Baseball America talks about Sox pitching prospects Myles Jaye and Daniel Webb

Matt Eddy and Nathan Rode have more info on the two pitching prospects the Sox got from Toronto for Jason Frasor:

First 20-year old Myles Jaye:

Jaye signed for $250,000 at the 2010 draft signing deadline and made his pro debut with Bluefield last year. A two-way player in high school, he attracted attention from the Blue Jays with his arm speed, fastball life and command. Jaye sat 85-86 mph and scraped 91 in high school, but he was touching 95 by the time instructional league rolled around in 2010. Tall and lean, Jaye has an athletic delivery. His fastball has good sink to it, but his secondary stuff is a work in progress. He has shown feel for a changeup and started working with a slider in pro ball after using a curve in high school. Jaye offers intriguing upside but is several years away.

Jaye’s Stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2011	19	Bluefield	APPY	Rk	TOR	3	3	.500	3.00	13	9	3	1	0	1	54.0	48	22	18	7	18	0	49	0	1	3	222	1.222	8.0	1.2	3.0	8.2	2.72
1 Season						3	3	.500	3.00	13	9	3	1	0	1	54.0	48	22	18	7	18	0	49	0	1	3	222	1.222	8.0	1.2	3.0	8.2	2.72

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 1/5/2012.

And 22-year old Daniel Webb:

Webb pulled down $450,000 at the 2009 draft signing deadline as the top pitching prospect from Florida junior college ranks. He neglected to sign with the Diamondbacks as a 12th-round pick out of high school in 2008, a year in which just two prep righties went in the draft’s first round—Ethan Martin and Gerrit Cole. Webb ranked as No. 48 overall draft prospect that year. He has a good pitcher’s frame and a live arm that produces a plus fastball, but most scouts think he’ll eventually move to the bullpen because of his slingy arm action and lack of command. He shows feel for a changeup, but his curveball still needs work.

Webb’s Stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2010	20	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A–A	TOR	1	7	.125	4.74	15	15	0	0	0	0	68.1	77	50	36	4	32	0	43	10	1	4	320	1.595	10.1	0.5	4.2	5.7	1.34
2010	20	Auburn	NYPL	A-	TOR	0	6	.000	5.24	13	13	0	0	0	0	56.2	69	43	33	4	26	0	39	9	1	2	270	1.676	11.0	0.6	4.1	6.2	1.50
2010	20	Lansing	MIDW	A	TOR	1	1	.500	2.31	2	2	0	0	0	0	11.2	8	7	3	0	6	0	4	1	0	2	50	1.200	6.2	0.0	4.6	3.1	0.67
2011	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-Rk	TOR	4	5	.444	5.48	19	12	4	0	0	2	67.1	82	53	41	7	24	0	51	6	1	4	305	1.574	11.0	0.9	3.2	6.8	2.13
2011	21	Blue Jays	GULF	Rk	TOR	0	0		0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1.500	13.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
2011	21	Lansing	MIDW	A	TOR	4	5	.444	5.59	18	12	3	0	0	2	66.0	80	53	41	7	24	0	51	6	1	3	299	1.576	10.9	1.0	3.3	7.0	2.13
2 Seasons						5	12	.294	5.11	34	27	4	0	0	2	135.2	159	103	77	11	56	0	94	16	2	8	625	1.585	10.5	0.7	3.7	6.2	1.68
A (2 seasons)				A		5	6	.455	5.10	20	14	3	0	0	2	77.2	88	60	44	7	30	0	55	7	1	5	349	1.519	10.2	0.8	3.5	6.4	1.83
Rk (1 season)				Rk		0	0		0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1.500	13.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
A- (1 season)				A-		0	6	.000	5.24	13	13	0	0	0	0	56.2	69	43	33	4	26	0	39	9	1	2	270	1.676	11.0	0.6	4.1	6.2	1.50

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 1/5/2012.

