Dissension

The e-mail I sent BP's Joe Sheehan in response to his AL Central Preview:

Joe,

I get the impression you may have received a barrage of angry e-mails from White Sox fans in response to your AL Central preview the other day. As opposed to casual baseball fans stumbling across your column, like most devout BP readers, I agree that the White Sox off season was not successful and that the team does not figure to contend late in the season without catching quite a few breaks. However, I felt the need to voice my disagreement on a few specific points in the article.

Clearly, Frank Thomas suffered yet another serious injury last season. BP 2005's contention that if Thomas' string of injuries persists his career may very likely be over before long. That said, while Will Caroll has yet to release his White Sox THR, I have not encountered any published speculation or notes in Under the Knife suggesting Thomas' most recent injury is career threatening. There are indications that Thomas' size and age could lead to further ankle/foot injuries which would threaten his career but the odds of suffering another injury prior to a May return seem slim. While I would struggle to strongly argue against the statement that Thomas is at risk of returning and sustaining another injury at some point in the season, suggesting there is a substantial possibility that Thomas will not return at all this season strikes me as highly speculative and at least midly irresponsible.

The aspect of the AL Central preview I struggle the most with is the assertion that Mark Buehrle is a "mid rotation innings guy". While agree with applying the sentiment to Freddy Garcia, lumping the two pitchers together is highly inappropriate. Buehrle has spent four full seasons in the majors and finished 9th, 11th, and 16th in VORP in three of those seasons and projects to finish 13th in 2005 according to PECOTA. Furthermore Buehrle is still only 26 and finds himself coming off a season in which he posted career bests in BB/9 and K/9 with a negligent increase in HR/9. If Buehrle is a mid rotation pitcher then there are extremely few pitchers who qualify as legitimate aces. Sadly, there's not a lot in the White Sox organization I will bend over backwards to defend in the dreadful Kenny Williams era. Arguing that Mark Buehrle is an elite pitcher is a cause I will take up any day of the week.