Buehrle Extension Possible

UPDATE: Ozzie Guillen makes some comments that seem to hint that extension talks are ongoing.  And Ken Rosenthal's sources generally believe the Sox are close to signing Buehrle.

UPDATE: Now Gonzales says the White Sox sent their assistant GM to St. Petersburg, where Mark Buehrle's agent is.  So there could be some talks after all.

I don't know who to believe anymore.  It's starting to sound like Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has been fed some bad information.  The Sun-Times had the Red Sox as frontrunners for Mark Buehrle, and then today broke the story of an impending contract extension instead.

The Chicago Tribune has been singing a different tune the whole time, and now Mark Gonzales reports that there are no extension talks.  Gonzales spoke to Buehrle's agent.

Fun stuff, all this manipulation and deception.  4/50 sounded too good to be true; perhaps the same person has been feeding bad information to Joe Cowley and 670 The Score.  A White Sox spokesman would not confirm the report from The Score. 

Comments

[Chipper]

So does this mean the Buehrle trade rumors start again?

[camarodude39]

Is anyone ever going to trade with Kenny Williams again with all the deception his club his throwing out to the other organizations?? If this was more planted info to drive up bidding for Mark, the Sox may have actually cost themselves a few trade partners. I know I would be POed if they were playing games with me when there are so many top prospects and money involved.

[07Bosox]

OK now that the contract extensions don't look to be going anywhere I would like to see him dealt to Boston.

[Chipper]

OK now that the contract extensions don't look to be going anywhere I would like to see him dealt to ATLANTA! The WhiteSox said that trade rumor was just a hoax.

[astralpanda]

Listen, people. There are NO conspiracies going on here. It's sites like this that jump the gun and report things as news before they're actually news. The Sox aren't scheming behind peoples backs, they're not spreading misinformation for their own gain. This is not the Black Sox scandal all over again. Settle the f down and wait it out. Something will happen in the next week or two.

[RotoAuthority]

So...quoting published newspaper reports is now considered jumping the gun?

There are no "conspiracies," but there certainly has been planted information and misinformation. That is a fact.

Sure, MLBTR could wait until Mark Buehrle is wearing a new uniform to write anything, but then it wouldn't be MLB Trade Rumors. It would be MLB Confirmed and Finished Trades, and people would stop coming.

[Chipper]

These are rumors. They could be right, they could be wrong.

[beauhoopman]

Wow, the article was published in a major metropolitan newspaper this morning. This site had reliable sources, which indicated that a deal was imminent. What more do you want man?

[TTH]

Let's have some sort of contest. Try to guess what borderline retard Joe Cowley will make up for tommorrow's paper.

[Chipper]

Paul Konerko or Jim Thome rumors to Philadelphia or Anaheim or something.

[bravesbeast]

All I have to say to astralpanda is just do not ever read newspapers, magazines, or online media articles again, since they are the sources of this site, they spread rumors as well. Tim, you keep doing the great job you do, this site keeps me sane at work and makes the time fly by much faster.

Anywho, so I guess if Buehrle is not getting an extension nor is going to the Bosox, that means that we are back to square one, where he likely will get traded to the National League, I hope that means the braves. The mets seem to like Contrares, and the braves seem to have a farm strength that a farm weakness for the Chisox, and that is middle infield prospects. I hope a match can be found and a deal can be done, but if not, I hope buehrle can at least go somewhere to have all these rumors stop swirling around.

[Chipper]

I too, hope Buehrle is traded to the Braves.

[quintjs]

The Sun-Times was just trying to save face after being made to look like fools about the Red Sox front runner story.

Wait for their next story, which will detail how the talks broke down, and why KW had a change of heart, and decided the best course of action was to trade Buehrle.

They still claim the Red Sox really want Buehrle, and would trade top prospects - which no one else agrees with.

[Thundersticks]

I agree with Chipper and bravesbeat, Buehrle would sure look good in a Braves uni, even for just a couple of months. The way Escobar is playing right now, though, I don't think I'd trade him for Buerhle. For me at least, it would take Vazquez to get him. I'd only be willing to give up Lillibridge (and another prospect) for him, but not Escobar unless Vazquez is involved.

[Chipper]

I'd trade Escobar because We have Elvis Andrus in the minors and Edgar can stay for I think 2 more years, and don't forget about Lillibridge, even though I think he is trade bait.

[Thundersticks]

I agree, Chipper. I just think Escobar is too good (another 4 hit night tonight, not to mention some outstanding defense at 2B and SS!!) for "just" Buehrle - a 3 month or so rental. I think JS would want a little bit more in that deal. A lefty reliever maybe...

[Chipper]

He would sign him to a long term deal when he gets him like he did Hudson. It would take just a tad bit more to get Buehrle than just Yunel, because if it was just Yunel, JS would have already acquired Buehrle.

