Don't let the salary dump fool you, ChiSox are all about youth

White Sox general manager Ken Williams was in Washington last week for the inauguration. He wasn't there to lobby.

"To my knowledge, there's no White Sox money in the stimulus package," Williams said this week. "Not that we wouldn't take it. Actually, no, we wouldn't. There are a lot of people out there who need it more than we do."

Playoff hero Alexei Ramirez, 27, is part of Chicago's youth movement. (Getty Images)

Williams isn't begging, but it's becoming pretty obvious that his pockets aren't stuffed with cash, either. The White Sox lopped off more than $30 million in 2008 salaries by trading Nick Swisher and Javier Vazquez and allowing Orlando Cabrera and Joe Crede to leave as free agents, and they've spent very little of that on new acquisitions for 2009.

The departures were hardly a surprise. The lack of acquisitions was, at least to those of us who spent a good part of December wondering what Williams was setting up to do with all the money he was saving.

Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen told us they were comfortable going young. We didn't totally believe them.

Turns out we should have.

Spring training is two weeks away, and the White Sox have 25-year-old Chris Getz as their second baseman and 26-year-old Josh Fields at third. They have 27-year-old Alexei Ramirez at shortstop and could well have 25-year-old Clayton Richard in their rotation.

"It's nothing we haven't done for the last three years," Williams said, pointing to the additions of Ramirez, John Danks and Gavin Floyd in previous winters. "It's just that now people are noticing. We set out three years ago, saying that if we weren't mindful, we could become an aging ballclub very quickly, and fall off the map.

"All that's happened this year is a continuation of that. Maybe people just missed it, because we never called it a rebuild."

What's hard to know is how much Williams' winter strategy would have changed without the economic pressures.

Williams didn't say it, but other Sox officials said that owner Jerry Reinsdorf presented a bleak economic picture. Reinsdorf told his staff that this year would be tough, and that 2010 could be worse.

Williams will say that he's not sure he'll have the freedom to add payroll this summer, even with the salaries the Sox dropped over the winter.

"We have to be cautious, if for no other reason than so we don't have to play all day games because we can't afford the electricity," he said. "This is such a volatile time, and people are going to look at their discretionary spending."

The budget concerns were apparently one reason the White Sox haven't pursued a trade for Brian Roberts, the Orioles second baseman who is due to make $8 million this year and is eligible for free agency after the season. While Roberts could slot in easily at second and as a leadoff hitter, Williams insists he hasn't had any trade talks with the O's since November.

But the budget is only part of it. Williams and the Sox are serious about the youth movement, and they love the idea of going with Getz and Ramirez as a double-play combination that could stay together for a long time.

Some Sox officials compared Getz to Dustin Pedroia, but Williams ran away from that, saying simply: "Pedroia's an MVP."

But when you ask Williams to talk about Getz, he could just as easily be talking about Pedroia.

"He's a baseball player," Williams said. "You're not going to turn on SportsCenter every night and see what he does, but he'll do something every day to help you win."

Getz fits in with what the White Sox have been trying to do. It's no secret that Guillen wasn't completely comfortable with last year's team.

The day the White Sox beat the Twins in the one-game playoff for the American League Central title, Guillen sat in the dugout and said: "How the heck are we in first place?"

At the winter meetings in December, talking about the switch to a more youthful group, Guillen said of 2009: "I think it will be more fun."

To be sure, the White Sox still won't be a young team. At least five players 35 or older could be making big contributions, with Jermaine Dye (35) and Jim Thome (38) both counted on in the middle of the lineup.

The Sox did add 35-year-old Bartolo Colon, and they are still hoping for the return of 37-year-old Jose Contreras by the All-Star break.

At that point, we'll have a better idea of whether Williams' plan worked. We'll know more by then about whether President Obama's plan worked, too.

But remember, the two plans aren't linked. The White Sox aren't getting any stimulus money.