If,
as we discussed, Kenny Williams is merely using Torii Hunter as a decoy, he's doing
one tremendous sell job:
"He wants to get things done soon," said a team source who spoke with Williams shortly before Williams met with Hunter on Sunday. "He knows he has a lot to get done. If we can get [Hunter], it can set up a few other things. I get the sense he has a few other things in mind."
In the lede, Mark Gonzalez brings up Williams' failed pursuit of Omar Vizquel three years ago for
the second time in three days. I'm not quite sure what one has to do with the other, unless Gonzalez is subtly hinting that Hunter is going to sign elsewhere. We can only hope. Juan Uribe was the superior choice, even in hindsight.
Now comes the time to root for the Daily Herald's Scot Gregor, who figured Hunter is
the fourth-most likely candidate to play center next year:
Even though the Sox are interested, Hunter is 32 and he likes running
into walls. Risking $15 million a year for his services is highly
unlikely on the Sox' end.
Hooray, long-range perspective! Although the rest of his odds are debatable:
- Coco Crisp (4-1): Theo Epstein's going to ask for the moon.
- Bill Hall (5-1): Even if for one year, Jon Garland still makes a ton of sense for Milwaukee, but Hall's better off as a shortstop.
- Aaron Rowand (6-1): Better than Hunter.
- Jerry Owens (16-1): He's not the biggest of the Sox's problems.
- Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson (25-1): Never thought I'd see them both in the doghouse.
One troubling note: Gregor doesn't mention the possibility of Fukudome, either.
As much as Williams likes to downplay interest, the absence of any Fukudome rumors leads me to believe he's nowhere on the radar. And that's a shame, because if word that
Fukudome would accept a three-year contract is correct, that would be the perfect length for the Sox. The current roster will mostly turn over by 2010, anyway.
The Cubs are
the only Chicago team with interest in Fukudome from what we know. I guess that would make it easier to follow his progress.
*********************
I don't want to alarm you, but here's the list of the players with the most at-bats without an extra-base hit in the Arizona Fall League:
- Ryan Sweeney -- 75
- Jarrett Hoffpauir -- 50
- Jose Duarte -- 39
- Chris Nowak -- 25
- Joe Mather -- 21
- Lingfeng Sun -- 19
After four prospects with significantly lower amounts of plate appearances, you have to dip into
Team China to provide Sweeney company. At 170 pounds, Feng is the third-heaviest position player on his squad.