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MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: The White Sox Fire Their Front Office, Injured Rays and Prospect Promotion Time

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

  • With the Reds calling up Noelvi Marte, how do they fit in playing time for all their rookie position players? After keeping Nick Senzel at the deadline, what kind of return could they get for trading him during the offseason? (18:40)
  • Will the Mets pursue any notable free agent pitchers this off season? (24:05)
  • Of the teams that have exceeded the base luxury tax threshold this season, which ones do you see as most likely to dip back below it during this coming offseason? (26:15)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Pete Alonso’s Future, Yankees’ Rotation Troubles and Should the Trade Deadline Be Pushed Back? – listen here
  • The Streaking Mariners, the Struggling Angels and Injured Aces – listen here
  • Trade deadline recap – listen here

White Sox Fire Ken Williams, Rick Hahn

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The White Sox are overhauling their front office. The club announced Tuesday evening that both team president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn have been relieved of their responsibilities.

“This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because they are both talented individuals with long-term relationships at the White Sox,” said chairman Jerry Reinsdorf in a pre-prepared statement. “Ken is like a son to me, and I will always consider him a member of my family. I want to personally thank Ken and Rick for all they have done for the Chicago White Sox, winning the 2005 World Series and reaching the postseason multiple times during their tenures. … While we have enjoyed successes as an organization and were optimistic headed into the competitive window of this rebuild, this year has proven very disappointing for us all on many levels.

This has led me to the conclusion that the best decision for the organization moving forward is to make a change in our baseball operations leadership.”

As Reinsdorf indicated, both Williams and Hahn were longtime members of the franchise. The former played for the Sox for a few seasons during the 1980s and rejoined the club when he began a scouting career in 1992. By the second half of the decade, he’d worked his way into the front office and took over as general manager headed into the 2001 season.

Williams spent over a decade leading baseball operations. The Sox hovered around .500 for his first few years at the helm before breaking through with a 99-win campaign in ’05, the second year of Ozzie Guillén’s managerial tenure. They won the AL Central and went on a torrid postseason run, dropping just one of 12 games en route to a sweep of the Astros in the Fall Classic.

It was the Sox’s first championship since 1917, snapping an 87-year drought that stands as the second-longest in MLB history. The White Sox didn’t find consistent success following that title, however. They’d make the playoffs once more in ’08 — losing to the Rays in the Division Series — before Williams ceded more control of daily baseball operations to Hahn after the 2012 campaign.

The White Sox promoted Williams to executive vice president while bringing Hahn up as general manager. The latter was no stranger to the organization himself, having spent a decade in the front office prior to his GM nod. The Sox slumped to a 63-win campaign in 2013. Despite the signing of José Abreu to a $68MM deal that immediately paid off when he won Rookie of the Year in his debut campaign the next season, Chicago remained below .500 through 2016.

They firmly kicked off a rebuild during the 2016-17 offseason. Williams and Hahn orchestrated trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton that winter and moved José Quintana the ensuing June. Those deals brought in players like Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Yoán Moncada, Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease and Eloy Jiménez to join Abreu, Tim Anderson and international amateur signee Luis Robert as the core of what the club hoped to be a long-term contender.

That group indeed got the Sox back to the playoffs. They qualified for the expanded postseason in 2020 and won 93 games en route to a division title two years ago. Neither team won a playoff round, though, and the organization has stagnated in the year and a half since their division win. Chicago missed the playoffs last season with a .500 record.

The Sox made a bit of an offseason push to try to turn their fortunes last winter, headlined by a $75MM free agent contract for Andrew Benintendi that somewhat remarkably stands as the largest investment in franchise history. Yet the Benintendi signing hasn’t panned out in year one — he’s hitting a slightly below-average .274/.338/.356 in 117 games — and the team as a whole has had a dismal season.

