Cleveland @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 2, 2010 ) Cleveland 2, Chi. White Sox 6

The Indians will say goodbye to another dreary season Sunday. The White Sox could be saying farewell to much more than that.

The Indians and White Sox opened the season together and now they’ll close it together. Chicago players will spend the day wondering if it’s Paul Konerko’s last in a White Sox uniform.

Konerko has hit 358 of his 365 career homers with Chicago. He begins the day needing one more homer to reach 40 for the third time in his career but first since 2005. Yet his future remains in doubt.

He’ll be a free agent at the end of the season and it seems 50-50 at best whether he’ll return to the team. The White Sox need a place for young Cuban slugger Dayan Viciedo, who on Saturday night hit his fifth homer in 100 at-bats.

Chicago’s youth movement could be in full swing. Manager Ozzie Guillen already said this week how much he has been impressed with rookie Brent Morel at third base. Guillen hinted he’s fine beginning 2012 with Morel at third, and with Viciedo appearing ready for the majors, it may not leave much room for Konerko, who goes into the final day of the season in a 3-for-17 slump.

Edwin Jackson will start the finale for the White Sox, who won’t have their usual organizational meetings right away. Instead, they’re going to take a couple of weeks because the bitter disappointment of this season is so fresh that no one wants to make rash judgments.

The Indians have plenty to consider as well. Kansas City’s loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday ensured that the Indians wouldn’t finish last in the American League Central Division for a second consecutive year, but that’s little consolation for a franchise that just three years ago was one game away from the World Series.

The Indians will begin their own transition after Sunday, with Mark Shapiro moving from general manager to team president, while his assistant Chris Antonetti will move into the role of GM.

There is plenty to evaluate and little of it has been positive. Shin-Soo Choo enters the final day batting exactly .300. The next-highest average among the regulars is shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera at .276.

The Indians were decimated by injuries to Grady Sizemore, catcher Carlos Santana and Cabrera, but seem a long ways from contention within their division. All but out of starting pitchers for the season’s final day, the Tribe will give Justin Germano his first start of the year.

In fact, it’ll be Germano’s first start in the majors since May 2, 2008, with San Diego. Germano had a 2.16 ERA in 22 relief appearances with the Indians this year. He isn’t expected to pitch more than three innings.