beyond. The Sox have a solid core of young players in Beckham, Getz, Tyler Flowers and Daniel Hudson along with what should be a great rotation. A few moves here or there in the outfield and help to solidify the bullpen should have this team in good shape next season.

I wanted to let the 'Bacon' sizzle in the frying pan a little while before I professed my man-crush on James Gordon "Bacon" Beckham.  (I like him even more now that I just found out he basically said "Screw that normal name of James, give me Gordon so I can stand out like the star that I am.") After 2.5 months in the big leagues, and 67 games under his belt he has established himself as a Rookie of the Year candidate and a potential All-Star for years to come. I can wait no longer - Gordon Beckham, I heart you.

Here's the rookie line on him so far:

239 AB, 37 R, 7 HR, 44 RBI, .297 avg., .379 OBP

Those are exceptional numbers for a rookie, and he is being recognized as the front runner for the ROY, despite a June call up. Last year, Evan Longoria won the ROY (448 AB) with these numbers:

Longoria 2008:  67 R, 27 HR, 85 RBI, .272 Avg., .343 OBP

Beckham 2009:  69 R, 13 HR, 82 RBI, .297 Avg., .379 OBP (Extrapolated to 448 AB)

Longoria has the edge in power no doubt, but Beckham makes up for it in average and OBP (The power will come, no doubt). I don't think you've heard about Beckham on a national level quite like we did last year with Longoria because he was heralded as a start prior to his call-up, whereas Beckham has had to work a little to make a name for himself.  And of course, chicks dig the long ball. I digress though, because recognition is not relevant or important to the conversation, I just wanted to unveil the similarities in their numbers and put my name in as campaign manager for Bekcham ROY 2009.

Not only does Bacon put up numbers, he also passes the eyeball test.  I haven't seen White Sock hit the ball as prolifically and consistently to all parts of the field since Frank Thomas in his earlier years (You could throw a young Magglio into that conversation).  That's right, I made the comparison to a future HOFer and former 2-time MVP - already.  I'm not saying Beckham will achieve what Frank did, but what I have seen so far is that kind of star potential. My infatuation with Frank brought me exclusively to the South side (I spent the first 10 years of my life appreciating both sides of town) at the tender age of 10, and Mr. Beckham has that special something that has me going once again.

Peavy and Rios were great additions to this club for the future, but the maturation of Bacon is what I will be locked in on for years to come.

Here an interview with Gordon "Bacon" Beckham with Boers and Bernstein from 670 The Score here.

Posted by contributor WIK:

The White Sox have made a trade over the past week and will probably make another to ready themselves for post-trade deadline baseball. Neither is blockbuster by any means, but each has significance in a few different ways.

First, the Sox traded the enigmatic Brian Anderson to the Boston Red Sox for OF/IF Mark Kotsay. Anderson, a first round draft pick, is now 27 and has not yet established himself as an every day player. You can only hang onto potential for so long before you have to say 'so long' in my opinion. While a defensive stalwart, Anderson never got it going with the bat so both parties seemed to mutually agree that a change of scenery was in everyone's best interest after his optioning to AAA Charlotte (to make room for Quentin).

I believe Kenny worked a pretty good deal in bringing an experienced bench player that can help the team right now. As Rex would say, let's compare some numbers and look at career stats per 162 games.

The numbers are a little deceiving because they reflect more opportunities for Kotsay since he was an everyday player for much of his career. If you extrapolate the numbers up to reflect the same amount of AB's for Anderson, you will end up with similar numbers.  However, the important thing that does not change is the Average and OBP, which could mean critical production down the stretch.

Kotsay is by no means the man he used to be, this being his 12th year, and he has served as primarily a bench player since 2006.  However, he is a veteran that can play above average Outfield AND first base, which is the biggest reason he was acquired. This was obvious the minute they sent Josh Fields down to the minors to make room for him. Josh Fields has been primarily a first base backup for Konerko since the call up of Bacon (Gordon Beckham). He served as a DH at times against righties, but the return of Carlos Quentin changes that.

Quentin will require some days off from the field to rest his sore foot, so he fills this role. Backup IF Jayson Nix has backup 3rd, SS and 2nd covered already, and Kotsay can cover 1st base.  Uh-oh, somebody's expendable! Josh Fields will be traded before long, which is the right move for Kenny Williams.  He is not a part of this team's future at any position. You just cannot strikeout at Adam Dunn pace and play Adam Dunn defense, without hitting HR's and driving in runs like Adam Dunn. Plus you have a developing Dayan Viciedo to think about nurturing along at the corner infield spots, so it is pretty clear that it is the end of the road for Mr. Fields.

Consider this trading deadline a cleaning house of over-hyped, under-achieving prospects. No love lost with either from me.

The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox have a long standing inner-city rivalry. A Cubs fan myself who grew up on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois (Wisconsin side), and who now lives in Milwaukee, I don't feel the hatred for the South Siders that many Cubs fans do.

Instead, I find myself watching with a curious eye everything that happens on the south side of Chicago. I do everything short of rooting for them, except for that weekend during inter-league play.

Last Thursday was something different. How could anyone not root for a player in command the way Mark Buehrle was and not hope to catch a little bit of history, whether it was over the radio waves or on the television or if you might be so lucky, in person. I was lucky enough to catch Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter at Miller Park last season and as anyone who has been to an event like this can tell you the smile takes some time to leave your face.