White Sox trade RHRP Jason Frasor back to Toronto for two minor-leaguers [UPDATE]

whitesox.com press release:

The Chicago White Sox have acquired right-handed pitchers Myles Jaye and Daniel Webb from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for right-hander Jason Frasor.

20-year old Jaye was drafted by Toronto in the 17th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. He played 13 games in rookie-ball and started 9 of them:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2011	19	Bluefield	APPY	Rk	TOR	3	3	.500	3.00	13	9	3	1	0	1	54.0	48	22	18	7	18	0	49	0	1	3	222	1.222	8.0	1.2	3.0	8.2	2.72
1 Season						3	3	.500	3.00	13	9	3	1	0	1	54.0	48	22	18	7	18	0	49	0	1	3	222	1.222	8.0	1.2	3.0	8.2	2.72

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 1/1/2012.

22-year old Webb was drafted by Arizona in the 12th round of the 2008 MLB Draft and Toronto in the 18th round of the 2009 MLB Draft: He started all 15 of his games in 2010 and 12 of his 19 games in 2011:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2010	20	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A–A	TOR	1	7	.125	4.74	15	15	0	0	0	0	68.1	77	50	36	4	32	0	43	10	1	4	320	1.595	10.1	0.5	4.2	5.7	1.34
2010	20	Auburn	NYPL	A-	TOR	0	6	.000	5.24	13	13	0	0	0	0	56.2	69	43	33	4	26	0	39	9	1	2	270	1.676	11.0	0.6	4.1	6.2	1.50
2010	20	Lansing	MIDW	A	TOR	1	1	.500	2.31	2	2	0	0	0	0	11.2	8	7	3	0	6	0	4	1	0	2	50	1.200	6.2	0.0	4.6	3.1	0.67
2011	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-Rk	TOR	4	5	.444	5.48	19	12	4	0	0	2	67.1	82	53	41	7	24	0	51	6	1	4	305	1.574	11.0	0.9	3.2	6.8	2.13
2011	21	Blue Jays	GULF	Rk	TOR	0	0		0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1.500	13.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
2011	21	Lansing	MIDW	A	TOR	4	5	.444	5.59	18	12	3	0	0	2	66.0	80	53	41	7	24	0	51	6	1	3	299	1.576	10.9	1.0	3.3	7.0	2.13
2 Seasons						5	12	.294	5.11	34	27	4	0	0	2	135.2	159	103	77	11	56	0	94	16	2	8	625	1.585	10.5	0.7	3.7	6.2	1.68

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 1/1/2012.

Considering I didn’t even want Kenny to pick-up Frasor’s $3.75 million 2012 option, Kenny did just fine. The Sox don’t have any players eligible for arbitration now.

UPDATE: To sign them after the draft, Toronto gave Webb $450,000 and Jaye $250,000.

Carlos Quentin and/or John Danks trade talks to pick up?

Richard Griffin @ The Toronto Star:

Anthopoulos began serious trade talks at the winter meetings and is now ready to resume calling GMs in earnest now that he knows the Darvish negotiations are off the table for the Jays.

There are talks with White Sox GM Kenny Williams for outfielder Carlos Quentin and John Danks. There’s a call to be made to Billy Beane with imaginative back-and-forth involving lefthander Gio Gonzalez. How about the Astros and Wandy Rodriguez or the Braves and Jair Jurrjens?

Maybe another team can be enticed to join in on one of these trade talks, brought in to create some heavy three-way action, because Anthopoulos is always prepared, armed with knowledge of all 30 teams, not just his own. He does his serious legwork and likes to know what other teams are looking for even if he doesn’t have the parts to satisfy them. That’s where the creativity and imagination come in.

Is another trade with Toronto coming?

