Chicago White Sox 2006 Season and Off Season

Coming off a World Series title in 2005, the Chicago White Sox had high hopes for a repeat in 2006. Those expectations came up short as Chicago failed to even make the playoffs. Missing the playoffs was not because of poor overall record in the regular season.

In 2005 the White Sox finished the year with 99 wins and 63 loses. During 2006 their record was 90 and 72, only a 9 game difference. 90 wins should have been good enough for a division title or at least the wild card. However, two other teams in their division out played the Chicago White Sox, so they finished third in the American League Central.

Offensively, Chicago was an explosive team that put up a lot of runs. Jim Thome was brought over to take the DH position. Coming off an injury plagued year in 2005 for Philadelphia, Thome showed that he was health and still had a lot left. Thome batted .288 with 42 home runs and 109 runs batted in. Paul Konerko put up another consistent season, .313 batting average, 35 home runs, 113 runs batted in. Third baseman Joe Crede put up his best numbers in 2006. Crede hit .283, 30 home runs, and 94 runs batted in. Tadahito Iguchi, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, and Scott Podsednik all continued to be consistent hitters and put up good numbers.

The pitching staff did pitch pretty well. However, some key members from the 2005 staff had poor years in 2006. Cliff Politte dominated in 2005 with an era of 2.01. In 2006 his era ballooned to 8.70 in 30 games. Neal Cotts, another dominate pitcher in 2005, saw his era go from 1.94 to 5.17. Even closer Bobby Jenks era went up, although it was not as big of a jump as Cotts and Politte. Jenks did record 41 saves in 2006. A bright spot in the pen was Matt Thornton. Thornton came over from Seattle and got his control issues straightened out. He walked just 21 batters in 54 innings. His walk total in 2005, with Seattle, was 42 in 57 innings. Seattle gave up on him and traded him to Chicago.

All five of the starting pitchers started 30 games or more. Jose Contreras had a record of 13 and 9 with an era of 4.27. Jon Garland went 18 and 7 with an era 4.51. Freddy Garcia had another good year going 17 and 9 with an era of 4.53. Javier Vazquez and Mark Buehrle both threw over 200 innings. Both recorded a losing record finishing the season one game under .500. Vazquez had an era of 4.84 and Buehrle's was 4.99.

During the off season the White Sox traded relief pitcher Neal Cotts to the Chicago Cubs for pitchers David Aardsma and Carlos Vasquez. Freddy Garcia was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. Relief pitcher Mike MacDougal signed a three-year contract with an option for a fourth. They also acquired John Danks, Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner from the Texas Rangers for Brandon McCarthy and David Paisano. Darin Erstad was signed to presumably take over the center field job.

2007 should be another good year for Chicago. The offense should be able to be among the top offense in the majors. The pitching staff had some changes made. One of the guys they acquired is going to have to take Freddy Garcia's spot in the starting rotation. They will hope they guys in the bullpen are more consistent. Chicago has a good shot at making the playoffs in 2007.