Williams on Sox FA

[Kalapse]

Just going based off recent history and team payrolls, I don't see any signs that player contracts will be going down this offseason, if anything we could see an increase in money for position players which is something that we didn't really see last season. Half the league's teams still have a surplus of money and a whole lot of expiring old contracts out there. If KW is banking on a reduction in player contracts this offseason (which I doubt he is) then he's going to be pretty damn disappointed when Dye and Iguchi get offered some big money to go elsewhere.

 

Iguchi shouldn't be a tough sign anyway, the guy has lived in Schaumburg for the past few seasons and from what I've heard from people in the area he really loves it here. It's not like he's an elite player either so he isn't going to be a huge commodity on the market this offseason so KW would probably be best off offering him something right now maybe a bit higher than he would normally offer and I really think Iguchi would take. (3 years, $6M-$7M per w/ 4th year vesting option) Because there's always that one team out there with a little money to spend and a whole at one a particular position that would be willing to throw some above value deal at your free agent players.

[jphat007]

KW has signed free agents, but mostly with the exception of Konerko, and if the White Sox don't win the WS or at least make it there, Konerko is probably gone, at bargain basement prices. The fact is, all 3 of these guys are playing for way below market value in 2007. If he's so concerned about their families getting by on the millions these guys get paid, why when he heard Dye had a better deal somewhere else, didn't he tell him to take it? Or why won't he just pay them what the market bears, unless they are going to use lack of funds as an excuse. I know a few people who have made 5 year commitments to suites and that new thing in the old pressbox who aren't going to like this new approach. Unless of course, he has that money earmarked for Johan Santana and Miguel Cabrerra or even Zambrano. I can't see the Sox dropping payroll significantly. They would have to spend it elsewhere. But at the level all three of these guys get paid, if that's what they are willing to spend, the team is really going to dropoff in the next few years.

 

Possibly. It could all blow up in his face. But he's not going to way overpay guys if he feels they aren't worth it, like what happened for almost every player in this offseason. He has done well at finding good bargains in the past, hwoever.

 

If I had to guess he is going to oversign a little bit for 1 FA, sign a bunch of others that are kind of off the radar, and then try and supplement it with younger talent.

 

Like I say though, who knows til next offseason. It'll be interesting to watch.

[ShoeLessRob]

Shut the f*** up now Williams your getting annoying. Spring Training just started, hush up.

[aboz56]

Williams just doesn't know when to stop, he needs to just shut it.

[Milkman delivers]

What is our payroll for 2007 going to be?

[Greg The Bull Luzinski]

What is our payroll for 2007 going to be?

 

 

WIth the anticipated mass exodus of veterans in the next few seasons, it may not be unreasonable to suggest we may be in the same range as the Marlins.

[Kalapse]

What is our payroll for 2007 going to be?

Right around $100M, a little less I believe.

 

Just looking at a list of the probably free agents following the '07 season, Tadahito Iguchi is going to be the #1 free agent at possibly the weakest position in baseball right now. Luis Castillo, Marcus Giles, Mark Grudzielanek and I suppose Mark Lorretta are the only other decent 2B that will be available.

 

If the Sox do allow Tadahito to test the free agent market, it could turn out disasterous for them. There are no internal replacements for Tad and no real replacements through free agency, this team could be incredibly weak up the middle in '08 which doesn't bode well for a team looking to compete for a Championship.

 

It would be in KW's best interest in get Iguchi locked up as soon as possible even if it means overpaying, you need to do that every once in a while for position players.

[vandy125]

Am I the only one who is reading this as KW just being a good boss? Maybe building up the view with his players that he is loking out for them? He is not giving them the BS view that they should sign without even considering the FA market with how high it is right now.

 

I would be insulted if someone kept pushing me to sign without exploring my enormous options that would be available. I would imagine that if the offers on the market are similar to what the Sox are offering, these players will be back. If not, they won't be back, and they would not have been BSed by KW.

