The folks over at a big-name magazine publication (we’ll call them Forts Illustrated) have just released their 2012 baseball preview issue and upon flipping through the pages I came across something that was both shocking and depressingly understandable. If the title isn’t enough of a giveaway FI has the Sox finishing last in the American League Central division. After last season who can blame them?

Any article that begins with “It’s going to be a long year for the White Sox” and is not followed by “because their batting order will be hitting a lot of home runs” will not be good news. That’s how this one went. The “Enemy Lines” section slams Peavy for being injured, slams Dunn for not producing, and slams Dayan Viciedo for being “not the most athletic guy in the world” which we all know is the same as saying “you look like you’re pushing about two and a half bills there, Dayan.” All of which are, as I said, depressingly understandable. You hate to see your big guys (sorry Dayan) perform way under their capability and you hate to have pitchers with ace-type stuff go down to a weird injury.

If you can look passed the jabs at each player you’ll see a couple encouraging words. For example “John Danks is coming off a terrible year, but he and Gavin Floyd are legit starters.” Whatever that means. “Chris Sale could be real good, but he still throws like a reliever. It’s a good arm, and it’s lefthanded, but he goes on adrenaline instead of establishing all three of his pitches.” Again – these statements are tough to swallow but necessary. The team was bad last year.

If the recent offensive output by the Sox is any indication of what we might see when the season kicks off in a couple weeks I think we as Sox fans have reason to be optimistic. Granted the team scored fifteen runs on Opening Day last year and went on to have the season that they did, I think it’s nice to take success game-by-game and then sit in our rocking chairs on the front porch and complain in Novemeber.

Two weeks, ladies, gentlemen, and Alex Rios. Are you ready?

Dayan Viciedo is happy to play right field for your White Sox. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Dayan Viciedo is somebody we can hang some hopes and dreams on. He hasn’t yet had a full opportunity to dash our optimism about his ceiling. In the short time we’ve seen him play live baseball we’ve witnessed a lot of opposite field pop, the ball jumps off his bat in a way that makes you think he can develop some serious power. We’ve also seen a learning curve. His first MLB experience was accompanied by a running joke about his complete inability to take a walk. Last year he showed us that he actually does know what a walk is, and is interested in taking one from time to time. He was originally slated for third base, but that got scrapped rather quickly. I was perfectly willing to have 2011 be DHayan time before the money appeared for Adam Dunn. Now he finds himself learning the outfield. Needless to say that’s a work in progress. 2012 from Dayan Viciedo could bring us…well pretty much anything.

The systems again are in relative agreement, but I’d expect the power numbers to go up. If he can’t ramp up the HR count to 25-30 I’d at least like to see a whole lot of doubles from that strength launching some gap shots. When looking at what we should be getting as production from our corner outfield spots and realizing that most projections see us as falling short on both sides is a little bit depressing. If Carlos Quentin was a sure thing to play his share of games it’s almost enough to wish for him to be back. I do think that Dayan is under-projected, though. If I’m right, we’ve got a RF putting up RF numbers.  In 2013, when asked who the 5 best Cuban right fielders in the game are, I’d like to be able to respond, “Dayan, Dayan, Dayan, Dayan and Dayan.”

Alex Rios coolin' out. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

The talks about who will ultimately play centerfield for the Sox have heated up. Alex Rios has gracefully accepted that he may not be the man for the job. If he’s not, he’s expressed a preference to play right field, as he feels more comfortable there. That causes a minor shakeup, moving Dayan Viciedo to left field to and of course lets Alejandro De Aza, assuming he is in fact the man for the job, cover CF. If it seems like too much is being made of the shuffle, it is. It’s spring training what are you gonna do? The projections provided don’t matter as far as defense goes, beyond the order in which I present them to you. Kosuke Fukudome is included here as well, but keep in mind that at least 2 of the 3 projections are based on him still playing in Cleveland. Does it matter? I’m not sure but at the very least would affect plate appearances.

Not much variance for Rios. Not that I would ever claim that a projection system is the be all end all for any player, but for players that seemingly have a mental issue to work out in their game, it has to be that much more difficult to measure. Solid contact has been the main physical manifestation of his problems at the plate and if he starts hitting the ball hard, some of those are going to leave the park and many more are going to find places to land between fielders. Playing time for Kosuke is pretty impossible to guess and a lot of it hinges on the performances of all three starting outfield positions. However if that which is listed above occurs, I’m all for it.