chisox2334

thats old news lol

from da trib By Dave van Dyck Special to the Tribune December 22, 2004 Stymied in their attempts to land Randy Johnson, Matt Clement and Javier Vazquez, the White Sox are close to signing Yankees free agent Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez to complete their starting rotation. Sources said the Sox had offered a guaranteed two-year contract heavily laden with incentives, believed to be worth as much as $4 million, although the deal had not been finalized. Sox general manager Ken Williams did not return calls seeking confirmation Tuesday night. Hernandez, who would join another former Yankee and Cuban exile Jose Contreras on the Sox's staff, does not come without problems. While he returned from shoulder surgery to save New York's injury-depleted staff in midseason by going 8-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 15 starts, he was shelved in September when his shoulder became tired. He recovered enough to make an emergency start in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against Boston and would have won if Mariano Rivera had not blown the save. After signing with the Yankees in 1998, Hernandez became a big winner and part of Yankees lore by posting a 9-3 record with a 2.65 ERA in six postseasons. But Hernandez has run into physical problems the last few seasons while pitching for the Yankees and Expos. He was traded to Montreal after the 2002 season but hurt his shoulder in spring training and never pitched there. The Yankees then re-signed him last winter as an insurance policy, calling him up in July after rehab from shoulder surgery. He immediately won his first eight decisions. In the last three seasons, he has won 20 games and lost 14, so Hernandez no longer is a dominating nine-inning pitcher. The Yankees offered Hernandez arbitration, but it was obvious he would not fit into their rotation after they signed free agents Jaret Wright and Carl Pavano and made a strong effort to land Johnson. While Hernandez's age is listed as 35, many have claimed he is older. He earned a base salary of $500,000 last season but raised that to $1.43 million by reaching incentives. "I feel I overachieved my goals and expectations," he said after the season. With the expected acquisition, the Sox apparently have filled their rotation for next season, though they still have money for a big-name pitcher if they so desire. Among those mentioned is another Yankee, Vazquez, who had been part of the three-team trade with Arizona and Los Angeles that fell through Tuesday night. Most likely, Hernandez will become the Sox's fifth starter behind Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Contreras and Jon Garland. Also Tuesday, the Sox signed catcher Ben Davis to a one-year, $1 million contract a day after declining to offer him arbitration. Davis, who hit .231 with six home runs and 16 RBIs in 54 games with the Sox, made $1.4 million last season. He was acquired June 27 with Garcia in a trade with Seattle. Davis, 27, will go into spring training as the starting catcher, with Jamie Burke as the backup. The second overall pick in the 1995 draft, Davis is just a .237 lifetime hitter with 38 homers. But Williams likes Davis' defensive ability and his handling of the pitching staff. But of the four catchers the Sox used last season—Davis, Burke, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Miguel Olivo—the staff ERA was highest with Davis behind the plate. Davis caught a team-high 397 innings, and the Sox had a staff ERA of 5.15. The catcher with the best ERA was Olivo, who was sent to Seattle in that trade amid rumblings that he didn't call a good game. The Sox's ERA was 4.69 in 366 innings with Olivo catching. Burke had the second-best ERA among Sox catchers at 4.78 in 292 innings. The Sox also declined to offer arbitration to pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, who is not expected to be back next season, and pitchers Ryan Meaux and Eduardo Villacis. Meaux and Villacis were signed to minor-league contracts Tuesday. Tribune staff reporter Bob Foltman contributed. Copyright © 2004, The Chicago Tribune

Espn raido" dialing bruce levines phone" Bruce levine : " wakes up" Whose there? "Picks up phone" Hello, whats going on? Espn raido: " the score offman is at it again sayin sox are signing el dueque" Bruce Levine: " I will have to go call my inside sources on this one" Kenny Willams : " I deny this as well people" Bruce Levine: " Thank you kenny" Assoicates reports " White sox sign El duque " Bruce:" Well hes good pitcher and kenny said he wanted him all along"

wharris then watch tv, go let ladies make you happy or just go to sleep and then wait in morning and you will find out lol