 

Us fans don't like hearing any conversation of key players leaving the team or exploring other options, but good God look at that market. You would have to be dumb to not see what was there, and you would be even dumber if you told your players that they shouldn't and expect them to listen to you.

[Mr. Showtime]

It's fun to laugh, thanks.

[vandy125]

It's fun to laugh, thanks.

 

No problem. I am tired of all of the overreaction from every little thing that is said right now. Can we please just get to some baseball?

[jphat007]

No problem. I am tired of all of the overreaction from every little thing that is said right now. Can we please just get to some baseball?

 

Only a week and a half!

[mike lals]

Right around $100M, a little less I believe.

Just because our payroll is 100Million doesn`t mean we are being competitive in the market.

 

If Buerls turns it around and has a great year we should try and sign him BEFORE he hits FA.We need to start by maybe offering a 4 or 5 year deal like everyone else will.This 3 year limit for pitchers is fundamentally a good idea,but sometimes you have to say, "hey this guy is worth it". JD has been as big a part of our success as anyone,he wants to and deserves to retire as one of the White Sox,KW should make sure that happens.These guys are great teammates already tested in the World Series,and we would just let them walk,something is wrong with that picture.

 

I`m a season ticket holder,and have been in some fashion for alot of years and I am tired of KW/JR running this team like it`s Milwaukee for Pete`s Sake.

 

The very players that we hope for our young guys to become,could be leaving in droves,and we would let them go saying we can`t afford them.Because we are running the team like a small market team.I`m not saying we need to be the Yankees,but they are in the playoffs every year so they must be doing something right.

[SkokieSox]

In the minority, I really don't see the problem with this. He's not conveying he won't attempt to resign them. He's offering them to find their worth as a FA, and we can go from there. Obviously any offer at this point from the Sox, all three are going to feel they can get more. He's just saying, go find out what that number is, and we'll see if we can work something out.

[YASNY]

This is nothing more than a public stance in order to not raise expectations in case things don't work out in the long run. KW did the same thing with Garland and Contreras and got them to sign. It went to another level with Konerko, but he also resigned. This is the way KW plays his cards. Stop b****ing and moaning about it, because so far it has been quite effective.

[AWhiteSoxinNJ]

Can we fire Ken Williams now? He is going to kill this team for years to come.

[Kalapse]

This is nothing more than a public stance in order to not raise expectations in case things don't work out in the long run. KW did the same thing with Garland and Contreras and got them to sign. It went to another level with Konerko, but he also resigned. This is the way KW plays his cards. Stop b****ing and moaning about it, because so far it has been quite effective.

So let me get this straight, KW is only saying these things for the fans so they don't get upset but in doing so he's upsetting the fans whom should not be getting upset over these comments because he's only saying these upsetting things to keep the fans from getting upset?

[bigruss]

Just because our payroll is 100Million doesn`t mean we are being competitive in the market.

 

If Buerls turns it around and has a great year we should try and sign him BEFORE he hits FA.We need to start by maybe offering a 4 or 5 year deal like everyone else will.This 3 year limit for pitchers is fundamentally a good idea,but sometimes you have to say, "hey this guy is worth it". JD has been as big a part of our success as anyone,he wants to and deserves to retire as one of the White Sox,KW should make sure that happens.These guys are great teammates already tested in the World Series,and we would just let them walk,something is wrong with that picture.

 

I`m a season ticket holder,and have been in some fashion for alot of years and I am tired of KW/JR running this team like it`s Milwaukee for Pete`s Sake.

 

The very players that we hope for our young guys to become,could be leaving in droves,and we would let them go saying we can`t afford them.Because we are running the team like a small market team.I`m not saying we need to be the Yankees,but they are in the playoffs every year so they must be doing something right.

 

 

So Frank Thomas should have stayed, even tho he was a cancer in the clubhouse and on one really knew if he could come back, but he was a great player so the sox should have made room for him even if that means jepordizing the teams chance to win, nice logic.

