Great article from 1/16/03 on the Sox

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Hey everybody. On Chicagosports.com, Phil Rogers wrote a great article on the Sox, at the time they traded for Bartolo Colon. Some of you may have already read it, but for those that didn't, here you go:

 

 

 

Sox's trade a Twins killing

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Phil Rogers

 

January 16, 2003

 

Whoosh.

 

That was the sound of wide-eyed hope being sucked out of the Metrodome late Wednesday morning.

 

We humbly submit the Minnesota Twins should have taken better advantage of the chance to host playoff games last October. That's because 2002 probably will be as good as it gets for a determined bunch of overachievers who deserve better than they'll get from owner Carl Pohlad. There won't be a second chance, not with Bartolo Colon's size-14 spikes shattering Cinderella's slipper.

 

"Man," says Montreal general manager Omar Minaya, the guy who traded Colon. "He's a difference-maker. This guy's a horse. ... Put him right up there with the top five guys in the game."

 

By acquiring such a force without giving up anyone more than significant than setup man Antonio Osuna, White Sox GM Ken Williams tipped the balance of power in the American League Central toward Chicago.

 

He didn't want to admit it. But facts are facts.

 

Barring major injuries, the Sox have assembled a base of talent that is more likely to run away with the Central than finish behind Minnesota for the third consecutive year. If manager Jerry Manuel can't reach the playoffs with a rotation of Colon, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Dan Wright, it will be time for a change at the top.

 

That's nothing against Manuel. He has done solid work. But 90-plus victories and a title should be the mandate given a lineup loaded with thunder and a potentially devastating bullpen that should get major contributions from newcomers Billy Koch, Tom Gordon, whose signing is pending only a physical, and Arnaldo Munoz.

 

"We're very excited," Williams said after announcing the three-team deal with Montreal and the Yankees, which the Tribune reported Wednesday morning. "I can't tell you how excited we are. [but] we have a lot of work to do to catch a good team."

 

Minnesota is blessed with a good manager in Ron Gardenhire and players who rose to the occasion when faced with the possible elimination of their franchise. But the standings didn't tell the whole story last season. The Twins were hardly 131/2 games better than the White Sox.

 

Manuel's team should have won more than 81 games; it scored 58 more runs than it allowed. Gardenhire's team should not have won 94 games; it scored only 56 more runs than it allowed.

 

Part of that comes from the Twins being among baseball's most fundamentally sound teams and the Sox being among the poorest at catching the ball and running the bases. But the reality is that 2002 was simply Minnesota's year, just as 2000 belonged to the White Sox.

 

That young Sox team couldn't handle the altitude. Will the Twins be able to handle it?

 

Doubtful. You just don't duplicate what happened beneath the Metrodome's Teflon roof last summer.

 

And while the national view is that Pohlad's expanded commitment has allowed GM Terry Ryan to keep the team intact, that overlooks the jettisoning of David Ortiz, who was third on the team in run-production stats--for comparison's sake, imagine the Sox without Frank Thomas--and setup man Mike Jackson.

 

With the cost of hanging on to veterans driving the Minnesota payroll up from $40 million to about $50 million, Ryan has added only infielder Chris Gomez. Hard to see that providing the size XXXL emotional lift Sox players will get from seeing Colon throwing 98-m.p.h. fastballs every five days.

 

While teams like Texas and the Sox have tried for years to slug their way to greatness, nothing wins like pitching. You'll hear a lot about the 39 games that Colon and Buehrle won last year--only Arizona, Oakland and Boston have tandems that won more in 2002--but the Sox's strength goes beyond this potent 1-2 punch.

 

In Colon, Buehrle, Wright and Garland, the Sox have four starters who threw 190-plus innings while making at least 30 starts last season. The other four teams in the Central have only one such creature--Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia.

 

Because of injuries, Minnesota's trio of Brad Radke, Eric Milton and Joe Mays all went the wrong way in 2002. Since the middle of last season, Kansas City's Paul Byrd and Jeff Suppan and Detroit's Jeff Weaver and Mark Redman have left the division.

 

No, there are no certainties in baseball, and it wouldn't be interesting if there were. But considering that the White Sox outscored the rest of the Central in 2002 and since have turned their pitching staff into a strength, they should be heavy favorites.

 

Don't confuse the Colon trade with the David Wells and Todd Ritchie flops. This one is totally different.

 

Hoping to upgrade with Wells, Williams gave up Mike Sirotka. In a similar move for Ritchie, he gave up Kip Wells and the underappreciated Josh Fogg. But because a harsh financial climate persuaded Minaya to buy into the promise of Rocky Biddle and Jeff Liefer, who was replaced almost instantly by Armando Rios, another upgrade, the Sox were able to get a 20-game winner without dealing a rotation member or even top prospects.

 

Hard to believe.

 

While Minaya will be besieged by critics wondering why he couldn't get more for Colon, Yankees GM Brian Cashman and Williams will sleep peacefully. Cashman not only moved a spare part in Orlando Hernandez but filled a void with Osuna, who should be the same kind of force in New York as predecessors Ramiro Mendoza and Jeff Nelson.

 

Williams strengthened both ends of the White Sox's rotation. It was a little thin in 2002 but now has only one vacancy. The Sears Tower, otherwise known as Jon Rauch, should fit perfectly.

 

Last seen, Rauch was keeping the Minnesota lineup quiet in two late-season starts. From top to bottom, the Sox have an entire rotation capable of doing that regularly in 2003.

 

Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune

 

 

 

While I definitely won't take Minnesota lightly, I do love our chances this year. Go Pale Hose!!! This is our year!!!