I dont sleep till 1 geez lol. I wake up at 11 and hear all praising and negativiy if it happeneds lol

Bruce levine in 2 -3 hrs will find out and be amazed and report same thing. Lol right now hes sleeping lol

Look at the source plz. Lol look at ny papers and la papers lol. Look at socre saying same thing and then yet bruce denies it . lol then bruce we offered for aj and willams deneies it lol. I believe when I see it like other guys. Everyone in airports look for el duque lol

Thank contreas for brining him in. Close friends and of course the love for ozzie

Well you will find out tommrrow. Remember that bruce and score reported we offered for aj. Lol all I care is when its done lol

by the way the Ryan Meaux and Edurado Villacis has been resigned with us to minor league contracts

Guys with money we have we have to be cheap and kennys goal right is 5th spot. If we sign a good solid number 3 or 4th guy of aj then thats fine with me.

davis isnt varitek people or aj. Davis would not get much in market and kenny will less amount of money he has would have use less amount to get catcher and still try get 5th starter. Theres alot people whitesox orginzation dont like AJ and their reports are true and he would would be trouble. Kenny has ideas people and isnt done with this offseason so just calm down. I rather have pitchers like who their catching to then hate him

Davis probably be back for more money. Aj situation I have no clue on now. But we sign davis and aj wants full time job that means aj will not be here

All I can say is reading that southtown article sounds like sox are willing make Aj the catcher and if that plan falls out davis will be back. It sounded more like davis would of accepted but sox said we either sign you for less if aj falls throught or sox say aj your main guy and your not going be part time

guys Im having people from minn saying that aj signed with us now.

All im saying is most teams are after varitek and aj. Plus theirs only a few teams out there even looking upgrade catcher position.

Guys just let you know most teams are not looking at davis. Remember he was backup in seattle and his little stint here didnt really get teams jumping on bandwagon on him

Guys do you know that this aribtration date means nothing. LoL whitesox can still sign him for same price last yr and thing is now is decision between aj and davis,

for now this b.s.

times are messed up it says 845 am and thats messed up. It had to be 10 mins ago. Im tending this be a lie now but I will continue for half hr find out. If nuttin then I will say its b.s.

alright this guy post on espn msg board that we sign him 2 yrs 7 mil and said his source his fox sports raido. Has anyone heard anything? I dont wanna look like fool here. But its not rashidd name his name is thegreekgod. Im trying see this guy a troll or not now.

guys I believe aj is with us. Someone reporting on msg boards espn we signed him. Im going find out. If its b.s. you can delte this post

sox have offered but no word on him yet. Same with davis. But I think if whitesox offered aj tonight their probably waiting on him. If aj rejects ben will be back. If aj signs davis gone.