[ChiRon]

Key thing to think about here...agent says he hasn't talked to Williams recently. Hahn is they guy that hammers out contracts, now Williams. Fact that Hahn is going to St. Petes and MB's agent is there speaks volumes. I may be wrong, but I thought Sun Times articles said 'end of week' and Ozzie is saying before we get back to Chicago. Seems to me this is only Wednesday.

[ChiRon]

The above should say 'not Williams' instead of 'now'.

[Franchise]

Chi Sox 3 in a row...keep Mark, trade contreras, set it up for next season....btw this site is the cooooolest eva! god forbid you post rumors on a rumor site tho, what were you thinking bringing up all the news surround Mark B

[astralpanda]

Okay "bravesbeast" thanks for misinterpreting what I said like everyone else. What I was saying is that I'm sick and tired of people here trying to drag hard-working peoples names in the mud without any FACTS to back it up. Show me the article where the Sox ADMIT to spreading misinformation, show me Joe Cowley's apology. This type of crap always happens with my Sox and sick and tired of it. But hey, we've just won our third straight and counting so feel free to talk all the sh*t you want.

[Thundersticks]

WOW!! "astralpanda" has his panties all in a wad, now doesn't he?

You do know this is a rumor site, don't you? If you don't like rumors and only want to deal with the "FACTS" then this site may not be for you.

Having said that, Tim doesn't pull this stuff out of his a$$, he tirelessly checks the web to bring everything together in one site. In case you haven't noticed, and judging by your comments you haven't, he also provides links to these articles so readers can check them out for themselves.

All "bravesbeat" and everyone else is saying (and by the way, I interpret the use of the word "conspiracy" with a bit of sarcasism in this case) is that Cowley had to get his information from someone. Presumably, his source is inside the White Sox organization. Maybe he jumped the gun in reporting some of this, but here is the link to his latest article:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/444903,CST-SPT-mark27.article

It seems to me you're p!$$ed because your Sox are losing and possibly selling off some parts. Get used to it, it happens. And get over yourself!!

[pft]

The White Sox float the Red Sox rumour to get the Yankees interested in a trade. No deal. Now they float the extension talk rumour to show that Buehrle is not looking for Zito money (seriously, 4 years, 12.5 million per year?).

With all the postponed games, Buehrle has pitched with 5 or more days rest in 12 of his first 15 starts, and had the lowest quality of Opp OPS of any pitchers in the AL with 70 IP. The question many teams may have is will he have a 2nd half meltdown like 2006. The dude has logged a lot of IP for his age.

I do not see any team giving up anything significant unless they have a chance to talk extension with him, and unless Buehrle is concerned about his health and lasting the season w/o another meltdown, then I can not imagine him not wanting to test the market as a FA.

[DentalPlan]

Oh brother with this Yunel Escobar love. Keep him. The guy's best position is not shortstop and his bat is not great anywhere else. Going crazy over Escobar, that's like the same people who think Mike Fontenot is Ted Williams.

The Braves aren't getting Buehrle for nothing.

I agree Buehrle is not awesome and his numbers are somewhat misleading, but he can't be obtained for nothing. And this idea that anyway outside of Atlanta metro considering Escobar to be this highly desirable player who must be kept at all costs is a joke.

[Cold Golden Falstaff]

Guys, The White Sox never said it was a hoax. And they're not feeding information. The official comment is that there's no comment either way.

Obviously Cowley and Rosenthal have sources in the organization and there is an effort to get things done with Buerhle.

Today it's come out that Sox assistant GM has flown down to St. Petersburg where the Sox, Mark's family and his agent are. Also Kenny Williams is quoted as imposing a Friday deadline for a deal. No deception or fed stories here...

I can also tell you that almost all Sox fans would love Buehrle to re-sign and he's a lot more important to the team than a bunch of prospects, regardless of how "cant-miss" they might be.

[Cold Golden Falstaff]

One more thing. If anyone is feeding false information, it's Buehrle's agent feeding it to the Tribune, since he has a lot more to gain if Buehrle hits the open market instead of taking a "hometown discount" with the Sox.

[Doctor Lingerie]

The AGM sent to St. Pete is Rick Hahn, who handles the vast majority of contract negotiations for the Sox. Obviously 4/50 makes no sense -- 4/60, however, may be closer. Whether Hahn went down there to actually make nice or to simply increase the perception that Buehrle is actually signable isn't clear at this point.

And nobody's off Buehrle because of the sudden extension talk -- his start last night was scouted by like half of MLB (vintage Buehrle, by the way -- 12 baserunners, 3 runs in 7 innings).

And let's not get too excited about 3 wins over the Rays, astralpanda. Let's see if we can beat the Royals before we beat our chests.