Chicago essentially played their way out of a winnable division within a month, running an 8-21 record through the end of April. The only time they got above .500 was after an Opening Day win. That left the Sox positioned as deadline sellers, moving Giolito, López, Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn, Kendall Graveman, Keynan Middleton and Jake Burger for younger talent. Chicago didn’t fully commit to another teardown — they held onto Cease, Robert and Jiménez — but it nevertheless marked a disappointing admission their prior rebuild hasn’t established the long-term consistency they’d envisioned.

Reinsdorf entrusted Williams and Hahn to oversee their deadline activity but decided to go in a different direction as they look to return to competitiveness. The club’s statement indicated they expect to have a new baseball operations leader in place by the end of the season. There’s no indication they’ll tab anyone to serve as GM on an interim basis, although Bruce Levine of 670 The Score tweets that assistant GMs Chris Getz and Jeremy Haber will retain their positions.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests (on Twitter) that Getz could receive some consideration for the full-time GM job. It’s far too soon to identify any kind of frontrunner and it’s not clear if the White Sox will prioritize an in-house candidate or look outside the organization.

Whomever is tabbed as GM seems likely to work with manager Pedro Grifol; Nightengale tweets that Chicago currently envisions retaining Grifol for a second season. The White Sox hired the former Royals’ catching coach last winter after Tony La Russa stepped down because of health reasons. The start of Grifol’s tenure hasn’t gone particularly smoothly. The club has the third-worst record in the American League at 49-76. Middleton and Lynn took aim at the Sox’s clubhouse culture after being traded elsewhere. Hahn defended Grifol’s leadership at the time, noting that overhauling an organizational culture can take some time.

Grifol and his coaching staff will focus on playing out the final few weeks of the season while Reinsdorf evaluates the franchise’s long-term plan. It’s the biggest front office shakeup for the organization in over two decades, one they hope will set the stage for more sustained success in the coming years.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Ken Williams Discusses White Sox Pursuit Of Machado, Harper

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The White Sox took a rare foray into the high-end free agent market this winter but came away empty-handed in their attempts to sign either Manny Machado or Bryce Harper.  Machado ended up signing a ten-year, $300MM deal with the Padres, while Harper landed the most guaranteed money in baseball history ($330MM) on a 13-year contract from the Phillies.

In the wake of those enormous deals, White Sox executive VP Ken Williams defended his team against criticism from fans and pundits that the Sox should have spent more to come away with one of the two superstars.  “It’s a shame if it’s being portrayed that we were on the cheap on this thing,” Williams told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.  “That’s really interesting because, holy s—, that’s a quarter of a billion dollars we offered [Machado] with a chance to be higher than what he’s getting.”

In regards to Harper, the White Sox had meetings with the outfielder and agent Scott Boras, but the team ultimately felt Harper’s asking price was simply too high, though Williams liked Harper personally.  With Machado, however, the Sox made a much more ardent push, including the contract Williams referenced.

Chicago’s top offer to Machado was a reported $250MM in guaranteed money over eight years, plus a pair of $35MM vesting options for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.  Additional escalators and incentives could have maxed the deal out at $350MM over the decade-long span.  Based just on the guaranteed years, Machado would’ve received an average annual value of $31.25MM per season, topping the $30MM AAV he’ll receive in San Diego.

“People are lost on the fact that on a yearly basis, our offer was more than San Diego’s….So it was about years guaranteed,” Williams said.  “So there is an argument that could be made that our offer was the better of the two. It certainly had more upside for him. All he had to do was basically stay healthy.”

Williams shared in the fanbase’s disappointment that neither player was signed, saying that, “Rest assured that no one is feeling what Rick [White Sox GM Rick Hahn] and I are feeling because every single day since June of last year, this is what we had planned for, the pursuit of both Harper and Machado.

“Harper [was] well out of our range. With Machado, we extended ourselves as far as we could without jeopardizing what we’re going to need to do in the future….Our fans would have been much more disappointed in our inability to keep this next core together.  We would have overextended ourselves had we gone to an uncomfortable level.”