davis thing dosent get done I can bet aj is the man behind the plate

The fifth starter question mark in the White Sox rotation will not be solved with Scott Schoeneweis as the answer. The left-hander was not tendered a contract by the team prior to the Monday night arbitration deadline, making Schoeneweis a free agent and basically ending his time on the South Side. According to Schoeneweis, who spoke to MLB.com Monday night from his home in Fountain Hills, Ariz., the White Sox offered a one-year deal at his current salary of $1.725 million but would not move from that figure. Schoeneweis pointed to the non-tender as the business side of the game and had no ill feelings toward the White Sox or anyone in the organization. But the versatile 31-year-old could not hide the disappointment over what he thought was the apparent lack of appreciation for his work. "I didn't get to the point where I was asking for too much," said Schoeneweis of his desire to receive a raise for the 2005 season. "But it was basically either take this offer or you are not tendered. "If I was tendered a contract, we would have worked something out fairly for both sides. I'm 100 percent confident that would have been the case." Complete coverage > General manager Ken Williams acquired Schoenweis from Anaheim on July 29, 2003 in exchange for three minor-league pitchers. At the time, Williams dubbed Schoeneweis as a player he had been after for a while, and a pitcher who would work out of the bullpen as the White Sox pushed toward the Central Division title. That decision also came with a promise that Schoenweis would return to the starting rotation in 2004. After a miserable Spring Training, in which Schoenweis focused more on adding pitches such as the changeup to his repertoire as opposed to getting results, Schoeneweis performed solidly in his first starting assignment since 2002, breaking a stretch of 98 consecutive relief appearances. During his first eight starts, Schoeneweis finished with a 4-1 record and a 3.33 ERA. He had quality efforts in all but one of those trips to the mound. But debris and bone chips in his left elbow started to slow down Schoeneweis, and he finished 2-8 with a 7.48 ERA in his final 12 games (11 starts). Dr. Lewis Yocum performed surgery on Schoeneweis' pitching elbow in mid-August, and the left-hander returned to pitch one game in relief against Kansas City during the final series of the season. Feeling as if he "never had the surgery," Schoeneweis is ready to return either as a starter or a reliever. The White Sox talked to Schoeneweis about competing for the fifth starter's slot, with pitchers such as Jason Grilli and possibly rookie Brandon McCarthy. That responsibility, coupled with his effectiveness in the early going, should have produced the offer of a competitive raise, in Schoeneweis' estimation. "If you want me as a fifth starter, then trying to work something out seemed logical," said Schoeneweis, who finished 2004 with a 6-9 record and 5.59 ERA in 20 games. "With all due respect, what we were asking for was pretty cheap as starters go. "I wanted fair market value for a left-handed pitcher with my service time and performance level. I rejected that offer, I was non-tendered and that was it. They didn't say, 'How about $2.1 million or $1.9 million?' I didn't hear any of those offers. "I'm still a little bit confused right now, but it's part of the game," Schoeneweis added. "I've been prepared to be non-tendered for quite some time." Although it had not been officially announced, the White Sox reportedly offered arbitration to outfielder Aaron Rowand. The decision on Ben Davis was still up in the air, while right-hander Jon Garland, shortstop Juan Uribe and outfielder Timo Perez all agreed to new deals before Monday night. Schoenweis would not confirm the amount he was after, although he did mention other pitchers in his situation earned in the $2.2 to $2.5 million range per season. But Don Cooper, the White Sox pitching coach, presented a logical counterpoint to Schoeneweis' desire for a raise. Cooper has been in contact with Schoeneweis throughout the offseason, and basically stated Monday that if Schoeneweis accepted the team's offer, he would have been the fifth starter. That chance to start, something Schoeneweis was clamoring for when he arrived, should have outweighed a nominal salary increase. "I'm disappointed (Schoeneweis) and his agent did not accept the offer," Cooper said of the left-hander, who is represented by Scott Boras. "I wanted another crack at trying to see what we could do with him as a starter. "If he signs the deal, he's our fifth guy. I just hope now he can get the same opportunity somewhere else as a starter. He might be able to get more than was offered, but he might have to go to the bullpen. "To be honest, I'm miffed at them not accepting a chance to start now," Cooper added. "If he starts and does well, the money is not a question in a year or two. Not with the way they are throwing millions at starting pitchers." Schoeneweis believes there will be other options for a pitcher who can serve as a left-handed setup guy, long reliever or start 30 games. He doesn't believe the White Sox's tenuous relationship with Boras had anything to do with the final resolution, but instead, felt the raise was not offered because of the skewed numbers stemming from his injury. "I hadn't been injured in 10 years, and it's unfortunate this happened last year when I was given the opportunity to be in the rotation," Schoeneweis said. "From the teammates I know and talked to, when asked what should we do about a fifth starter, their fingers pointed to me. I was competent in that role when I was more like the third or fourth starter. "But there's no ill will toward Chicago, the White Sox, Kenny or the fans. It's over, and I'll just move on. Players do it all the time