SUNDAY, 10:36am: Guillen told fans that the club has yet to make a decision on Thome, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Of all the options out there, Guillen likes Thome best, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
SATURDAY, 2:04pm: Ozzie Guillen told White Sox fans this morning that he will only look to bring Thome back if he can get him a healthy number of at-bats, writes Cowley.
10:44am: Cowley tweets a quote from Guillen on Thome, who said "we have to make a decision on him before I leave for Miami." That's tomorrow, according to Cowley.
9:36am: White Sox GM Kenny Williams said that Thome isn't a fit on the 2010 team "unless Ozzie (Guillen) says," tweets team vice president Scott Reifert.
FRIDAY, 9:02pm: A White Sox source tells Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times that the chances of Thome re-signing with the Sox is "50-50 now, which couldn't be said [Thursday]." The source added that Chicago tops the list of teams Thome wants to play for, however he does have some interest in Minnesota.
3:03pm: The Twins have interest in free agent slugger Jim Thome, according to Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune. Christensen writes that the Twins are bargain hunting and if Thome is willing to come at the right price, there could be a match. A Twins official confirmed the club's interest, which was first reported by a Chicago radio station.
Even though the team already has a lefty DH in Jason Kubel, the 39-year-old would boost a lackluster Minnesota bench. Thome hit .249/.372/.493 with 23 HRs for the White Sox before being dealt to the Dodgers in late August.
Please no. Spend the money on Hudson.
But then WWPP (where would Punto play)? And really, does anything else really matter?
Gardy loves Punto. He will find places for him to play.
The team needs a defensive upgrade at 2nd and somebody to bat 2nd. Somebody like … oh … I don’t know … like Hudson or Lopez maybe?
They’ll probably wind up paying more for Thome then they would probably spend on Lopez with virtually no upgrade.
dont worry if they do sign thome………….. he’s great in the AL and can still hit for power
They need a 2nd and/or 3rd baseman much more than they need a 39 year old bat off the bench!
I’m not worried that he’d be ok, he’s not what we need to spend money on. We need Hudson/Lopez. Punto would play 3rd where he’s better defensively.
Why?? The man is seeking (as reported on MLBTR) $9 million! If – and that’s is a huge if – the Twins were interested it would be at the $1-2 million range. Hudson has been a free agent twice in two years but no team considers him a priority; that should tell you how little value he has with major league teams.
i think that would be a great signing. then you can platoon Kubel and Young in left field.
1. Span CF
2. JJ Hardy SS
3. Joe Mauer C
4. Justin Morneau
5. Michael Cuddyer
6. Jim Thome DH
7. Jason Kubel/Delmon Young LF
8. Nick Punto/Brendan Harris 3B
9. Alexi Casilla/Nicki Punto 2B
…put Thome behind Cuddyer to break up the lefties. There would be a lot of lefties in the lineup, 4 or 5 everyday, but Thome would bring a huge veteran presence to the Twins and I think they could win the division.
Thome would never DH full time. Look at his numbers vs. Kubel’s. Kubel is the better performer. He’s the Twins everyday DH, with or without Thome.
Besides, Thome is about two years removed from a legit #6 hitter in a lineup with 4 100-RBI hitters.
4 100-RBI guys? I count 2 (Morneau and Mauer). Kubel has never hit 100, Cuddyer has never hit 100, who else are you talking about?
Cuddyer hit 109 in 2006.
Kubel hit 103 in 2009.
Research before you post, please.
Win.
Kubel drove in 100 last year and Cuddyer 108 in 2006.
yeah but Young still hasnt proven himself. make him the 4th outfielder and let Kubel play out there. Thome can still crush the ball.
Delmon was a former 1st overall pick, which you probably know.. so he obviously has potential.. He gave everyone a glimpse of this at the end of last year, so i think Bill smith along with a lot of twins fans, me included, want to see if he can develop into a solid hitter and turn the Bartlett, Garza for Delmon, harris trade from a twin shellacking to a more even deal.
Let me see if I can explain Thome to you … No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was that clear enough?
i agree.
No. It’s not a good idea. It’s a bad idea. Take Thome out of that line up and put Hudson in the two hole instead of Hardy. Then put Hardy after Cuddy.
