Rogers: White Sox Starters Could Be In Trouble
(WSCR) Since the end of the 2011 season, all the talk on the South Side has been whether or not veteran hurler Mark Buehrle will return.
As each day passes, it appears more and and unlikely Buehrle will return. Coupled with the loss of Buehrle, reports have speculated that starting pitcher John Danks could also be shipped out for younger prospects. Add to that the loss of Edwin Jackson, who was traded before last year's trade deadline, and you are missing some serious innings.
The trio combined for 497 1/3 innings last season. Phil Rodgers of the Chicago Tribune said he doesn't quite know where the White Sox will make up those innings.
"I know there's a lot of talk about trading a pitcher, but I don't know where they're going to get the innings if they don't bring back Mark Buehrle," Rogers told The Mully and Hanley Show. "They don't really have the flexibility to deal John Danks. Maybe they would only do it if they got a younger pitcher in return, somebody they could plug right in. I think they're going to have trouble filling the innings from these starting pitchers."
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General manager Kenny Williams has decided to move the left-handed Chris Sale to the starting rotation, which will help, but it won't be enough.
"It is a difficult transition that he's going to be making," Rogers said. "I think he has a really big up-side as a starting pitcher."
"He's going to be a young starter. I don't know that you're going to be able to count on him for more than 160, maybe 180 innings, tops. That's what he did in the minor leagues. At the minor league level, that's pretty much what they make of the ceiling for a starting pitcher -- 180 innings. I do like Sale. I'm not sure that he had the greatest developmental year last year in that on-again-off-again role that he had."
