He has guesses.

There were hints.

But was it hours? Days?

Buehrle remains in the dark. Maybe it's not such a bad place to be.

''[General manager] Kenny [Williams] never really told me how close it was, but at one point through all of it last year, he came down [to the clubhouse], shook my hand and told me, 'Thanks for everything you've done. We can't really agree on a contract, so we'll have to send you somewhere else.'

''Once he said that, I thought, 'Well, this is it.' I kind of told him, 'Thanks for everything you've done. Thanks for making my dreams come true.' I still don't know what team I was supposed to be going to. Mostly what I heard was Boston, but I'll never know.''

And Williams still isn't telling.

''I sat on something for about two weeks that I could have done at any moment,'' Williams explained Sunday. ''I held out hope that something would ultimately change, and thank goodness for the patience of [assistant GM] Rick Hahn and his skills because had I been handling it directly, [Buehrle] would be wearing another uniform.''

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