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No. 4 Chicago White Sox
2000 Record: 95-67 (1st AL West) The Chicago White Sox surprised a lot of people by winning the AL Central in 2000. They won't be sneaking up on anybody this season, but the Sox may have the AL's best lineup and now they have unquestioned ace. Twenty-game winner David Wells, who tied for the most wins in the AL, gives the White Sox the hammer they lacked in the postseason last year. Thanks to guys like Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee, the pitching staff should have plenty of runs to work with. The defense should be better with Royce Clayton coming in as a defensive shortstop and Jose Valentin moving to center field for a team that led the AL in unearned runs a year ago. Getting someone to turn in solid work as the team's No. 2 is managers Jerry Manuel's top priority. Cal Eldred and James Baldwin are coming off injuries and 13-game winner Jim Parque is still in the third spot. Baldwin could be the difference-maker. Putting him In Focus shows an 11-4 record and a 4.28 ERA for the first half. That was good enough to make the All-Star team, but what followed was a 3-3 second half and a 5.27 ERA
If the White Sox find an answer to the No. 2 starter question, they could go deep into October. I rank them as the fourth-best best team in baseball.
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