CHICAGO WHITE SOX--- David Marasco

Going into the 2000 season things looked great for the White Sox. They had a young team, a great farm system, and Frank Thomas' medical problems looked to be a thing of the past. A quick glance at the crystal ball said maybe .500, and in a few years a Central Division powerhouse. But a funny thing happened on the way to the World Series. The train pulled into the station early and the Sox won the AL Central. In fact, they were one of the best teams in baseball.

Ron Schuler, the architect of the team, stepped down in the off-season. He was replaced by former player Kenny Williams. Since then most of the moves that have been made seem to have the quality of "win right now." The team exchanged Mike Sirotka for David Wells. Shoulder problems aside, this added a good amount of age to the rotation.

The club traded for Royce Clayton, and moved Jose Valentin from short to outfield. Again, the age of Clayton displacing a youngster in the outfield. Another pickup was Sandy Alomar. In the short run he might be a better option than anything in the Sox's farm system, but they are taking learning time away from their future catchers by playing a guy who's knees might be done in two years.

My worry is that by winning the Central in 2000 the White Sox have turned upside down some very solid plans about player development and when this team should peak. As a Sox fan I was content to sit back and watch youngsters like Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee develop into stars or superstars. I knew that it might take another year or two for the kid pitchers like Kip Wells and Jon Garland to really hit stride. Looking at the roster coming out of 2000, I thought that perhaps 2002 or 2003 would be the start of a nice long dynasty. Now the gears have been shifted and nothing less than advancement in the playoffs will be considered success.

While I'm happy to see the White Sox going for the gold ring, I'm concerned that this might not be in the best long-term interests of the club. Instead of waiting for a solid core of players to develop and then patching in with veterans from other squads, it seems as if the Sox have started their patching a little too early.

I'm reminded of the Sox from the early-1990's. They had youngsters like Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Alex Fernandez, Wilson Alvarez and Black Jack.

Yet a look at the roster a few years later shows the likes of Danny Tartabull and John Kruk. Looking back I think that perhaps Ron Schuler pulled the trigger too early with those White Sox and didn't let things play out as slowly as he should have. His reluctance to deal a phee-nom down the stretch this last year seemed to indicate hat he had learned his lesson. Now we find out if Kenny Williams is a student of history as well as baseball.