Chicago White Sox: The 2010s All-Decade team
By Bill Felber
All-Decade Chicago White Sox
A.J. Pierzynski, Catcher
- Years: 2010-2012
- HR: 44
- OPS+: 99
- Awards: 2012 Silver Slugger
The final three seasons of Pierzynski’s eight seasons behind the plate in Chicago came during this decade. In those three seasons, he averaged 131 games.
Pierzynski consistently averaged in the .270s and .280s, but his best season was his last in Chicago. In 2012 he delivered a career-high 27 home runs, drove in 77 runs and posted career-best 120 OPS+.
Paul Konerko, First Base
- Years: 2010-14
- HR: 113
- OPS+: 115.4
- Awards: All-Star 2010, 2011, 2012
Konerko was always predominantly a first baseman, but he was used enough as a DH to justify his selection in that spot. His inclusion at designated hitter has the dual advantage of shoring up what otherwise is a Chicago positional weakness – do you really want Adam Dunn as the all-decade DH? — while eliminating the need to ignore Konerko in favor of the more obvious choice at first base.
By the start of the decade, Konerko was 34, and at the tail end of his most productive period. Still, he could deliver 39 home runs and 111 RBIs that season, following up with 31-105 in 2011. Through 2013, he averaged about 140 starts per season, more than 100 of them at first base.
He retired at the conclusion of the 2014 season, having played all but six of his 2,349 career games in a White Sox uniform.