PITTSBURGH -- The Chicago White Sox got the quality starter they felt they needed after slipping to third place last season, acquiring right-hander Todd Ritchie from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a five-player deal Thursday.

	Todd Ritchie Pitcher Chicago White Sox Profile
	2001 SEASON STATISTICS IP H BB SO W-L ERA 207.1 211 52 124 11-15 4.47

The pitching-thin Pirates got three right-handers -- Kip Wells, Sean Lowe and Josh Fogg -- and also sent minor league catcher Lee Evans to the White Sox.

However, the White Sox didn't come away with the player they most wanted -- outfielder Brian Giles, who has averaged 37 homers and 111 RBI the last three seasons.

The Pirates are listening to offers for Giles, a proven run producer who is affordable by current-day standards with a $45 million contract that runs through 2005. But a limited trade clause allows him to be dealt to only six teams, and the White Sox aren't among them.

Giles, who lives in San Diego during the offseason, would accept a deal to the Padres, Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, Diamondbacks and Braves. His brother, Marcus, is a Braves infielder.

Giles reportedly would expand that list to include the Mariners and the Yankees, but not for another small- to mid-market team. The Pirates had a $52 million payroll last season they are cutting to $48 million, while the White Sox, who won the AL West in 2000, had a $67 million payroll in 2001.

Some general managers are questioning why the Pirates would even be interested in dealing Giles, clearly is their best player, but general manager Dave Littlefield insists he would do a deal only for proven players.

"Giles is the type of player you build around," Littlefield said as the winter meetings in Boston began to wrap up. "However, we lost 100 games last season and we need to explore all avenues to get better."

Ritchie's affordability and durability made him attractive to the White Sox. The right-hander, 35-32 the last three seasons, will make $3.25 million in the second year of a $5.25 million, two-year contract and is not eligible for free agency for two more years.

"In our financial situation, we can't afford to be a player in the free agent market, so we have to be creative," White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. "We have to find a player who's on the verge of doing something great. We don't have the luxury to just write a check."

The 30-year-old Ritchie, a longtime Twins minor leaguer, had a breakthrough 15-9 season with Pittsburgh in 1999 before slipping to 9-8 in 2000. He lost his first eight starts last season, but recovered to finish 11-15 with a 4.47 ERA for the NL's worst team.

"You don't want to trade established players who developed in our system and are at a reasonable cost," Littlefield said. "But when you look at what we got in Kip Wells, there's significantly more potential there."

Wells, 24, went 10-11 with a 4.79 ERA in 40 games with the White Sox and spent time at Triple-A Charlotte. Lowe, 30, was 9-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 45 games for Chicago. Fogg, 25, spent most of the season in Charlotte, but also made 11 relief appearances in Chicago and was 0-0 with a 2.03 ERA.

"I see him (Wells) near the top (of the rotation)," Littlefield said.

This is Littlefield's second big deal since replacing Cam Bonifay, who was fired in July, and he can only hope it works out better than his first: right-hander Jason Schmidt and outfielder John Vander Wal to the Giants for outfielder Armando Rios and right-hander Ryan Vogelsong.

Rios injured a knee in his second game with Pittsburgh and didn't play again. Vogelsong blew out his elbow in his second Pirates start and will miss the 2002 season.