Williams isn’t wrong in suggesting that a $250MM offer is a major commitment — after all, prior to Nolan Arenado’s extension with the Rockies and the Harper/Machado signings, only three contracts in baseball history had ever topped the $250MM guaranteed money threshold.  The most obvious counter-argument, of course, is that if the Sox were willing to go that far in their offer, it seems short-sighted to then ask Machado to absorb the risk for the vesting option years.  It’s no small feat for any player to “basically stay healthy” in their mid-30’s, and it’s hard to imagine any player passing on that guarantee from the Padres for 2027-28 in order to chase the opportunity for only $20MM-$50MM more in salary from the White Sox.  (I say “only” since that amount wouldn’t seem particularly enticing to a player like Machado who’d already amassed a fortune. By that same token, an extra $1.25MM in AAV is something of a drop in the bucket someone already making $30MM.)

The comments about how a Machado deal could impact future contracts might be tougher for White Sox fans to swallow.  After all, the team has just $15.25MM on the books for the 2020 season, and Tim Anderson is the only player guaranteed money in 2021 and beyond.

As Van Schouwen notes, young stars like Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Michael Kopech, Carlos Rodon, and Anderson won’t start to get expensive for years.  Anderson is already signed to an extension through at least 2022, Rodon has two arbitration years remaining, Moncada won’t be arb-eligible until 2021, Kopech has barely pitched at the MLB level, and Jimenez has yet to even make his Major League debut.  Even all five of these players did develop into stars, extensions for all on top of a ten-year Machado contract shouldn’t have been much of a stretch for a club that plays in a major market like Chicago (and just landed a new broadcasting rights contract).

White Sox Recently Extended Kenny Williams, Rick Hahn

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Earlier this summer, the White Sox extended the contracts of executive vice president Kenny Williams and general manager Rick Hahn, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports in the course of a lengthy interview with long-time club owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Precise terms are not known, but both have received new long-term deals, per the report. Reinsdorf also discussed the organization’s current rebuilding efforts in a piece that’s well worth a full read.

Both executives are longstanding members of the organization. Williams played with the White Sox, joined the club as a scout in 1992, and has steadily climbed the ranks ever since. He took the GM seat in 2000, helping to engineer the club’s 2005 World Series-winning roster, and left it with a move further upstairs twelve years later.

Hahn took the baton from Williams as GM in 2012 and has held that role since. He originally joined the South Siders when Williams took over the baseball operations, moving to the organization after a stint as a sports agent. He quickly rose to become the assistant GM and was long seen as an eventual successor.

In recent years, that pair of top baseball decisionmakers oversaw the construction and then dismantling of a strong core of young talent. High-end, controllable players such as Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and Adam Eaton seemingly gave the club a chance at a nice window of contention, and it spent big on complementary veterans (through trade and free agency) to put a winner on the field. Those efforts failed to come to fruition, though, and the Sox haven’t posted a .500 record since 2012.

With evident needs all over the roster after a  disappointing 2016 campaign, Reinsdorf authorized a dedicated sell-off. Sale and Eaton were moved in successive Winter Meetings blockbusters. Quintana went this summer to the cross-town Cubs. And ensuing deals saw David Robertson, Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera, and Tommy Kahnle swapped out for young talent.

While Reinsdorf says it was “very tough” to go through that process, particularly given that he’s 81 years old, he tells Nightengale that he determined he has “an obligation to do what’s right for the fans.” It was particularly difficult to boost the Cubs by sending them Quintana, he noted, though again he cited the need to focus on his own organization’s needs. “I know the White Sox fans will be upset if Quintana pitches them to the World Series,” says Reinsdorf, “but I also know we got their two best prospects.’’

Since embarking upon this new path, the White Sox have compiled one of the game’s top farm systems. In addition to the numerous youngsters added via trade, Chicago inked highly rated Cuban prospect Luis Robert and is on course to score a top draft choice next year. The club’s most intriguing new assets litter top-100 prospect ranking lists, and several — including Yoan Moncada and Reynaldo Lopez — have already earned promotions to the majors.

