Central Division Showdown: Chicago White Sox

In recent seasons the American League Central has been among the most competitive divisions in all of baseball, with the Chicago White Sox finding themselves on the wrong side of that competition. With the recent acquisition of Todd Frazier from the Cincinnati Reds, the White Sox may be poised to finally make some noise in 2016.

Starting Pitchers

The White Sox greatest strength lies in their starting rotation. Chris Sale is arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball, Jose Quintana is one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball, and youngster Carlos Rodon has the potential to be as good as, if not better than, both of them. This trio is immensely talented and will likely terrorize Tribe hitters for many more years to come. Signing Mat Latos could prove to be a very smart move on the part of the Sox, but he has a long way to go to make up for how bad he was last year.

I still give the advantage to the Indians and the Kluber-Carrasco-Salazar trio, which may be the best front three in all of baseball. The kicker in this battle of starting trios comes in Rodon’s youth. He’s not even two full years removed from being drafted by the Pale Hose and he already has 139 innings under his belt. He may be great in the future, but for now he has a ways to go before he’s on par with Danny Salazar.

Advantage: Indians

Defense

The White Sox have graded out as one of the league’s worst defensive teams and this year figures to be no different. The Indians meanwhile have seen drastic changes in their defensive abilities with the additions of Francisco Lindor and Giovanny Urshela in the infield and Lonnie Chisenhall‘s shift to right field. While Urshela doesn’t figure to fit into the Indians 2016 plans with the addition of Juan Uribe, the hot corner will be in good hands with Uribe as he’s always been a plus defender. The Indians take this category in a landslide.

Advantage: Indians

Relief Pitching

David Robertson has steadily moved out of the shadow of the great Mariano Rivera and asserted himself as one of the league’s best relievers. His Indians counterpart, Cody Allen, is coming off a career year in his first full season as the Tribe’s closer and looks like he’s on the path to being one of the Indians’ best relievers of all-time. Both are dynamite in the bullpen and while I believe Cody Allen is a little better, the reality is it’s minimal at best and it certainly isn’t inaccurate to consider this a toss up.

Beyond the closer position, the Indians get the better of the Sox in this one. Zach Duke, Zach Putnam, and Nate Jones are all solid, but unspectacular relievers. Bryan Shaw may be a bit over used in recent years, but he’s still a quality set-up man. Zach McAllister‘s transition to the bullpen may prove to be the best move of his career as the returns were very positive in his first year. Hopefully the Indians have the makings of their very own version of the Herrera-Davis-Holland trio that has won the Kansas City Royals so many games recently.

Advantage: Indians 

Offense

The Indians don’t have anyone who compares to Jose Abreu. Michael Brantley is certainly a great hitter in his own right, but he’s not the power threat that Jose Abreu is, in fact very few players are. Besides Abreu, the White Sox have a few bats that should greatly improve upon what was a terrible lineup last season. Adam Eaton is coming off his second straight 3 WAR season and is more than capable at the plate, evidence by his 118 wRC+ in 2015. The recent addition of Frazier could pay huge dividends for the Sox as he pairs with Abreu in the middle of the Chicago lineup. Brett Lawrie isn’t exactly an offensive juggernaut, but he’s certainly an improvement upon the no names they threw out at second base last year.

The important thing to remember though is that the White Sox lineup was bad last year. Like really, really bad. They were 22nd in the league in batting average, 27th in on-base percentage, 29th in slugging percentage, 27th in home runs, 24th in steals and 26th in wRC+. So, while Frazier and Lawrie are improvements, they aren’t going to magically turn a terrible lineup into a good one.

Granted, the Indians aren’t an offensive powerhouse either, but there is much more depth and balance to the Tribe’s offense than the White Sox’. The Sox will be trotting out Jimmy Rollins at short who is approximately 75 years old. Adam LaRoche is their primary DH and at 36 years old and coming off a terrible year, there is reasonable concern he isn’t going to get much better. Avisail Garcia has shown none of the promise that brought him over from Detroit. Melky Cabrera has always been inconsistent and is coming off a terrible year of his own. This type of up and down play can’t inspire too much confidence in the aging left fielder’s play in 2016. Truth is, despite the limitations of the Indians lineup, there is no where near the holes that exist in Chicago’s. For that reason, the edge goes to the Tribe.

Advantage: Indians

Overall

I’ve gone on record multiple times about my distaste for the White Sox. In fact, it’s why I volunteered to write this article. While they have made some very smart moves in acquiring Abrue, Eaton and Frazier, they have also made some terrible ones in the form of Cabrera, Garcia, LaRoche and last year with Jeff Samardzija. Remember that last year’s Sox were supposed to ride into the playoffs on the backs of the acquisitions of Samardzija, LaRoche and Cabrera, but how did that turn out? Frazier is a solid pickup, but there are too many holes on the team for this one smart move to make up for all the other weaknesses. The Indians meanwhile have steadily built a very well-rounded team in every aspect of the game. I expect the Tribe to finish ahead of the White Sox this season.

Advantage: Indians