Now THAT’S a good idea!!
Or even lopez
Thome belongs on the South Side, and only the South Side. This would be devastating.
But Ozzie doesn’t want a full time DH. And whatever Ozzie wants… is usually detrimental to the team.
I’ve been saying it for years, he needs to go.
Get rid of the guy who helped restore the team to it’s glory days and led them to a world series in his 2nd season as manager..
Ozzie is like a quick burning candle. You burn bright and hot but you burn out real quick. He protects the players good. He can’t manage.
Why on earth would the Twins spend any money on Thome? No need for a DH and they better not be thinking about putting him out in the field. It sounds like Joe Christensen is throwing stuff against the wall just to what sticks.
He got the tip from a Chicago radio station, which was supposedly announcing that Thome would sign with the Twins by the end of the day
Well he would be on a contender. The veteren leadership would be nice. I just hope the twins don’t try to teach him to hit the other way, cuz that ain’t gonna happen. Jim Thome on the twins a bad thing? I just can’t say that it would be.
Not saying it would be a bad thing, but wouldn’t the money be better spent on a outfield bat who can give Span a day off here and there? Or another starting infielder? Or locking up Mauer? Just not convinced that there is any good reason to bring him until some of the other holes in the lineup are filled.
I said the same thing about Washburn and some of the other players the Twins were rumored to be interested in. It’s not that the player won’t bring something to the team, it’s that there are glaring holes in the line up that need fixing. It would be one thing if those holes were filled, or I knew for a fact the team was going to fill them before spring.
But that isn’t going to be what happens. Whatever player they add right now will probably be probably be the last they sign to improve the current roster.
It’s not so much that Thome isn’t a good player, it’s that at best he would be a marginal upgrade to what they already have now. Upgrading 2nd with Hudson or Lopez would probably cost less and improve the team much more.
I wait all winter for them to make a move for more infield help and this is what they finally go after? Thome?! Here’s to hoping that DJ was sniffing the same fumes as Christensen!
Here’s to hoping you’re right and Christensen has been sniffing paint fumes.
has he ruled out a return to the dodgers???
Yeah!! He really should try everything he can to resign with the Dodgers!
My theory is that they’re making this public to put pressure on the White Sox to sign him (and overpay in the process).
I agree with that theory. The Twins never sign all or nothing hitters.
The name “White” comes to mind.
Rondell White? injury prone maybe but all or nothing hitter? yeah, he hit over 25 hr once and struck out more than 100 times once. I don’t know about you but I don’t consider that an all or nothing hitter.
Agreed. I doubt Thome would be willing to accept $1m and a promise to “DH every time Kubel gets tired of running the bases”.
Thome needs 30-odd HR for 600. He doesn’t need money or rings or a pony, just playing time. I’m surprised he isn’t cold calling KC or CHI and offering to play for $1m. MIN doesn’t have the AB he wants, so I don’t see the fit. (So that’s “I agree with the above remarks.”)
Idk, the market for DH’s is almost non-existent.. and he’s not the only player trying to land a full time DH job. I dont remember the other names right now but its a fairly competitive position with not a whole lot of teams remaining. I’m sure he would love to play almost everyday, but thats probably not a realistic option.
A brilliant ploy: Put pressure on the Sox to discourage one of the worst ideas in the history of the organization (the floating DH idea) and thus make them about one win better in a division than has been decided by one game the last two years. Well thought out Drew.
It’s kind of funny because when the DH first came about in 1973, many teams used a sort of “floating DH” … I think the White Sox first DH was mediocre hitting second baseman Mike Andrews.
Maybe Ozzie is turning back the clock to a time when the DH was a mystery.
Or maybe the Sox don’t want to spend any more money on the roster and have decided to go with whatever they have.
If the White Sox really wanted they could of had him already. With the way the DH market has shaped if they threw a few mil his way he’d be signed. Instead sox fan’s are hearing garbage about a Kotsay/Jones platoon instead of a guy that put up a .865 OPS at the age of 38.
Not a chance. This would not make this Sox overpay for him, it may gage if the sox have any interest though. I think the interest could be legitimate from the Twins side. Let’s remember this future hall of famer did one this VERY well in 2009, HE GOT ON BASE! .372 OBP, yes that is a good thing!
