Chicago White Sox by Marc Normandin

The White Sox aren't the worst team in the division, but they're certainly not a third-place team, either. They're going to finish fourth, and the Indians are the only thing keeping me from ranting about the timing of their rebuild. This was almost the perfect division, and the perfect timing, for a quasi-contender to double-down on their roster. Their lineup was average last year, the front of their rotation was formidable, and the Royals and Tigers are at the top of a very steep roller coaster right now. If the Indians were just a little weaker, this could have been the right time to improve the roster behind Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, nuts to the farm system.

As is, no, they’re not catching the Indians. And was the idea of wild card scraps enough to hope Sale could survive another season of wear and tear with his trade value intact? Probably not. It’s just a shame that right as two of their rivals are ready for a fall, with the other one stuck in a vending machine, that they had to make this decision.

They did well with the return, of course, trading Sale for a widely appreciated package of some of the game’s best prospects. And they still have a lineup worth watching, which isn’t something you can write about every team in the middle of a rebuild. Tim Anderson has been lost in the great wave of supernatural young shortstops, and Yoan Moncada will join him soon. Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier might not be on the 2018 team, but they’re here with pockets stuffed with dingers until there.

The White Sox will be the world’s most interesting sports franchise in July, but it’s hard to see them as anything better than a fourth-place team. That’s by design, really, so no one should be surprised. I still wonder what could have been with just one or two more homegrown hitters, though.