If Kenny Williams opened up a pizzeria, I'd have a great slogan for him -- "Pizzas in 30 minutes or less ... or you're staying hungry."
Rumors of Paul Konerko heading to Anaheim appeared in a couple different places, including a report from the (L.A.)
Daily Breeze's Doug Padilla. Padilla was the Sun-Times' White Sox beat writer before Joe Cowley, so I imagine he still has plenty of sources.
However, there was a reason to be immediately skeptical: The deal wasn't already finalized. With Williams in ninja mode, there's an inverse correlation between the length of time a rumor is out in the open, and the likelihood that it will come to fruition.
Here's a checklist of words that should serve as red flags for any trade rumor that involves Williams:
- "are"
- "close to"
- "discussing"
- "working out"
- "talks"
- "could"
- "would"
If any of these words are used in direct relationship to the status of the deal, chances are it's not going to happen. Conversely, here's a list of words that indicate Williams is going to pull the trigger:
- "finalized"
- "finished"
- "traded"
- "sent"
- "completed"
- "pending a physical"
And you get the point.
I'm trying to think of the last telegraphed trade Williams made; certainly none this year. Hell, even for all the noise he made in trying to lure Torii Hunter to the South Side, the ink dried on Scott Linebrink's contract before anybody had a chance to protest it.
Maybe we could see the Freddy Garcia trade coming last offseason, but the return of Gio Gonzalez surprised a lot of people. The return of Sandy Alomar Jr. didn't, on the other hand, so perhaps that's the one. At any rate, I can name far more widely reported trades (Aaron Rowand a few times, Willy Taveras, Jermaine Dye to the Red Sox, Joe Crede to the Angels, etc.) that never happened.
So it should come as no surprise that
Williams denied any negotiating taking place:
"I haven't spoken to [Angels GM] Tony Reagins or anyone with the Angels
since the winter meetings [in early December]," Williams said. [...]
"I have not had any trade discussions about Paul this off-season and
[don't plan to]," Williams said. "I think you always have to leave a
crack open in case someone approaches you to make your team better, and
all [Sox] players know that. But I have not been asked about [Konerko
recently]."
That's a pretty airtight denial. However, give it a couple days of silence, and there's a greater chance that something will happen. That's just how the guy works.
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Speaking purely in the hypothetical, the trade only makes sense for both teams for the wrong reasons.
Howie Kendrick and Ervin Santana wouldn't be an awful return for Konerko, but a batting average-dependent second baseman and a guy who can't pitch away from Angel Stadium doesn't necessarily make a team better in the short or long term. Any trade involving Konerko should at least ensure one of the two, because while avoiding 10-and-5 rights would be preferable, he's too good to trade just for the sake of trading him.
On the other hand, the Angels surprised everybody with the signing of Torii Hunter, a move many considered unnecessary, expensive, and unnecessarily expensive. Trading for Konerko would fall along the same lines. Unless they know something about Casey Kotchman the public doesn't, Konerko would represent a status symbol more than anything.