Foul Balls MLB Preview: Chicago White Sox

In our latest installment of our MLB previews here at Foul Balls we continue the now two day old tradition of getting other people to do my work for me.

Today we preview the Chicago White Sox, and since I already wrote and posted mine, I figured it would be rather redundant to write a second one. That's why I turned to my friend and co-worker PostmanR of FanHouse, We Are The Postmen, Inside the Hall, Chicago Sports Weekly, Fleshbot - and anywhere else where they're willing to give him free food - to write the preview for me. Amazingly, he said yes.

It was clear midway through last year's abysmal White Sox campaign that something had to give.

Pitchers who were so magical during the 2005 World Series run had lost a step. (Jose Contreras had lost about 40 steps.) The staple of power hitters seemed old, beaten down. (See: Jim Thome.)

Usually, when the talent of a successful MLB team sees a clear dip, one that seems unrecoverable, it's time to sell the farm. (Well actually, it's time to trade for the farm and bring players up from the farm.)

But if there's anything we've learned about Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams, it's that they don't flinch. This offseason, there was no giving in. Just because everyone in the free world might be advising otherwise, they deflected the heat and criticism.

This is their team, their molding, their shaping and they could give a damn what you think.

The Sox scored the fewest amount of runs and had the worst on-base percentage in all of baseball last season, but Guillen and Williams believed it was all a fluke. The hitters are bound to bounce back, they thought.

So instead of getting rid of an aging old vet on the downside of his career, the Sox re-signed Jermaine Dye. Instead of trading for the farm, they got rid of their top pitching prospects for Nick Swisher (however, the addition of Swisher will be welcomed in the Sox outfield, so that one is a bit of wash). Instead of keeping around one of their most consistent pitchers in 27-year-old Jon Garland, they traded him for Orlando Cabrera, who has one year left on his contract. A good shortstop, yes, but a 33-year-old shortstop.

This cannot all be pegged squarely on Williams. The free agent market this year - save for Miguel Cabrera - was awash in absurdly overpriced players on the back half of their careers. (See: Torii Hunter.) Williams seemed handcuffed, trying to make his ballclub better but realizing there just wasn't much of a way to get that done this offseason.

The Sox play in arguably the toughest division in baseball. Talent-wise, they can't compete with the Indians or Tigers. Baseball Prospectus and PECOTA are predicting a paltry 77-85 record for the Sox this year. And yeah, I think that's about right. This team will hover somewhere in the .500 range, good enough to satisfy the fans and keep bringing them in the ballpark, but not good enough to seriously challenge for the playoffs.

Here is the best thing that can happen to the White Sox: Joe Crede plays remarkably at third base and the Sox trade him for good, young talent at the deadline. Josh Fields comes up from AAA and becomes the Sox third baseman for the foreseeable future. Alexei Ramirez plays great in a reserve roll and fills in somewhere in the middle infield next season, when Juan Uribe's and Orlando Cabrera's contracts are up.

Out with the (somewhat) old, in with the new. This is the route the White Sox must take.

It is no longer 2005. The insane pitching has vanished. Paul Konerko isn't getting any younger. I can only hope this year's campaign will steer them further down the youthful path. It may take time to get back to the top of the AL Central, but it's how this must be done.

I just hope Kenny and Ozzie realize that sooner rather than later.