Can Thome still play 3B lol Still better than Punto!
Better at third than punto?? Uh I assume you mean offensively. I think EVERYONE would cringe seeing big Jim Thome manning the hot corner! LOL
And EVERYONE would cringe if Punto makes the team again!!! Average D and a career .240 hitter! Gardy was going to turn him into a pitcher but didn’t because NL pitchers would make fun of his hitting!
“Makes the team again?”
You realize Punto’s entering the second year of a guaranteed two-year, $8MM contract… right? He’s already “made the team.”
It sucks I know! I would rather have Zito’s contract than Punto’s. Maybe this spring they can teach Punto how to run since his biggest strengths are running and defense. Hell Ray Ordonez has a better career batting average. Even has more seasons hitting over .240 lol and have each played 9 seasons! PUNTO SUCKS He would be lucky to be picked up by an independent team.
– 126,000,000
Or, minus one point for every dollar of Zito’s contract.
Punto is a bad contract for us, but comparing it to Zito is just dumb. We wouldn’t be the (slight) favorites to repeat as division champs with Zito.
Cmon now, the Giants may have given him the worst contract in the history of baseball..
i remember the Philz almost traded ryan howard, chase utley and some other guy for him when they were just prospects, that would have been a mistake
I understand the frustration, but that is just plain dumb.
He still is terrible and would not be playing for any other ball clubs. When his contract is up his career is over.
Actually, the last time he was a free agent, he was considering offers from two other teams (I want to say Phils and Giants), but took slightly less to stay with the Twins.
haha thats good..
Sox should sign him.. play him part time and pinch hit. There will be injuries this year, between konerko, quentin, likely, we can use Thome.
Exactly, sign him for a few mil and dump nix. If Ozzie wants to rotate the DH spot play Thome against righties and DH Quentin vs lefties with Andruw Jones sliding into right field. That way you get Jones some abs, and keep Quentin and Thome fresh. Kotsay/Jones as a full time DH platoon is a recipe for an offensive disaster.
dump lillibridge instead of nix. i’d rather have mike caruso.
Wish I had twins interested in me…
Man, I would hate to see thome go to another Cleveland rival…
WordUpThome: HEY GUYS ITS JI
WordUpThome: JIM THOME
LawnMauer: Hey welcome to the Twins and the new Target Field
WordUpThome: HEY DID YOU GUYS BRING THE DOMED DOG OVER HERE OR HAVE YOU THE REGULAR FRANKED FURTER
yes. awesome.
There’d be something both exciting and tragic about seeing the guy who ended our season in game 163 in 2008 wearing a Twinks uniform…
At least he wouldn’t be able to do it again! =)
Twins fans know how Morneau has struggled in August and September, due to him becoming tired I believe. Signing Thome and playing him at first once a week and Dhing Morneau may keep some spring in that step next year.
Otherwise I feel they should do the same with Cuddy. We saw what a stud he was last year at 1B. He was an All-World performer for a month there.
“Becoming tired”?
You mean, like how you get “tired” when you have a broken back?
2009 was not the only year.
He’s right Morneau has had some rocky second halfs!
another brilliant ploy: Put an injury-prone 39 yr old DH at 1st base to ‘protect’ your 29 yr old, solid defensive 1st baseman. bravo.
In a down year the guy still posted an OPS near 900. Why should he be relegated to a bench role?
Thome can still hit. If you need a DH you can do a lot worse than Thome.
That’s just it. They don’t need a DH! They already have Kubel. If there is an upgrade with Thome (he IS 39 afterall), it would be marginal. He also made 13 million last year. While he will go much cheaper, I can’t imaging he’ll go for the 1 or 2 million some posters have been throwing around.
The Twins have immediate and pressing holes at 2nd and 3rd. Signing either Hudson or Lopez to fill either would be huge. A much bigger upgrade than signing Thome to DH.
As a pinch hitter off the bench and a rare backup at first, you could do a lot worse than Thome. Although I would rather they find the answer for their bat off the bench in an outfielder capable of backing up Span now and then.
That or a THIRDBASEMAN!!!!!
