Can the White Sox win the AL Central?!

The White Sox Podcast w/ Chuck Garfien

Chicago Sports Network

Sports, Sports:baseball, Baseball

4.7 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chuck Garfien chats with The Athletic's Dan Hayes to break down a surprisingly competitive American League Central race and why the division may be more wide open than expected, including for the Chicago White Sox. They discuss how the Cleveland Guardians continue to win despite losing one of baseball’s top closers, while the Minnesota Twins have struggled to protect leads even with strong starting pitching and one of the league’s highest-scoring offenses. Chuck also lays out what the White Sox need to do to seriously contend for the division, especially in head-to-head games against Cleveland. Chuck and Dan explore why the idea of the White Sox winning the AL Central may not sound as unrealistic as people think, including comparisons between the Sox’ current momentum and Cleveland’s 2022 run. They revisit the memorable 15-inning Twins-Guardians game from 2022, examine why Chicago now has several “Guardian-like” players on the roster, and debate which team is best positioned to finish on top when the season ends. The episode wraps up with Dan’s prediction for the eventual AL Central winner and Chuck offering some playful advice to noted Sox-killer Byron Buxton before the next White Sox-Twins series.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The White Sox podcast with Chuck Garfine is brought to you by Wind Creek, Chicago, Southland.
0:05.0	Are you ready for your winning moment? Find it at Wind Creek, Chicago, Southland, where the action never stops.
0:18.6	Hey, everybody, it's Chuck Garfine, and this is The White Sox podcast.
0:22.9	It's coming to you, as always, by Wind Creek, Chicago, Southland.
0:26.7	And on the podcast today, we are talking about the biggest surprise team in baseball.
0:32.6	And there's not even a close second.
0:34.9	Of course, it's the White Sox.
0:37.3	And, you know, there are many writers and media
0:40.4	outlets who are eating their words right now about the Sox. I mean, before the season began,
0:47.2	we have the athletic that predicted that the White Sox would finish with the fewest wins
0:52.1	in the American League. Yahoo Sports said there was no chance the White Sox will be playing in October.
1:00.1	Bradford Doolittle, a baseball writer for ESPN, predicted that the White Sox would lose
1:04.6	101 games, and he gave them a 0% chance of making the playoffs.
1:12.6	After starting the season with a 1.2% chance of making the playoffs,
1:16.4	according to fan graphs,
1:17.4	if the season ended right now, they'd be in the postseason
1:21.3	as one of three AL wild cards.
1:24.6	But here on the podcast, we're aiming higher. How about winning the division? Can it happen
1:33.0	for the White Sox? What will it take for them to win the AL Central? Meanwhile, are the
1:38.4	guardians being the guardians? Are they just being lucky? Especially when it comes to injuries. Are the
1:45.8	tigers this bad? And with the twins coming to town on Monday, will the White Sox beat up on them
1:51.3	like they did last year? Well, back on the podcast, we have our old friend, Dan Hayes, who covers the
	...

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