29andPoplar

Where is this being speculated? Hopefully not on the Blackhawk message boards ... still?

Not sure why Andruw Jones is on White Sox fans conciousness as his agent is Boras.

No, they did not add Bourgeois, yet anyways. I do not think he's eligible for the Rule 5 (since he was already in it at least once) but I don't know the rule 100%. He will be a minor league FA though and after his good showing in winter ball I'm sure he's shopping for a major league deal and a roster spot vs. just a non roster invite. Maybe the White Sox have something worked out with him already.

Hah, good one! And in a way, just about every team would want young cheap good defensive catching. It is almost like asking who needs pitching. I always try to read the tea leaves though. Possibly my memory is shot but I cannot recall the Sox having 4 catchers on the 40 man. Seems odd to protect a Cole Armstrong, he apparantly has improved but he is not extremely young and basically just touched Double A late this season. He was a guy they plucked from Atlanta org. in the Rule 5 a couple years ago. Back to reading the tea leaves, this tells me they (obviously) like him as probably the emergency guy i.e. the first guy they bring up if the top two get dinged up. Donny Lucy just played in the AFL and got showcased, even if they weren't trying to showcase him. The way I connect the dots is, Lucy is a trade chip, part of a package. Of course not to rule out Armstrong or Hall being in the same boat but honestly I can't see who'd want Hall at this point. Taking it a step further, adding 3 more pitchers to the 40 man tells me they will trade more pitching, this time a young guy or an underachiever (see: Aardsma/Sisco/Masset) or a combination thereof. Just something to talk about and ponder I suppose.

There are 4 catchers on the roster now. Sox haven't had 4 catchers on the 40 man for as long as I can recall. I don't think AJ is going anywhere. Who's looking for young cheap good defensive catching as part of a trade?

Egbert, Russell, Lucas Harell, Cole Armstrong (?!?) added to 40 man. No Bourgeois. Roster is at 40.

From the take it for what it's worth file, George Offman on the Score commented the Rays do have some interest in Uribe. That's all he said.

It is an interesting situation in Tucson but the White Sox may not need to find another team. The Rockies are pressuring Pima County and the baseball commission in Tucson (and the city) for improvements to Hi Corbett. They are talking to Goodyear (west suburb of Phoenix) about moving in with the Indians in their new complex if they don't make progress. If the Rockies move, the other two teams leases have an out clause (Dbacks and White Sox). There has to be 3 teams in Tucson or the other two can move with no strings. Dbacks are already making contingency plans. White Sox have supposedly been instrumental in getting the Rockies to think about Goodyear.

Semantics is right. If you didn't want to know, why post the call out? I just got a smile out of that. If you have watched this team for any length of time and know about this front office, which I know you have, then you know they talk about moving any player if they think it makes them better. Any player, unless there's an iron clad trade clause. Their minor league philosophy is to give Williams a list of guys which can/should be included in trades for major league help. Williams is highly aggressive, he talks trade and lays groundwork for trades all the time. Not a suprise, nor a revelation, Sweeney was discussed. The Arizona Fall League is one of the biggest showcase mechanisms in baseball. For your own team, and for other teams. Ah well. I am all for seeing what happens because the bottom line is, all the info is basically a tangled web. Very few people know for sure right now. Maybe not even Torii Hunter himself. It sure is fun to kick the can around though isn't it?

Probably the dumbest thing Levine ever said. Really dumb. Lots of grey area in Cowley's column, especially the part about if some other team comes in with an offer that blows the White Sox out of the water. Last sentence I believe. I would be shocked if Hunter didn't deny a specific question from MLB.com asking whether he'd agreed to terms with the White Sox. That would be dumb as well. You are completely right about things changing, aint' that the truth. They change up until the last minute sometimes. I hope they get Hunter, I like to win and I think he can help. They need lots more though, and hopefully things change on their attempts to help the bullpen, per KW's comments yesterday.

No, people don't know where you get your information from. You never say, it's all coy and hush hush, unless you are talking again about the Baseball America connect. If so, I would take a source inside the White Sox org. over that any day, but that's just me, again nothing personal re: your connections. Just my opinion. Nowhere did you tell him to mention how he knows this is true? Really? What does "provide some proof" mean then? Edit: my apologies, meant to type "have some proof".

If you say so. I see it as the same thing, i.e. being coy and not fessing up. Which is ok, it's a message board, people can and do say what they want. And people believe what they want.

And exactly what type of proof should he post on a message board? I hope he's correct and I think he's a good poster. I don't know why you of all people are calling him out though. Nothing personal but he did what you do all the time, make statements about what'll happen without naming a source or providing proof. In complete fairness and for accuracy sake, he did post yesterday the meeting between Hunter and the Rangers wouldn't take place last night, and they did meet ... unless Jon Daniels is lying, which I doubt. So southsideirish was wrong on that aspect.

