Mark himself:
"I think everybody knows where my heart's at, where I want to stay, how badly I want to stay. So, if anybody has a question thinking I'm going to St. Louis after the season if I'm a free agent or if it gets to that point, they're wrong. I want to stay here and do everything I can to stay here."
And now some more rumors: Barry Rozner says Reinsdorf has OKed a 4th year:
With the Sox on record as saying they'd never go past three years on a pitcher's contract, and with Buehrle knowing there would be at least five or six years waiting for him on the open market worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million, there was no common ground. Until Jerry Reinsdorf said OK to four years. That, at the least, has given the two sides something to talk about, and that's all that's happening right now.
Joe Cowley says if a deal is reached it will have to be before leaving Florida:
A source close to the situation indicated that while Williams and Berry have yet to speak, everyone between the two men has been acting as a buffer to get a deal done before Friday, which Williams is believed to be calling the final hour. The intermediaries include relatives of Buehrle -- who, like Berry, happen to be in St. Petersburg -- as well as members of the Sox organization, including the coaching staff. It also was no coincidence that assistant general manager Rick Hahn, who handles a lot of the contract work for the Sox, arrived in the area Wednesday afternoon. So why the rush to get this deal done? Because if the Sox leave Florida without a deal in place -- the sides now are believed to be talking about a four-year contract -- all bets are off and Buehrle can start saying his goodbyes. Williams has a plan to retool the Sox, and he needs to start the ball rolling in the next week.
Nathaniel Whalen thinks it'll happen:
So, what's going to happen? This could be a short window in which the Sox and Buehrle camp are going to negotiate. If it doesn't happen now - and Ozzie even went so far as to speculate this - it won't happen. Just based on a feeling - and a little bit of knowledge (emphasis on little) - I'm saying it's going to happen.
And congratulations to Big Frank on No. 500.