Guys, just wanted to say that I created my own baseball blogging website. I was looking for your guys opinion and if you guys could join, that wuld be great. Please go visit it, http://www.baseballsox.webs.com

Please make an account. Just check it out, I got a few posts up now and I'm working on some right now. If you join, please start posting and make it better. Thanks! Also if you lied the website please tell me. If I can improve it also please tell me. Thanks again!

In my fantasy baseball league, one of my friends offered me this trade on ESPN fanatsy baseball. I was hping you guys could help me out...

2B Robinosn Cano for 2B-SS Mike Aviles

Mike Aviles is on my bench so far this year. I know the season hasn't stretd, but do you think I should accept this trade? Or do you think I should try and get someone else or make a counter-proposal?

Could the White Sox use Eric Gagne as a bullpen piece. he got released jst a few hours ago by the Brewers from his minor league contract. In the middle of spring training, he might sign cheap thinking he might be not on a team going into the year. If the Sox offer him a contract, I see a 1 year minor-league deal. What do you guys think about the Sox trying to sign Eric Gagne?

The Royals had one of the best bullpens leading into the offseason last year. They were also a little short on hitting. The players they needed to supplement their offense cost them some of their best bullpen pitchers in Ramon Rameriz and Leo Nunez. They signed some bullpen talent in the offseason in Oscar Villareal, Horacio Rameriz, and Jaun Cruz. This didn't totally make up for the trades, but it helped.

Eric Gagne just got released from his minor league contract by the Brewers a few hours ago, and if the Royals could get him signed to a cheap minor league deal, it might provide some upside. Having an old closer to teach the young players in the bullpen will be alone worth whatever his contract will be, an pitching help is an upside.

I think that the Royals bullpen needs just a little more, maybe signing Eric gagne might be all they need, maybe not. Tell me what you think the Royals should do.

I thought of this for a poll because I was reading that all these teams have certain players set up to put up monster numbers. Tell me if you think this could be better or any suggestions for my next South Side Sox poll.

I put alot of players on, might be hard to sort through all of them. I might of left out a few players, or just forgot about them. Remember that there might be some players traded into the American league this year too that are good.

The A.L. Central is the toughest division in baseball other than the A.L. East. The Royals and Indians are revamped for the season with free agent signing, trades, and minor league talent. The Tigers are starting to dismantle their team, with the hopes to rebuild(pshh what a joke, the Tigers). The twins are probably the biggest competition in the division with a new mindset of the owner, other than just trying to make a buck. I have my outlook based on posts I read and what I've read on the internet and in magazines.

Twins Outlook

Pitching: The Twins have a OK pitching staff with the exceptions of Philip Humber and Francisco Liriano. In the bullpen, the only real force there is Joe Nathan, and he is starting a slow decline. The starting staff is full of number 3 and 4 starters in the other spots other than Liriano and Humber. The starting staff will have a lot of weight on there shoulders knowing that they will have to pitch deep into the game because of the weakness of their bullpen. In the bullpen, Joe Nathan will have to close the 8 and 9 innings in most games. Other than him, the only formidable pitchers in the bullpen will be Jesse Crain, and Pat Neshek if his arm is better. Out of a 10, I would give the pitching staff a 8.

Hitting: The Twins have a all around hitting staff. Their power is below average, but the average aspect of the team is a little better than most teams. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer will have to lead the team in hitting most of the time. Denard Span will probably leadoff most of the time. Delmon Young has to get better. I just found out that Crede just signed a contract with the Twins. He probably won't be a starter because of his bad back. Out of a 10, I would give the Twins a 5 out of 10 on hitting.

Indians Outlook

Pitching: The Indians pitching staff is going to be pretty good, it will be led by Cliff Lee. The starting rotation was pretty awful and when they traded Sabathia during last season, the rotation ace spot was completely took over by Cliff Lee. During the offseason, the Indians biggest name signing was Kerry Wood. He didn't get too big of a contract, but it was a big blow in confidence to the division rivals. Now the Indians have a reliable pitcher to close out the 9th inning when needed. The rotation is going to be Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Faust Carmona, Anthony Reyes, and Carl Pavano. It is going to be a stron rotation coming into this year. The bullpen is not as big a mess as it was during last season. Rafael Perez and Rafael Bentacourt are going to be the Short Releif and Setup guys in the pen. Kerry Wood is going to close. Masa Kobayashi is going to be a middle releif pitcher and the long releif will probably be Scott Lewis. The extra option in the bullpen will be Jensin Lewis. Out of a scale of 1-10, I would give the Indians pitching staff a 8.5.

Hitting: The Indians have always had a trademark for their hitting. The hitting last season however, was pretty bad other than Grady Sizemore. Victor Martinez can't catch that much anymore because his knees are getting bad and Kelly Shopach took most of the at bats at catcher last year. He will probably catch most of this season too. Victor Martinez can be backup when needed at the catchers position. Victor martinez or Travis Hafner might start at 1st base. Garko is pretty good, but the Indians need to have both of the bats in the order. Casey blake might not see that much of the playing field this year. And at DH, Hafner and Martinez might start at either 1st or DH. At second you have Josh Barfield or Asdrubal Cabrera. At shortstop the Indians have Johhny Peralta. At third, Mark Derosa will be starting. And in the outfield, the Indians have Grady Sizemore in center, Ben Francisco at right, and hopefully someone better than David Delluci in left. Out of a scale of 1-10, the Indians have a 7.

Royals Outlook

Pitching: The Royals havn't had a good pitching staff for a while. 2 years ago, Gil Meche was supposed to be a super starter after getting signed to a 5 year $60 million dollar contract. He finally started showing how he was worth $10M a year.The bullpen got weakened when they traded away Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez. The Royals tried to make up for the trades by signing Kyle Farnsworth. The starting pitching is starting to work. Out of a scale of 1-10, I give the Royals a 6.

