The Season: They posted a winning record for each of the first five months of the year, and were always at or near the top of the division. They reloaded after losing 90 games and finishing last in the AL in runs scored in 2007; GM Kenny Williams made a big trade to acquire Nick Swisher from the Athletics, and also picked up Carlos Quentin from the Diamondbacks. As it turned out, it was Quentin who was the offensive catalyst.

Off the field, the two halves of the season were quite different. A 7-game losing streak in early May triggered a profanity-laced tirade against the entire city of Chicago by manager Ozzie Guillen, and had some questioning whether Ozzie would survive the season. Another tirade in early June - in which he criticized his own GM - really had the vultures circling, and prompted calls for Ozzie's dismissal. But he survived; the team finished tied for first in the Central Division with the Twins, and beat Minnesota in a one-game playoff.

In the ALDS, they were whupped pretty handily in four games by the Tampa Bay Rays.

High Point: A four-game sweep of the Twins in early June gave them a commanding six-game lead - although there were still rumours of Ozzie's impending dismissal floating around, and the lead quickly evaporated after the Twins won ten in a row. The high point was probably Jon Danks' 1-0 defeat of the Twins in the playoff.

Positive Trends: Former top prospect Carlos Quentin, who had struggled to establish himself with the Diamondbacks, had a breakout season at age 25, batting .288 with 36 homers, 100 RBI.

Another former top prospect, Gavin Floyd, acquired two years ago from Philadelphia, had a remarkable breakout season at age 25, going 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA.

23-year-old Jon Danks was also acquired two years earlier, from the Rangers in a challenge trade of top pitching prospects. He was fantastic, going 12-9 with a 3.32 ERA; he threw eight shutout innings in the playoff against Minnesota, and was the only Sox pitcher to beat the Rays in the ALDS (the guy he was traded for wasn't so successful).

Pleasant Surprises: Jermaine Dye is not the world's most consistent player, but he's pretty good when he's on. At age 34 he rebounded to bat .296 with 34 homers, 96 RBI.

Octavio Dotel had his healthiest season in four years, and put up his usual dazzling strikeout numbers (92 K's in 67 innings).

Not a heck of a lot was known about Cuban slugger Alexei Ramirez before this season - we're not even sure how old he is (he's list at 26), so I'm not sure to what degree he met or exceeded expectations, or how much we can expect him to improve.

Anyways, he started playing all over the place, and eventually settled in as the regular second baseman. His defence and baserunning were both pretty poor, but he hit .290 with 21 homers, including a rookie-record four grand slams.

Disappointments: Quentin's bid for an MVP Award ended when he broke his own wrist with his bat on Sept. 1. He missed the rest of the season and the playoffs.

The Sox traded three prospects for Nick Swisher, who at age 27 was expected to have a big year. He was awful, batting .219 with 24 homers, and posted a robust .235 on-base percentage in September.

After hitting 23 homers as a rookie last season, 25-year-old Josh Fields started the year at Charlotte, and got only 32 ABs with the Sox before a knee injury ended his season.

The Predictable: Mark Buehrle threw over 200 innings for the eighth straight season, winning 15 games with a 3.72 ERA.

After a slow start, Jim Thome finished with 34 homers, 90 RBI, including the game-winner in the playoff against the Twins.

Javier Vazquez makes 30 starts and throws 200 innings every year, and his peripherals are usually dazzling (200:61 strikeout:walk ratio in 2008). But his final numbers were again disappointing (12-16, 4.67 ERA) and he was bombed in the first game of the ALDS.

At age 32, Paul Konerko's numbers dropped significantly for the second straight year (.240, 22 homers).

Epitaph: The riverboat gambler, Kenny Williams, has his plusses and minuses as a GM; one thing I didn't expect Kenny to be good at was the rebuilding phase of the game - the point that every championship team reaches when the core group has to be broken up. That requires, you know, patience, and a long-term plan.

Somehow, the Sox were mostly able to bypass that phase; instead of fielding some inexperienced young kids, they traded their kids while acquiring three Ready-For-Primetime-RIGHT-NOW youngsters. The roster as a whole has some age on it, but the core is quite young; in addition to Danks, Quentin, and Floyd, both Swisher and Bobby Jenks will be only 28, while Ramirez is allegedly only 27. Even Mark Buehrle won't turn 30 until the spring.

One expects that, with some tinkering, the Sox will be contenders again in 2009. To offset some of the aging sluggers, they need Swisher to bounce back - and he probably will. They will need a new catcher and new shortstop within the next two years, but there's no urgency right now. They need to make a decision about third base, and stick to it.

I expect, however, that Williams won't be satisfied with just tinkering; that he'll be looking to add another Danks or Quentin. Given his record the past couple of years, every trade the Sox make should be watched very carefully.