Juan Uribe is the
20th White Sox to be previewed for the 2007, and the last player assured of a roster spot at this moment. My projections are looking awfully lonely, so add yours and see how badly you can beat my best guesses.
Speaking of roster spots...
John Danks, come on up! Sean Tracey's release (and
subsequent signing by the Orioles) has opened up a spot on the 40-man roster for Danks, and
his four shutout innings against the Rockies today
has pretty much given him a spot on the big-league club for Opening Day. There's still some question whether Danks will start, but the Sox won't gain anything by starting Gavin Floyd ahead of him if Danks is on the club.
Danks didn't look his sharpest, but if he can hold the Rockies scoreless in Arizona without tip-top command, more power to him. Floyd, meanwhile, was shelled in relief of Danks, and he has one start to redeem himself. I'm not crazy about the thought of Floyd in the bullpen. There's nothing about him that says he'd be transformed by a move to the bullpen, so the Sox may as well let him work his issues out in Charlotte.
With Tracey, the only question remaining is where does he fit in the all-time list of Sox relievers defined by a disastrous debut lasting one-third of an inning.
Jose Paniagua still has him beat from where I'm sitting. Simply put, flipping off the umpire beats
crying in the dugout every day of the week.
Speaking of questions....
What will the rest of the roster look like?I have five, maybe six spots left in
Meet the Sox, depending on the fate of David Aardsma, whose preview I already did. My best guess:
Danks, Scott Podsednik, Nick Masset, Boone Logan, Gavin Floyd and Brian Anderson, with Aardsma shifted down to Triple-A.
Speaking of Anderson...
Carl Skanberg's never been better: Check out his second strip from today's offerings. It's the funniest one I've seen from him yet, counting both Palehose Six and 7.