New Jermaine Dye Rumors and Other Notes

I'll begin tonight with the standard Jermaine Dye rumors. Of course, as everything else apparently does, this directly ties into the Mark Teixiera Mega-Sweepstakes that has currently swallowed everything baseball-related. The lastest news on Teixeira is that his most previous employer, the Los Angeles Angels officially pulled their offer off the table after they tired of waiting, and in his latest blog update, ESPN's Peter Gammons says,

We don't know ... there really might be a three-way deal among the White Sox, Angels and Reds that would put Jermaine Dye in Cincinnati, Joey Votto in Anaheim and Chone Figgins in Chicago.

The deal makes sense for the Sox who, fill a hole at third base and at the top of their lineup and it makes a lot of sense for the Angels, who pick up a young first baseman to fill their new hole on the right side of the infield. I have no idea how trading a young, cheap player with major upside for 1 year of Jermaine Dye makes any sense for Cincinnati, but hey they haven't had a winning season since 2000 so who knows what's going on at Big Red Headquarters.

Meanwhile, the Sox seem to be schmoozing free agent Bobby Abreu... Who just so happens to play the same position as Jermaine Dye! Talk about coincidences.

If you remember, back in July (when it wasn't zero degrees out), I posted that I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox take a flyer on Daniel Cabrera at the trade deadline. Cabrera was released by the Orioles this off-season, but he just signed a deal with the Nationals. So that's that.

Fox Sports' head baseball guy, Ken Rosenthal published this snazzy slideshow of the 11 (I don't know how he settled on that figure, either) best free agents still available as well as where he felt they'd sign. #9 on his list is Orlando Hudson, who the Sox reportedly coveted earlier in the year and who just so happens to play a position that we don't have a definitive answer at the Major League level currently. Talk about coincidences. The Hudons situation feels more and more like a standard KW-style signing... A proven veteran that's been getting little publicity recently because of some nagging side issues (injuries) that fills a definite hole in this team/lineup, and will hopefully accept a lower than desired contract because of said issues. Something to keep your eyes on, but while I wouldn't be shocked if Hudson wasn't the Sox's starting second baseman in 2009, I'd say he's the frontrunner for the job, despite not being employed here yet.

Finally, in case your worried that you've been fixating too much on this whole free agent class, I've got good news for you. The guys at MLB Trade Rumors.com published this list of available (and potentially available) free agents in the 2009-2010 off-season. Headliners include Indians C Victor Martinez, Mets 1B Carlos Delgado, Orioles 2B Brian Roberts, Devil Rays OF Carl Crawford, A's OF Matt Holliday, Sox RF Jermaine Dye, Angels RF Vladimir Guerrero, Tigers RF Magglio Ordonez, Sox DH Jim Thome, Mariners SP Erik Bedard, Sox SP Jose Contreras, Cubs SP Rich Harden, Braves SP Tim Hudson, Angels SP John Lackey, Indians Cy Young SP Cliff Lee, Diamondbacks SP Brandon Webb, and Sox RP Octavio Dotel.

You're welcome. Merry Christmas, Sox fans.

Viva Las Vegas

The White Sox and Cubs have added two more Spring Training games this year in Las Vegas. The games will be split-squad games for the Sox, and they will be on March 4 and 5 at 7:05 and 1:05 local time respectively. The games will be played at Cashman Field, located a few blocks north of Downtown and about 10 minutes from the heart of the Strip. You can get single-game tickets starting February 2 and they can be purchased through the Cashman Field box office, (702) 798-7825.

The games haven't been added to the team's official Spring Training schedule yet, which can be found here.

Make your plans.

Gifts for the Sox fan in your life

Believe it or not, Christmas is less than two weeks away, and if you're like me, you've probably got, at least, the vast majority of your shopping to do. Now, I can't help you with your great aunt that you haven't seen in years or your in-laws whose only wish for Christmas is to strap you to a rocket and blast your ass into the Southern Hemisphere, but if you do have a Sox fan on your Christmas list and you're stumped on what to get them, here are some great ideas that you can go ahead and try on for size.

