It’s hard to 2nd guess Kenny Williams. He has been pretty successful at wheeling and dealing. He hasn’t made a lot of bad moves. Foulke for Koch, Wells/Fogg for Ritchie, Chris Young for Javier Vazquez, that is the list of bad trades really. And he has made some genius moves. Way too many to name, but Joe Borchard for Matt Thornton stands out, see the whole list here. So the fact that he didn’t make any big moves this summer can’t be questioned.

But negative #1 is the holes. Crede, Cabrera and Swisher are gone, meaning that there will be 4 new starters in 2009. Alexei Ramirez is technically a returning starter but at a new position. And regardless of my dad’s man crush on him, he is a horrible fielder. I predict Sox fans will quickly miss Cabrera and Uribe’s defense over the last few years. Ramirez’z long term destination is back at 2B or more likely CF. Josh Fields is the defacto 3B but his spring has been disappointing since he still doesn’t have a HR. It looks like DeWayne Wise is on track to start in CF but I don’t know if he can leadoff. So does that mean Chris Getz, who looks to be the starter at 2B is the new leadoff guy? Jerry Owens can bunt and run and that is not enough to be the guy. No leadoff hitter and major questions on the left side of the infield.

The other problem with the lineup is the lack of reliable hitters. In typical Chicago sports fashion (Michael Jordan not withstanding), there is no superstar on this team. Paul Konerko is coming off his worst year ever and is two years removed from what you would consider a good season for a $10M+ a year player. Thome stayed healthy but his OBP dropped 60 points and he had his most Ks since ’03. Plus his back is acting up again. Carlos Quentin looked like the player we hoped but it’s hard to get excited after one (nearly) full season. We are basically relying on 35 year old Jermaine Dye to continue his improbable run, thankfully it’s a contract year.

Then there is the rotation. After “Rock” Buehrle, it’s on Danks and Floyd to continue. Both 26 or younger means there is hope, but we just have to wait and see. Then it either falls on two basically rookies or a guy coming back from an ACL and a fat guy who has a history of arm trouble.

On top of all that, the division should be a lot better this year. All of this means that it could be a long season.