Deals for Danks, Quentin and Floyd

December, 15, 2011

12/15/11

3:43

PM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

After working so hard to build a team, it’s twice as painful to break it down after plans go awry. That’s the cyclical nature of baseball, however, and it’s come time for the Chicago White Sox realize they are at that point.

With the AL Central champion Detroit Tigers far superior to the White Sox at this point and the farm systems of the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians ripening quickly, the White Sox will become a perennial doormat if they don't start getting younger. And as Matt Meyers points out elsewhere on Insider today, the new collective bargaining agreement is designed in such a way that the White Sox are better off tearing things down now.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.