I say 4.5

Aaron Poreda, a 2007 first-round draft pick, will compete as a starter but could settle for a relief role, as Williams doesn’t want to field a rotation of four left-handers.
…
Williams intimated that the price of leadoff hitters has caused him to look internally, with Jerry Owens the leading candidate.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-05-white-sox-chicagodec05,0,7240365.story

Paul White of USA Today was on XM radio and he mentioned that the Sox and Brewers are in some heavy talks about Jenks…

http://brewersfandemonium.yuku.com/topic/16707
 
did anyone hear it?

On that site think they can get Jenks for Cameron?So dumb.

Some of it is sure to happen in Sin City, though activity has been sleepy enough so far, and there is so much work for most teams to do, that much of it surely won’t be accomplished in the flurry between Monday and Thursday at the Bellagio.

“The week after the winter meetings, I think, is going to be the busiest that you’ve seen in a long time,” Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams said. "I don’t believe there are going to be very many trades because the market is flooded with free agents right now and the economy has slapped the industry smack in the face.

"I think there will be opportunities and realizations from both sides that what used to be the market is no longer the market as a result of the economy and the realities of the world.

 “There will be a precious few who get theirs, though.”

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/11154522/1

According to a major-league source, Williams has asked one of his scouts about touted Reds right-hander Homer Bailey, whose development hit a speed bump last year. That could help the Sox because, after all, Floyd benefited from a change of scenery, and several teams might have run out of patience with their prospects.

Right-hander Bobby Parnell, whom Williams scouted in the Arizona Fall League, may be too valuable for the Mets to give up. But the New York, desperately trying to add a veteran starter and a closer, may need to give up such a young pitching prospect.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-07-white-sox-winter-meetingsdec07,0,515366.story

But 4 years for 40 million for Furcal seems worth it to me… i know he denied the A’s at somewhere between 35-40 but he plays a hell of a SS, gets on base, and leads off. A Ram to center and Furcal to short…. with Furcal leading off…

Now please everyone criticize me and tell me it isn’t gonna happen. I know….. Just saying I think that is a decent bargain…. only time will tell i guess

there’s a prog on Uk Tv on the top 100 movie tear jerkers, we are just about to move onto the top 5. Admin points for anyone who can guess any.

I bought a jersey of all of you guys’ favorite…..Ken Griffey Jr! For the lovely price of 35 american dollars.

Go Marquette, go go go go!

(come on, let me have my moment in the sun. this could very well be Marquette’s high point before another first/second round exit in the tourney and fading into mediocrity next season.)

was Greg Hibbard. I had put Jason Bere on it. Bere had 36 wins in a Sox uniform.

If Williams doesn’t locate a leadoff hitter from outside the organization, then 2009 will be a rough rebuilding year.

Using the Brock2 career projection formula, giving Conigliaro a normal and expected projection until age 42, he comes in at 3,371 career games, which would place him second all-time. It also gives him 817 home runs and 2,313 RBI.

http://www.dugoutcentral.com/blog/?p=2113

• There have been reports that the White Sox are trying to move Jermaine Dye, but sources indicate that is overblown. The stark reality right now is that this is not a good climate for the White Sox to make a good deal involving Dye. He is set to make $11.5 million next year, with a $1 million buyout on an option for 2010, and the White Sox presumably would want decent return for the slugger. But if a team actually wanted a corner outfielder, they could simply offer a contract to a Bobby Abreu or a Dunn, rather than swap prospects to Chicago.

The White Sox have some depth from which to deal, writes Mark Gonzales.

• Some sources don’t expect Orlando Cabrera to accept the arbitration offer with the White Sox, even in the depressed shortstop market. Chicago is fully committed to playing Alexei Ramirez at shortstop, and Cabrera has been made aware of that. Even if he could get the most money by taking arbitration, he figures to be leery of remaining in a situation where he might not necessarily play very much — and at this stage in his career, the best thing for him might be to go and play some place, such as with the Baltimore Orioles.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3751733&name=olney_buster
 
h/t http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/olneys-latest-w.html

he was about a 3 WAR player last year.

what’s the feeling on you lot?

Jermaine Dye: Javier Vazquez and Nick Swisher already have been exported from the south side of Chicago. The consensus says Dye is next. “I’m hearing more and more that he’s the next in line,” one NL executive said. The Braves, Reds and Royals have shown interest. It’s believed the Rays at least kicked Dye’s tires. And some Mets rumors have floated, even though adding an outfielder is deep on their priorities list. But Dye won’t be the only White Sox rumor you’ll hear this week. Keep your ears peeled for Paul Konerko and Jim Thome talk, too. “They’ve made clear that any of their veteran guys are available,” one exec said. “They want to get younger.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings081207

Jocketty won’t comment on the trade talks, but he acknowledged that the Reds have talked to the White Sox about several players.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081207/COL09/812070415

Four winters ago, White Sox general manager Ken Williams heard announcer Ken Harrelson’s sales pitch on behalf of abandoned catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

It turned out to be one of Williams’ wisest moves. Pierzynski was signed as a free agent and evolved into one of the most valuable Sox over the last four seasons.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-07-white-sox-winter-meetingsdec07,0,515366.story

What’s new: More than a few scouts were dismayed to see 19-year-old Cuban Dayan Viciedo out of shape at his Dominican workout last month, but they agreed he could hit, and the White Sox made him rich. It seems a longshot, but there’s some talk he could play third base or shortstop for the White Sox this season, or they could turn him into an outfielder.

What’s old: A rival GM revealed weeks ago the White Sox were shopping every decent-sized contract they had (and maybe he wasn’t exaggerating that much), and so far Kenny Williams has traded away Nick Swisher and Javier Vazquez, or almost $17 million off 2009 alone.

Winter meetings: And Jermaine Dye would make it about $28 million. He is being shopped and there would be plenty of interest. In fact, he’d make a lot of sense for the Mets.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-alwm120608&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Even though the White Sox won the AL Central in 2008, they apparently lost money.

Williams said getting younger is his prime objective this winter, but cutting the 2008 payroll ($121 million) ranks a close second.

“If there’s something out there, whether it be by trade or through free agency, we’ll explore it,” Williams said. “But there are parameters we have right now. Payroll-wise, we are bumping up against our break-even point as we sit here today.”

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=256402