Carl Everett continues to spout off.
"If I have any bitter feelings about anything, it was how they treated me as far as contract-wise," Everett told the newspaper. "It was two seasons that I had pretty good seasons and they pretty much said, 'Thank you, bye-bye.' If I'm bitter at anybody it's Kenny Williams and he knows it simply because how he handled 2003 and last year."
In 2003, Everett hit well for the Sox, but he carried an $8M option and needed to be moved to a corner outfield position. In the 3 months that Everett was on the roster, Aaron Rowand, finally healthy after coming back from his motorcycle accident, hit .385/.397/.585 while playing better defense than Everett. Williams would have been a complete idiot to pick up Everett's option.
Last year, Everett managed just a .311 OBP, stealing tons of RBI opportunities from Paul Konerko as he made outs from the #3 spot. He then complained about his demotion from that spot late in the year. The Sox were not going to spend $5+M on a guy who wasn't getting on base and had zero defensive value. He also sucked against right-handed pitching last year, which was new; He typically was terrible against lefties.
Ozzie Guillen had this amusing quip on Everett's comments.
"We don't have a minor-league system because of him," Guillen joked. "But if that's the way he feels, I think he should have a little more respect and consideration for Kenny because Kenny is the one who brought him here. Even when people didn't want him, Kenny still brought him."
The Sox have given up quite a bit for Everett. Though, only one departure has really hurt.-
Frankie Franciso -- Added velocity when the Rangers converted him to reliever. Quickly became Rangers' set up man before chair throwing incedent.
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Josh Rupe -- A little better than the middling lefties that clutter our minor league system behind Liotta and Lumsden.
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Anthony Webster -- Raw, "toolsy" prospect who was exposed to the Rule 5 draft in December.
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Gary Majewski -- I was never a fan of Majewski's stuff. He's impressed me at the major league level though. He's a decent set-up man. (I have no idea how he got included on the USA's WBC team.)
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Jon Rauch -- A completely different pitcher since his arm surgery. He always rubbed management the wrong way, even before being declared the best pitching prospect in baseball in 2000. It looks like he finally may find a role as a middle reliever/swingman this season.