MY SABER SOX LINEUP

There was a bit of a debate amongst Sox fans on Twitter this morning about lineup construction and the way things are always done. It started because the White Sox signed Melky Cabrera, and we're all assuming that Cabrera will bat second in the lineup.

He's the ideal two-hole hitter!

At least, that's the common conception based on the way that managers have always filled out their lineups. But there are arguments that there are better ways to construct your lineup, ways that, by and large, most managers don't utilize.

Sabermetricians (henceforth to be referred to as NERDS in a loving manner, for I do appreciate the NERDS and would consider myself a bit of one when it comes to baseball) used years worth of data to determine whether or not the way that lineups are put together really is the optimal way to do things.

Turns out they aren't, at least not according to the data.

WHITE SOX TO GO AFTER EVAN LONGORIA?

It's been a fun winter already, but apparently things could get more interesting.

The Score's Bruce Levine was on the Mully and Hanley Show Wednesday morning, and during his appearance he speculated about the possibility of another big trade for the White Sox. According to Levine, he believes there'd be mutual interest between the Sox and the Rays in doing a deal for Evan Longoria.

Which, if true, well excuse me I need to go fan myself for a few minutes.

What's not clear is if Levine is just pulling this idea out of his ass, or if he's seen or heard any possible chatter between the two sides, even if they're extremely preliminary discussions. All I know is that I found out about the talk this morning, and now I can't stop thinking about it.

Evan Longoria has taken over my mind.

ADAM LAROCHE WILL SERVE PRIMARILY AS A DH

The White Sox made the Adam LaRoche signing official on Monday, which meant that we were finally able to get some clarity on what role LaRoche will fill exactly. It was obvious that the plan was for LaRoche to fill the DH spot and spell Jose Abreu at first base, but what we didn't know was how often LaRoche would need to bring his glove to the park.

We received some clarification from Robin Ventura Monday.

Ventura was doing an interview with MLB Network and was asked about his plans for LaRoche.

WHITE SOX SIGN ADAM LAROCHE

The White Sox offseason continues to take shape as it was reported Friday night that the Sox had signed free agent Adam LaRoche. The White Sox are yet to officially announce the deal, but it was reported by Bob Nightingale that LaRoche received a two-year deal worth $25 million.

And that's fine.

Two years isn't going to hamstring the Sox, even if LaRoche is now the second-highest paid member of the team, sliding in behind John Danks.

As for what the signing means to the Sox next season, my initial reaction was a bit trepidatious. Maybe I'm just put off by the idea of signing a left-handed slugging first baseman from the Nationals considering what happened with Adam Dunn, but that's stupid. LaRoche isn't Adam Dunn. At least I hope he isn't.

What we know about LaRoche is that he's coming off a pretty good season with the Nationals. He hit .259/.362/.455 in 140 games with 26 home runs and 92 RBI. He was worth 2.2 WAR. That's not bad at all. What isn't great is that LaRoche just turned 35 a few weeks ago, so he's not exactly coming to Chicago in the middle of his prime.