CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Starting Lineup
CF DeWayne Wise: 30 year-old hit .248 with 6 HR's in 129 AB's in 2008, mostly filling in after Quentin went down with a broken wrist UPDATE 3/12 - Guillen says not to rule out Wise starting in CF and leading off UPDATE 3/13 - Joe Cowley of the Chicago-Sun Times says Wise has the lead in the CF race UPDATE 3/30 - officially named the team's leadoff hitter
2B Chris Getz: should be his job to lose unless the Sox make an acquisition before the season; hit .302 with 11 HR's and 11 SB's for AAA Charlotte UPDATE 3/21 - officially named the starting 2B UPDATE 4/4 - could also hit leadoff if Wise struggles or possibly when Anderson starts against LHP's
LF Carlos Quentin: finished with 36 HR's and 100 RBI's despite missing the last month of the season with a broken wrist
DH Jim Thome: still productive at age 38, posting a .362 OBP and 34 HR's in 149 games, all as a DH, in 2008
RF Jermaine Dye: 34 year-old has been mentioned in trade rumors this off season but it looks like he'll at least start 2009 with the White Sox, just 2 HR's shy of 300 in his career
1B Paul Konerko: played in only 122 games, the least amount of games played by the 32 year-old since his rookie season in 1998, and finished with a .240 BA, his lowest since 2003 (.234)
C AJ Pierzynski: batted .281 with 13 HR's but threw out only 18% of attempted base stealers, the lowest percentage of his career, and continues to get on base at a very low rate (.312 OBP)
SS Alexei Ramirez: shifts over to natural position at SS after hitting .290 with 21 HR's as a rookie
3B Josh Fields: finally gets his chance to be the White Sox 3B with Joe Crede departing as a FA, although his 2008 was not very impressive (.156 BA in 32 AB's for the Sox; .246 BA, 10 HR's in 276 AB's in AAA)

Bench
C Corky Miller: hit just .083 for Atlanta in '08 but the veteran could be the backup if the White Sox want Cole Armstrong to play every day in AAA
IF Wilson Betemit: acquired in the Nick Swisher deal from the Yankees, he'll provide insurance at 1B and 3B
IF Brent Lillibridge: acquired from the Braves in the Vazquez deal, the former prospect is coming off of a disappointing '08 season (.220 BA, 4 HR in AAA) but his speed and versatility give him the edge for a bench job
OF Brian Anderson: will compete with Owens and Wise for the starting CF job; his defense and power should eventually get him a job somewhere; still has minor league options and his Owens and Wise do not UPDATE 3/13 - behind Wise in the race for the starting CF job but could still get some AB's vs LHP's even if he isn't the starter

Starting Rotation
LHP Mark Buehrle: averaging 15 wins and 225 IP per season during his eight-year career as a starter
RHP Gavin Floyd: 25 year-old won 17 games with a 3.84 ERA in '08 after posting a 6.30 ERA in multiple stints in the majors between 2004-07
LHP John Danks: 23 year-old won 12 games and was every bit as good as Floyd, if not better, with a 3.32 ERA in 33 starts
RHP Jose Contreras: once expected to be out until at least the all-star break, he is well ahead of schedule recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon UPDATE 3/15 - pitched two scoreless innings in his first game of the spring and was throwing his fastball at 93 mph; barring any setbacks, it appears he is on track to start the season in the rotation UPDATE 4/7 - will make his first start on Friday
RHP Bartolo Colon: made seven very effective starts (4-2, 3.92 ERA) for the Red Sox during another injury-plagued season UPDATE 3/17 - appears to be behind Contreras in the recovery process UPDATE 3/24 - tomorrow's start will likely determine whether he'll be ready to start the season with the club UPDATE 3/25 - threw 4.1 scoreless innings in today's game; he was able to reach 91 mph with his fastball UPDATE 4/7 - will make his first start on Saturday