 

And i know that they are diff situations in that JD is healthy (for now) and has more of a role in defense, but look at the maggs situation, everybody seems to forget that with maggs leaving we went out and signed a bunch of players that won a world series for us, as much as i like JD i like winning more

 

Can we fire Ken Williams now? He is going to kill this team for years to come.

 

can you shut up now? he brought us a world series trophy, and the team is still very competitive and jsut because teams like the cubs and giants raise the market value for players and the sox cant afford to chase players vs. the Red sox and Yanks and other big spenders means we should fire him? cmon, no general manager would somehow be able to lower the asking price of these players, and KW has a plan and if JD, Beurhle, or Guch arent in them then so be it, KW is committed to winning and so far has had a ton more success than alot of other people

[DrunkBomber]

Were in arguably the most competitive division in all of baseball and not only do we not seem to be doing much to improve, but we seem to be regressing and doing it on a public forum. Im sorry, but I dont think giving yourself an out for when every single one of our free agents leaves as being a good GM. His job is to field a winner and to sign these guys for as cheap as possible, not tell them theyre better off going to a bigger market. This is Chicago and were coming off a great attendance year, we should be buyers. If KW isnt gonna do anything then I wish he would just shut up. I know it seems like overreaction before the season but Im sick of hearing about how all these guys will benefit from leaving Chicago.

[bmags]

KW has always shown a willingness to sign people, he's just not going to overpay.

 

there comes a point where "overpaying" becomes paying.

[Kalapse]

there comes a point where "overpaying" becomes paying.

And there comes a point where "overpaying" becomes a necessity, like when player contracts are running out and your minor league system is one of the worst in baseball and in possibly the worst shape in team history.

[vandy125]

Were in arguably the most competitive division in all of baseball and not only do we not seem to be doing much to improve, but we seem to be regressing and doing it on a public forum. Im sorry, but I dont think giving yourself an out for when every single one of our free agents leaves as being a good GM. His job is to field a winner and to sign these guys for as cheap as possible, not tell them theyre better off going to a bigger market. This is Chicago and were coming off a great attendance year, we should be buyers. If KW isnt gonna do anything then I wish he would just shut up. I know it seems like overreaction before the season but Im sick of hearing about how all these guys will benefit from leaving Chicago.

 

How cheap can he sign them if they all know he will just bend right over? There has to be some posturing.

[Wealz]

There's a good chance that you won't want to be paying Buehrle & Dye roughly $25M between them each year from 2008 through 2011.

[spiderman]

What good does drawing 2.9 million people, winning a WS, having more revenue than ever before if Reinsdorf wants to run this team like a mid-market team ?

 

We can't keep every free agent - to expect so would be unrealistic, but I think it's ridiculous to even put themselves in a position to lose your free agents like Williams seems willing to do.

[vandy125]

To me, this is like buying a house. You go in there with a set price that you want with the willingness to walk away if the price does not get there. You don't start out with that price, you start below, even to the point of almost losing interest. This is the part that freaks everyone out, but its called negotiating. You have to make sure that the other party knows you can have other options that you will go to if they don't come down. Otherwise, there is no incentive for them to go down.

 

You never put yourself in the situation where the other side knows that they hold all of the cards.

[CanOfCorn]

Kenny doesn't want to set the market. He wants to see what the market will bear, talk to the powers that be and then see if it's worth matching or exceeding that mark to keep that player. I see nothing wrong with that from a business standpoint.

 

I like that Kenny said this. But he said it to his players FIRST and didn't out them in the press. Which is different than the past.

 

And, the White Sox are more than willing to pay. They like to find players that other teams want to get rid of, either because they feel that player is finished (Thome) or wants to get out from under their salary (Vazquez).

 

Relax people. Why are we all worrying about 2008 when 2007 is right around the corner? Let's enjoy this year and then worry about next after the White Sox bring home the championship again. Winning conquers all.