White Sox Tab Matt Thornton As Closer

One of the more pleasing things for me this spring has been the general lack of concern I've seen, both from the media and from the fans, about the closers situation in Chicago. Typically when a team expecting to contend has a uncertainty at the closers position, the media is up in arms. People debate whether or not someone has good enough stuff for it - whether a pitcher who's had success in a 8th inning role can really handle the pressure of having the game on the line. You know, because the inning guys never have the game on the line.

White Sox Extend Matt Thornton

Having lost former closer Bobby Jenks via free agency, and setup men J.J. Putz and Scott Linebrink via free agency and trade respectively, the Sox made a move to retain one of their own by resigning left handed Matt Thornton. The team announced today that they had an agreement in place that will keep Thornton in the White Sox black for two more seasons, and possibly a third if his 2014 option is picked up.

Prospect Profile: Chris Sale

Chris Sale

Profile: LHP - 6'5" - 170lbs -BT:L - TH:L - 2011 Age: 22


Repertoire:

• Fastball 95-97: Dominant velocity from 'pen, good arm-side run. (55-70)
• Slider 86-88: Frisbee with big lateral movement. (60-70)
• Changeup: Great movement, good differential, lacks feel. (40-65)

Chris Sale And The Implications Of A Four-Man Rotation

Having taken a look at the schedule, Manager Ozzie Guillen has decided that he'll try and go with a four man rotation to open the season. His team has off days on April 4th and April 14th which should allow him to easily keep his four other projected opening day starters on their regular rest cycle. He then plans to fill in the rotation with spot starters as needed. Likely candidates for that role would include long man Tony Pena, or minor leaguers Philip Humber or Lucas Harrell.

White Sox Claim Philip Humber

Philip Humber is becoming quite the AL Central traveling man. After stops in Minnesota and Kansas City, he's now a member of the White Sox (after a brief one month stop with the A's this winter). It's hard to believe, but Humber was once an immensely talented prospect who was the 3rd overall pick in the 2004 draft. Tommy John surgery has long since diminished those skills, but he's hung around and will now be joining his 5th Major League organization.

White Sox Sign Will Ohman And What It Means For Chris Sale

In a move to solidify their bullpen, the White Sox signed left hander Will Ohman to a two-year, four million dollar contract. If the contact is balanced, it would bring my 2011 payroll estimate for the White Sox to 126.25m. I've already expended a lot of words here at Central In Focus extolling poor logic in handing relievers three-year deals - and while this deal is for just two years, it violates the same basic tenets.

In signing Ohman, owner of a career 4.09 ERA to a two year deal, they're gambling that the lefty specialist can not only repeat his success of 2010, but that he can do it in back-to-back seasons. His career track-record suggests it's a possibility, but his 2009 season should give one pause.

OPS allowed vs lefthanders by year:

2010: .636
2009: .889
2008: .571
2007: .718
2006: .535
2005: .593

At just 2m per year, the Ohman deal is unlikely to have any significant effect one way or another. But I do question the necessity of offering two years to a player who is valuable essentially as a lefty specialist in low-leverage situations.

Perhaps more than anything, the Ohman signing throws into doubt what the White Sox plans are for the young Chris Sale. With Ohman in place to take care of lefty-lefty situations in the 6th and 7th innings, and Matt Thornton a known commodity for the late innings, will the White Sox choose to keep Sale in the rotation even if it means keeping him in AAA once Jake Peavy returns? Or will they keep Sale in the bullpen and roll with three lefties?

Good problems to have I suppose.

Jake Peavy is Looking Good?

At this point of the year it's really nothing more than speculation and as such, should be taken with a ten pound bag of salt, but it's certainly not a BAD thing that White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper is saying,

"I really didn't think he would be right there. I thought it would be slower, but he hopped right into it and has a chance to be ready."

That of course, is in regard to Sox ace Jake Peavy's rehab from a torn lat muscle. I'm not an injury expect by any means (nor have I ever played one on TV) but obviously an early return from Peavy would be in the White Sox best interests. The team is long on talent in the rotation, but frighteningly thin in terms of depth, with Chris Sale expected to open the season in the rotation in Peavy's absence.

Of course, the one thing you wont hear White Sox personnel say is that regardless of when Peavy makes it back, it's no sure thing that he'll be able to contribute at the level he did during his Padre days. Injuries unfortunately have been decidedly unkind to Peavy the past few years and as we saw last year, it took Peavy some time to regain his form after a terrible start to the season.

It's possible that the team could look to sign someone else to fill in for Peavy if they would prefer to have Sale open the season - Freddy Garcia is an oft mentioned candidate - but given the teams financial situation that would seem to be a difficult task to accomplish.

The Emergence of Chris Sale

The White Sox season has fizzled down the stretch, and after being swept by the Twins to fall nine back, it's officially (unofficially) over. But that doesn't mean they don't have good things to look forward to in 2011. Perhaps the most exciting aspect to 2011 will be the performance of Chris Sale.

Drafted with the 13th overall pick in this years draft, Sale made just 11 relief appearances in the minors before being called up to the big club after striking out 19 in just 10 innings of work. He's got a body scouts love at 6'5" and at a wispy thin 170lbs, projects to fill out and perhaps add a little velocity to an already hot arm.

For now, Sale is essentially a two-pitch guy who works primarily off a fastball that has averaged 95.6mph and a frisbee slider at 81.4mph. The fastball doesn't have much sink, but he does generate good arm-side run. The slider is filthy. He throws it from the same 3/4 arm-slot that he does his fastball and the pitch has fantastic lateral and vertical movement. That, coupled with the speed differential between the slider and his fastball makes it a devastating offering, especially to lefties.

With only those two pitches in his arsenal at the moment, he's not a realistic option for the rotation - at least not yet. But the White Sox are insisting that he will be looked at as a starter in the future - which is good. I'm a big believer that relievers are, for all intents and purposes a dime-a-dozen, but electric arms with plus secondary stuff need to be given every chance to become starters where they can make the largest impact for an organization as possible.

To be an option out of the rotation he's going to need to develop a third pitch. He does throw a changeup, but at this point, it's a complete show-me offering and not a particularly good one at that. Developing that pitch will be vital in the future, because while the slider is great against lefties, righties will eventually key in on it. He'll need the changeup to keep right-handers off balance, and off his relatively flat fastball.

Beyond the raw stuff, the first thing that jumps out to everyone is the phenomenal K rate of 11.57/9IP. However, Sale has also been a ground ball machine, inducing ground balls on 51.4% of his balls in play. The last aspect of his FIP game that needs to be rounded out is his control - which is pretty rough still. That's neither surprising, nor of particular concern, after all the kid is in just his first season of professional baseball.

The White Sox and general manager Kenny Williams are known for promoting and pushing their best prospects aggressively - often bringing them to the Majors despite there being glaring holes in their games. Sale is no different in that regard, he's hardly a finished product. However it would be nice, for once, to see the Sox show the patience necessary to allow such a talented young arm to add some polish to his game. Let him develop his changeup and improve his control in the minors instead of needlessly burning through his arbitration clock with a pitching staff that shouldn't be in any immediate need of his services in 2011.