Good read about the off-season;

 

CLEVELAND -- Make no mistake, this weekend is personal.

 

Not so much for the White Sox players, fresh off their first win. Certainly not for manager Ozzie Guillen, who considers Detroit Tigers skipper Jim Leyland a friend.

 

But for general manager Ken Williams, the Tigers were the organization that threw a monkey wrench into his offseason plans -- more than once.

 

Williams made adjustments, but he would love nothing more than to show Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski that while he may have been put in check, it was never checkmate.

 

The first move came immediately after the 2007 season, when the Tigers acquired shortstop Edgar Renteria before the calendar had flipped to November. Renteria just happened to be a player who was atop Williams' wish list for years.

 

With Renteria off the board and Williams under the impression that Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera wasn't on the trade market, he was forced to insulate himself by re-signing Juan Uribe. Days later, he found out Cabrera was available and made the move by sending pitcher Jon Garland to Los Angeles.

 

Then came the winter meetings, when the Sox were scrambling to put together a package for Marlins all-world hitter Miguel Cabrera. They wound up empty-handed when the Tigers trumped their offer to land Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis -- whom the Sox were not high on and wouldn't include in the deal.

 

Williams was a bit agitated the night the Tigers-Marlins deal went down, and when asked about the idea of having to face the perceived juggernaut of a lineup now in his division, he said defiantly: ''All this has done is put the Tigers in a better position to contend with us.''

 

He was also less than thrilled with what he felt were leaks among his peers during the meetings that made his motto of ''flying under the radar'' difficult to do.

 

Now the Sox get an up-close-and-personal look at the club that is ''in better position to contend'' with them, facing the Tigers for three games starting today. It doesn't hurt that they bring in a 19-9 record at Comerica Park since 2005.

 

''There's no doubt they have a great ballclub,'' Guillen said of the Tigers. ''But just because you spend money, that doesn't guarantee you win. It's not easy. It's about 25 guys, and if one guy fails, you lose the game.''

It sounds like Sheffield and Granderson (obviously) will be out for the series, and Cabrera for at least the first game... this is a good help!

Do the Sox miss Rogers this weekend as well? That would be nice. At least it will save a few broken bats

Do the Sox miss Rogers this weekend as well? That would be nice. At least it will save a few broken bats

should be robertson willis and verlander....

Do the Sox miss Rogers this weekend as well? That would be nice. At least it will save a few broken bats

Who is that in your avatar? Is that Larry King?

 

Who is that in your avatar? Is that Larry King?

 

 

LOL, yeah. I saw the photo on sportsbybrooks.com, and it was love at first sight

I'm really looking forward to facing Dontrelle the most.

 

I hope Ozzie looks at the stats, and just loads the lineup with righties against him.

I most likely will miss Friday's game on WGN, which bums me out. Sunday night though I'll be watching ESPNHD. A series sweep would be fun.

Edited April 4, 200818 yr by elrockinMT

Cabrera is going to be back in the line-up tonight at DH per rotoworld.

Kenny has to read up on his Art of War:

"Those who anger you, own you."

 

He keeps sniping like he does, it's not hard for a rival GM to throw something out there to tweak him into a bad move, such as resigning Uribe.

LOL, yeah. I saw the photo on sportsbybrooks.com, and it was love at first sight

 

Larry King, he looks like an owl. An old David Letterman thing.

 

 

I'm not sure why Kenny is upset about losing out on Renteria on the downside of his career and having to eat Dontrelle's salary to get Cabrera (and have to give him $130 million). I would've loved to have Cabrera, but the other two don't exactly invoke a feeling of envy.

Edited April 4, 200818 yr by WCSox

I'm not sure why Kenny is upset about losing out on Renteria on the downside of his career and having to eat Dontrelle's salary to get Cabrera (and have to give him $130 million).

 

Nowhere has Kenny been quoted as saying he was upset at Tigers getting Renteria....do not assume what the media says is true. They are simply interpreting....and they are wrong >95% of the time

 

Nowhere has Kenny been quoted as saying he was upset at Tigers getting Renteria....do not assume what the media says is true. They are simply interpreting....and they are wrong >95% of the time

 

That was basically my point. I should've said "supposedly upset" instead.

 

I really don't think that JR (and whoever else on the Board has input on salary) would've allowed $130 million to be spent on Cabrera anyway.

 

Dorntrelle Willis is going to get lit up tomorrow and all year long.