Scouting reports on newest Sox RHP Nestor Molina [UPDATE]

Baseball America:

Prior to 2011, Molina had made just 77 career appearances, four of which were starts. Toronto had their sights set on giving him a chance to start, assigning him to the high Class A Dunedin rotation. He flourished in the move, throwing 130 innings between Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire while striking out more than a batter per inning and walking about one per nine. Molina has above-average command of a fastball that ranges from 88-93 mph. He originally tried to turn his slurvy breaking ball into a slider, but he has shifted to using a curveball now. Molina has a legitimate out-pitch in his splitter, and he also shows feel for a straight changeup. His secondary stuff doesn’t jump off the page, but his fastball command helps it play up. He profiles nicely in the back of a rotation and will likely make his big league debut in 2012.

UPDATE: John Sickels:

Molina has a solid 90-94 MPH fastball and keeps it low in the zone, picking up grounders. He also has a very good splitter. His slider is still a work-in-progress according to scouts, but his delivery adds deception and helps his stuff play up. His statistics last year were simply spectacular, and it is unusual to see a relief-to-starting conversion turn out this positively. He wasn’t some old guy tricking people; he was just 22 last year. If anything, Molina still doesn’t get the respect he deserves as a prospect. I currently have him rated as a Grade B+ prospect.

Jonathan Mayo:

Molina features an intriguing four-pitch mix with an advanced feel for pitching. He’ll throw his fastball in the 89-92 mph range and complements it with a slider and a changeup. His best pitch, though, might be his splitter, a true plus offering with a ton of deception. Some have said he might be better-suited to be a top-flight bullpen/setup guy, but his stuff and command say he’ll get more time to start.

Eno Sarris @ Fangraphs:

The return is exciting. Molina was given a B+ ranking from John Sickels, who rated him the second-best prospect in the Jays’ organization. In 130.1 innings between High-A and Double-A last year, Molina struck out 148 batters against a mere 16 walks. At 23 next year, he might only need a little more seasoning at Double-A before he can join the big leagues.

If he stays a starter, Molina will only need to be worth about as much as Paul Maholm has been worth over the last six years (13.2 WAR) in order to surpass Santos’ absolute value. Paul Maholm never had a minor league K/BB rate like Molina’s and was never a top-two prospect for the Pirates, but it’s still possible that Molina as a starter doesn’t achieve those heights.

Kenny Williams:

“Nestor Molina is a guy that has a 90-96 mph fastball that bores in on right-hand hitters, that keeps the ball down in the strikezone, can hit outside corner, inside corner, take it upstairs if he needs to.  His secondary stuff…he has a swing-and-miss type split that drops off the table, his slider is a plus slider, and his changeup is equally as effective.  He obviously has a four-pitch mix.  He walked (16) guys in a 130-some odd innings and is in winter league right now and pitching with the same success.”

Sox trade closer Sergio Santos to Toronto for RHP Nestor Molina (video)

whitesox.com press release:

The Chicago White have acquired right-handed pitcher Nestor Molina from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for right-handed reliever Sergio Santos.

… The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Molina spent most of the season with Dunedin, going 10-3 with a 2.58 ERA (31 ER/108.1 IP), 16 walks and 115 strikeouts in 21 games (18 starts).  He was named to the Florida State League mid and postseason All-Star Teams.

A native of Valencia, Venezuela, Molina made his final five starts with New Hampshire, where he was 2-0 with a 0.41 ERA (1 ER/22.0 IP), two walks and 33 strikeouts.  He finished the season with a streak of 16.0 consecutive scoreless IP over his final four outings.

