Could it be that the Chicago White Sox will be the first anticipated contender to bail on the 2007 pennant race? The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Sox GM Ken Williams is already thinking about blowing up the roster and turning his attention to 2008.

According to Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times, “Williams has all the explosives and wiring in place, with his finger resting on the button.” It’s conceivable that Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi could be wearing something other than the black-and-white of the White Sox by the trade deadline. Cowley speculates that others such Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland and Jose Contreras could be moved, as well.

The Sox, who are in crash-and-burn mode, have lost seven consecutive series. After dropping the opener of their weekend matchup with the Cubs on Friday, they have lost 20 of 25 games during this span. Cowley suggests that another lost weekend could get the ball rolling.

Chicago is 29-40 on the season, 12.5 games behind first-place Detroit in the American League Central. In the course of going 5-20, the White Sox have lost series to four sub-.500 teams -- the Marlins, Pirates, Astros and Jays -- as well as to the Yankees, Phillies and division rival Twins.

The struggles of the White Sox are hard to explain. It’s easy to point to a bullpen that ranks last in the major leagues with a 5.87 ERA and has allowed hitters to bat a robust .289. What is more startling, however, is the offensive decline of the 2007 Sox. This is a team that has been productive at the plate in recent seasons.

White Sox Offense, 2006 vs. 2007 (through games of June 21)
(AL rank in parentheses)

Category. . . . . . . . . . . 2006. . . . . . . . 2007
Runs/G. . . . . . . . . . . .5.36 (3). . . . . . . 4.01 (14)
Avg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280 (5). . . . . . . .236 (14)
OBP. . . . . . . . . . . . . .342 (6). . . . . . . .310 (14)
Slg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .464 (1). . . . . . . .369 (14)
HR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236 (1). . . . . . . . .66 (9)
Avg w/RISP. . . . . . . . .307 (1). . . . . . . . .236 (13)

The White Sox need a lot of fixing if they are going to stick around the AL Central race, but the talent is there and it seems awfully early to bail on 2007.

After all, Houston was the White Sox’s opponent in the 2005 World Series despite trailing in the wild-card chase by nine games and having the third-worst record in the National League on June 15. The Astros were 26-38 on that date, but went 63-35-1 the rest of the way to secure the wild-card berth. In 2006, the Twins were 25-33 on June 7, 11.5 games off the pace in the AL Central. A 71-33 finish secured the AL Central crown on the final day of the 2006 season.