Buehrle Contract Talks At Stalemate

KW did make a fairly good point in that once you start giving out no trade clauses, everybody's gonna ask for one. And not everybody's worth that commitment.

In this case though, all Kenny has to do is point to Buehrle's "below market contract" to anyone who asks for a no trade clause and tell them if they want that, they're gonna have to give a discount.

Now Buehrle's a great pitcher. This year. If he had last last years stats right now, we wouldn't even be talking about this now cause he'd have already been signed or traded.

So on one hand he's a very streaky pitcher, on the other he's giving you a very good discount. So I can kind of see where Kenny's coming from here. You can't just give in, especially with prospects like Floyd and Gio Gonzalez waiting in the wings.

Yeah, I remember how hurt Arroyo was after getting traded. He wanted to stay with the Sox (and wants back from everything I hear). But back to Buerhle, looking at his career numbers, he's been very consistent and projects well in the future because he doesn't rely on throwing hard and his body shouldn't break down like power pitchers. Give the guy his no trade clause, sign him, and move on to address the many needs this team has. Sure, he may never be a true #1, but you don't have to pay him like one either. You get 30+ starts, 200+ innings and an ERA around 3.80. Sounds good to me at that price. Why would you want to trade a guy like this anyway? Just stick him in your rotation and move on to the next item on your to-do list.

It really looks like Williams is trying to do exactly what was done to Arroyo, it looks like he's only trying to sign him so he can get a better trade return. Such bull, what a jerk...

I mean, the no trade clause would be at the FRONT, not back of the contract becauce Mark would be a 10/5 guy after next year. That means KW doesn't want to give a no trade clause over the next 20 months (ie up till Feb09) saying to me that he really plans on trading him off real soon.

If he didn't afterall plan on trading him in the next 1.5yrs, then why not just give him the clause. And no KW, I don't believe the "everyone will want one" spin you tried to use...

Cant believe the White Sox has not got this deal done already. That is a great deal for them, and Buehrle can make much much more if he tested the free agency.

Vazquez isn't going anywhere my friend he has been great this year.

If I'm the WS and I have the choice of keeping Beuhrle or Vazquez, I keep Beuhrle. He's a lefty, he's a couple of years younger, and he's not a power pitcher so, in theory anyway, he shouldn't be as injury-prone. Not that Vazquez has had injury problems, but he is 30, a righty, and a power pitcher.

IMO - for what its worth - the WS should:

1) Sign Beuhrle to his extension.

2) Get what they want/need from the Braves for Vazquez.

3) Then use that trade to squeeze Milledge from the Mets in exchange for Contreras.

Agree completly Thunder, infact just said something similar with more guys being sent off in the SoxOF thread. Also agree with CubsDontCatch on the part about them needing to think about 09 now instead of 08 as they probably won't be able to do anything special next year.

One thing not mentioned here and brought up by Falstaff in that OF thread is the lack of trust in the owner by Sox fans. Trading Beuhrle would hurt that even more, but rebuilding with a guy like him would help take some sting away since he is more a face of the club than Vasquez.

Letting Mark go when you can have him as cheap as most 3-4 guys out there would be a huge mistake ~ they just need to bite down and say they won't trade him in the next year though...

If I hear contreras to the Mets one more time, I am going to barf all over. I have came on here repeatedly saying the MEts dont need starting pitching, they need hitting, even when Sosa went down, who cares, are pitching was still fine. Perez going down is going to hurt, and my stance has changed, but still, why Contreras? He is over payed, average at best, old, and we would have to pay his old ass for the next couple of years. No freaking thank you. I am pretty sure if the Mets are seriously interested in a sox starter, it would be Vazquez. The guy that can eat innings and keep the other team out of the met bullpen. El Duque and Glavine are pretty much 5 and fly guys. Well usually they will get u 6, but rarely 7. The Mets also can give a better package for Vazquez then the Braves can, unless the Braves offer up Salty which probably wont happen. Dont forget that Omar LOVES Vazquez.

It's funny that Mets fans still think Milledge has the allure he did at the beginning of last year. He got off to a very good start last year and then kind of crapped out. He looked like he learned some new tricks for his BB/K ratio but that proved short lived.

Now it looks like he's on the "Stop my trade value from falling any more" DL. David Newhan got called up instead of Milledge. What happened, did the guy get shot in the neck or drive a car off a skyscraper? He was supposed to be back quite a while ago from what I'd heard.

Omar Minaya probably feels that Milledge is the next smoke-and-mirrors Jeremy Reed/Alex Escobar/lots of guys type and wants to keep him from "showcasing" how he's not as good as billed. What exactly is the selling point on Milledge? "He's the crappier version of Felix Pie, who can't hit worth a damn either!"

It's a shame Gomez got injured, because if I were a GM there's a player I'd be all over.

But seriously, I'd take Milledge for Contreras. Contreras is too erratic and Milledge is a high price for a guy who lists his birthdate as "???." If I were the Mets I wouldn't make that trade though. Milledge does have value, I just don't think he's this Grade A trade chip that can land anybody.

These Mets prospects aren't exactly grade A stuff. More like B and falling. ESPN and the New York media can only prop them up for so long.
Millege, Pelphrey...2 of them for Contreras.