For starter's we'll assume our Sox fan in need already has all the basics; customized jersey of his favorite player, 2005 World Series DVD collection, White Sox hat, etc. You know, the basics (by the way, this is a good time to mention that 2005 stuff is still an acceptable gift. I know it's been a few years, but trust me, it's still a nice, warm memory).

OK, with that out of the way, let's start. The first item on the list is for the Sox fan who simply has it all, and for the generous soul that has about $1,000,000 just lying around... I present to you, Black Betsy, Shoeless Joe Jackson's game-used bat that is currently auctioning on eBay. Both Betsy and Jackson hold legendary status in baseball, let alone White Sox, lore. There are few things you can literally say are "one of a kind" but this certainly qualifies. Bid carefully, however, the seller refuses to ship the item anywhere, so you'd to get to Philadelphia and back before Christmas, but hey, your Sox fan gets maybe the most celebrated piece of White Sox memrobilia in existance and you get the satisfaction of knowing 1/2 your bid went to a charitable cause.

Now, supposing that a million bucks is a bit out of your price range, well here's another spectacular gift that probably any Sox fan would love; a 2005 World Champions street banner. These were the banners that hung around Chicago immediately following the Sox's World Series win in 2005. The banners were auctioned off in November or December of '05, but they still make appearances on eBay every now and then. I just chose that first one because it comes with free shipping and again, the proceeds go to charity.

All right, if you're still with me, I think we can shy away now from the incredibly overpriced gift ideas to the more practical. For the White Sox fan who loves to read, there are plenty of good options out there, but two that I will highlight right now are Sox and the City by Richard Roeper and Minnie and the Mick by Bob Vanderberg. Roeper, of course, is the Sun-Times columnist, national movie critic, and die-hard Sox fan. His book is much more contemporary and is mostly about the '05 season. Vanderberg's work is a baseball history, of the White Sox and Yankees constant battles at the top of the AL standings in the 1950s and early 1960s, a time period in White Sox history that sadly, has never recieved proper attention for its excellence.

If your Sox fan's pad is in need of some color on the walls, here are some suggestions. My personal favorite is a skyline panoramic from local Chicago photographer, Bob Horsch. You may remember his studio on Michigan Ave. Unfortunately, he's dropped out of the retail business, but still runs a website and makes appearances at various art shows. His work is stunning, and really any Chicagoan at hear would appreciate a lot of his work, but in this Sox-centric entry, go with the shots of the skyline taken during the play-off run in 2005. They are hard images to find, especially in frameable size and quality. He has a few different shots and other White Sox-inspired works, so give it a long, hard look.

Another very unique gift idea comes from Joe's Sports store; a canvas painting of a ticket to the 1983 All-Star Game played at old Comiskey Park. Kind of a tall price, but terrific artwork and something I had never seen before I start piecing this column together. I don't think you could miss with this one. Finally, if you're buying for someone in the 25-30 range, consider this commerative plaque of the 1993 AL West Champs. The 1993 team still holds a special place in White Sox history, especially for those of us who were just tuning into baseball when the '93 Sox showed up and won the division. Obviously, the 2005 White Sox have displaced them as "favorite" team for all but a few, but this is still a chapter of White Sox history many of us aren't quite ready to give up on.

All right, books and wall art have been covered, but if that's still not quite what your Sox fan is in to, then how about some memrobilia? Nothing quite beats a great, throwback jersey. Mitchell & Ness are still the name when it comes to throwback jerseys, but don't sleep on Grandstand Sports, a local outfit that will do a lot of great work for you. The online catelogues overlap quite a bit, but if you can't get to Philadelphia to check out the Mitchell & Ness flagship store, Grandstand, located a few blocks west of the Cell on 35th is probably just as good, with a wide array of White Sox, other Chicago sports, and general sports apparell.

