This will appear in tomorow's Trib:

 

The White Sox beat the deadline and offered arbitration to left-hander Scott Schoeneweis late Saturday night.

 

Schoeneweis, who earned $1.45 million last year, was used in relief after being acquired from Anaheim in July. But with the loss of free agent Bartolo Colon to the Angels, Schoeneweis is expected to take the No. 4 spot in the Sox's rotation behind Esteban Loaiza, Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland.

 

The Sox need starting and bullpen help but are trying to get rid of the contracts of Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez and Billy Koch to help in that pursuit.

 

No team has been willing to pick up the contracts of Thomas or Koch. Thomas and Koch are considered overpriced and prickly, a seemingly lethal combination after the success of the last two World Series champions, Anaheim and Florida, which proved the importance of clubhouse chemistry.

 

Konerko is a difficult sell. One factor is his salary of $8 million in 2004 and $8.75 million in '05. Another is his 65-RBI season with a glut of first basemen on the market, including Wooten, Rafael Palmeiro and ex-Cubs Randall Simon and Eric Karros.

 

The Dodgers were interested in Konerko but could move catcher Paul LoDuca to first if they sign Lopez. Anaheim is another option after the Angels lost free agent Scott Spiezio and non-tendered Wooten. But the Angels might sign Karros, the former Dodger who's still very popular in Southern California.

 

The Sox still desperately need a closer and may consider Florida's Ugueth Urbina if his price tag drops and they can dump Koch. Urbina, a former Expo, is a favorite of Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who once coached in Montreal.

 

Urbina went 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA in 33 games for the Marlins after being acquired from Texas, but he was inconsistent in the postseason and is reluctant to take a major cut from his $4.5 million salary in 2002.

 

With 26 teams non-tendering 58 players, the free-agent pool increased to 167 players, setting up a mad scramble for jobs. Many free agents who were non-tendered figure to wind up with the teams that cut them loose. Teams are getting around the 20-percent limit on salary decreases by agreeing to re-sign players before non-tendering them.

 

Most GMs expect players' demands to drop considerably by January.

Looks like Shoe will be one of the guys in our rotation come 2004. He'll prob make bout 2 mill in arbitration I'd think. Interestin decision by KW, he must think pretty highly of him. The general feeling around the boards was that Shoe leavin was a good thing.

How much will Schoenweis make? Is it the 2 mil he asked for?

How much will Schoenweis make? Is it the 2 mil he asked for?

He made 1.45 mill this year. He'll get bout a 10% raise on that I'd think, so it'll be somewhere around the 2 mill mark.

Ugh....Schoeneweis better be something more than just an innings eater. He hasn't proven that he can even do that on a consistent level in MLB.

He made 1.45 mill this year. He'll get bout a 10% raise on that I'd think, so it'll be somewhere around the 2 mill mark.

A 10% increase would take him to $1.595 million, not $2 million.

Is that a joke that Shoenweiss will be our 4th starter? And if Scott is our 4th, who's our 5th.....DIAZ? I hope not. Its clear that if Sox can't cut payroll were going to have two automatic losses in the 4th,5th starter slot.

Ugh....Schoeneweis better be something more than just an innings eater. He hasn't proven that he can even do that on a consistent level in MLB.

He did pitch over 200 innigs in 2001. I actually like Schoeneweis, yes his ERA is a little high, but when you compare his other stats you should come to the conclusion he had some bad luck or he gave up a lot of runs in one or two outings. A .640 OPS is pretty good. He has good control and dosen't give up many HR's, i think people will be pleasantly surprised with him.

I'm certainly not sold on the idea of Shoney being our number 4 starter. I guess we'll have to see what happens.

In Chicago, this is what I've read:

 

Pitcher Scott Schoeneweis' tenure with the White Sox was brief. He was not offered arbitration by the 11 p.m. deadline Saturday, making him a free agent.

 

The left-hander, who was used out of the bullpen after he was acquired from the Anaheim Angels in late July, would have competed for a spot in the rotation this spring had he been retained.

 

The Sox were unable to reach a pre-deadline agreement with Schoeneweis like they did with outfielder Carlos Lee and reliever Kelly Wunsch, who also were arbitration-eligible. He could have made $2 million if his case went to a third party, a chance the Sox weren't willing to take.

 

Schoeneweis was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA for the Sox last season. Overall, he was 3-2 with a 4.18 ERA.

 

Doug Padilla

 

I hope he isn't back. He truly stunk up the joint when he was with us. And quite frankly, I'd rather have Kirk McCaskill be our 5th starter than that stiff.

In Chicago, this is what I've read:

 

Pitcher Scott Schoeneweis' tenure with the White Sox was brief. He was not offered arbitration by the 11 p.m. deadline Saturday, making him a free agent.

 

The left-hander, who was used out of the bullpen after he was acquired from the Anaheim Angels in late July, would have competed for a spot in the rotation this spring had he been retained.

 

The Sox were unable to reach a pre-deadline agreement with Schoeneweis like they did with outfielder Carlos Lee and reliever Kelly Wunsch, who also were arbitration-eligible. He could have made $2 million if his case went to a third party, a chance the Sox weren't willing to take.

 

Schoeneweis was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA for the Sox last season. Overall, he was 3-2 with a 4.18 ERA.

 

Doug Padilla

 

I hope he isn't back.  He truly stunk up the joint when he was with us.  And quite frankly, I'd rather have Kirk McCaskill be our 5th starter than that stiff.

Yeah, Past, that was the story. Go read todays Tribune online though. Apparently Windsock KW changed his mind again, and decided to tender Schoen. Now he probably will end up with what most figure a 10% raise(go figure). That puts him at 1.65 mill for 2004. Crazy, since we are already over the enormously large Payroll JR has set for us.

Capn,

 

I'm not feeling all that good physically (Flu), so your post may make me physically ill (literally) - I'm already ready to vomit, and that last post makes me want to find the nearest toilet. (I have 3 of them in the house, but I'll puke in MY bathroom).

Good to see u r takin to Shoe news well Pastime.