Bobby Abreu's Slow Burn

by The Cheat on Feb 4, 2006 3:09 AM CST in White Sox News

Usually, trade rumors have a life cycle similar to bubble gum. They start out strong; fans get excited. The flavor fades quickly; fans realize the trade isn't going to happen. Finally, your jaw starts to hurt from chewing on a flavorless lump.

The Bobby Abreu for Jose Contreras deal is the mythical stick of gum with never-ending flavor. A timeline:

December 16th -- The first mention of Abreu on this site. I was blindly throwing out trade partners for Jon Garland, proposing what they might expect in return. Abreu had been rumored to be on the market, so I built a deal around him.
January 7th -- BrentBrookHouse posts a diary saying Bruce Levine has confirmed the internet chatter of a proposed deal.
January 19th -- Ken Rosenthal denies there was ever a deal proposed.
January 20th -- Jayson Stark calls the Abreu for Contreras deal "the latest buzz."
January 22nd -- The Philadelphia Enquirer makes mention of a deal, but says the Sox are unable to take on the additional payroll. I show that, with Dye included in the deal -- none of the major news outlets are even mentioning Dye -- the Sox wouldn't be taking on any additional payroll in '06.
January 30th -- MLBTradeRumors.com lists an unfounded rumor with the Sox getting Gavin Floyd in addition to Abreu for Contreras and Dye.
January 31st -- MLBTrade rumors crunches the numbers -- Hey don't worry guys, you're only a week behind me -- and cites a "very solid source."
February 3rd -- The Philadelphia Daily News calls the deal the "hot Internet trade rumor du jour."
February 4th -- Kenny Williams, through a team spokesman, denies the rumors. Again. Not to be denied, that other site brings up Houston.

There it is for you to chew on and decide for yourself. I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of it.

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Abreu to Sox

Although I have been excited to hear about this trade, I started to think about it more and more. Dye signed for less to join the Sox on a gentleman's handshake with Williams and then went on to have the most homers for a RF and win the World Series MVP. On top of that he is signed for a reasonable option for 2007 also. Williams would never do this trade even though Contreras is likely gone after the season. If we keep our dominant staff and go on to win another World Series (god willing), the revenue created from the repeat makes the loss of one pitcher irrelevant, right?? After all, this team is built on pitching.

by Newoptimist on Feb 4, 2006 8:24 PM CST reply actions

I agree

KW should stick to getting pitching for Jose. Getting young, cheap arms is the only way to compete on a year in year out basis. The sox need another Bmac type impact SP who's almost ready.

Rf is set with Dye for 06 and probably 07, with Sweeney there in case of injury. Dye has fulfilled his end of the deal admirably. I also think he'll improve on his 05 numbers,[maybe not HR's but avg and OBP] if he even gets off to poor start. His brutal start skewed the numbers a bit.

by cfisk72 on Feb 5, 2006 7:27 AM CST up reply actions