Life as a Chicago White Sox fan is pretty fun right now. Everyone loves Carlos Quentin’s league leading 7 home runs. Grinderballer Chris Getz has established himself comfortably over at second base and Alexei “The Cuban Missile” Ramirez returns to his natural position, shortstop, where Chicago will see the rest of his untapped playmaking potential.

The Southside is looking to defend its American League Central Division title. A repeat will not come easy. The Kansas City Royals have been inspired by last year’s Tampa Bay Rays “Worst to First” slogan. Expect the Detroit Tigers to turn in a better season than their 74-88 campaign last year. Ron Gardenhire’s Minnesota Twins will be as pesky as ever as they continue their “Piranhas” mentality, courtesy of Guillen. The Cleveland Indians have explosive bats (The Tribe dropped 40 runs on the Yankees in a four game series) but their pitching staff has questions.

Questions arise about Josh Fields. Can he fill in 2005 World Series hero Joe Crede’s shoes? Only time will tell. We must remember that it took Crede three full seasons to reach that defensive prowess he showed in the World Series run. In all likelihood, Fields will never be as swift as Crede with the glove, but this young man from Oklahoma State has offensive upside that Crede could never dream of. Consider Fields an upgrade in the batting lineup. He bunts for hits, runs well, and provides flexibility up and down the batting order. There is a reason why he was the White Sox’ first round pick in 2004.

The offseason transactions made by Kenny Williams and company are proving the front office’s shrewdness. Williams sent Nick Swisher packing in a deal with the New York Yankees. In the process, Williams unloaded $22 million left on Swisher’s contract. In return the White Sox received utility man Wilson Betemit, a young arm in Jhonny Nunez who will not factor into the White Sox plans in the near future, and sinkerballer Jeff Marquez who has been likened to Jon Garland (ahh, nostalgia of 2005).

I recall some of my friends that are Cub fans guffawing at the Bartolo Colon signing. Hmm, let me recall the contract that the burly right hander agreed to. One year, $1 million with incentives that can reach $2 million. That seems like a rather low risk, high reward situation to me. Colon’s two-seam fastball is filthy right now. If he is able to keep that movement consistent and his changeup follows suit, then the Chicago White Sox will have the best number five starting pitcher in baseball. Haha, pretty funny isn’t it Cub fans?

Although it is very early in the season, it looks like the pitching staff is going to have another solid year. Expect the White Sox to be among the league leaders in team ERA. Currently the White Sox’ ERA ranks 5th in the American League and 9th in all of MLB. Left handed starting pitcher John Danks is cut out to be the horseman of staff. In last year’s 163rd play-in game versus Minnesota, Danks pitched a gem. He hurled 8 scoreless innings en route to a 1-0 victory. Talk about showing up for a big game. By the way, the kid is only 24 years old.

I say give Danks the key to the city.

--Submitted by Kieran Brennan, Sports Manager