There has been talk that the Dodgers, who have an increasingly ineffective Nomar Garciapara and the injured Andy LaRoche (out 8-10 weeks) at 3B, have expressed interest in the Tigers' displaced 3B Brandon Inge. Like Robothal, I struggled to see how and why the Dodgers would make that move. With the news of LaRoche's surgery, however, I can finally understand the why.

Which brings up the question: Why not Joe Crede?

Crede and Inge are very similar players in that they're both low-OBP, defensive minded, slugging third basemen. But Crede brings more power, a better contact rate, and a smaller salary -- Inge is owed $19.1M over the next three years. Why wouldn't the Dodgers be interested?

They wouldn't be locking themselves into a 2.5 years of an overpriced bench player when LaRoche gets healthy. And Crede might be movable at the trade deadline to a team like the Indians, who might be looking for 3B help by then.

I know, I know, Crede's got a bum back. But he's appeared healthy (with the exception of his throws to 1B) in camp, and the Dodgers might only need him for 2-3 months anyway.

If nothing else, the prospect of the Dodgers possibly being interested in a Crede-type player should give Kenny Williams some added leverage in the eventual deal with the Giants.

Shaftr points us towards a note in SI about the impending Joe Crede deal.

Robothal fans the Paul Konerko rumors, which only seem plausible if the Sox main goal was to get out from under a contract that's soon to become immovable (10/5 rights).

Elsewhere, Rick Morissey wonders if the Sox are all talk, no Swagger -- The Grinder Era is dead, long live The Swagger! -- and goes on to call them an 85 win team. 85 wins? That calls for a rally.

Our favorite Spanish language paper seems to be reporting that the White Sox have reached a preliminary agreement with Bartolo Colon, pending physical.

No Fuku?:

No Legend?:

• Another hilarious movie poster by Jim.
• The 2008 Marcel projections are released: Batting spreadsheet, Pitching spreadsheet.
• Hot Stove: The Brewers DFA'ed and may non-tender reliever Matt Wise. -- Tadahito main competitors: Padres and Rockies. -- Hideki Kuroda main competitors: Mariners, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks.
• Searching for Mr. Clutch.

I've got the ESPN Winter Meetings special on in the background, not paying too much attention to it. I've kept it on because they promised some Ozzie Guillen goodness at the top of the program. Minutes from it's close, I've yet to see our favorite Venezuelan.

Meanwhile, Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post is reporting that the White Sox appear tantalizingly close to a Miguel Cabrera deal.

Update [2007-12-4 18:17:50 by The Cheat]: According to Peter Gammons (and some MLBlog), the Tigers will make a deal for Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis by the end of the night.

According to Ozzie, who 'doesn't get involved,' the White Sox do indeed have interest in Andruw Jones.

In less interesting rumors:

• Luis Vizcaino may also be a target of the Sox.
• Chris Burke is still an Astro.
• And the Brewers may have increased interest in Joe Crede now that the Rolen trade seems all-but dead.

I had yet to acknowledged the Miguel Cabrera rumors because I didn't feel the Sox had the prospects to get a deal done. And in Ken Rosenthal's latest piece, he says the same thing. But, citing the always mysterious baseball sources, he says the Sox are still in the running with the intent to play Cabrera in LF.

MLBTR says the Sox have a strong interest in 34 year-old Japanese right-handed reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta:

...because we needed another thread in which Larry and Pete can take a screen stretching dump.

It's hard to tell fantasy from reality at Baseball's annual GM meetings, particularly this season. Among the name players who have supposedly being dangled for the right price are, Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Scott Kazmir, Danny Haren, Joe Blanton, Jason Bay, Coco Crisp, Johnny Damon and many more, I'm sure. A number of teams seem to be dangling their productive arbitration-eligible players in an attempt to get multiple unestablished pre-arb players in return.

I think they're just testing the waters more than anything.

Phil Rogers gives some added insight into the proposed Crede-for-Damon swap which could have more players in the mix.

It's hard to see how Garland fits in a deal with the Yankees, but not nearly as difficult as one involving Jose Conteras. What would the Yankees be willing to part with for a year Garland and Crede? Damon and ___? It's not like they have a SS they can give up. If Garland is going to be moved this off-season, the player in return needs to be a SS. There's not another player with whom the Sox are willing to part who can bring back a worthy up-the-middle position player.

And since I can't have a post about the Yankees without bringing up the name Ian Kennnedy... Ian Kennedy. There, I said it.

Only Scott Boras, Scott Boras representing Alex Rodriguez, could be so self-important as to feel the need to make the foregone conclusion of the A-Rod opt-out official with an announcement fed to the press during game four of the World Series. Nobody is surprised that another Boras client is looking for his two-in-the-bush. I fail to see the need for an announcement. During the World Series. Even if it was the least exciting post-season in history. Those two deserve each other.

Another move which has seemingly been written on the wall for a couple weeks appears to be all-but-official in St. Louis. While it won't get nearly the press that A-Rod gets, the Antonelli move will probably have more of an effect (albeit an indirect one) on the White Sox. Rick Hahn should remain as Kenny's #2, and the Indians lose their #2, their second front office departure of the off-season.

As first brought up by Jim at SoxMachine, Phil Rogers seems to say that there are whispers surrounding the White Sox and Coco Crisp, which would seem to be a good fit. I'm on board the get Coco bandwagon, as long as we're just shipping off spare parts and/or lower-level prospects (Shelby and Masset/Aardsma/Oneli/Russell, for example). It's obvious that Boston is going to get rid of him to make room for Ellsbury. There's no reason to give up anything of substantial value in the process.

Flipping channels tonight, I caught a glimpse of The Legend at an NHRA event. Well, I didn't see all of him, just his disembodied head floating in one of those over-the-shoulder pop-ups you see on the evening news. In case you were wondering what he had to say, "Schilling doesn't throw 300MPH." Did anyone else see this? Was he wearing a 2005 World Series Champs hat? I couldn't tell since it was on backwards.

[Sun-Times]

I was about to make a post about Eckstein, but since Blondie drew faster, I'll just add the other parts in the end of this post! (wiz)

In other news,

• Robothal re-iterates his claim that Torii Hunter will get $18 mil per year this offseason.
• Joe Cowley puts together the defensive side of the All-White Sox football team.
• whitesox.com has a Mr. Incredible countdown for Thome's 500th HR quest.

And here's the latest Palehose 7 strip: Tired.

And look inside for Ozzie's latest rant.

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