Thanks to a blogger meet-up at U.S. Cellular Field back in 2009, we have literally known for years that even though Dayan Viciedo signed a four-year major-league contract, the White Sox have him under team control for six years. He has 123 days of service time, so assuming he doesn't reach Super Two status -- and the Sox are in pretty good shape -- he will be eligible for arbitration in 2015.

If you needed further confirmation, Scot Gregor had an anonymous source tell him the same thing in attempt to teach us something during our wackadoo back-and-forth over service time. I don't know why that needed an anonymous source. We identified ours as Rick Hahn.

Still, some people are fuzzy on the details. From Dave Van Dyck's story:

In some ways, this is a make-or-break season for Viciedo, who turns 23 in March. He is in the final year of the original four-year, $10 million deal he signed after leaving Cuba.

If he produces, he gets a big-time contract; if he struggles, his career will be in jeopardy and the Sox may decide that Cespedes or Soler is the future, if either signs with them.

"I don't put any pressure on myself like that," he said. "As for this being a contract year, I try not to think about that. If I start thinking about it, then you put too much pressure on yourself to be loose and do what you've been doing for so long."

Scott Merkin and Doug Padilla are clear on the details, so that's good. Remember: Friends don't let friends assume this is Dayan Viciedo's contract year.

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If you believe Twitter, today is the day Gavin Floyd ceases to be a member of the Chicago White Sox.

Sometimes, as we very well know, it pays to believe Twitter. On the other hand, the source of this particular trade rumor (who claims to be Floyd's wife's cousin) defended his scoop thusly:

brBoiler2013Brad Rogers

@joeymwilson my sister told me you have down syndrome

Jan 06FavoriteRetweetReply

AaronKatesAaron Kates

@brBoiler2013 My Cousin has Down Syndrome and his I.Q. Is higher then yours. That's a fact.

Jan 06FavoriteRetweetReply

in reply to @AaronKates↑

@brBoiler2013
Brad Rogers@AaronKates I go to purdue. Ivy league of the Midwest u herpe face
Jan 06 via Twitter for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply

This level of discourse is more common than you think among newsbreakers, mind you. For instance, when I tweeted Ken Rosenthal asking how the White Sox could be serious about Yoennis Cespedes when they're slashing payroll, he tweeted back, "Lol fine dont trust me. Im only on ntaional tv u butthole."

At any rate, another Blue Jays blogger is going with it while everybody else is ignoring or dismissing it, so somebody's going to be wrong. This is what counts for baseball-based entertainment in the dead of winter.

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According to Danny Knobler of CBS, the White Sox are showing serious interest in Cuban outfield prospect, Yoenis Cespedes. I have been on this bandwagon ever since I saw his first of two videos. I liked him so much I signed him in my "If I Ran the White sox" post back on November 20th.

So why should the Sox sign this guy?

Although those videos were edited heavily, there is no mistaking the athletic ability this guy has. From his build, to his amazing leaping and obvious power to all fields, Cespedes is clearly a machine.

He is the best outfielder left on the market, and although the Sox have a bunch of outfielders on the roster, the fact that we have Alejandro De Aza and Brent Lillibridge shouldn't stop anyone from pursuing a guy like this. Lets face it, the White Sox need as much talent as they can get, regardless of position.

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I like reading Joe Cowley articles because he's not for beginners.

Those who read him long enough know that he has his sources, and he goes to bat for them -- or against their enemies. And while there is some legitimate insight to be gleaned from what he writes, you have to work to filter out the slant.

In this case, he's been on a crusade against Don Cooper. Partially because Cooper supposedly went behind Cowley favorite Ozzie Guillen to get an extension, and also probably because he enjoys getting a rise out of Cooper and listening to him get all high-pitched, fast-talking and huffy. He doesn't need Cooper for stories, so he uses him for ratings.

But in order to paint Cooper in a really unfavorable light, he has to leave some things out. That's where it's fun for me, because I like to fill them in. So let's take today's column, where he talks to John Danks and also offers some information on the pitching staff's inner workings.

For starters, it's cause for caution when somebody writes about the White Sox's organizational disorganization in 2011 and doesn't mention the words "Ozzie" or "Guillen" once. But if you want to get specific, there are two other noteworthy omissions.

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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.

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And if you're prone to motion sickness, this ain't gonna be easy.

The Florida/Miami Marlins gave Mark Buehrle a grand tour of their new ballpark as they court big-name free agents to complement the publicly financed grandeur, and they have friends. Ken Rosenthal says the Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers are also considering Buehrle, making four teams who aren't afraid to open their wallets.

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From his home in Orlando, Hawk Harrelson gave Scot Gregor a number of strong opinions on a number of various topics, including a boast about his sixth sense:

I said, ‘I'll tell you what I think they're going to do. This club has got a chance to be the most talented ballclub that you and I have ever been associated with.' And I said, ‘I don't think it's going to get it done.'

She said, ‘What? Why?' And I said, ‘I'll tell you why. Last year (2010) we had a lot of talent on this club and we had a bad spring. We were flat coming out of spring training and we stayed flat all year long.'

I said, ‘This year it's the same thing. We are flatter coming out of spring than we were last year, and I don't see us coming out of it.' And dad-gum it, I was right. We were flat and as the season went on, we got flatter.

This leads me to two questions.

1) Can a "talented ballclub" remain flat for an entire season -- and supposedly give signs that they were going to be flat before flatting it up -- and still be called a "talented ballclub?"

2) If so, isn't that an indictment of the team's leadership? I guess Harrelson scratches the surface by saying "Ozzie was just not Ozzie the last couple of years."

If this is bumming you out, worry not -- Harrelson has a surprise for you.

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The White Sox's exclusive window to negotiate a new contract with Juan Pierre has ended. The all-inclusive version of free agency has begun, and here's a handy primer for what's going on.

General free agency information

• Official Elias Rankings - MLB Trade Rumors

Mark Buehrle and Pierre are Type B free agents, but that only matters for the former, since there's no chance of the White Sox offering arbitration to the latter. Of course, being a Type B free agent makes Buehrle an easier sell for other teams, since it won't cost them their first-round pick.

• 2012 MLB Free Agents - MLB Trade Rumors
• Sortable Free Agent Leaderboard - FanGraphs

Your standard list of all free agents of varying interest and consequences, and sortable stats for all free agents.

• Top 50 Free Agents | FanGraphs Baseball
• 2012 Top 50 Free Agents With Predictions - MLB Trade Rumors

Buehrle ranks 12th on the FanGraphs list, and 13th on MLBTR's list.

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