The White Sox are "extremely close" to trading for Nationals outfielder Alfonso Soriano, a source close to the situation told ESPN The Magazine's Tim Kurkjian. The Nationals have great interest in pitcher Brandon McCarthy.

The White Sox, said the source, also are close to acquiring pitcher Mike MacDougal from the Royals in exchange for minor league pitcher Tyler Lumsden.

Soriano joined Washington last offseason in a trade from Texas, and the Nationals shifted him from second base to left field. Soriano is batting .288 with 31 homers, 62 RBI and 25 steals.

The slugger is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the season.

^holy shit

Will DD step up in response?

I wonder what the White Sox will do with Pods if they acquire Soriano? Trade him?

Or will they consider moving him to CF and sending Anderson down to AAA?

^holy shit

Will DD step up in response?

I am sure he will. I love how Bowden wanted our farm system but will take the White Sox 6th starter for Soriano. McCarthy is a solid talent but let's face it the way the back have of the White Sox staff has been pitching if he was good as people believe he would be in the rotation. These are the type of deals I hate, the team who has the asset (wash) wants 5 times more from a team with a lot of talent won't back down or take a counter offer but in the end get 1/2 of what they wanted from another team.

I wonder what the White Sox will do with Pods if they acquire Soriano? Trade him?

Or will they consider moving him to CF and sending Anderson down to AAA?

I'd go with the latter if I were them.

I wonder what the White Sox will do with Pods if they acquire Soriano? Trade him?

Or will they consider moving him to CF and sending Anderson down to AAA?

I'd go with the latter if I were them.

They would really miss Anderson's glove in CF though.

But then again, Anderson's bat has been awful this season and replacing him with Soriano would make their lineup even more potent.

Monday, July 24, 2006

White Sox: Make us an offer. Uh, not that offer.
CLEVELAND -- Yes, the White Sox asked about Alfonso Soriano.

And about almost every other player in baseball.

In fact, one White Sox official said yesterday: ``(GM Kenny Williams) is telling teams that we'll talk about anyone other than our 3-4-5 hitters (Thome, Konerko, Dye). Make us an offer.''

The Sox are struggling, and would like to shake things up. That doesn't mean they're about to get Soriano (or anyone else), because they found out what the Tigers and every other team that has talked to Washington found out. GM Jim Bowden is, for now, making unrealistic demands.

There's a pattern, too. Sanchez (top prospect) and Maybin ('05 top draft pick) from the Tigers. Josh Fields (top prospect) and Lance Broadway ('05 top draft pick) from the Sox.

He's not getting Sanchez and Maybin. He's not getting Fields and Broadway. And he's not getting Howie Kendrick and Kendry Morales from the Angels.

Does that mean Soriano won't be traded? Not at all, just that it's going to be a weeklong game of poker. If the Tigers want Soriano (and he would certainly help), they just have to have the best offer on the table when the deadline approaches.

As for the White Sox, expect them to make some kind of deal. They'd prefer to add middle relief, but when they asked the Padres about Scott Linebrink, the price quoted was Fields-plus. Not happening.

I guess how close they are to a deal depends on whom ESPN is talking to I guess.

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/weblog/index.ssf?/mtlogs/mlive_tigers/archives/2006_07.html#164444

The Sox also acquired Mike MacDougal from the Royals for pitching prospects Tyler Lumsden & Daniel Cortes.

washington still has a few days. cant imagine them taking a tanker of a deal with so much time left on the table. theyre probably playing around with chicago to squeeze the tigers.

dombroski should hold firm. if we have the better offer, i think we still win out--washington has no reason to spite us. my guess is that these rumors are over blown.

Not sure if he still can, but as recent as a year ago or so MacDougal was hitting 100 MPH+ on the radar gun. Of course, he had (and then lost) the Royals closer's job several times, and if you can't keep the job as the Royals closer than not much can be said for you.

But the Sox bully really needed the help, so adding a former closer as a setup man is not a bad deal for them at all.

The White Sox are "extremely close" to trading for Nationals outfielder Alfonso Soriano, a source close to the situation told ESPN The Magazine's Tim Kurkjian. The Nationals have great interest in pitcher Brandon McCarthy.

