UPDATE, 8:19 p.m.
Our first White Sox news! A huge signing!
White Sox signing Ryan Goins to minor-league deal, confirmed. Gets major-league camp invite and $975k base in majors.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 11, 2018
UPDATE, 6:05 p.m.
So, Ken Williams is bringing the fire today. Like you expected anything different.
My guess is he is not on board with leaving Eloy down in Charlotte for a month next season to “work on his defense.”
One more from Williams: "We knew we would get here and maybe a year too early, but the opportunities that exist exist this year. We are going to down the road and see where it leads us and hopefully we can trend upward."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 11, 2018
UPDATE, 3:40 p.m.
Multiple sources on the White Sox beat all reporting that Ken Williams is on the scene at the Winter Meetings, and talking aggressive action: The time to be aggressive is now.
UPDATE: 3:00 p.m.
Bummer. I thought Darren Jackson’s idea that the White Sox snag Tyson Ross was a good one. So good, we signed him in the SB Nation offseason simulation, for basically this money and terms.
Source confirms that Tyson Ross is headed to the Tigers on a one-year, $5.75M deal. @Ken_Rosenthal had it first.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 10, 2018
But if our sights are on Joe Kelly, no sweat, man.
UPDATE: 2:30 p.m.
We can now add Kaleb Cowart, claimed off waivers by the Angels from the Mariners. The winter meetings are lit!
— SB Nation MLB (@SBNationMLB) December 10, 2018
UPDATE: 1:42 p.m.
From the Department of AL Central Weakening:
Sources: Corey Kluber trade talks have intensified. #Dodgers are among the teams involved. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 10, 2018
The Indians are looking for a big return for Corey Kluber, including the Dodgers’ top prospect, Alex Verdugo https://t.co/Engk4bs6I9
— Let's Go Tribe (@LetsGoTribe) December 10, 2018
UPDATE: 1:11 p.m.
Reports suddenly bursting out that the White Sox are among the fiercest fighters in free agency for Red Sox righty reliever Joe Kelly.
Unless I am already high on Winter Meetings tweets, I’m reading that Kelly had a 0.18 FIP in 73 games last year? Forget Harper and Machado and pony up, Jerry!
UPDATE: 12:38 p.m.
Boston Red Sox adding somebody soon — or getting ready WAY in advance for the Rule 5 draft.
Reds get lefty Robby Scott on waivers from the Red Sox.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 10, 2018
UPDATE: 11:44 a.m.
The Kansas City Royals have already had a very Royalsy offseason, and now they’re done the most absolutely Royalsingest Royally Royaltastic thing ever, bringing in Billy Hamilton, a Willie Wilson without the Astroturf:
Billy Hamilton’s deal with Royals: one year, 5.25m, $1m incentives
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 10, 2018
UPDATE: 11:39 a.m.
Our first big news of the meetings: Dayán Viciedo has landed!
Dayán Viciedo, ex of the white sox, signed a 3-year deal with chunichi of the Japan League. Believed to be for $10M.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2018
All right, here we go.
I’m laying out the early a.m. Winter Meetings, Day 1 thread with no real news to report — at least as of 5 a.m.!
I’ll do my best to keep everything updated across baseball each day of the Winter Meetings, but I doubt I’ll be glued to the keyboard for 72 hours. You guys know the drill, feel free to break news in the comments, keep discussion flowing, and I’ll catch up with updates in the main copy up here as the days go.
Depending on how White Sox-centric the day’s news is, we may or may not run a separate story every night. Bryce Comes to Chicago sure will be a fun one to write on Wednesday night, though.
For now, we can kick off with a Sunday night rumor, supplied by the Phil Rogers of the east (OK, that’s pejorative language, I’ll dial it back), Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe, who indicates that the Houston Astros are kicking the tires on José Abreu. Sure, it ain’t much, but that’s how we gotta get started.
And hey, if we have to discuss trading Abreu, at least the White Sox are getting hit up by clubs with deep talent to ship back to the South Side.
Hopefully, the White Sox are noisy with free agents and Rule 5 picks, because it’s hard to imagine who’s desirable enough on the roster to make for a lot of juicy trade buzz, beyond Abreu.
Oh yeah, in case you missed it, upset special: Harold Baines is in the Hall of Fame.