Fifth starter??

If you had asked me a week ago, I figured it would be John Danks.

Now I'm not quite so sure...

The one thing that worries me more than anything else is the maddening inconsistency shown by both Danks and Gavin Floyd over spring training. Just when the young Danks appeared to be putting the exclamation point on a solid spring training that would eventually nail down his position as the #5 starter, he goes out and lays an egg, raising more questions about his ability to be a consistent fifth/spot starter.

And then Gavin Floyd goes out, cleans up the damage, and settles in for 4+ innings of 1-run baseball.

Many things are uncertain about this situation, but I can say this - Ozzie Guillen cannot allow this to deteriorate into another go-round a la 2004, where the multitude of fifth starters that Guillen rolled out probably cost his inaugural team five or six wins over the course of the season. The White Sox, this season, have the capacity to go out and rack up another 90-95 wins - but five or six games could be the difference between a playoff spot and a spot on the couch. Ozzie was right last year when he said that 95 wins would win the division - and for my money, 95 wins will do it again this year. But when you've got a strong Tigers squad, an always unpredictable Twins team, and an Indians team who very well could do some damage, you can't afford to deal in question marks for very long - especially when it comes to pitching. I know Ozzie is waiting to make the decision, and some reports have him not making the decision until camp breaks on the 29th...but I am of the opinion that the sooner we know, and the sooner the eventual starter knows, the longer he will have to prepare - and considering the state of the candidates, they'll need all the time they can get...