2005 Record: .611 (99-63), World Series Champs

2004 Record: .512 (83-79)

Who’s Out: Geoff Blum (3B), Carl Everett (DH), Frank Thomas (DH), Chris Widger (C), Aaron Rowand (OF), Orlando Hernandez (P)

Who’s In: Javier Vazquez (P), Jim Thome (DH), Rob Mackwiak (OF), Travis Hinton (1B)

Notes: Cynics may attribute Chicago’s amazing rise to the World Series to a streak of incredible luck, but one need look no further than their pitching to see the truth behind their success. In hopes of repeating last year’s accomplishments, the Sox did very little in the way of changes this winter, keeping the basic core of the team the same. Their pitching lineup still boasts Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, John Garland and Jose Contreras, and they’ve added Javier Vasquez in place of El Duque. Offensively, they swapped Aaron Rowand for the oft-injured but very powerful Jim Thome, which, so long as Thome can keep his joints and bones in order (as DH rather than position player he should be ok), should add some home-run power to the speedy Sox lineup. They may not be World Champs again in 2006, but Ozzie and his gang will come out on top of their division at the very least.

Next Up: St Louis Cardinals

Labels: 2006 team profiles