Hitting: To put it this way, the hitting on the royals is "improving". Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs are going to drastically improve the Royals run production. Mike Aviles might of not been a fluke, but his minor league numbers say somthing else. Alex Gordon might decline this year, but he might hit better too. Out of a scale of 1-10, I give the royals a 6 out of 10.

Tigers Outlook

Pitching: The Tigers had the best pitching staff in the majors last season, but it just didn't work well together and the Tigers missed the playoffs even with a stacked pitching staff. With Justin Verlander leading the staff as the ace, the Tigers pitching staff is full of hopes. Armando Gallaraga led the staff in wins, Jeremy Bonderman is a good pitcher. The tigers are hoping that Edwin jackson will be strong next season. The last spot in the rotation goes to Dontrelle Willis. His arm is dead, butb the tigers won't give up on him. The bullpen has a hole in the closer part because of Todd Jones retirement. If Zumaya or Rodney can show that they have the stuff, they might take the closer spot. Right now though, the Tigers have Brandon Lyons as their closer. The rest of the bullpen is a toss up between Bobby Seay and Freddy Dolsi. Out of a scale of 1-10, I give the Tigers a 8 on pitching.

Hitting: This year, Miguel Cabrera and Magglio ordonez will have a lot on their shoulders. Granderson it set to leadoff. This year, Guillen is moving to the outfield, that might affect his numbers, but the Tigers are getting desperate. Inge has third base all to himself. Polanco can hold the place of second base by defense alone, any offense is a plus. Adam Everett will only be given the job of having to field shortstop well enough to keep his job. Gerald Laird has starting catcher locked up. Gary Sheffeild will have a good season saying he is less than 5 homers away from 500. Out of a scale of 1-10, I would give the tigers a 7 on hitting.

This season, the division is going to be heavily contested. The Twins right now are the front runners to take the division. Here is how I think that the division will come out to be.

Twins

Indians

White Sox

Royals

Tigers

Please comment if you think anything could be better or I left out. Thanks!

Ok, thanks guys for liking these, I am going to make more of them. Todays poll, will be about the White Sox organization goal this year.

Do you think that the Sox are going to totally rebuild this year, or do you think they will go for the playoffs and buy players. Anything is possible this season, the Sox have a team thats above normal in the A.L Central this season, so todays poll.

I plan on having a couple fan post and maybe two every week during the season. This will be my first poll. I think you guys will like these. Thanks!

I noticed that a lot of people are saying that Jerry Owens will get most of the at bats this year from center field and will probably be starting. I really don't think so. Please take this poll, and if you like it, please say and I will make more later.

The A.L. Central is going to be one of the toughest division this year. Indians and Royals are revamped for this season, the Tigers are starting to dismantle some of their team, and the Twins might make a race for the pennant this season.

White Sox outlook

The Sox got rid of some of their talent, and they got a few prospects in return. They are going to have a whole in center field, because of the Swisher trade way back. It looks like DeWayne Wise is going to be starting unless Brian Anderson has a very good spring or the Sox have a late offseason signing. In right field, we have Jermaine Dye starting. In left field, we have Carlos Quentin starting. At shortstop, Alexei Rameriz is starting. At First base, Paul Konerko is going to be starting. At third base, it will be either Dayan Viciedo or Josh Fields. I think I read that Dayan can play second base also. If he can, it will be Dayan Viciedo at second and Josh Fields at third. And at catcher, it will be A.J. Pierzynski. The major league starters are pretty good, but third base, second base, and Center field are going to be a little shaky. And Jim Thome will be the starting DH.

If Chris Getz is ready to be starter by opening day, it will be Josh Fields and Dayan Viciedo platooning at third and Getz starting at second. If the sox could get a center fielder by the seasons beginning, Wise could be the backup outfielder. but the only centerfielder thats good on the free agent market is Jim Edmonds, an ex-cubbie. 

Now to pitching, the rotation is weaker now because of the trade that sent Vasquez to the Braves. The starting rotation consists of Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, maybe Johhny Nunez or Jose Contreras if he's healthy, and Clayton Richard. This isn't the best rotation, but it will be able to pitch all year. 

Now onto the bullpen. Boone Logan wasn't much of a loss considering he had a 5+ E.R.A. here is how I think the bullpen will look like.

Closer: Bobby Jenks

Set-up: Matt Thornton or Octavio Dotel

Long Releif: Lance Broadway, Ryan Braun, and Jeff Marquez

Short Releif: Mike McDougal, Ehrin Wassermann, John Link, Scott Linebrink, and Adam Russell

This isn't the best bullpen, but it will be able to close ball games. The Sox will need to get maybe one or two bullpen pieces by the trade deadline. This will help the team's bullpen be more than average.

There is no doubt that the Sox are trying to prematurly rebuild. Under Kenny Williams, the Sox will rebuild and buy at the same time, which is not a good strategy. Either rebuild or try to make that last run for the pennant. The Sox need to make their desicion at least by the All-Star break to succeed in later seasons to come. I personally think the Sox should rebuild now, and succeed in 2 years. They don't have enough talent that they can trade a few of their veterans to rebuild. it is rebuild or go bust for the playoffs.

I think that the Sox should trade away maybe 2-3 of their veterans, like Mark Buehrle, and get a couple 4-5 prospects in return. unfortunetly, this would considerably weaken their offense and pitching. If they choose to buy, they need a third basemen and centerfielder. This was my outlook for the Sox this season. Tell me what you think of this outlook and tell me how it could be better or what i forgot to put in the lineup.