Sunday, December 15, 2019

ALL DECADE WHITE SOX

Chicago is one of a handful of teams that failed to make the playoffs during the 2010s. Accordingly, they have one of the bleaker All Decade squads. However, as they play in the extremely mediocre AL Central, there's some hope for the Southsiders!

Disappointing to think what they'd look like in 2020 with this guy leading the rotation!

LINEUP: It's not the most intimidating lineup, but it's got its tough outs! Eaton is a solid leadoff man, with a good OB, on at 4, speed A, XB hits starting at 15 card. It's awesome what a great year Moncada had in 2019 and, frankly, I think it got unfairly overshadowed by Anderson. He puts up a VERY good card (love XB pop starting at 12) and I hope he continues to grow into that "switch hitting Robbie Cano" comp that had him as one of baseball's best prospects a couple of years ago. Hitting third was the stalwart from the decade, Jose Abreu, with a super solid card. Cleaning up is the last of the old guard, Paul "the LEGEND" Konerko, bringing 40 HR power to the team. Supporting him is kiiiiiiiiiiiiinda definitely a stretch in Grandal, but COME ON -- this franchise's catching situation was so bleak and Matt made a super cool card, so he's in! Sixth is a surprisingly good Avasail from 2017. Alex Rios from 2012 hits seventh and I think he's sneaky dangerous with all that extra base pop and speed. Anderson is a really solid #8 hitter and should get plenty of singles and doubles, while Gordon Beckum had a very strong rookie season to give them a decent OB 8 at the bottom of the lineup. Overall, should be a pretty manageable lineup for stud staffs like Cleveland and Detroit, but expect them to make life hard on the Twins' rotation.












ROTATION: No one is surprised that the beastly Chris Sale takes command of the ball as the ace of the White Sox. Dude was beautifully made by Matthew P and brought a sick Tier 2, Control 6, no doubles card with 7 IP (i.e. complete game alert in most leagues)... definitely an ace who'll be on a lot of guy's preseason All Star teams. Following him up is an epic looking Giolito from this year. Technically, Matt misprinted him with a Control 6 (he's really a 5), but hey... if I'm just going off cards from the decade that were made, and I'm giving some of the seemingly random Tier 2, C6 guys to other teams, I gotta give the fairly weak White Sox this stud (plus he looks awesome).






BULLPEN: I'd never heard of Zach Putnam before putting this squad together, but DANG does he bring a fantastic card to the team! His Tier 1 card is definitely the centerpiece. Then they've got three Tier 2 pitchers from this season, with a variety of controls. Finishing it out is a solid albeit Tier 3 Daniel Webb to provide solid support if necessary. Like most of this team, the bullpen is solid but outmatched by the competition.






Overall, no one is shocked that this team is a bottom feeder. After all, they failed to make the postseason this decade and as we all know, regular season success is the greatest indicator of great Showdown teams. The Sox come in at 6740 POINTS, good for 21st out of 27 teams. But they come in ahead of Detroit and Kansas City within the division, and are within 200 points of the Twins and Indians. Essentially, despite being a "bottom" squad, they've gotta be considered a real playoff contender. Moreover, with so many solid players, all it'll take is some lucky rolling and wham bam the White Sox are real contenders! So after 27 teams, here are the point totals:

  1.   Dodgers              8010 points
  2.   Yankees              7920 points
  3.   Red Sox              7770 points
  4.   Nationals            7670 points
  5.   Astros                 7420 points
  6.   Mets                    7230 points
  7.   Reds                    7220 points
  8.   Phillies                7200 points
  9.   Blue Jays            7140 points
  10.   Rockies               7090 points
  11.   Rangers              7070 points
  12.   Rays                    7060 points
  13.   Cubs                    7000 points
  14.   Twins                  6910 points
  15.   Indians               6880 points
  16.   (T15) Mariners  6880 points
  17.   Orioles                6830 points
  18.   Giants                 6800 points
  19.   Braves                 6790 points
  20.   Marlins               6750 points
  21.   White Sox           6740 points
  22.   Tigers                  6710 points
  23.   (T22) Cardinals 6710 points
  24.   Athletics             6670 points
  25.   (T24) Pirates      6670 points
  26.   Royals                 6570 points
  27.   Padres                 6510 points

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