White Sox GM Kenny Williams made a funny comment yesterday in his interview with Daily Herald writer Scot Gregor. Below is Gregor’s question followed by KW’s answer.
Gregor: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in three weeks, and you still have six starters (Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Vazquez and Brandon McCarthy) and only five spots in the rotation. Is it safe to assume one of the starters will be traded before Opening Day?
KW: I’m at the golf course right now, so I’m trying not to think about trades. But I go online sometimes and get plenty of ideas about what I should be doing with the extra starter.
Let me say this: In my mind, there is no such thing as having too much starting pitching. I can remember more than one season when we struggled to find a fifth starter, and that really hurt us.
If anybody out there thinks we’re going to move one of our starting pitchers for less than equal value — for anything less than a guy that can get up on the mound and give us the same results — they’re barking up the wrong tree.
Well, you heard the man. He goes online (hopefully to MLBTradeRumors.com) for suggestions on what to do with his extra starting pitcher. (Yes, I realize he was kidding).
Have at it! Propose a legitimate trade involving Jose Contreras in the comments. Try your best to make it fair for both teams, all factors considered. I’m interested to see what y’all can come up with. Maybe we’ll send the best one to KW, since he kind of almost acknowledged us.
Williams seemed to indicate that he wanted a starter of equal value in return. Certainly take that into consideration, but I wouldn’t limit the possibilites to starting pitchers. For example, my proposal would be Contreras for Pat Burrell. I think the Sox need offense more than starting pitching.
