Odds 'n' ends from the last day of winter meetings...
This article by the Tribune's
Mark Gonzalez is all over the place. First off, tenses seem to be an issue -- he goes from past to present in the fourth graph, which is likely a copy editing error. It gets hazier shortly after that, where he quotes Reinsdorf axing the rumored deal with Houston involving Jon Garland for Wily Taveras and Taylor Buchholz, only to carry on like the Sox are still considering it in the next graph.
This was also a weird sentence:
"It has dwindled down to a few clubs where we have our targets," said Williams, who virtually ruled out St. Louis.
I guess this is in reference to Mark Buehrle? It's not made clear, and if you're not thinking about
Buehrle and his Cardinals fixation, it sounds completely random. Like if somebody were writing a story about Williams' lunch plans:
"It has dwindled down to a few places where we have our options," said Williams, who virtually ruled out a chicken caesar wrap.
The obvious reason is that Kenny just doesn't like chicken caesar wraps, but because it's so boldly stated, I'd start to wonder if he got food poisoning from bad lettuce recently. So maybe he isn't ruling out St. Louis because of the Buehrle connection, but because the people there are
way too fixated on where they went to high school.
Anyway, by the end of this article, I'm starting to be convinced that this Web version is garbled. First, there's this set of graphs:
Moving a starting pitcher would create openings for Brandon McCarthy
and Floyd, who are expected to compete for the fifth spot in the
rotation.
"Well, I know they are both plus-arms," Williams said. "One of the
things you have to deal with is that hopefully his growing pains are
out of the way. They all go through it.
One, who's going through the growing pains? Two, there's no proper first reference to Gavin Floyd -- even earlier in the story, he just says "Floyd." But that's not all -- at the end, it wraps up thusly:
"One thing we have to offer from an offensive standpoint is we can give a pitcher a little run support."
Taveras, who turns 25, would give the Sox effective speed at the top of the order.
The Sox also could seek a long-range replacement for right fielder
Jermaine Dye, who can become a free agent next winter and should draw
interest from Texas and the Los Angeles Angels.
Where the hell did that come from? Did somebody post unedited copy? It wouldn't be the first time cloaked-out text made its way online (I know this from first-hand experience). Anyway, pressing forward:
Did anybody here actually believe the Houston rumors for a second? Some sources were claiming the deal fell through only because Buchholz failed his physical, but this deal made no sense for the Sox from the beginning.
Taveras is another Scott Podsednik, and it sounds like Pods isn't going anywhere (gag),
according to Joe Cowley. Buchholz's
track record is worse than Gavin Floyd's, and Jon Garland is worth more than Freddy Garcia since he's younger and boasts a better contract status.
Of course, maybe Hawk Harrelson would've done it if he were GM again, because he sang Buchholz's praises when
he started against the Sox. Like anybody who faces the Sox for the first time, Buchholz shut the Sox down through six before Chad Qualls came in and gave up a first-pitch grand slam to Joe Crede to spoil the effort.
Only when
Jason Hirsh started to enter the discussion did I think this deal could possibly have some legs. I'm guessing the conversation between Williams and Astros GM Tim Purpura went something like this:
Purpura: How about Buchholz and Taveras for Garland?
Williams: Throw in Hirsh and we'll talk.
Purpura: Nah.
I'd be all for Hirsh, since he was a
Tri-City ValleyCat. Gotta represent up in the New York-Penn League, yo.
Bitchin' new band name: Chet Lemon's Bluetooth.Now you know why I'm so concerned about the influence of
My Boys. More from Kenny:
"I can't combat all of it. If you do, you're going to be squashed by
the pressure of it all. I just try to make informed decisions. Our guys
get around and talk about a lot of things. Like you guys do in the bar
about your end of the industry."
"...you know, with the blonde chick with whom one of you are likely involved semi-romantically, and the whipped guy, and the other whipped guy, and the womanizer, who evidently are available to hang out at all hours of the day despite doing pretty well for themselves financially."
(Because I promised, notes from last week's My Boys: There were really no incorrect journalism references, aside from the fact that she
never works. The two episodes covered at least four weeks, and she didn't work once! They were in a bar, and she points to the TV to show a great play Greg Maddux made. Why wasn't she covering that game? Only until late in the second episode did she even mention that she had a game to cover -- but not that night. Just later that week. Right in the middle of baseball season. I did appreciate the Potbelly's reference, because their sandwiches are sorely missed here.)
Fill in the blank from
this Kenny quote:
"Some of these things are unpopular, but you know what would be more unpopular?" Williams added. "It would be if _________."
The possibilities are endless.