Kuzul

At this time last year, Adam Dunn was the center of attention in the White Sox’ camp for all the wrong reasons. After signing a four-year, $56 million contract as a free agent prior to the 2011 season, Dunn had an uncharacteristically bad inaugural campaign for the South Siders. Playing in 122 games primarily as the team’s designated hitter, the now 33-year-old posted a career-worst slash line of .159/.292/.277 with 11 home runs and 177/75 K/BB over 496 plate appearances. Furthermore, the slugger’s dismal performance resulted in a -3.1 WAR, which sticks out like a sore thumb on his otherwise impressive résumé. Desperately in need of a bounce-back season in 2012, Dunn’s production was more in line with his career averages. Overall, he finished the year with 41 home runs in 151 games—the second-highest total in his 12-year career—and paced the American League in both walks (105) and strikeouts (222). ...

During Kenny Williams' 12 year tenure as the general manager of the Chicago White Sox, his teams year in and year out have constantly found ways to overachieve, and then more often than not, have found ways to disappoint their fans as their season came to an end.The 2012 season was no different.The White Sox came into the season with very little expectations. Heading into the season with a "retooled" roster, not one expert giving them even a slight chance to compete with the stacked and loaded Detroit Tigers. Yet again, the White Sox managed to prove the experts wrong. They held the lead in the division throughout the majority of the season, rarely allowing the Tigers to enjoy that first place feeling.That is, until the final two weeks of the regular season came along, and all the experts proved to be right.The White Sox found a way to cough up the division, going 4-11 in their final 15 games, ...

With the fantasy trade deadlines coming up this week and next (I have four red-letter dates this Friday), it's time for owners to make one last pitch for baseball's elite categorical contributors.AccuScore, a company that specializes in thorough game simulations, has made a few on-the-fly revisions to its seasonal projections.These 46 hitters, based on AccuScore projections (not mine), will register at least nine home runs from this point forward (Aug. 7-Sept. 30):Part I1. Adam Dunn, White Sox—142. Ryan Braun, Brewers—133. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers—134. Curtis Granderson, Yankees—125. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs—126. Josh Hamilton, Rangers—127. Albert Pujols, Angels—128. Mark Trumbo, Angels—129. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays—1210. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays—1211. Matt Kemp, Dodgers—1112. Mark Teixeira, Yankees—1113. Paul Konerko, White Sox—1114. Josh Willingham, Twins—1115. Corey Hart, Brewers—1116. Prince Fielder, Tigers—1117. Mike Trout, Angels—1018. David Ortiz, Red Sox—1019. Robinson Cano, Yankees—1020. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins—1021. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies—1022. Jay Bruce, Reds—1023. Adam LaRoche, Nationals—10Part II24. Trevor Plouffe, Twins—1025. ...

The Chicago White Sox have pitching needs that should be addressed before the trade deadline. However, perhaps the larger concern lies in the heart of the batting order. Chicago's 4-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers Friday night cast the drought of the White Sox third and fourth hitters into full display. Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko both went 0-for-4 for the evening. Dunn left two runners on base. Konerko was robbed of extra bases by Quintin Berry to end the game. No matter how you slice it, the two are scuffling right now. It's been feast or famine for Dunn over the last few weeks. Since June 1, he has 25 hits in 41 games. Twelve of those went over the wall. Dunn put together an impressive series against the Royals last weekend, homering in all three games. Since then, his bat has been pretty silent. Dunn has just one ...

The Chicago White Sox have been a pleasant surprise in 2012.  After the departure of Ozzie Guillen and a series of disappointing years post-2005, the Sox looked as if they would be rebuilding at a rate not much faster than their cross-town counterparts. The Sox are at 34-30 and in sole possession of first place. They are approaching the all-star break with a half game lead over the Indians.  More importantly, they have a solid four game lead on the prohibitive favorites in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers.Many factors have contributed to the Sox's success this spring, including the solid first year leadership of Robin Ventura and an MVP caliber first half from mainstay Paul Konerko. The Sox have been able to rebound from last year's awful offensive season to become a threat to slug it out with any team in the league.The person that deserves the most credit for ...

Adam Dunn has been hammering away home runs for the Chicago White Sox all season long. While Dunn is an early odds-on favorite to win the AL Comeback Player of the Year award, his resurgence could also possibly help one of his teammates win a prestigious honor. In a previous article, I spoke about the AL’s two MVP candidates: Josh Hamilton and Paul Konerko. At the time, Hamilton was leading the AL in home runs and RBI.Do not look now, but Adam Dunn has surpassed Hamilton in home runs with 23 versus 22. Dunn is also gaining steam in the RBI department, with 52 to Hamilton’s 62. Dunn can help sway MVP voters to Konerko if he maintains the MLB lead in home runs and catches Hamilton in RBI. Here is a possible scenario for the White Sox: Let’s say that Konerko wins the batting title with an average of ...

The Chicago White Sox are finally back to .500 after their sweep of the Chicago Cubs this past weekend. Jake Peavy's fifth win of the season on Sunday marked the fourth win in a row for the Sox, and now, they are scheduled to play the Minnesota Twins at home starting Tuesday, May 22.While the White Sox are looking similar to the way they started last year in the sense that their pitching is good but their offense is struggling to catch up (with some blown saves sprinkled in here and there), there are plenty of positives to look at so far. Many of those positives are in the starting rotation, but this article is going to look at the Sox position players, or basically their lineup. Their lineup, from top to bottom, is very inconsistent, featuring many nice surprises, but also many huge disappointments (so far). I'm going to go ...

The Chicago White Sox put forward a decent, albeit somewhat unpleasant fight in the first game of the season. They fell in a 3-2 decision to the Texas Rangers on Friday. It was a melancholy start to the beginning of Robin Ventura's tenure as White Sox manager.A few players looked particularly good for the White Sox. Adam Dunn had a very pleasing start to the season. John Danks did fairly well in his start. Addison Reed did a solid job in relief.Some didn't do too well. Brent Morel was horrible each time he went to the plate. Gordon Beckham wasn't that impressive.Following is a look at some key points to Opening Day for the White Sox.Begin Slideshow

As Opening Day for Major League Baseball approaches (not counting the two-game series in Japan), every team, no matter how they look on paper, has a shot to win it all.Getting off on the right foot and winning on Opening Day, while not crucial to a team's success, can go a long way towards building momentum, especially for clubs whose expectations for the 2012 season may be on the lower side.As with any team, there is always an "X-factor" or wild card that can change the outcome of anything from one game to an entire season. These players can be anyone from a superstar returning from injury or an "off" season, to a young player trying to make a name for himself, yet somehow can find that his performance, or lack there of, will be directly related to his team's performance.Who will be the biggest X-factors this Opening Day? Who ...

I've got some big news, White Sox fans.In light of the openings in the White Sox bullpen, I have decided to forgo my career in sports journalism to challenge the likes of Hector Santiago, Gregory Infante, Dylan Axelrod, Brian Bruney, Zach Stewart and Eric Stults in their quest to make the big club.In all seriousness, the existence of these openings in the White Sox relief corps isn't necessarily reassuring for Sox fans. Keep in mind that Will Ohman already has his name penciled into the roster card.  Ouch.Before I go on my usual rant, let me give some credit to Bruney for slimming down and looking exactly like from Frank on American Pickers (yeah, I watch the History Channel). His sleekness has proved to be successful in the early-going as the righty hasn't allowed a run while striking out three in two appearances so far.Axelrod, a 30th-round pick in the ...