In the midst of the weekend's free-form discussion, Bauxite Grasshopper spoke out against trading future stars for instant help, following the principle that the Blue Jays aren't going to win the World Series in 2006.
I'm not picking on you, Grasshopper - I think it's probably a widespread assumption.
Should it be?
The first thing that came to my mind, of course, was the 2005 Chicago White Sox. Who were coming off an 83-79 season. Who I had analyzed at length before the season started, and on the basis of that analysis, I had fearlessly picked them to finish third in the AL Central. They're not the only ones, of course. The last five world series champs, and their records the year before they won the big prize:
Chicago White Sox in 2004: 83-79
Boston Red Sox in 2003: 95-67
Florida Marlins in 2002: 79-83
Anaheim Angels in 2001: 75-87
Arizona Diamondbacks in 2000: 85-77
The five years from 2000 through 2004 consist of 150 seasons, played by the 30 major league teams. Here's how the World Series championships were distributed:
Regular Season Wins Number of Seasons World Series Titles the Following Year 100+ 10 0 90-99 33 1 81-89 35 2 below .500 72 2What, I ask you, does it all mean?
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