Press conference at noon today. I will watch. McDonough knows how to hire good people but this ain't the baseball business. What does he know about hockey? I guess we'll find out. He has all the right Chicago connections and can help raise the franchises profile but the obvious question is, what's the level of his interaction with the hockey people? Will he be telling Dale Tallon/Rick Dudley/Stan Bowman what to do ... interesting ... we'll see how it shakes out.

No, agreed, Thome's days at 1B are over. 1B are not that tough to find but agree it would have to be a very unique and special deal to trade Konerko, for the reasons KW mentioned and you emphasize as well.

Well PK will be 10 and 5 soon so maybe thats the impetus for whatever talks are going on (or not going on). It's Bruce Levine so who knows. I would agree Konerko's clause would point west vs. east but the Yankees have some things the Sox would want. My sense is anyone is tradeable after last season's disaster. Williams will listen to anything, he would trade his father if he thought it made sense. However the only way I see prospects coming here in a deal for an established player is if they are flipped for another established player, and Williams doesn't seem to do that. As you and several and actually myself as well pointed out today, he is in it to win it in 2008 so the rebuilding crowd will have to wait for now. Well this is what makes hot stove fun. Rumors and what if's and such.

Yes, they do. KW said that Guillen might, on occasion depending on matchups, put Orlando Cabrera in the leadoff spot but quickly added Cabrera fills the #2 hole. If you look at the positions, the only spot is LF for a leadoff guy. Guillen kept talking about a guy who gets on base. They have two possibiities on the roster who can play LF and have led off, those being Ozuna and Owens. On the surface, that's a platoon but neither of those two are particularly high on base guys. Owens might improve in that area. However I see them aiming higher. I also believe Owens has a spot but not as a starter, rather as a backup. He can be valuable in that role. A guy with speed at the top is a plus but if you can't get that (a 50+ stolen base guy, a burner), then you look at a good contact hitter with a great batting eye who's also a proficient baserunner. Who is out there? Shannon Stewart, do not know if Catalanatto is available, one poster here mentioned some of Toronto's guys, etc. Again if you can't get the speed merchant then a good hitter who has good AB's and is .360+ on base is the next best thing. As for Podsednik ... I would be shocked if his time here isn't over.

We are thinking the same on this one. Like Chisoxfn said yesterday, lots of teams would be interested in Konerko. Whether there's a fit or not is another story. With Williams all but saying more deals are imminent, my guess is they're not nickel and dime trades. He also said today he's having trouble acquiring bullpen help so it may take a bigger trading chip to get something done. It is clear though, he is targeting good defensive players which will help a pitching staff.

That's just it. This is just the first domino, Williams is already saying he's in on other potential deals and he's saying he wants to move Uribe. It is a natural reaction for fans to look at one deal and jump to conclusions about what will be, but it doesn't work that way with this front office. Other things will get done. One position has been upgraded and now they'll try to upgrade others. For all you rebuilding fans, it ain't happening, another quote from Williams today was "we are 100% commited, from top to bottom, to achieve another World Championship". Personally I like that approach, I have seen too many the kids can play seasons when they really couldn't play. But that's just me and I realize others will have a different take. This is actually quite a fun time of year to be a baseball fan.

Yes, how true is this. We have to remember a whole bunch of people here were convinced Uribe was the 2008 starter at SS when they picked up the option. Things have a way of changing and it seems with the White Sox, moves come as a surprise.

Egbert isn't listed on the White Sox 40 man (on the Sox site) and they are pretty good about updating. I do not recall an official announcement, just a "they will add him" from maybe Phil Rogers or something like that. In fact, Garland is already not shown on the 40 man on the Sox site and Orlando Cabrera is on there.

Here's a blurb about a similar player from River Avenue Blues, a Yankees blog: "Speaking of catchers, if anyone was hoping that the Rays would leave catcher John Jaso (.316/.408/.484 at AA this year) off their 40-man roster, you're going to be disappointed. The Rays plan to add him prior to Tuesday's deadline for the Rule 5 draft." The post was from late last week, so I am assuming he means tomorrow 11/20, which is about two weeks before the draft. Again, conflicting information all over the place.

Apparantly it's all part of what they wanted to do. They wanted to move Garland and upgrade at SS and bring in an energy guy, which Orlando Cabrera is. Again, on the surface I would've liked to see them get more for Garland. Arguably Williams should've pulled the trigger on Garland a year ago (Astros). I don't think this deal necessarily sets up another move (aside from the $ they got), but I do see it as one move of many. Another thing it tells me is they think one of the young starters can give them Garland's performance.

Don't know, we'll have to wait and see. I've read conflicting reports.

To me all this trade does is raise more questions as to how the team will ultimately look. More will happen, this is just a start and I will reserve some judgement until the picture becomes clearer. However I agree with most of the sentiment here, it would've been nice to get more for Garland. It will be interesting to read Williams' comments on this move.