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
Ty Wigginton might be somebody the White Sox should target.
And someone the O’s would want to be trading.
I like the sound of Wigginton to the Sox
I hope they don’t unless they can prove they are World Series contender. Too many times Kenny has traded for these rent-a-players that get fans excited and nothing much happens but a near playoff miss(2003 when we traded ten prospects away for a bevy of veterans) and 2008 when we traded for griffey and got into the playoffs by the skin of our teeth only to lose quickly to the Rays. I could see us falling short behind the surging twins if we trade for wigginton or any other veteran for a quick fix this year and this year only. If sox make moves, they should look big picture unless this team miraculously turns it around and starts looking like a Series contender.
Surging Twins? They’re losing their games to the Orioles and they barely beat the Tigers. Don’t forget Mauer is injured! (What a surprise right?) The White Sox and Twins can fight for 2nd place. Even if the Twins do make the postseason, their rotation isn’t good enough to match up with Tampa Bay, New York, Boston, or whichever West team makes it.
How long before Kenny brings in Dye, Crede and Eric Byrnes to solve his problem?
Jose Canseco again?
ok ok crede would not be that bad as a back up, better than omar…consider nix can play 2nd and SS crede when healthy actualy has lot of pop and posts a + UZR
I’d only consider Wigginton if the White Sox are in contention for the World Series. Too many times Kenny W has traded for guys at the deadline as rent a players(ken griffey jr, robbie alomar, sandy alomar to name a few) only to see them walk with nothing other than a first round playoff exit to show for it. Right now, Sox do not look like they could stand toe to toe with the Rays or yankees in a 5 game series. Wigginton would probaly be a rent-a-player since his contract is up after this year. I’d rather get a prospect for konerko that could be the first baseman of the future if they are not in contention for the series at the deadline. Not some measly AL Central division title, Kenny needs to evaluate can this team win the World Series by adding someone before dishing out prospects for a 2011 FA.
konerko-AJ-alexi-Carlos-buehrle-garcia- jenks could all be moved for either a top prospect per deal or a few mid level guys per deal and the team could still compete with all the guys that simply wont get trades like peavy-floyd-danks-thornton-putz-santos-beckham-teahan-nix-juan-rios-jones…still not a bad team plus bring up flowers, Jdanks would offer a spark
If the White Sox want Berkman say good bye to Bacon