If jerseys aren't your thing, then check out this Mark Buehrle "No-Hitter" autographed ball. I've shyed away from autographs so far, mostly because I think they're easy to find with Google and eBay, but this is a really special piece of Sox history. The first no-hitter in 16 years done by one of the team's greats (I think we can call Mark that now). Really nice stuff, he even took the time to note the no-hitter in his signature.

If eBay is scaring you away, no fear, you can find just as nice as piece of Sox history on the team's MLB shop; a 2005 World Series ball in a very nice case. Again, I haven't linked anything to the White Sox online shop yet because, well, it's easy to find on your own, but this is too good to pass up. Just the World Series ball alone is nice enough, but the specially built case really makes this shine.

Finally, for the older Sox fan, there's also this beautiful replica of Old Comiskey Park. Of course, the old park has been gone for years now, but for many older fans it's still a very special place to them, and these mini-stadiums are absolutely gorgeous. Buyer beware, the replica doesn't come with the protective glass box. They'll add the glass case for about $40, but you can probably find something similar at Hobby Lobby for a fraction of that price.

Lastly, for those of you shopping on an extreme budget and nothing falls into price, there's options out there for you, too. Nothing quite so subtely says "you have way too much Sox crap," like a good old tie. And every fan should probably have one, too. They range from the pretty decent looking to the completely and utterly ugly. And, at prices starting at $12 and change, they could fit in even the tightest of budgets. If a tie is a bit too crappy a Christmas present, then let me also suggest this Southpaw bobblehead doll. Current bid is only $19.99 so the price will hopefully be right, and while you can find bobbleheads all over eBay, few will likely be as timeless as this. I don't foresee Southpaw and the Sox having a nasty divorce over a contract dispute (the reason that my Magglio Ordonez bobblehead has been relegated to the very back of my White Sox display). Sure that bobblehead will look great now, but you never know when that guy will suffer a career-threatening injury, try and sandbag the Sox, sign with a hated division rival, have a war of words with our maneger, and lead that team to the World Series.

And finally, if the Sox fan on your list is anything like me, then they still relish division championships and play-off appearances. Sure, the World Series run changed a lot of things, but realistically, I'm 25 years old and I can remember the Sox making the postseason 4 times. 4. So let's not get overly confident in our success. With that said, I'm sure some 2008 Division Champions merchandise will go over well and be timely. Unfortunately, not much of the stuff is left, it seems. There's none available at the official shop and the best I could find was this website, offering all three shirts, but at prices that make you believe they won't be around much longer. If not that, then it wouldn't hurt to check out a local sporting goods store, but if the stores in Central Illinois are any sort of barometer, then available sizes and prices will vary widely.

Merry Christmas.

Jenks' trade value, Top 10 Prospect Shake-Up, and Farm Team featured on Deadspin

Another pretty quiet day for the White Sox in Las Vegas. The same general rumors are still floating around, Jermaine Dye is available, Jim Thome is available, Paul Konerko is available, but nothing really substantial. The biggest news of the day is that the two best closers available, K-Rod and Kerry Wood look like they've either signed contracts or are close, which of course affects the trade value Bobby Jenks, another asset the Sox supposedly have not been afraid to make available. It's been widely known that the closer market is one of the rare, truly buyer-friendly markets now, as evidenced by the "small" 3 year, $37 million deal Francisco Rodriguez signed with the Mets this afternoon. By no means, loose change, but considering the contract Rodriguez envisioned midseason, its obvious the glut of available closers and relative lack of teams needing closers will affect their value. This, of course means, the Sox will probably not be able to get fair value for Jenks this off-season and at this point, I'd expect him back for '09. Nothing, though, will really surprise me at this point.