Twins need to spend their money on infilders…. but at the same time I would love to see Thome bombing out of the new park this Summer. Plus he’s a vet… we need that presence on our team.
He’ll play there a couple of time with a big target in the of but he’ll be in black and white
Once again, if the team had filled the holes at 2nd and/or 3rd, I would probably feel much different about adding Thome. Until they do fill at least one of those holes, considering anything else is just idiotic.
Why can’t we move Cuddyer back to third where he came up as?? He has an arm? Was his defense that bad at first?
This is what I’ve been thinking for a few weeks. Move Cuddy to 3rd, and sign Byrnes.
Byrnes?? Are you nuts? I want no part of Byrnes, no part!
Cuddy absolutely sucked at third. It’s something that everybody involved have agreed should never happen ever again.
My recollection is he struggled at the plate when playing 3B. He was actually average defensively there.
Somehow his offense clicked when he moved to RF. However, I’d also be an advocate for trying this experiment again. I have trouble believing offensive performance is linked heavily to defensive position.
Have you seen the right field dimensions of Target field? A dead pull hitter like Thome could have a field day! Why not if the price is right?
Thome isn’t a dead pull hitter – the overwhelming majority of his HRs go to left center field.
They got to be doing this to put pressure on the Sox to sign him. It appears to be working too. Bringing him back would be a stupid, nostalgic move by them. I think he could be useful as a pinch hitter but not as a full-time DH.
Thanks God the White Sox are coming to their senses. Sign Thome already!!!!!!
Ive been saying since they traded him to the Dodgers that he would be back this year. They just wanted him as cheap as they could get him. They won’t let Minnesota have him.
I think at the end of the day the ChiSox will sign him to a one year deal, probably for a million plus incentives. Although Ozzie is still expounding on the “rotating DH” experiment, it certainly does not preclude placing Thome in that position. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is announced this weekend during Sox Fest. It really doesn’t make sense for the Twins to sign him.
I some how think that’s true but Ozzie wants a full time but isn’t saying it but kw is great at his job but van re sign who the fans are crying to get back pods I wanted him back
What is incredible is that Thome will likely sign for around the same amount as Vizquel.
My thinking also is that I would be fine with a rotating DH if we had a hitter who could hit .280, then you just rotate them around. But we don’t have that, Thome is the logical choice and he will end up with the Sox.
you still won’t win a World Series š
yes. of course.
face the sox’ rotation in the playoffs. yes. no problem.
Idk personally, I wouldn’t mind this at all as long as its for a reasonable price.. If this means they wont sign a hudson or lopez then its obviously a no, but maybe… just maybe they could land both. Our bench was PATHETIC last year and has been for a while. You can never go wrong with a power lefty off the bench and a future HOF makes him that much more appealing. I know our players are becoming veterans themselves, but this is Jim Thome were talking about. I have no idea what hes looking for but a 1-2 mil 1 year deal doesn’t sound bad.
Thome made 13 million last year. The free agent DH market may be in the toliet this year, but I just don’t see him signing for that.
Yea but that was the last year of a massive 7 year contract. It’s not like he signed a one-year deal for 13 mil…
Plus he would look great in a Twins uniform, and i would love to steal him away from the chicago. Maybe he would even launch a round tripper in the 2010 game 163 to win the game 1-0 over his old team :0
You can collect all the old sox you want (Crede, O-Cab, and Thome) but you still won’t win a World Series š
Already have 2 thanks…
We have 3
Okay, if you want to go that route, the Twins they won in 1987, 1991 and way back 1925 or 1926 when they were still the Senators.
Any on the 2000s
It’s still early yet, talk to me around 2099.
Isn’t Kenny the GM and Ozzie the manager?
Yeah, listening to Ozzie Guillen’s baseball moves really works well. Ozzie is the manager, he should play with whatever players Kenny gives him.
In other words, the Sox need a DH and that committee DH isn’t going to work.
This is correct.
Yeah exactly correct, this smallball he keeps on preaching has him set-up to fail, Kotsay/Jones is a joke and Ozzie needs to wake up and realize the position he is trying to fill, Designated “Hitter”.
Oh, please Kenny, please!
