Chicago White Sox
 

Last fall, I was in Arizona at the same hotel where the White Sox were holding their organizational meetings.  I remember seeing Ron Schueler at breakfast and thinking, "for a guy who's team just won it's division and who's organization has been voted as having one of the best farm systems in baseball, he doesn't look very happy."  The next day, he announced his resignation.  Bummer for him.  He had endured owner Jerry Reinsdorf's shenanigans during the strike and the "white flag" campaign in 1997, when the Sox traded 3 of their best players for a bunch of prospects in late July while only 3 games out of first.  You'd think that a guy who had spent 10 years building an organization would stick around to enjoy his work now that it's possibly on the cusp of it's greatest achievements.  Especially one in a city that deifies everyone who has had anything to do with a championship team.  Hard to figure.
 

Offense

The Chicago White Sox scored more runs than any team in baseball last season, which is an impressive feat given that they don't play in Colorado.  Any improvements they enjoy in run scoring this season will be due to maturation as this team was one of the youngest in the league.  The only significant change will be at shortstop, where the more sure handed Royce Clayton takes over for Jose Valentin.  This will move Valentin either to centerfield, where he will take over from Chris Singleton, or third base, where he would usurp Herbert Perry.  The net effect on run scoring will be negligible as Clayton isn't any better offensively than Singleton or Perry.  Valentin's most likely destination is center as the Sox have a highly regarded third baseman, Joe Crede, who they believe is ready for major league duty.  Second base will be manned by Ray Durham, who's a good bet to play 150 games, hit 10+ homers, steal 25+ bases and score 100 runs as he's done that in each of the last 4 years.  Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko and Carlos Lee form the nucleus of the offense.  Thomas has established himself as one of the best hitters ever, surpassing Ted Williams in total number of 25 homer, 100 walk, 100 run, 100 RBI seasons with 9.  Neither Ordonez, Konerko or Lee possess Thomas' great eye at the plate but all three are still young - Ordonez is the oldest at 27 - and are learning from one of the best.  It's not inconceivable that the Sox could become the first team in history to have four 40 home run hitters.  The White Sox signed Sandy Alomar Jr away from the Indians to help guide their young staff.  However, he has played as many as 100 game in a season just 4 times in his 13 year career.  His back-ups, Josh Paul and Mark Johnson, will probably have more impact on how well this team fares.  RATING: 70
 

Defense

The White Sox defense was maligned last year as they committed the 3rd most errors in the AL.  What wasn't mentioned as much as they led the AL in double plays turned.  Valentin and Singleton ranked among the best in range in the majors last year, so moving Clayton in at short could be merely cosmetic.  The rest of the team was a tad below average. RATING: 50
 

Starting Pitching

The addition of David Wells was a coup for new GM Ken Williams.  Even if Wells doesn't have much left in the tank at 38, his presence on the bench will be like having an additional pitching coach.  Bob Tewksbury had a similar effect on a young Padre staff in 1996.  As for his on the field performance, there are two major concerns: 1) Wells could struggle if the outside of the plate isn't called regularly with the implementation of the high strike, and 2) his second half performance in 2000 was shaky.  Behind Wells will be Cal Eldred, whose career was resurrected by a solid first half last year.  However, injuries are still a major concern with him as he has posted just two 200-inning seasons in his 10-year career, the last coming in 1997.  James Baldwin, the 'ace' of last year's staff, is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and probably won't be to full strength before May.  His contributions are primarily as a steady innings eater.  The upside of this staff comes from young pitchers like Kip Wells, Mark Buehrle Jon Garland and Jon Rauch.  Each has very good potential - Rauch looks like he'll be a perennial All-Star - but will likely suffer more growing pains as none of them have more than a year of major league experience.  Jim Parque has marginal stuff, but pitches with the cajones of a cat burglar.  I admire his courage but if the strikezone is called according to the rule book, this is going to be a long year for him.  RATING: 55 (65 if two of the young guys have breakthrough seasons)
 

Bullpen

The White Sox have a luxury few teams have in that they have 2 good closers.  Both Bobby Howry and Keith Foulke have served as the team's primary closer.  Foulke served brilliantly as the guy at the end last season.  His success can be attributed to a change-up often likened in quality to that of Trevor Hoffman.  Howry is more of a stereotypical reliever, using a good fastball and showing a curve on occasion to keep hitters honest.  The rest of the bullpen is made up of quality unknowns like Kelly Wunsch, Bill Simas, Antonio Osuna and Sean Lowe.  While they may not have much name recognition outside Chicago, they make up one of the better bullpens in the AL and played a huge role in the White Sox success last year,  Uber-prospect Lorenzo Barcelo has been rumored to be the heir apparent to close but with assortment and quality of pitches, the White Sox would be foolish not to consider him for the rotation. RATING: 70
 

Management

Manager Jerry Manuel quietly maneuvered his team into the upper echelon of the AL.  Even this spring, when Frank Thomas was the bad guy du jour for his contract hold out, Manuel was quietly and diligently working behind the scenes to settle the situation with Thomas and his team.  Because he isn't particularly quotable or controversial, nor does he get thrown out of games that often, he probably doesn't get the recognition he deserves.  Ron Schueler was a good GM, perhaps even very good.  Ken Williams has no experience and is following a successful regime.  How he reacts to the pressure of having to stay on top will go a long way toward cementing his reputation.  RATING: 60
 

Conclusion

The White Sox have several things working in their favor towards repeating as Central Division champs: a very good offense, bullpen and manager.  However, in order for them to repeat, they will need either repeat performances from either Eldred and/or Baldwin, or breakthrough seasons from one or two of their young starters.  They will also need David Wells to pitch like he did in the first half last year, as opposed to his second half performance.  Any of those could be a tall order.  A healthy Cleveland club will definitely pose a significant challenge.  It should be a close race.  Predicting who the winner will be is as likely to be determined with a coin toss as any formula or logic.  Regardless, because of the unbalanced schedule both teams are likely to find their way into the playoffs in October.