Have the White Sox waved the "White Flag?"

Call me an optimist, but I still believe that the White Sox can win the AL Central. I know that losing Contreas and Thome hurt the clubhouse, as they were both very well liked and hard working players, but how much did we lose from them on the field? Thome was hitting a lowly .249 with not overwhelming power numbers. Those numbers could easily be replaced if Carlos Quentin can return to his 2008 form and prove to us all that he wasn't a one year wonder. Despite Contreas helping us win the World Series in 2005 and setting a club record 17 consecutive wins, he simply has not been able to regain his dominance. So until (and if) Peavy returns we can only hope rookie Carlos Torres can make some magic happen in the fifth starter spot. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to matter how well the Sox pitch as their offense has been simply anemic. After Tuesday's loss to the Twins the Sox were seven games back with 28 to go. But keep in mind that six of those 28 games are against the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. With that in mind, if (and it is a big if) the White Sox bats can find a way to score some more runs they can quickly make up ground in the Central. Overall, I will agree that we lost two highly respected players, but are the White Sox better without them? Lets just say that I don't think they could be any worse.