Bullpen
RHP Bobby Jenks: 88% success rate (117-for-133) in saves over the past 3.5 years is pretty darn impressive
LHP Matt Thornton: 32 year-old posted a 2.67 ERA and 77 K's in 67.1 IP in 2008
RHP Scott Linebrink: still not the dominant pitcher he was back in 2004-05 with SD but he still posted a 3.69 ERA in 50 appearances in his first season in Chicago
RHP Octavio Dotel: posted a 3.76 ERA in 72 games after three injury-plagued seasons in which he pitched in only 62 games
RHP DJ Carrasco: 31 year-old had a 3.96 ERA and allowed only 30 hits in 38.2 IP
RHP Mike MacDougal: UPDATE 3/24 - has allowed 4 ER in 10 IP this spring with 5 BB's and an impressive 18 K's; could be traded if he doesn't make the 25-man roster UPDATE 3/30 - appears to be a lock after Egbert and Williams were sent to the minors
LHP Clayton Richard: struggled after mid-season call up (2-5, 6.04 ERA) but the team's #3 prospect, according to BA, wasn't having any trouble at AAA (6-0, 2.45 ERA, 4 BB, 33 K in 7 starts) before the promotion; could also pitch out of the bullpen if he doesn't win a starting job UPDATE 2/26 - there might not be a rotation spot to win if Colon and Contreras are healthy

Disabled List
IF Jayson Nix: could win the 2B job with a big spring but he's more likely ticketed for a bench job or AAA; hit .303 with 17 HR's in AAA Colorado Springs in '08 UPDATE 3/17 - quad injury suffered today apparently ends his chances of winning the 2B job UPDATE 3/30 - placed on the DL, retroactive to March 27th

Optioned to AAA
C Cole Armstrong: the team's #9 prospect, according to BA, will compete with Corky Miller in spring training for the backup job and could take over as the starter in 2010; hit .261 with 8 HR's combined between AA and AAA in '08
3B Dayan Viciedo: still only 19 years old, he is in big league camp and flashing huge power potential
RHP Adam Russell: was 4-0 with a 5.19 ERA in 22 relief appearances during his rookie season in '08 UPDATE 3/25 - optioned to AAA
RHP Ehren Wasserman: good numbers in AAA (1.15 ERA, 42 K's in 39 IP) but struggled in 24 relief appearances (7.78 ERA) for Chicago UPDATE 3/25 - optioned to AAA
RHP Jeff Marquez: acquired from the Yankees in the Nick Swisher deal, the 24 year-old will have a chance to compete for the #5 starter and middle relief roles UPDATE 3/26 - competing with Williams, Broadway, Egbert, and MacDougal for 1-2 spots in the 'pen and could be in the rotation if both Colon and Contreras aren't ready for opening day UPDATE 3/30 - optioned to AAA
RHP Lance Broadway: should be an adequate #5 starter or middle reliever in the big leagues UPDATE 3/30 - optioned to AAA

Reassigned to Minor League Camp
1B Brian Myrow: career minor leaguer combined to hit .335 with 25 HR's over the last two seasons at AAA Portland but the 32 year-old has not had a chance to play every day in the big leagues
RHP Franklyn German: has posted a 3.20 ERA over his past three seasons in the majors, although he's pitched in only 29 games since 2005
LHP Aaron Poreda: the team's #2 prospect, according to BA, is only 22 but he is unlikely to spend much more time in the minors; he'll probably spend a few months in AAA to start the season UPDATE 2/18: there is also a chance he could start the season in the bullpen as a 2nd lefty reliever UPDATE 3/25 - reassigned to the minors
IF Gordon Beckham: UPDATE 3/9 - last year's #1 draft pick could force his way onto the roster but he'd have to move from SS to 2B UPDATE 3/25 - optioned to AA
1B Ben Broussard: released from the Rangers in early May of 2008 after hitting just .159 with 3 HR's in 82 AB's UPDATE 3/25 - reassigned to the minors
LHP Randy Williams: UPDATE 3/9 - has not allowed a run in 5 IP this spring UPDATE 3/25 - has a strong chance to make the roster by allowing just 1 ER and 5 hits in 9.2 IP this spring UPDATE 3/30 - reassigned to the minors
RHP Jack Egbert: UPDATE 3/9 - 25 year-old has not allowed an earned run in 7 IP this spring while walking two and striking out seven UPDATE 3/30 - reassigned to the minors
OF Jerry Owens: ability to lead off and 50 SB-potential gives him a slight edge on Brian Anderson for the CF job going into spring training UPDATE 3/13 - could be the odd man out if he doesn't win the starting CF job as Anderson could be a better fit as a right-handed complement to Wise UPDATE 3/30 - waived by the team after losing out to Wise and Anderson for the CF job UPDATE 4/1 - cleared waivers and will report to AAA

Traded
C Chris Stewart: 27 year-old is competing for the backup catcher job after hitting .279 for AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre (NYY) in '08 UPDATE 3/22 - traded to the Yankees