The White Sox reached an agreement with first baseman Paul Konerko on a three-year deal, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The deal is worth $37.5MM, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. The contract includes deferred money, as outlined by MLB.com's Scott Merkin. The contract has now been officially announced by the White Sox.
Konerko gets a slight raise, but still falls short of Adam Dunn's new deal with the Sox. Konerko is represented by Craig Landis of LSW Baseball. GM Kenny Williams talked about moving on yesterday, but chairman Jerry Reinsdorf got involved. Considering Konerko a special case, the Diamondbacks offered him three years and $30MM. Landis said Konerko was very tempted by the offer.
Konerko, 35 in March, led all free agents with 39 home runs in 2010. He hit .312/.393/.584 in 631 plate appearances, perhaps the best season of his career. He's been Chicago's first baseman since '99.
