ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

Before I get into it too deep, I wanted to point out the obvious headline I could have used tonight: Danks for Nothing. If you saw the game tonight, you'd know this was a reference to Dank's craptacular 3 inning effort tonight. After his performance tonight, I'm wondering how many times I will get the chance to use that headline. Suffice it to say, the Sox lost tonight to the Twins, 12-5.

Ozzie had no choice but to go get the young pitcher and replace him with Nick Masset in the 3rd after Danks lost it and walked in a run. No one in a Sox uniform will blame the weather, but I am wondering how much the cold had to do with Danks' performance. Masset came in and did pretty well for 3 innings. He gave up a grand slam to Jason Kubel. That ran the score to 11-3, pretty much ruining any chance of a comeback for the White Sox.

It's interesting to note; up to that point in the game the Sox's 3 runs all came from home runs. The first was crushed by Nick Swisher, followed by Konerko's blast in the 4th, and Crede's homer in the 5th. The White Sox have hit a total of 11 home runs in this young season. That's a pretty good number and it leaves me confident that we're going to do well offensively this year. Hell, didn't we end up with the 3rd most home runs last year? A lot of good that did us last year...I've got to go find that stat.

It's still very early in the season to talk about what the White Sox need to do, what moves they should be making, or any other in depth analysis. There just isn't enough there to come up with anything concrete. I still have the same concerns I had last year. One of my top worries is Jermaine Dye. He's getting up there in age, and last year I started to notice he was having a hard time getting to some balls in the outfield. I know everyone in Chicago loves JD, and I'll probably get lambasted for saying this, but here goes. JD is great trade bait. If he continues to hit well (7 games, .429 AVG, .484 OBP, 4 doubles and  a .787 slugging percentage) then he most likely gets traded. Let's face it. JD is in his 12th year, and he probably could help some team that needed a DH. It all depends on how well the Sox do this season. I'll put the request in early on JD. Trade him before it's too late. Don't wait until the season gets out of hand before starting the fire sale. We might need an arm, and while most trade scenarios that involve the Sox are likely deals for Joe Crede, Dye has good power and can extend his career a bit by hanging his glove up.

It's just a thought. Especially with all the young outfielders we've got. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I always do when baseball season returns.

GO GO WHITESOX!