Article on Buehrle contract

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Buehrle is the heart and soul of this franchise, along with Konerko.

 

You can't put a dollar value on that...which is why replacing him with XXX player doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because starting pitching is so fragile.

 

Everyone was betting against Gil Meche going from a 4-5 starter to the "ace" of the Royals, and he's been exactly that pitcher they projected (around a 2 ERA) but they're still well off the pace.

 

Why did the Royals make that move? To show they were again a legitimate, viable "breathing" franchise. Well, the White Sox need to prove to their fans that they're going to be a "player" in the future of the AL Central or if we're going back to Maybe These Kids Can Play, Version 4.

 

Signing Buehrle makes sense because...

 

1) He's been a critical part of our franchise his entire career

2) We're not going to end up keeping Crede, the other "born and bred" Sox player

3) He's very durable, and still in his prime, as opposed to Vazquez and Contreras

4) He's representative of the "blue collar" work ethic Sox fans most identify with

5) He doesn't have a violent motion or pitch that creates maximum torque like the Liriano slider or Felix Hernandez slurve

6) He's lefthanded and would be a great tutor/mentor for Danks and Gio

7) Any pitcher you can name that we would trade for (Peavy, Oswalt, etc.) would cost us way too much

8) All indications are he would like to come back if the White Sox make a "fair" offer near market value

The ones I crossed out will not be a few of the prime reasons KW makes Buehrle an offer this offseason, the others mean nothing to him and rightly so.

 

You don't give a player big money for what he's done in the past, you do it for what you believe he'll do in the future, Frank Thomas was also a critical part of the franchise for his entire career but was let go because KW believed he could find players that could outproduce Frank for what he projected him to do. You don't toss money at a player because he's home grown.

 

#4 is a crock of s***.

 

#7 I don't necessarily believe, there will be some damn good pitchers on the market over the next 2 years, if the Sox are willing to spend equal or a bit more cash than Buehrle will be getting this offseason you can probably acquire a damn talented starter such as Peavy. But the main reason I don't count #7 is because this doesn't seem to be KW's philosophy, he's not going to trade/sign big time/money pitchers and the loss of Buehrle is not going to change this.

[caulfield12]

The ones I crossed out will not be a few of the prime reasons KW makes Buehrle an offer this offseason, the others mean nothing to him and rightly so.

 

You don't give a player big money for what he's done in the past, you do it for what you believe he'll do in the future, Frank Thomas was also a critical part of the franchise for his entire career but was let go because KW believed he could find players that could outproduce Frank for what he projected him to do. You don't toss money at a player because he's home grown.

 

#4 is a crock of s***.

 

#7 I don't necessarily believe, there will be some damn good pitchers on the market over the next 2 years, if the Sox are willing to spend equal or a bit more cash than Buehrle will be getting this offseason you can probably acquire a damn talented starter such as Peavy. But the main reason I don't count #7 is because this doesn't seem to be KW's philosophy, he's not going to trade/sign big time/money pitchers and the loss of Buehrle is not going to change this.

 

 

Thomas was coming off of three or four injury-plagued seasons and was in his mid 30's. KW never got along with Big Frank, that's no secret to anyone...you had the sense that he wanted Thomas out of the way and he was going to get rid of him no matter what.

 

Yeah, we ditched Fisk, McDowell, Ventura, Thomas, Durham, Ordonez and Lee. I just get the sense that Mark and Konerko are the two players he respects the most, and he's not going to just let him walk without making a legit offer.

 

I do think fans relate more to blue collar, "lunch pail" types like Crede, Rowand, Konerko and Buehrle. How do you explain the tremendous attachment to Aaron Rowand, a mediocre outfielder who many organizations viewed as an ideal fourth OFer...you would think the guy was the Dalai Lama for as much veneration as he receives.

 

Just like the "average" fans identify more with Steve Nash (hey, I'm white and 6'0") or Buehrle (I'm a little pudgy and can throw the ball 85!)...they don't identify with players like Shaquille O'Neal or Yao Ming. They appreciate them, admire them, but rarely "love" them. Despite Michael Jordan's height, people most admired his competitiveness, his drive, his commitment to defense and his work ethic. To me, that's what Buehrle represents, someone who made it against all odds when the organization was planning for Kip Wells, Danny Wright, Jon Garland, Rauch and Barcelo to be the future. Buehrle just went out there and got results, unlike McCarthy. No talking, no complaining...he's just a solid, #2 big league starter.

 

It's going to cost more to get someone from outside of the organization than it is going to cost the franchise to keep Mark.