Turning that aggregation of young talent into a successful MLB roster, of course, will still require a concerted effort. The Sox currently own an ugly 45-71 record and will face many challenges in player development and, eventually, further roster maneuvering designed to supplement the hoped-for new core. More immediately, the team’s top decisionmakers will need to consider trades involving players such as Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia, each of whom has played well this year and can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration.

There’s mostly a blank slate on future salary commitments, though, which will surely aid the undertaking. After pushing payroll to north of $130MM by the end of 2016, the front office has pared things back to the point that the recent extension of shortstop Tim Anderson stands as the only significant remaining long-term commitment.

Central Notes: Quintana, Guerra, Perkins, Park, Williams

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The Pirates, Astros and Braves are among multiple teams still showing interest in White Sox lefty Jose Quintana, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reports.  Pittsburgh and Houston have been widely linked to Quintana on the rumor mill all winter long, while connections between Quintana and the Braves have been largely quiet since December, when Atlanta reportedly balked at Chicago’s very high asking price for the southpaw.  Several evaluators tell Passan that the Braves aren’t a great trade fit for the Sox, as while Atlanta’s farm system is very deep, its top prospects (Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies and Kevin Maitan) are all middle infielders, and Chicago already has Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada slated as their up-the-middle combo of the future.  In short, not much has really changed on the Quintana front, as the Sox are in no rush to make a deal unless someone meets their price.  “The White Sox have dispatched more scouts than usual” to minor league camps, Passan writes, in a sign of due diligence should a good trade offer suddenly emerge.

Here’s more from both the NL and AL Central…

  • Also from Passan’s piece, two sources believe that after Quintana, the Brewers’ Junior Guerra is the best starter available on the trade market.  Guerra received a bit of trade buzz at the trade deadline and back in November, though there wasn’t much chatter about the righty.  Guerra came out of nowhere to post a 2.81 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 2.33 K/BB rate as a 31-year-old rookie last season.  Despite his rather advanced age, his good performance and five remaining years of team control make him an interesting trade chip for Milwaukee.
  • Glen Perkins will meet with Twins trainers and coaches later this week to determine the next step of his rehab from shoulder surgery, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, and a 60-day DL stint is a possibility.  Perkins would have to give his consent to be placed on the disabled list, as per the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.  That placement would allow Minnesota to open up a 40-man roster spot for another player, though Perkins wouldn’t be able to return until June 1 at the earliest.  The veteran lefty has been limited to 20-pitch bullpen sessions every four days during Spring Training, and will start the season on at least the 10-day DL, though he is hopeful of being able to pitch much earlier than June 1.
  • Byung Ho Park was outrighted off the Twins’ 40-man roster last month, but the first baseman is trying to work himself back into the club’s immediate plans with a big Spring Training, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes.  Park has recovered from a wrist injury that hampered him during his rookie season, and he also seems generally more relaxed now that he is more used to MLB pitching.  According to South Korean reporters who followed Park in the KBO League, Bollinger writes that Park similarly put a lot of pressure on himself early in his career before settling in and becoming a major star for Nexen Heroes.  Since Kennys Vargas has one more option year remaining, Minnesota has the flexibility to send Vargas to Triple-A if Park impresses enough to win the DH job.
  • White Sox VP and former general manager Ken Williams has “not been this excited about the White Sox’ future in a long, long time,” he told media (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).  Williams was resistant to GM Rick Hahn’s idea for a rebuild, though he noted that “a lot of us around here needed this kind of jolt” brought on by the franchise’s youth movement.  “To talk to Rick about the possibilities trade-wise we may have out there in the future, free agency, international signing wise…we’re in full-go mode. And it’s exciting,” Williams said.