Molina is 27-7 with a 2.21 ERA (72 ER/292.2 IP) and 277 strikeouts in 103 games (27 starts) over six seasons in the Blue Jays minor-league system.  He was signed by Toronto as a free agent on April 2, 2006 and spent the 2006-07 seasons as an outfielder/third baseman before being converted to a pitcher. …

Molina’s 2011 stats (full stats on the end):

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2011	22	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A+-AA	TOR	12	3	.800	2.21	26	23	1	0	0	0	130.1	114	39	32	8	16	0	148	1	1	5	512	0.997	7.9	0.6	1.1	10.2	9.25
2011	22	Dunedin	FLOR	A+	TOR	10	3	.769	2.58	21	18	1	0	0	0	108.1	102	37	31	8	14	0	115	1	0	3	432	1.071	8.5	0.7	1.2	9.6	8.21
2011	22	New Hampshire	EL	AA	TOR	2	0	1.000	0.41	5	5	0	0	0	0	22.0	12	2	1	0	2	0	33	0	1	2	80	0.636	4.9	0.0	0.8	13.5	16.50
A+ (2 seasons)				A+		10	3	.769	2.56	23	18	2	0	0	0	112.2	109	41	32	8	14	0	118	1	0	3	452	1.092	8.7	0.6	1.1	9.4	8.43
AA (1 season)				AA		2	0	1.000	0.41	5	5	0	0	0	0	22.0	12	2	1	0	2	0	33	0	1	2	80	0.636	4.9	0.0	0.8	13.5	16.50

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 12/6/2011.

Wow! a 0.0997 WHIP and a 148/16 K/BB ratio!

And minorleaguecentral says Molina did this with a .318 BABIP in 2011!! And a 2.12 FIP!!

John Sickels on Molina last week:

2) Nestor Molina, RHP, Grade B+: Ranking the Blue Jays pitching prospects is quite difficult. Although Molina hasn’t received as much press as some of the other guys, his performance was impeccable, I think his stuff is underrated, and he’ll get to the majors sooner than the others. Despite his season, he is still underrated by a lot of people.

and

Molina [ranking] is both stats and scouting reports. I think the scouting reports that are out there are underrating his stuff. But we will see.

From a Jim Callis chat on Aug. 24, 2011:

Q: What is Nestor Molina’s stuff? He is making double a look very easy.

A: It’s all solid: fastball, slider, changeup, occasional curveball. Not sure you’d call any of his offerings a plus pitch, but he mixes them well and moves the ball around the strike zone. Not the sexiest scouting report, but that’s the type of guy who winds up in the big leagues.

From Kenny Williams’ comments it seems Molina will start 2012 in the minors:

“I would hope that we give him a little bit more seasoning, but he’s got the kind of ability that, there are certain guys that will force his way onto major league rosters. When you look at a young pitcher, you look at what kind of stuff he has, what kind of composure he has, and his ability to command the strike zone, and this guy does it in a way that very few do so. I’m not going to say that he can’t, and he won’t.”

I like the trade from what I hear so far. Molina’s stats are impeccable. And Addison Reed can take over.

And a 9-minute youtube video of Molina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKNGVIep51I

White Sox trade Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto for reliever Jason Frasor and pitching prospect Zach Stewart

Merkin @ CWS:

The White Sox and Blue Jays completed a trade Wednesday that sent Chicago starter Edwin Jackson and third baseman Mark Teahen to Toronto in exchange for reliever Jason Frasor and pitching prospect Zach Stewart. …

