One and Done

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Sep 26, 2006 1:50PM

We'd known this day was coming, yet we remained in denial. We distracted ourselves with the Bears and hoped we'd suddenly hear some pleasantly unexpected news. Instead, we learn that the White Sox are offically out of the playoff hunt on account of their 14-1 loss to Cleveland Monday night. Earlier in the evening, the Minnesota Twins beat the KC Royals 8-1, cutting their magic number to one. The Sox loss changed it to zero.

So there will be no playoff buzz on the South Side. The Cell will remain locked until April. There will be no parade down LaSalle. We can still call them the World Champs for a few more weeks, but their reign will soon come to a close.

With their elimination from the playoff hunt, we can now start trying to figure out what went wrong. This team looked poised to repeat -- keeping most of last year's core in place, removing some malcontents (Thomas, Everett) and bringing in a big bat (Thome) and a lively arm (Vasquez). They certainly had a more potent batting lineup, but their starting rotation never lived up to expectations.

This team just didn't have that chemistry, that magic of last year's squad. Would they have done better if they had kept Aaron Rowand in center and kept Thomas as DH? Should they have passed on Vasquez and given McCarthy a spot in the rotation? Should Ozzie have toned down his shtick?

Can Sox GM Kenny Williams figure it out, and what will he do this off-season to get the Sox back into the playoffs next year? Who will he trade? Who will get a chance next year? We think McCarthy is ready for the rotation, so one of the starters will be moved. But who? Freddy Garcia? Javier Vasquez? Mark Buehrle? Chicagoist would ship off Vasquez, especially in light of his huge contract. What about Podsednik? Will he be back? If not, who will bat leadoff? How can they get Josh Fields onto the field without losing Joe Crede? There will be lots of work for Sox management to do this winter.

Image via Yahoo! News