White Sox Notes: Ventura, Williams, Reinsdorf

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Here’s the latest from the south side of Chicago…

  • Robin Ventura was rumored to be done as the White Sox manager, and he confirmed it with reporters (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) after today’s game.  “I just feel it’s the right time. It’s more of a personal decision than anything,” Ventura said.  “I love being here.  The organization means a lot to me. You can go as hard as you can and really the only thing you know is how you conduct your business and how you treat people. I’m good with that. Talking to [general manager] Rick [Hahn] through September, you just realize right now is the right time to do it and you need somebody else.”
  • White Sox executive VP of baseball operations Kenny Williams is not stepping down from his position, WSCR 670’s Bruce Levine reports (Twitter link).  Williams was promoted to his current role in October 2012 after a twelve-year stint as the White Sox general manager.
  • The somewhat awkward handling of Ventura’s final days as manager is a sign that the White Sox need to settle on a clear chain of command within the organization, ESPN’s Buster Olney opines in his latest column for ESPN.com subscribers.  Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who Olney calls “the most loyal boss in baseball,” needs to set a clear direction about whether or not the team is rebuilding or in go-for-it mode.  It would also help solve some of the front office miscommunication by firmly establishing whether Williams or GM Rick Hahn is in charge of baseball operations.

Quick Hits: GM Turnover, Williams, Zduriencik, Prospects

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Baseball has experienced intense turnover in its front offices of late, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today notes in a column today, and there could be more to come. Nightengale cites Ruben Amaro Jr. of the Phillies, Jack Zduriencik of the Mariners, and Walt Jocketty of the Reds as candidates for dismissal. The frequency of change represents a “new state of the game,” argues Nightengale.

  • The Mariners could end up bringing in White Sox president Kenny Williams to head its front office, Nighengale reports. But Williams may also be in the running to become the new president of the Blue Jays. Reds special assistant Kevin Towers also increasingly seems to be an option for Seattle, Nightengale adds on Twitter.
  • Zduriencik says that he pays no heed to the rumor mill, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Though he’s aware that there is chatter that he could be vulnerable, the Mariners general manager explains that he can’t let that affect his work. “I’ve got eyes,” said the seven-year veteran GM. “I can see what’s going on here. I know what has not worked and what should be working and isn’t. For me to focus on any outside distractions (is non-productive).” Zduriencik stressed that he still believes in the talent base he’s compiled, explaining: “I think when you start to piece it together, there are things we need to do going forward, but I do think that there are some really solid pieces there.”
  • Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs provides an overhauled, mid-season look at the game’s best prospects. He breaks down a series of different prospect classes. One of those is his list of the game’s premium pre-MLB players, which is made up of the 26 names who separated themselves from the pack. The usual suspects sit atop that list, but there are some quick-rising players as well, including shortstops Orlando Arcia (Brewers, #8), Franklin Barreto (Athletics, #14), and Trea Turner (Nationals, #15), outfielders Bradley Zimmer (Indians, #21) and Gleyber Torres (Cubs, #23), and Rays lefty Blake Snell, who shot all the way up to the 16th slot. McDaniel also lists the year’s newly-emerging prospects, the newly-professional crop of players added over the summer, and the impressive list of young players who no longer qualify as prospects.
  • Ben Badler of Baseball America takes a closer look at one such swiftly-rising prospect, Nationals outfielder Victor Robles. The 18-year-old drew the attention of the organization because of his quick-twitch athleticism and high energy, and the club’s $225K bonus has paid out amply so far. It’s a lengthy piece, but well worth a read for any prospect hounds or Nats fans.

White Sox Won’t Dismantle At Deadline

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With a few weeks to go until the trade deadline, little is certain about what the White Sox will do.  Jeff Samardzija has a litany of possible suitors, but he and other trade chips could wind up staying put depending on how the Sox fare in the coming days.  No matter what happens, however, White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams told Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports that the team won’t be holding a fire sale.

“It’s important that we not lose sight of what our organization goal was, and that was to give us the best three-year window. And we’re not going to abandon that completely with only three months to play,” Williams said.  “I think [Rick Hahn’s] done one hell of a job. Everyone wants to put the blame on [manager] Robin [Ventura], too, but all he can do is put the players in position to succeed. They’re the ones who have to look in the mirror and execute. If we do anything, it will be consistent with trying to maximize this three-year plan or window that we set out originally.”