The whitesox should sign him so the twins don’t waste there money and spend it on someone useful ( Hudson lopez sheets)
Number 25 has been taken by Jim thome on the white soxs by Jimmy the best fit for the job
My gut feeling is the White Sox will NOT re-sign Jim Thome. They are trying to switch to a different philosophical approach to scoring runs and Thome would go contrary to this new approach. I also think the Twins will not sign Thome. The sox are sick and tired of having a lineup that hits a ton of homers but can’t score a guy from third with only 1 out. So Ozzie has publically stated that he wants a team that’s faster, more defensive, and can manufacture runs. This is why DYE is out and THOME doesn’t fit into these plans. I think the sox know that if they had Thome there the temptation to go back to the OLD SOX power ways would be too big to pass up and it’s not fair to Thome to bench him for most of the year. What’s the point of having him? So do the Sox go with another boom or bust lineup with konerko, thome and quentin thundering the middle of the lineup or do they field a flexible lineup with more speed and defense and give more AB’s to Vizquel, Jones, Kotsay and others. The 300+ K’s with Thome, Konerko and Quentin are the reason the SOX do NOT like having all three in their revamped lineup. Too many options can sometimes be a bad thing as it comes at the detriment of consistency. Sox are in a good position having so many ML calibur bats to rely on, do they add another one?? I don’t see it, even if it’s a familiar face in Thome. Let the A’s or Mariners or some other AL team that could use a low average high K power bat sign Thome. The sox can continue their conversation to a versatile athletic team much like the one they had in 2005 when they won a title.
Trying to siwtch philosophical approaches doesn’t have to happen overnight. You don’t have to go from lots of power to no power. The fact that we can slot Gordon or Rios between Thome and Konerko makes it 300x better than when we had Dye there. It breaks up the log jam and makes you really only have two maybe three base cloggers in the whole line up which almost any team has.
What it comes down to is if the team is better than with Thome and the answer is yes.
right now, here’s who the sox have at certain positions. LF Pierre, CF Rios RF Quentin SS Alexei Ramirez, 2B Gordon Bechham, 3B Teahen 1b Paul Konerko DH Jones. For the right price, I wouldn’t mind the White Sox getting Thome Back to platoon with Andruw Jones at DH. It’s not like Jones fits their system either, and Thome is a good clubhouse guy. He has a house in the Chicagoland area. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him come back cheap.
yeah, like that team that hit 200 dongs? yeah, that was awesome. let’s do that again.
“Ozzie Guillen told White Sox fans this morning that he will only look to bring Thome back if he can get him a healthy number of at-bats, writes Cowley.”
Just proof that it is more likely. At first it was we are ready now, I like DH by committee, and then it is we have to make a decision today, now it is this statement.
If I wasn’t planning on signing him I would say “I would *of* only signed Thome if I *could* *of* got him a healthy number of at bats.”
Instead he uses words that imply the door is more than open, sounds like it is down to just numbers rather than if they want him or not.
KW is the GM, not Ozzie. KW should not let his manager be “GM”. and with Orlando Hudson still out there, I’d rather have him than Teahen or Pierre.
DH by committee is such a terrible idea. What are you going to do if your team makes the playoffs, continue to rotate them? Just sign a DH, and bench him when you want a starter to be the DH for a game.
I think both the Twins and White Sox are posturing and bluffing, trying to get the other guy to take Thome. If either team really wanted him, it would have been a done deal by now.
Thome makes very little sense for the Twins. He can’t run the bases, play defense, or hit left-handed pitching. Plus, you already have a potential star in Kubel to D.H.
Trade some of that pitching for infield help and forget Thome.
sigh. leave it to ozzie to come up with a dumber idea than “closer by committee”.
Adding Jim Thome makes sense for a variety of reasons.
Jim Thome can be a feared power hitting pinch hitter in the late innings. Jim Thome can play 1B if Morneau needs a day off, especially if his back isn’t 100% at the beginning of the year. Thome can also DH against righties with Kubel playing LF. The bench is weak so Jim Thome would be a great addition not only from an player perspective but also from a clubhouse leadership perspective.
I think the Twins will use the $5M they offered Washburn for Crede ($2.5M) and Thome $2- $2.5M, if the Twins can get these players to agree to that amount of money.
We are stuck with Punto at 2B whether we like it or not.