Reds manager Dusty Baker weighed in on the ongoing Dye-to-Cincinnati trade rumors and revealed that the biggest stumbling block in the deal was Jermaine's contract, worth potentially $23.5 million over the next two years.

Not terribly shocking from the Red's perspective, they are well known cheap asses, plus it's pretty shitty to lose one of your top prospects (Bailey), rent a guy for 1 year at $10 million and then forfeit your top draft pick in 2010 when he walks as a free agent. This is however, interesting from the Sox's perspective who have repeatedly insisted they're not just slashing payroll for the sake of slashing payroll. If that were really the case, why was it so hard to come to a number everyone liked? I mean, I know it's a business and maybe Williams and Co. are waiting for a few of the other big dominoes to fall before gauging Dye's true current value, but if the real goal of the Sox is to simply get younger and more athletic, then you'd think eating some of Dye's salary wouldn't be such a deal-breaker. This makes me think that either:

1. The Sox are just cutting payroll for the sake of cutting payroll or...
2. The Sox are cutting payroll in anticipation of some other unseen moves later down the line.

Here's something that ought to give you nightmares. Joe Cowley, citing unnamed sources, claims that the Sox might try to reunite with Freddy Garcia. I shit you not,

A major-league source told the Sun-Times not to be surprised to see Freddy Garcia back in a Sox uniform in spring training if his current ''aches'' subside. The Sox know what they get with Garcia, and he'd love to be reunited with Ozzie Guillen.

If one of management's new goals was to rebuild some organizational depth, then consider the past 12 months very, very succesful. According to the Tribune's Mark Gonzales, Baseball America is putting the final touches on their 2009 prospect guides and the White Sox revised (since the Vazquez trade) top 10 will look like this:

1. Gordon Beckham
2. Dayan Viciedo
3. Aaron Poreda
4. Tyler Flowers
5. Clayton Richard
6. Brandon Allen
7. Jordan Danks
8. Brent Lillibridge
9. Chris Getz
10. John Shelby

The bolded names (1/2 the list) are guys who have been in the White Sox organization for less than 1 year. Very unlikely that any of these newcomers will make any, let alone major, contributions at the MLB level in 2009, but considering the complete mess that was the White Sox farm system just 1 year ago, this influx of young talent is very encouraging.

There has been a surprising lack of interest in free agent Orlando Hudson, at least that's what this guy thinks. Considering a few months ago, Hudson was thought to be the prize free agent on Kenny Williams wish list, it is a bit surprising to see those rumors completely vanish. However, the more I think about it, the more this seems to be the KW MO. He was able to snag Dye and Pierzynski for bargain prices before the '05 season because of their injury/character questions and the two have been outstanding, key members of the organization ever since. So even though the Hudson rumors have lulled, I'm not giving up on the thought of him starting at 2B for the White Sox in '09.

Elsewhere, a few other former Sox making news. The shortstop-less A's aren't thrilled at the prospect of signing Orlando Cabrera and forfeiting their 1st round pick in next year's draft. Don't expect OC to sign anywhere until Rafael Furcal, who was not offered salary arbitration by the Dodgers and carries no draft pick compensation, lands somewhere. Also, Jon Garland's name has been popping up. His most previous employer, the Angels, don't seem to keen on bringing him back, and while there were some rumors about him signing on with the Cardinals, the Orioles may also be in the mix.

Finally, the White Sox's newly renamed A-ball affiliate, the Winston-Salem Dash were featured on Deadspin today, the king of the sports blog world. Reason?

The team's new phallic-inspired logo.

I'll probably still just call them the Warthogs.

Quick update before bed

Very quiet day from Las Vegas, both for the Sox and just in general around Major League Baseball. What did we learn today? Apparently CC Sabathia wants to be a Dodger, Greg Maddux has retired and, as expected, Orlando Cabrera declined salary arbitration from the White Sox, so the Type A free agent is now free to sign with whomever he likes. For right now, I believe this means two things:

• The White Sox cannot negotiate with Cabrera until May 15, when he will almost assuredly be off the market and...
• The best case scenario for the Sox is OC signing with the Dodgers, as well. Since the first 15 picks of the draft are protected from free agent compensation, the Sox can only snag a 2nd 1st rounder if Cabrera signs with a team holding a pick between 16-30. If I did my math and slotting right, the Dodgers hold the 17th pick in the 2009 Draft.

