The White Sox are going all in this year. The  acquisitions of first baseman Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, and David Robertson (very solid closer, even if they paid him a bit much) have already showed their intentions at  making a run at what could be a wide open American League Central in 2015. LaRoche  is still a good hitter with some defensive value at first base. Zach Duke is a very strong left handed reliever, who although I was surprised got three years, deserved the attention he got. David Robertson is a very solid closer, and while I feel they overpaid, they have likely solidified the back end of their bullpen for at least the next four years. 

The White Sox definitely needed another starting pitcher, though. When I first heard the rumors that the White Sox were going after a one-year rental of Jeff "Shark" Samardzija, though, I was a bit perplexed. But after seeing what the Athletics got for him, I love this trade for the White Sox. They even get the upside of young right-handed pitcher Michael Ynoa on top of renting "Shark" for a year. In return, the White Sox give up their backup catcher in Josh Phegley, a decent arm in Chris Bassitt (whose control is a bit iffy but has upside), a utility infielder in Marcus Semien, and a decent hitting prospect in Rangel Ravelo.

While the A's got a decent haul for a rental, I still love this for the White Sox. It's an OK return for a team like the A's who are clearly going for a quick rebuild, though. It's going to save the A's at least $9 million in salary arbitration. But for the White Sox, they get a chance to sandwich Shark in between Chris Sale (one of the best pitchers in baseball) and the ever-underrated Jose Quintana. They have a couple other decent arms in that rotation, as well, but this takes some pressure off of their developing young starters. GM Rick Hahn is doing a great job with this South Side team makeover. Oakland GM Billy Beane is just continuing his fire sale, but I like THIS return better than the returns for Josh Donaldson and especially Brandon Moss.

On top of their other acquisitions, this move makes the White Sox look very good going into next season. I don't think they'll miss Bassitt too much, although he has back-end of the rotation potential and probably bullpen help at worst. Though Ravelo may be something, it will be likely a couple years before he makes an impact. He's probably the best player in the deal. Phegley is a nice back-up catcher with power, but the White Sox gained catcher Rob Brantly off of waivers, so he became expendable.

The Tigers are getting older with several positions in flux. The Twins are a mess. The Royals could still be fairly good and the Indians look better. But this could be quite a race now with all of the talent the White Sox have added. It's been 10 years since the White Sox last won the World Series. Why not go for it now?


What do you think of the White Sox going forward? 

by Dennis Townsend, Contributing Writer

On January 17, 1942, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and by the time he was 12 years old, he took up boxing so that he could defend himself in his neighborhood. He became so good at his craft that he entered the Golden Gloves and won the title. That led him to the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italy where he won the Gold Medal for which he was truly proud. That is until he returned to Kentucky and was refused service in a white restaurant. It upset him so much that he threw his gold medal into the nearby Ohio River.

But that episode didn't discourage him nor diminish his confidence in his boxing abilities, and on February 25, 1964, the now 22 year old boxer took on the current heavyweight champion at that time, Sonny Liston. Predicting victory over the “big ugly bear” as he called Liston, was a taste of what was to come from this brash young fighter, and some figured that it was just high spirited talk. That “talk” proved to be a prophecy of  what was to come as he defeated Sonny Liston in 8 rounds. As Liston laid on the canvas, the new champ, Cassius Clay, looked down upon him, as shown in the now famous photo on the cover of Sports Illustrated that year, as to say “it’s my time.” As he ran around the ring, he started shouting the headline that would be quoted in newspapers around the globe, “I shook up the world.”

Shortly after winning the title, he joined the religion, Nation Of Islam, and their leader, Elijah Muhammad gave Cassius Clay a new name, and he was now to be called Muhammad Ali. In 1966, he refused to be drafted into military service during the Vietnam war because of his religious beliefs, and after losing his appeal June 20, 1967, he was stripped of his title, and banned from boxing for three and a half years. His reason for not going to war raised a few eyebrows when he said that he “will not go 10,000 miles to fight other brown people to further promote white slavery when brown people in the United States are treated like dogs.” He returned to the ring in 1971, but lost to then champion Joe Frazier in the first of 3 championship bouts. He regained the title from Frazier in the 1974 rematch.

With his colorful quotes, bold predictions and his undeniable boxing talent, Ali revolutionized the sport of boxing with sheer power and the magnetism of his personality. Sports Illustrated named him Sportsman Of The Century, and when he retired in 1981, his record stood at 56 wins and 5 losses. In 1984 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, and now at 71, he is in his third decade doing battle with his most formidable foe. And while we may not see it, in his mind he still floats like a butterfly, and I for one will always call him “Champ.”