Let’s see what B-R says for the 2 guys that came back. For Jason Frasor:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1999	21	DET-min	A-,A	5	4	.556	1.96	16	15	0	1	1	0	82.2	53	26	18	5	31	0	102	3	5	3	326		1.016	5.8	0.5	3.4	11.1	3.29	ONE,WMI · NYPL,MIDW
2000	22	DET-min	A	5	3	.625	3.28	14	14	0	0	0	0	71.1	55	32	26	2	29	0	65	4	1	5	300		1.178	6.9	0.3	3.7	8.2	2.24	WMI · MIDW
2002	24	DET-min	A+	5	6	.455	3.54	24	24	0	0	0	0	117.0	112	54	46	10	46	1	87	8	2	2	494		1.350	8.6	0.8	3.5	6.7	1.89	LAK · FLOR
2003	25	LAD-min	AA,A+	2	0	1.000	2.51	50	0	41	0	0	23	61.0	49	21	17	2	18	0	86	1	1	1	248		1.098	7.2	0.3	2.7	12.7	4.78	JCK,VRO · SOUL,FLOR
2004	26	TOR-min	AAA	0	0		2.25	3	0	2	0	0	0	4.0	1	1	1	0	5	0	6	0	0	0	18		1.500	2.2	0.0	11.2	13.5	1.20	SYR · IL
2004	26	TOR	AL	4	6	.400	4.08	63	0	37	0	0	17	68.1	64	31	31	4	36	3	54	2	2	4	299	119	1.463	8.4	0.5	4.7	7.1	1.50
2005	27	TOR	AL	3	5	.375	3.25	67	0	12	0	0	1	74.2	67	31	27	8	28	2	62	3	0	1	305	137	1.272	8.1	1.0	3.4	7.5	2.21
2006	28	TOR-min	AAA	3	1	.750	3.98	18	0	6	0	0	1	20.1	21	10	9	1	13	0	33	0	0	3	92		1.672	9.3	0.4	5.8	14.6	2.54	SYR · IL
2006	28	TOR	AL	3	2	.600	4.32	51	0	12	0	0	0	50.0	47	24	24	8	17	1	51	2	0	3	215	106	1.280	8.5	1.4	3.1	9.2	3.00
2007	29	TOR	AL	1	5	.167	4.58	51	0	18	0	0	3	57.0	47	29	29	3	23	1	59	2	1	2	242	98	1.228	7.4	0.5	3.6	9.3	2.57
2008	30	TOR	AL	1	2	.333	4.18	49	0	21	0	0	0	47.1	36	23	22	4	32	4	42	1	0	6	208	102	1.437	6.8	0.8	6.1	8.0	1.31
2009	31	TOR	AL	7	3	.700	2.50	61	0	36	0	0	11	57.2	43	17	16	4	16	3	56	2	0	2	227	178	1.023	6.7	0.6	2.5	8.7	3.50
2010	32	TOR	AL	3	4	.429	3.68	69	0	18	0	0	4	63.2	61	30	26	4	27	6	65	4	0	5	279	114	1.382	8.6	0.6	3.8	9.2	2.41
2011	33	TOR	AL	2	1	.667	2.98	44	0	6	0	0	0	42.1	38	15	14	4	15	1	37	2	0	2	178	137	1.252	8.1	0.9	3.2	7.9	2.47
8 Seasons				24	28	.462	3.69	455	0	160	0	0	36	461.0	403	200	189	39	194	21	426	18	3	25	1953	120	1.295	7.9	0.8	3.8	8.3	2.20
162 Game Avg.				4	4	.462	3.69	68	0	24	0	0	5	69	60	30	28	6	29	3	64	3	0	4	292	120	1.295	7.9	0.8	3.8	8.3	2.20

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/27/2011.

