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Kenny Williams On Trade Chatter
The White Sox may or may not have inquired about Astros' first baseman Lance Berkman according to Scot Gregor of The Daily Herald, but there's no chance GM Kenny Williams is putting together a package to acquire him. However, that didn't stop Williams from talking about the state of the trade market...
“I don’t think anyone is really prepared to make any deals right now,” said Williams. “And any interest expressed in any players out there who are impact guys has been done so for quite some time. There really isn’t much substance to anything at this stage of the season. Another 30 games, and you’ll start to see talk pick up."
“But if you’re not playing well it doesn’t make any sense to go down those roads, anyway. You've got to warrant that.”
The White Sox are just 12-17 on the young season, and their offense has been carried by the resurgent Andruw Jones and Paul Konerko. They've gotten basically no production out of catcher (.626 OPS), second base (.554), shortstop (.557), third base (.649), and left field (.644), so there's plenty of room for improvement.
Of course, if the club continues to struggle, then the White Sox could become sellers, rather than buyers. In that case, a player like Konerko could be an attractive trading chip, as CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler points out. This is the last year of Konerko's five-year, $60MM contract, so a budget-conscious contender would just have to take on two or three months' worth of Konerko's $12MM 2010 salary without making a long-term commitment. Konerko could fit right in on a team like the Rays --- they have a hole at DH with the struggling Pat Burrell, their minor league system is deep enough to spare a decent prospect even for a short-term rental player, and in Konerko, they get a veteran right-handed bat who knows AL pichers well and has lots of postseason experience. Konerko has the right to veto a trade, but he might welcome the chance to join a pennant contender like Tampa Bay.
MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post
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