2001 Record: 83-79, 3rd in AL Central 2001 Results | 2002 Schedule | 2002 Roster | 2001 Statistics: Batting | Pitching Offense (AL rank) Defense (AL rank) 798 runs (6th) Home: 414 runs (6th) Road: 384 (6th) 795 runs allowed (8th) Home: 4.48 ERA (8th) Road: 4.63 ERA (9th) 2001 Stats Leaders   Average: Magglio Ordonez, .305 Runs: Ray Durham, 104 On-base pct: Ordonez, .382 Stolen bases: Ordonez, 25 Wins: Mark Buehrle, 16 Saves: Keith Foulke, 42 Home runs: Paul Konerko, 32 RBI: Ordonez, 113 Slugging pct.: Ordonez, .533 OPS: Ordonez, 915 ERA: Buehrle, 3.29 Strikeouts: Buehrle, 126

ESPN's Take Q: How much of an impact will a healthy Frank Thomas have on Chicago's hopes? While the Indians were cutting payroll and the Twins were fretting over contraction, the White Sox were concentrating on getting their MVP healthy. When Thomas is penciled into the No. 3 spot every day, he makes everyone in the lineup a better hitter. Opposing pitchers face tremendous pressure to keep the top of the order -- Kenny Lofton and Ray Durham -- off the bases. Thomas also has great protection with Magglio Ordonez and Paul Konerko following him. Thomas should be motivated to not only get his career back on track but also his team back in the playoffs. With their abundance of young quality arms, the White Sox should rise to claim the AL Central title. -- Tom Candiotti  ESPN.com's Crystal Ball Magglio Ordonez hits .325 with 35 bombs and 30 steals and finishes second in AL MVP vote. Magglio Ordonez has increased his walk rate and SBs every year. At 28 years old and with three straight seasons of .300+ BA, 30+ HRs and 100+ RBI, Ordonez is poised to take another step up. He should be among the top five AL outfielders taken on draft day. After a strong second half in '01 (.283, 9 HR) and sizzling spring, Kenny Lofton appears ready to bounce back. That's great news for Frank Thomas, who'll have 100-run producers in front of him in Lofton and Ray Durham. Expect the Big Hurt to post big RBI numbers in his return. -- Brandon Funston Batting order Kenny Lofton, CF Ray Durham, 2B Frank Thomas, DH Magglio Ordonez, RF Paul Konerko, 1B Carlos Lee, LF Jose Valentin, 3B Alomar/Paul, C Royce Clayton, SS Bench Joe Crede, Tony Graffanino, Willie Harris, Jeff Leifer, Aaron Rowand, Brian Simmons Rotation Mark Buehrle, Todd Ritchie, Jon Garland, Dan Wright, Jon Rauch Bullpen Keith Foulke, Gary Glover, Bob Howry, Kelly Wunsch, Rocky Biddle, Lorenzo Barcelo, Damaso Marte, Jim Parque Joe Borchard, OF Former Stanford QB gave up football to play baseball full-time. High tools guy led Double-A Southern League in RBI in '01 (98). Should be in majors by 2003.

Catcher: Sandy Alomar, Jr./Mark Johnson/Josh Paul Alomar should get the nod if healty, but that's a big question. Otherwise the duties should fall to Paul, and Johnson may end up seeing action against righties. AL Position Ranking: 10th First Base: Paul Konerko He's not quite the hitter Frank Thomas or Magglio Ordonez is, but he has 53 homers and 196 RBI in the last two years. He's also good with the glove, positng a fielding percentage of at least .990 each of the last three years. Still just 26, could turn those 32 HRs into 40. AL Position Ranking: 7th Second Base: Ray Durham A durable player who can turn the double play, he has had over 600 at-bats for five straight years and had a career-high 20 homers to go with 42 doubles in 2001. His OBP dipped last year, though, down from .361 in 2000 to .337. AL Position Ranking: 2nd Third Base: Jose Valentin A patient hitter who was second in the AL with 4.14 pitches seen per plate appearance. Also had a career-high 28 homers in 2001, but drove in only 68 runs with those homers in the No. 2 spot in the lineup. AL Position Ranking: 6th Shortstop: Royce Clayton Recovered to hit .263 last season after going 12-for-104 in April and May, and more than cut his errors in half (16 in 2000 to seven in 2001). Decent range, but Valentin could play some short with Joe Crede getting action at third base. AL Position Ranking: 9th Left Field: Carlos Lee Another Sox player who is on the edge of offensive stardom. He has 24 homers in each of the last two seasons to go with 176 combined RBI, but his average fell 32 points last year to go with declines in slugging and OBP. AL Position Ranking: 3rd Center Field: Kenny Lofton Began to show his age last year, posting a career-low .261 average and .322 OBP. He failed to steal 25 bases for the first time in his career and failed to score 100 runs for the first time since 1997. He did hit .311 with runners in scoring position. AL Position Ranking: 10th Right Field: Magglio Ordonez One of the top offensive stars in baseball, he has three straight .300-30-100 seasons and has increased his OBP in each of the last three years. Also had 40 doubles last season and killed right-handers to the tune of a .709 SLG (2nd in AL). AL Position Ranking: 1st Designated Hitter: Frank Thomas Lost to a tricep injury last April, he was coming off a .328-43-143 year in 2000. Dangerous and consistent, he has had over 100 RBI in nine of the last 10 seasons. Keep in mind, however, that his .625 slugging mark in 2000 was only time above .500 in last four seasons. AL Position Ranking: 2nd No. 1 Starter: Mark Buehrle In first full season, was second in the AL in opponents' OBP (.279) and runners per nine innings while finishing fourth in ERA (3.42) and opponents' batting average (.230). AL Ranking among starters: 13th No. 2 Starter: Todd Ritchie Acquired from Pirates for Kip Wells, Sean Lowe and Josh Fogg, went 0-6 in April and May last year before winning 10 of his next 16 decisions. Went 8-4 at home but struggled to a 3-11 mark on the road. Set career highs in starts, complete games, shutouts and innings pitched while tying his career high for strikeouts. AL Ranking among starters: 28th No. 3 Starter: Jon Garland Bounced between the rotation and the bullpen all year in 2001, but lowered in ERA from 6.96 in 69.2 innings in 2000 to 3.69 in 117 innings last season. AL Ranking among starters: 38th No. 4 Starter: Jim Parque / Dan Wright Parque made only five starts last year before undergoing shoulder surgery and has never thrown more than 187 innings in a single season. His shoulder did not respond well in spring training, so Wright will start in the rotation. He had a 5.70 ERA as a rookie, but had 39 walks against 36 K's. AL Ranking among starters: 52nd Bullpen: Lorenzo Barcelo, Matt Ginter, Gary Glover, Bob Howry, Kelly Wunsch Four of the pitchers listed appeared in more than 20 games last season. The right-handed Howry recorded 21 holds last season, but indications are Glover may supplant him as the top setup guy. The remainder of the relievers should be able to spread innings around, but the team will miss Sean Lowe's 60.1 innings and 2.69 ERA from last year. AL Position Ranking: 7th Closer: Keith Foulke The best AL reliever not named Rivera. There's no reason he can't repeat his performance from last season when he led the AL in games finished (69) and save percentage (93.3, 43-for-45), was third in relief ERA (2.33) and saves and was fifth in relief innings (81.0). AL Position Ranking: 2nd

Overall Power Index Rankings (AL rank):
Position: 5.56 (5th) | Pitching: 7.50 (9th)

-- Rico Longoria