The White Sox, said the source, also are close to acquiring pitcher Mike MacDougal from the Royals in exchange for minor league pitcher Tyler Lumsden.

Soriano joined Washington last offseason in a trade from Texas, and the Nationals shifted him from second base to left field. Soriano is batting .288 with 31 homers, 62 RBI and 25 steals.

The slugger is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the season.

The most interesting thing to me about this report is actually who is reporting it. Kirkjian is very close to the Nats front office (the Orioles too) so I'll go ahead and say that it's not out of the question that they are feeding him some stuff about this being "close" to see if another team (Tigers) will up their offer.

That's my theory at least.

I thought the same thing as well.

ESPN front page has articles about two Detroit rivals close or extremely close to grabbing the top available players. What kind of sucky day would it be for the White Sox to get Soriano and the Pacers to get Harrington on the same day?

MARKET REPORT
Neither the White Sox nor Nationals have issued any blanket denials of Tim Kurkjian's report Monday that the White Sox were "extremely close" to a trade for Soriano. But there was also no indication from either of them that "extremely close" meant: "We'll be starting that press conference any second now." So this is one puzzling state of affairs. Other clubs interested in Soriano were reporting later in the day that they'd heard the deal wasn't done. And White Sox GM Kenny Williams was telling teams that while his club was "in it" up to its nostrils on Soriano, he hadn't agreed to anything. Williams, who didn't make himself available for comment to ESPN.com, also told at least one club (and the Chicago press corps) that Brandon McCarthy was "absolutely" not part of this trade. And Williams was equally adamant that blue-chip third-base prospect Josh Fields -- another player the Nationals have targeted -- also isn't going anyplace. So sorting this situation out isn't easy. The consensus of baseball men we spoke with was that giving up McCarthy, a young, low-budget talent who can't be a free agent until 2011, was "too much" to fork over for two months of Soriano. And don't think for a second, said one of them, that there was a chance the Sox could get Soriano signed first: "To keep Soriano, it would take five years and $65 million. Is Jerry Reinsdorf going to give him the same money he gave Paul Konerko after Paul Konerko, the face of his franchise, played on a World Series team? He could, I guess. But that's sure not his M.O." So what are we to make of all this conflicting evidence? Well, the White Sox could be helping Washington drive up the price on Soriano from Detroit or Minnesota. Or they could still wind up with Soriano themselves. But if that's going to happen, they obviously have a lot of work to do to settle on the names. Neither scenario quite fits our definition of "extremely close." But who knows, maybe we just have an old dictionary.

I find it funny that the price for Abreu, Soriano, and Tejada are only high for the Tigers and not anyone else. I don't buy it, why would Washington accept lesser prospects from the White Sox but not the Tigers? Our second option tier prospects are arguably better than the WS top guys, thus our counter is still better than theirs. This is just an attempt to drive up the price if a deal is not made by 3pm est Kurkjian was apawn. Teams who are extremely close don't need 24 hours plus.

I also love the fact that teams like Baltimore want to trade us Tejada who wants out after this season but want Verlander or Bonderman who are as untouchable as anyone. Why the hell would you offer championship contenders a luxary item for their bread and butter guys? I swear baseball executives make no sense.

I find it funny that the price for Abreu, Soriano, and Tejada are only high for the Tigers and not anyone else. I don't buy it, why would Washington accept lesser prospects from the White Sox but not the Tigers? Our second option tier prospects are arguably better than the WS top guys, thus our counter is still better than theirs. This is just an attempt to drive up the price if a deal is not made by 3pm est Kurkjian was apawn. Teams who are extremely close don't need 24 hours plus.

I also love the fact that teams like Baltimore want to trade us Tejada who wants out after this season but want Verlander or Bonderman who are as untouchable as anyone. Why the hell would you offer championship contenders a luxary item for their bread and butter guys? I swear baseball executives make no sense.

They are trying to play the - "This might be your only chance" card. Which is bull shit. The price will drop, and we'll be able to get the guys cheaper, or not get them.