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If the White Sox are just going to go through the motions, then so am I.  They won some, they lost some.  It doesn't matter anyway because Detroit refuses to lose, having won nine in a row.

The Tigers are now 10.5 games up on the Sox and have a Magic Number of seven.  Detroit has 16 games left to play; the Sox have 17.  Even if the Good Guys were to win out, the Tigers would have to go just 7-9 to win the division.  I know the former isn't going to happen, and I doubt the Motor City boys will fare that poorly.

Since we're sticking a fork in the Sox, I'm wondering what next year will be like.  Paulie will be another year older and even if he were in his prime, it would be unrealistic to expect him to match what he's done this year.  Gordon Beckham is still very young but another year like this one and the Sox have to rethink what they're going to do.  I like Alexei at short, but he needs to cut down on the errors a bit.  Brent Morel deserves more time to show what he can do, but he's got to start hitting more to be a corner infielder.  Juan Pierre continues to surprise with his batting average, but he's lost more than a step on the bases and his fielding has been atrocious this year.  Alex Rios has been horrible, but it's hard to imagine he'll be as bad next year.  I like De Aza and Viciedo; they're the future.  Quentin is hard to categorize. He can carry the team when he's hot, but he's the most injury-prone player I know.  Adam Dunn?  He has to be better next year, doesn't he?  And no one's going to take on his contract.  A.J. is getting up there, but he'll be back and give what he usually does, just maybe less often.  Tyler Flowers, we can only hope he develops and takes some of the burden off of A.J.

I'll address pitching later, but for now, Go Sox in 2012!