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As far as the White Sox are concerned, most of the leadup to free agency centered on the their impending free agents, and not so many outside ones. They took care of Jake Peavy, but would they be able to do the same for A.J. Pierzynski and Kevin Youkilis? Brett Myers served a purpose in the Sox bullpen and leaves a hole. Francisco Liriano ... well, nobody really brought up Francisco Liriano.
The passing of midnight on Saturday didn't tip their hands, either. Then again, with the White Sox's top men (and women) meeting at their underground lair in Arizona,* maybe it's a few days too early to connect players from Chicago.
(*May be above ground.)
So we have to look elsewhere -- like to the Bay Area, where new BBWAA president Susan Slusser does us the favor:
Brandon McCarthy, who was among the league's top starters when healthy, also has drawn immediate interest; numerous teams, including the Cubs, White Sox and Blue Jays, are seeking starting pitching.
I really don't know if this makes sense -- or if the White Sox are an actual name tied to McCarthy, or just a team that profiles a possible McCarthy suitor, but I really don't care. I want this to happen.
Terrerobytes
Buddy Bell, who was promoted to vice president/assistant general manager on Friday, elaborated on his new job description. He's still going spend a lot of time in player development, so he may still be our go-to guy on conference calls.
Scott Merkin lays out John Danks' offseason rehab plan:
That need has received a positive push during this past week as Danks began his throwing program on Monday, three days before his Nov. 1 scheduled date as part of his ongoing shoulder rehab. The adjustment, as laid out by the team doctors, White Sox head athletic trainer Herm Schneider and with input from pitching coach Don Cooper, has Danks throwing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday during November and December to have him on target to start Cooper's mound work on Jan. 1 or 2 and be ready for the start of Spring Training in February.
Danks' workload in regard to the number of throws goes up incrementally each session and the distance from which he throws changes once per week, as he explained. For example, he threw 20 times from 45 feet off flat ground on Monday and then 10 from 60 feet, followed by 25 from 45 feet on Wednesday and another 15 from 60 feet.
Grant Brisbee live-blogged the unveiling of the retro-style Houston Astros look. The '60s are an underappreciated decade for great uniforms.
Speaking of underappreciated, James puts together a defense of Gavin Floyd. Whether or not Floyd is going to stick around, it's still worth noting what he's worth.