If I'm wrong on any of those points, please let me know.

The only interesting nugget to chew on that I found today comes from John Perrotto from Baseball Prospectus via Sports Illustrated.com hosted by CNN (got all that?). Perrotto claims that the Sox are likely to bring someone in to fill the hole in center field rather than give the job to our current internal options: Owens, Anderson, or Wise. If that is true, well, I can't blame them.

Finally, Jow Cowley threw together some KW soundbytes from the last few days, which summarize pretty succinctly where he and the White Sox organization stand. Can't be more than 300-400 words and is a good, quick read.

Rumors Run Rampant, Sox trade Dye to Reds?

That's the way the situation looked earlier this evening. First Jayson Stark noted Jermaine Dye was the #2 trading chip at the MLB Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, right behind Jake Peavy. The way Stark writes, it's as if JD may as well have packed his bags and kept his phone next to him. Stark also mentions that Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, and Bobby Jenks are being shopped by the White Sox.

MLB Trade Rumors runs down the evening's events in pretty good, chronological order. The supposed Dye for Homer Bailey trade was first broken by the Dayton Daily News, but since then that rumor has been rejected by the White Sox, Reds, and Jermaine Dye's agent.

So, for now it looks like that Jermaine Dye jersey you own is still up to date, but Homer Bailey seems like the kind of guy Kenny Williams targets and reels in. He is a former first round draft pick, who has struggled at the Major League level, but has been very, very highly regarded. He has been the Reds' top prospect since they drafted him and peaked in 2007 when he was ranked the 5th-best prospect in all of baseball. Bailey's struggles at the Major League level may warrant getting another player in a deal with the Reds, but that's OK, since they have one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Orlando Cabrera rejected salary arbritation from the White Sox (or at least, he will). Since Cabrera is a Type A free agent, the Sox will recieve either a team's 1st round draft pick (if it is pick 16-30) and a Sandwich round pick or the sandwich round pick and their 2nd round pick (if it is #1-15).

I'm not terribly sad to see Orlando move on. While it wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world for him to come back for one more season and hold down the fort at shortstop while the Sox's bevy of middle infield prospects continue to develop, Cabrera never seemed like a great fit with this team, and if he's leaving while his value is at its peak, he'll bring back more goods in the June Draft. In the end, Jon Garland for 1 year of Cabrera and 2 high draft picks will likely turn out to be another one of Kenny Williams' more inspired moves.

Sox-O-Meter... The Vazquez Trade

After plenty of speculation, rumors, and hearsay, the White Sox and Braves officially finalized their 6-player deal that sent Javier Vazquez from Ozzie Guillen's doghouse to the middle of the National League East (still trying to figure out whether or not Javier got the raw end of this deal). I'm going out drinking a little bit later, so let's get right to the nitty gritty. 1st part of the Sox-O-Meter measures how much I'll miss the guys that we're saying good-bye, too; 5 Sox mean I'll be holding a candlelight vigil outside of the Cell later this week, 1 Sox means I would stuff the guy in a box and maybe send him Express 2-day mail to Atlanta... If the Sox would let me.

JAVIER VAZQUEZ

I know that everyone is ready to shit all over Javier because his last four starts in a White Sox uniform (the last, of course, being his Game 1 Meltdown in the ALDS) were god awful: 4 G, 0-4 record, 24 ER, 16.1 IP, 13.22 ERA, 24 H, 8 BB 1.960 WHIP, and 18 K.

