Danks: White Sox Could Be Team To Beat In 2011
The Chicago White Sox were an aggressive team over the offseason, making it very clear they're focused on winning now.
The addition of slugger Adam Dunn and the re-signing of Paul Konerko ensured that the Sox would have two big bats in their lineup that are capable of changing a game with one swing.
The Dunn signing excited the White Sox fan base, but the re-signing of Konerko had them setting their sights high for the 2011 season, and they're not the only ones.
"I tell you what, I like our team," White Sox's pitcher John Danks told Chris Rongey on The Score's White Sox Weekly. "We're going to be a tough team to beat. We said that last year and, you know underperformed."
LISTEN: John Danks On White Sox Weekly
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Last year the White Sox finished 88-74 and finished six games back of the Minnesota Twins. A season that wasn't what the White Sox were expecting. The team caught fire in the middle of the season and were among the best in the league for a good part of the year. However, that mid-season turn around wasn't enough to get them to the postseason.
Edwin Jackson was stellar in his time in Chicago after begin acquired in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks. And the expectations are high for him to continue that pitching in his first full year on the South Side.
Jackson and the rest of the roster will need to play like the team that caught up with the Twins, not the team that slowed down the stretch.
"I think if everybody plays the way we're capable of playing," Danks said, "I think we're going to be one of the teams to beat this year."