Get to the f-ing point right? Ok. In honor of Mark Buehrle's delivering of the Top Ten on David Letterman, I wanted to post my own Top Ten. So without further adieu: The Top Ten Reasons Cubs Fans Should Enjoy Buehrle's Perfect Game

1. Because the words "perfect" and Cubs have never been in the same sentence.
2. Because they're stuck with this guy: SOXFAN1 (7/23/2009 at 3:11 PM) YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSS Perfectionnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Buehrle is on my fantasy team. (From ESPN message board)
3. Don't get to laughy, we're stuck with this guy. And this guy. And this guy. And this guy.
4. Because there is rare and then there is rare. There have been more perfect games thrown in MLB history than there have been playoff series victories by the Cubs (16-3).
5. Because Mark Buehrle has grace, others do not: "Am I going to get more cheers now?" he said. "Are we going to stop getting bashed by everybody, articles about our lineup and how it was better last year and all that garbage. Last year's team is sitting at home, just like everyone else. There's just one champion." (Milton Bradley on the Cubs jump into first place despite season long adversity).
6. Because if it wasn't for Buehrle's perfect game you would have had to listen to Jim Parque's story for two days.
7. Because Buehrle doesn't pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers or the St. Louis Cardinals.
8. Because despite your staunch record of heterosexuality, something about the above picture makes you blush.
9. Because Mark was nice enough to loan DeWayne Wise his car following that great catch. Sorry, running out of ideas. Well, I actually never had any.
10. Because you're an idiot if you can't appreciate an accomplishment of that nature.

Mark Buehrle led the White Sox to victory in grand fashion today, by tossing a perfect game, and his second career no-hitter.  His first came on April 18th, 2007, also at U.S. Comiscular Field.  This is only the 18th perfect game in MLB history, Randy Johnson being the last to do so in 2004. The magnificent performance improved Buehrle's record to 11-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.28 on the year, and he could be on his way to his best season yet.

Buehrle certainly has been the anchor of the staff since 2001, giving as consistent of innings and quality pitching as anyone in MLB over that stretch.  His workhorse mentality, leadership and infectious style make him a huge asset to the ball club because he not only is a quality starter but he also gudies young pitchers like Gavin Floyd, Clayton Richard and John Danks, and is able to teach them that it pitching isn't always about velocity.  That is the definition of invaluable. The easy 5-0 victory for the White Sox could not have come at a better time either.  The White Sox managed to take 3 out of 4 games from a difficult Rays squad, only narrowly missing a sweep on a Bobby Jenks blown save (We forgive you Bobby! Don't yell at me Ozzie!).  They also have pulled to a tie for first in the division with a Tigers loss to the Mariners this afternoon.

This should give a big boost to the Sox that have a two series worth of intense division games lined up for the next six days. The setup is perfect going into a weekend series at Detroit, as a winner of that 4 game series will seize the AL Central Division lead.  That series is followed up by a visit to the Rollerdome to face the pesky Twins, who loom large in the rear-view mirror as well. If that weren't enough, a four game home series against the streaking Yankees solidifies the stretch of 11 games as murderous. As you can see, extra confidence certainly is welcome.

To DeWayne Wise: Your beer this evening will be paid in full by Mr. Buehrle for pulling back a home run ball from Gabe Kapler in the 9th to preserve the victory.  Remarkable catch, but even more remarkable of a performance from Mr. Consistency.

"The last thing we worry about is [Bacon], and I don't know why people in Chicago fell in love with this kid,'' Guillen said in his pregame media gathering. "He's a great player, he's going to be in the big leagues, he's going to be a big part of this organization pretty soon. But we don' t have [Bacon] on our mind right now. I don't and I'm the one making the lineup. If we have [Bacon] here, we're in trouble.''

Whoa, whoa, whoa Ozzie....what's your problem with bacon?  Not sure if you're one of those stupid vegetarians (yeah, I said it), but let it be known that I do worry about bacon, it is on my mind constantly and I would love to have some here right now. I think that goes for most guys as well. There must be some kind of misunderstanding here.

OK, so I just checked my Spanglish-to-English dictionary and apparently Bacon is English for the name "Beckham"?  That makes more sense, as he is probably referring to White Sox top prospect Gordon Beckham. Fast forward 2 days to today, and we find out that Bacon has been called up and is in the starting lineup for the White Sox at 3B for today's game.  Kind of an egg on the face moment for Ozzie there, if we take what he said seriously. Does this mean the White Sox are in trouble like he says? Hardly in my estimation, since they're handling a major problem at 3rd base internally.

"[Bacon], he's going to play," Guillen continued, returning to more serious analysis. "Where [is] he going to play? We are going to find out how we are going to start him. We'll move him around, play a little bit of third, second and help the Missile [Alexei Ramirez] play a little shortstop. But I have to get him at-bats."

In my opinion, we should cue the choir of angels for all to rejoice (except Ozzie) the a third baseman who doesn't suck. Josh fields is pretty much terrible, and I have wished to see him gone this whole year (and no I don't want Crede back either). He's nearly half way to the # of AB's he had in 2007 (in which he hit 23 HR in 100 games) and his numbers are less than remarkable. However, he has not slowed down his strikeout rate, as he's on pace for 183 this year. He's currently 10th in MLB in that category, which is mostly populated by guys who have double digit HR's to justify those K's.  Mr. Fields has 2. Sorry Josh, .308 should be a batting average, not an OBP. Bacon on the other hand has torn up everywhere he's stopped this year and a AA and AAA he hit .326 with, 23 doubles, four homers and 25 RBIs in 45 games.

I expect he'll continue to surge, but even if he does not I can guarantee he will give more quality at-bats on a nightly basis than Fields ever did, just by putting the ball in play more often. I don't have any illusions that Bacon will miraculously turn this team around, but I believe he can be a contributor more so than Fields. That justifies the call-up in my mind. I bet you're thinking about how delicious bacon is right now, aren't you?