After today’s loss to the Orioles, Chicago owns a 36-43 record and sits last in the AL Central, 10 games back of the first-place Royals and 5.5 games behind the last wild card spot.  It’s not an ideal spot by any stretch, yet given the crowded American League standings, the White Sox are just be a hot week or two away from being right back in the hunt.

While it may be a bit too early to start selling yet, Williams said he’s open to at least hearing any trade proposal.  Teams can even pitch trades for ace Chris Sale, but it’s extremely unlikely that anything will happen on that front.

“We’ve always had that mind-set that we will listen to anyone who wants to make an offer for our players,” Williams said. “How else do you know what the value is? Something may bowl you over. But we can’t envision anything happening along those lines.”

While Sale is locked up on a team-friendly deal that could run through the 2019 season, Samardzija is a different story, as he’s set to hit free agency this winter.  Nightengale mentions that “every club with an urgent pitching need” has expressed an interest in Samardzija, and that the Blue Jays in particular have “strongly pursued” the righty.

If Samardzija signed an extension to remain on the south side, that would obviously change things.  “We just have to get some sort of indication it’s possible or not to sign him. We have to also see if it’s realistic given our resources and the other obligations we have,” Williams said.

That said, a midseason deal seems very unlikely with Samardzija so close to the open market.  While he stressed that “by no means does it take the White Sox off my list” if he hits free agency, Samardzija seemed eager to take control over his playing future.

“I worked hard to get to this spot in free agency.  I just want to sign with a team that is competing every September with a chance to be playing in October,” Samardzija said.  “Look, I don’t hold bad blood or grudges against anybody. I understand how the business side works. Front offices have to do what they have to do. But I also need to protect myself and make sure I’m in a situation where I can win for a long time.”

White Sox Notes: Williams, Penny, Robertson

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White Sox Executive Vice President Kenny Williams was included in the Blue Jays executive search, recalls Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. However, he’s happy with his current post. While he misses trade talks and the other daily duties of a GM, he now has more flexibility in his schedule. Williams has the final say in personnel decisions, but he doesn’t have to manage the day-to-day operations. That duty falls to GM Rick Hahn.

Here’s more from Chicago’s south side:

  • NRI Brad Penny will earn $100K if he is assigned to Triple-A, tweets Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. Penny, 36,  appeared in eight games for the Marlins last season, including four starts. His last full season was in 2009. He has a 4.29 ERA, 5.95 K/9, and 2.89 BB/9 in 1,925 career innings.
  • The Sox have a history of building cheap bullpens under the current leadership, but they reversed course for the 2015 season, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. The club didn’t have a good bullpen plan entering last season, and it showed in the results. Per manager Robin Ventura, “when you’re not confident in the seventh, eighth and ninth, it just deflates your team. If you blow it late, and if they don’t feel that they can win consistently, it just sucks the life out of them.” The new look relief corps, which includes David Robertson and Zach Duke, should do a much better job maintaining late game leads. The White Sox blew 21 saves last season.
  • Chicago liked that Robertson succeeded with the Yankees after Mariano Rivera’s retirement, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. His ability to thrive on the biggest stage helped the club to make a pricey multi-year commitment to Robertson. The Yankees were also interested in re-signing him, but didn’t want to go as high as the Sox. Instead, New York was able to sign Andrew Miller for slightly less and net a compensation draft pick.

AL Central Rumors: Williams, Rodriguez, Indians

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The latest from the AL Central..

  • We learned earlier that the Blue Jays had interest in White Sox executive Kenny Williams, but the club did not grant Williams permission to interview. Chicago’s chairman Jerry Reindorf spoke about the decision, saying “this is not the right time,” reports Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune.  He went on to say the club is focused on building a contender for 2015.
  • Francisco Rodriguez is among the many relievers that the White Sox are looking at, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
  • Now that the Indians have added Brandon Moss, they will shift their focus to pitching, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Specifically, they’ll aim to add more starting pitcher depth. This is already a strength for the club, but as they say, you can never have enough pitching. Presently, veterans Zach McAllister and Josh Tomlin are listed as the sixth and seventh starters.
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