30 Teams in 30 Days 2018 21 Chicago White Sox

While they didn't signal the impeding end of their rebuild with the types of win-soon moves made by the Phillies, the White Sox certainly hope that a return to contention is not that far off, given that the service-time clocks of such important future pieces as Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito are steadily ticking away. Chicago (AL) has some promise on the current roster, and a lot more coming on the farm, even if they aren't quite ready to put it all together.

All-Acquired Factor

As a team with no serious hopes of contention, making big time offseason acquisitions was nowhere near the top of Chicago's priority list. Welington Castillo adds a little punch to the lineup, and is on a reasonable enough two-year deal that could be flipped for a contender in need of pitching help at this year's (or next year's) trade deadline. You can see above that veteran trade acquisition Joakim Soria is projected as the closer, but what the SI baseball preview doesn't tell you is that the Sox also picked up lefty Luis Avilan in the same three-team deal (with the Dodgers and the Royals). Two more bullpen pieces were brought in on minor league deals: former starter Hector Santiago (ranked 641 by MLB.com prior to the season), who has thrived so far in a long relief role, and former Tigers prospect Bruce Rondon, who was called up about a week into the season.

Fifth Starter

In addition to Santiago, who started his career for the White Sox from 2011-13, the Pale Hose brought back another familiar face to round out their rotation in Miguel Gonzalez. The Mexican hurler known as El Jaliscience (after his home state of Jalisco) started 2017 in Chicago, then went to Texas at the Trade Deadline 2.0 last year (i.e. August 31st), before returning to the South Siders in January. Gonzalez saw his ranking drop to 478 between Spring Training and Opening Day, and then saw his ERA rise above the 12.40 mark over his first three starts of the season, so he will likely be on the roster bubble when Carlos Rodon (ranked 310) returns from shoulder surgery in June. And if anything should go wrong with that plan, fireballing prospect Michael Kopech (473) is waiting in the wings in Triple-A.

Fantasy Astrology Relevance

Not a single fantasy astrology contender has a Chicago White Sock in its starting lineup this year. Jose Abreu is awesome, but the same cannot be said of the Aquarius offense that he will headline. Moncada and right fielder Avisail Garcia should hold down starting roles with Gemini, but the "Twins" are also unlikely to make the astrology playoffs. Soria is the best option to pick up saves for a very weak Taurus bullpen. And despite Matt Davidson's power surge, he's nowhere near the top of the Aries depth chart at third base or first base. Wait till next moon cycle, Sox fans.

Song

Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) - Frank Sinatra version

Of the two Chicago teams, the White Sox always struck me as more jazzy, traditional pop, while the Cubs always gave off a more blues-y vibe, and this distinction is reflected in the song choices I made for both teams. Sinatra also has another popular song about Chicago, entitled "My Kind of Town" - that's quite a lot of love for the Windy City from a singer who's originally from Hoboken, NJ and who lived most of his life in Southern California.