I watched the "Hot Stove" show" on the MLB network last night, largely  because I had already seen the "NCIS" episode on USA and the Fine Living channel moved "Emeril Live" back to 7pm.

During the course of the show, the discussion turned to the Chicago White Sox.  Topics included who will the Sox miss most, the Sox pitching rotation and will Jermaine Dye get traded.  The segment was anchored by Harold Reynolds featuring Barry Larkin and Al Leiter.

On the first topic, Reynolds posed the question of who among the departed the Sox would miss the most.  The list included Javy Vazquez, Nick Swisher, Joe Crede, Ken Griffey Junior and Orlando Cabrera.  Leiter said all of them, then started leaning toward Cabrera..  Reynolds immediately piped in with Crede, which, in my opinion, is the correct answer and Larkin pretty much mumbled something in generalities about veterans in the lineup.

Because this is MLB TV, there was no mention that most of these moves were addition by subtraction in that Swisher was a pouter, Vazquez needs a heart and Cabrera is selfish and rubbed his teammates the wrong way. 

All agreed the Sox rotation is okay because they have at least three solid starters.  They all thought the Colon move was good.

On the question of Dye, Leiter again gave a hinky answer in saying "if you feel you are going to compete, you have to keep him."  Of course the Sox want to compete, Al.  They are the defending divisional champions.  But if Dye gets traded for say a center fielder and a couple of young guns, does that make it win-win?  They could still compete like that, couldn't they?  Reynolds seemed to think so and Larkin again mumbled something about veterans.

I really thought Reynolds had done his homework and seemed to know a lot about the Sox.  Perhaps it was because he covered the series for TBS and spent some time around the team.  Leiter, on the other hand, seems to be a good broadcaster who just didn't really know the Sox that well.  Larkin, also showing promise as a broadcaster, comes off as the management guy in the group, given his recent experience in Washington's front office.

I enjoyed the show and will watch it again, but remember, the only true way to assimilate factual information is to read a variety of sources and not just depend on a so called expert.  Chances are, if its your team, you know more about it than they do anyway.