Reading Room: White Sox ease into winter meetings

Considering Kenny Williams didn't show up until the middle of the evening, there wasn't a whole lot going for the White Sox on the first day of the winter meetings, aside from shared disappointment over Minnie Minoso's fate.

The inactivity/absence merely allowed the familiar storylines continued to percolate.

ON THE TILT-A-BUEHRLE: The Miami Marlins are still considered the front-runner for Mark Buehrle's services, with the Nationals and Rangers making their presences felt. However, the market is still developing as teams get scared by C.J. Wilson's contract demands. Jon Heyman has the notion that the first team to offer Buehrle a four-year deal wins.

Robin Ventura provided the only Sox tie. He talked to reporters at the meetings, saying he understood Buehrle's position as a popular White Sox who received far better offers elsewhere. Ventura did make a personal pitch to Buehrle, to which he said Buehrle smiled all polite-like and said something vague "just smiled and kind of laughed."

Joe Cowley noted that Jerry Reinsdorf's presence at the winter meetings might foreshadow a genuine effort to retain Buehrle.

SKY-HIGH INITIAL ASKING PRICES: The Sox continue to dangle John Danks and ask for the moon -- for example, asking for both Manny Banuelos and Jesus Montero. There's nothing wrong with this, at least not while comparable players haven't moved.

LOTS OF COWLEY: Cowley is on the scene, which means that I have to try to extract signals from noise for four days. Long story short, Don Cooper is his new chew toy, and he still might not understand that Buehrle has an automatic no-trade clause if he returns to the White Sox.

He did tweet something of actual note, relaying that a White Sox player said he would request a trade if Williams trades veterans for prospects. The first player that came to mind for me? Jake Peavy, who had previously made it known that he would want out under such circumstances in May and June of 2010.

But anonymous player demands aside, there wasn't much new to digest. JJ cleans up with a few other items in his Day 1 roundup.

Christian Marrero Reading Room

• Sox Drawer: Reinsdorf 'stunned' about Minoso decision - CSNChicago.com
  
• Reinsdorf baffled by Minoso's omission from Hall of Fame - chicagotribune.com
• Rogers: Not feeling like celebrating - chicagotribune.com
• Minnie Minoso's still not in the HOF? - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN

You've already heard my opinion on Minnie Minoso matters, so here's additional reaction from those inside and outside of White Sox circles. Phil Rogers comes through with a clutch piece of commentary, and I also recommend Christina Kahrl's post, as she mentions some other times during Minoso's career where he barely missed out on greater acclaim.

• Ventura's inner calm sending mixed signals - ESPN Chicago

Ventura hasn't yet reached out to any of his players, which Doug Padilla takes as a sign of some serious roster turnover.

• Quentin aware of rumors, eager to learn his fate - whitesox.com

Among those in the dark is Carlos Quentin, and as a result, he is unusually verbose to Scott Merkin. He emotes -- and not just one emotion, but multiple emotions! One of them almost approaches "wistful," so, hey, really nice job by Merkin.

• Rule 5 Draft Guide, 2011 - Bucs Dugout

Our neighborhood Pirates blog takes an exhaustive look at 28 interesting candidates in the Rule 5 draft. Vlad (the author) includes Terry Doyle and Andre Rienzo on his list, and gives Doyle a chance to be selected due to momentum. "That's an inclination that Keith Law evidently doesn't share... which may only make some people here like Doyle even more," Vlad writes.

• Chicago White Sox announce Spring Training schedule - whitesox.com
• White Sox's spring schedule opens March 5 - ESPN Chicago
• Sox spring training ticket prices cut by 13 percent - chicagotribune.com

It's kinda cute when you can tell everybody gets the same press release. Especially when we beat it by a week.

• Traditional Managing Index Results: 2011 AL - Beyond the Box Score

To nobody's surprise, Ozzie Guillen led all AL managers in sac bunts and intentional walks. But here it is in chart form!

• 25th anniversary: Sox stay in Chicago - The Hardball Times
  

Twenty-five years and one day ago, Gov. Jim Thompson stopped the clock in the legislature. Chris Jaffe recaps the political maneuvering and the ramifications.

• Cooperstown Confidential: The winter meetings of 1971 - The Hardball Times
  

But 25 years is nothing. Bruce Markusen takes us back two score to talk about the crazy wheeling and dealing at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, which resulted in the White Sox trading Tommy John to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen.