The starting lineup and rotation look great for the White Sox heading into spring training. They can fix the bench (they need an outfielder) and the bullpen (for early in the game) through the bargain bin of free agency. The outfielders the White Sox are likely looking at are guys like Reed Johnson, Joe Inglett, Fred Lewis, Laynce Nix and Scott Hairston are the likely targets and they can all be had on the cheap. The White Sox are in good shape from the left side of the bullpen. They will be looking for righties and the guys they are likely to target are names like Chad Qualls, Chris Ray, Alfredo Aceves, Elmer Dessens, Jose Veras and David Riske who all could be productive if healthy in 2011. The White Sox should also consider giving Manny Corpas a two-year deal for the league minimum with the idea that he rehabs in 2011 (Tommy John Surgery) and pitches in the back end of the pen in 2012 for the Pale Hose. I think he’s worth taking a gamble on. Don’t look for the White Sox to make big waves before spring training opens as they only have to tinker with the roster.

The White Sox signed 29-year old righty reliever Jesse Crain to a 3-year, $13 million dollar deal. Crain pitched in 71 games (0 starts) for the Twins last season and he was 1-1 with 1 save, a 3.04 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Crain has now pitched in 376 games (0 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 33-21 with 3 saves, a 3.42 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. The White Sox have made another good move in picking up Crain who will help them late in games.

The White Sox have re-signed 28-year old righty swinging catcher Donny Lucy to a minor league deal. He has played in 15 games in parts of two years with the White Sox and he is 8 of 30 (.267 avg, .800 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Lucy played in 59 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 46 of 204 (.225 avg, .594 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The White Sox will be stashing Lucy in AAA unless A.J. Pierzynski or Ramon Castro suffers a injury.

The White Sox have signed 28-year old righty reliever Brian Bruney to a minor league deal. Bruney pitched in 19 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 1-2 with a 7.64 ERA and a 2.32 WHIP. Bruney has pitched in 249 games (1 start) in his major league career so far and he is 17-12 with 13 saves, a 4.52 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. He has only given up 209 hits while whiffing 234 batters in 239 innings so far this year but he has always had control issues with 173 walks. If the White Sox can get Bruney to throw more strikes they might just have something here.

The White Sox have re-signed 34-year old righty swinging 1B Paul Konerko to a 3-year, $37.5 million dollar deal. Konerko played in 149 games for the White Sox last season and he was 171 of 548 (.312 avg, .977 OPS) with 89 runs scored, 39 homers and 111 RBIs. He has now played in 1,786 games in his first 12 years with the White Sox and he is 1,813 of 6,418 (.282 avg, .863 OPS) with 950 runs scored, 358 homers, 1,127 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Konerko is now #4 in White Sox’ history in games played (1,786), #5 in hits (1,813), #9 in OPS (.863), #5 in runs scored (950), #3 in doubles (335), #4 in walks (716), #2 in homers (358) and #2 in RBIs (1,127). This was a great move for the White Sox as Konerko will split the DH and 1B jobs with Adam Dunn, giving the Pale Hose a ton of power in the middle of the lineup.