Ouch. Of course, the book on Javier has always been a guy with A+ stuff and F- balls and his meltdown in 4 of the Sox's biggest games didn't do much to discredit that reputation. But this is still a guy who over the last 9 years has averaged 216 IP and 193 K every 162 games. Those kind of pitchers don't just grow on trees, and for all the huffing and puffing that Javier was a April/May pitcher, I never got the memo that stated games in April and May meant less in the standings than games in September. Yes, he wilted under the pressure, but he still showed up and ate a lot of innings and preformed, at worst at the league average. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are getting caught in the "Javier Sucks" hype that started when Ozzie called him out, escalated when Javier stupidly said he'd rather spend his time on a beach in Puerto Rico, and was sealed when he performed with the same effectiveness of a BP pitcher.





Look, I knew this was a move that was going to be made back when Ozzie Guillen publicly mused he would start Clayton Richard over Javier had the ALDS made it to a Game 5. Once you're in the Ozzie Doghouse, you don't come back out, but right now there are two very big holes at the back of the White Sox rotation, and unless the Sox add another starter to help shore up the rotation, I have a bad feeling that a lot of people will be pining for Javier by midseason.

BOONE LOGAN
Awesome name. Awful pitcher. Does anyone remember that on June 14, Logan had an ERA under 1.90 and he still finished with an ERA approaching 6? Do you realize how bad you have to be to raise your ERA 4 runs over 18.1 IP? 23 ER, a FOUR HUNDRED BAA, an OPS Against of 1.211 (for comparison, the all-time career OPS leader, Babe Ruth, posted a 1.163 during his career). The fact that Boone's a lefty doesn't even save him now, Matt Thornton's impressive season and Aaron Poreda's probable move to the bullpen mean the Sox have no need for more left-handed arms, especially left-handed arms that only get about 55% of opposing batters out.





Not only would I not ship Logan Express to Atlanta, I would probably first mail him to Prague just so he had to sit in the box for a few extra days.

All right, now we're to the 4 players we get back. Again, the Sox-O-Meter is on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being I'm psyched for this guy, 1 meaning, I have no idea why he was included.

TYLER FLOWERS

The centerpiece of this deal from the Sox's perspective, and Kenny Williams called him a potential All-Star. Plus power. Plus power. But unlike the Sox's previous dabbles with power prospects (Joe Borchard), Flowers seems to understand that concept known as the "strike zone." Last season, in the Carolina League, he posted a .427 OBP and walked 98 times, while still hitting 17 HR, driving in 88 runs, and slugging .494, 5th best in the league amongst guys who spend their entire season in the Carolina League. It would also be nice to point out now that Flowers played insanely well during the AFL, hitting .387/.460/.973 with the Mesa Solar Sox.

The one downside to Flowers I've read have been some questions about his defensive ability behind the plate, but luckily the Sox will likely be shedding Jim Thome after 2009, Paul Konerko after 2010, and Jermaine Dye either after '09 or '10, depending on whether or not his option is exercised. Looks like there'll be some room for him.





Kenny hit a home run here, acquiring a guy with a monster bat who fits in much better in the American League.

BRENT LILLIBRIDGE
Lillibridge absolutely fell apart at the plate last year. After hitting between .275-.300 for most of his first three seasons in the minors, he posted a .220 BA in 90 games in AAA Richmond and then a .200 BA in 29 games with the Braves. Williams called him a supersub in the same style as Pablo Ozuna, but for all the crap Ozuna got around here, he still hit .290 in his 3 1/2 years with the Sox... Looks like big shoes to fill for Lillibridge. Considering the Sox lineup right now might have as many as three gaping holes (Getz/Nix at 2B, Fields at 3B, Anderson in CF), there's only so much offense you can give up.





Whatever, I don't expect anyone to recognize the name Brent Lillibridge in 5 years, except for the high school kids back in Everett, Washington that he'll be coaching by then.

Drinking time now... More to come later. Check back tonight or tomorrow!