and Zach Stewart:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2008	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A+-A	CIN	1	4	.200	1.09	24	0	21	0	0	5	33.0	26	7	4	0	14	2	36	2	0	0	136	1.212	7.1	0.0	3.8	9.8	2.57
2008	21	Dayton	MIDW	A	CIN	1	2	.333	0.55	11	0	10	0	0	3	16.1	10	2	1	0	3	0	13	1	0	0	61	0.796	5.5	0.0	1.7	7.2	4.33
2008	21	Sarasota	FLOR	A+	CIN	0	2	.000	1.62	13	0	11	0	0	2	16.2	16	5	3	0	11	2	23	1	0	0	75	1.620	8.6	0.0	5.9	12.4	2.09
2009	22	4 Teams	4 Lgs	A+-AA-AAA	TOR,CIN	4	1	.800	1.89	34	14	7	1	0	2	105.0	105	34	22	3	32	0	93	2	0	4	439	1.305	9.0	0.3	2.7	8.0	2.91
2009	22	Sarasota	FLOR	A+	CIN	1	1	.500	2.13	7	7	0	1	0	0	42.1	47	17	10	1	8	0	32	1	0	1	177	1.299	10.0	0.2	1.7	6.8	4.00
2009	22	Carolina	SOUL	AA	CIN	3	0	1.000	1.46	7	7	0	0	0	0	37.0	29	7	6	1	10	0	31	1	0	1	145	1.054	7.1	0.2	2.4	7.5	3.10
2009	22	Las Vegas	PCL	AAA	TOR	0	0		3.38	11	0	3	0	0	0	13.1	18	8	5	1	6	0	14	0	0	1	62	1.800	12.2	0.7	4.0	9.4	2.33
2009	22	Louisville	IL	AAA	CIN	0	0		0.73	9	0	4	0	0	2	12.1	11	2	1	0	8	0	16	0	0	1	55	1.541	8.0	0.0	5.8	11.7	2.00
2010	23	New Hampshire	EL	AA	TOR	8	3	.727	3.63	26	26	0	0	0	0	136.1	131	59	55	13	54	0	106	5	2	5	575	1.357	8.6	0.9	3.6	7.0	1.96
2011	24	New Hampshire	EL	AA	TOR	5	5	.500	4.20	16	16	0	1	0	0	94.1	106	49	44	6	27	0	74	1	1	3	403	1.410	10.1	0.6	2.6	7.1	2.74
4 Seasons						18	13	.581	3.05	100	56	28	2	0	7	368.2	368	149	125	22	127	2	309	10	3	12	1553	1.343	9.0	0.5	3.1	7.5	2.43
AA (3 seasons)				AA		16	8	.667	3.53	49	49	0	1	0	0	267.2	266	115	105	20	91	0	211	7	3	9	1123	1.334	8.9	0.7	3.1	7.1	2.32
AAA (1 season)				AAA		0	0		2.10	20	0	7	0	0	2	25.2	29	10	6	1	14	0	30	0	0	2	117	1.675	10.2	0.4	4.9	10.5	2.14
A+ (2 seasons)				A+		1	3	.250	1.98	20	7	11	1	0	2	59.0	63	22	13	1	19	2	55	2	0	1	252	1.390	9.6	0.2	2.9	8.4	2.89
A (1 season)				A		1	2	.333	0.55	11	0	10	0	0	3	16.1	10	2	1	0	3	0	13	1	0	0	61	0.796	5.5	0.0	1.7	7.2	4.33

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/27/2011.

I see Toronto trade Edwin Jackson and some relievers to St. Louis for Colby Rasmus. And not any good relievers. I’d prefer getting Rasmus to getting Frasor/Stewart. Yes, Rasmus has his negatives but it would have been a better return than Frasor/Stewart.

White Sox interested in RHRP Jeremy Accardo

Morosi @ FS tweets:

Rays and White Sox are showing interest in [Jeremy] Accardo. Intriguing buy-low for pen.

Accardo was non-tendered by the Blue Jays.

A.J. Pierzynski close to signing with Toronto? No

MLBTR:

The Blue Jays are close to signing A.J. Pierzynski, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Even though John Buck signed with the Marlins and Miguel Olivo declined the team’s offer of arbitration, the Blue Jays still have two capable catchers. Jose Molina will return in 2011 and J.P. Arencibia showed power in a late-season call-up and won Pacific Coast League MVP.

Here’s Cowley:

Later, Williams was asked about the talks concerning free agent A.J. Pierzynski, and again brought up the pursuit of Konerko as a big reason why Pierzynski is on hold for now.

“We’ve had conversations, we’ve had a lot of conversations,” Williams said of bringing his catcher back. “Again, I value A.J.. I would love to have him back. My dilemma right now is do you take such an overture and let it take you out of the payroll zone that you may need to get a Paul Konerko back. We’re in a holding pattern because to be honest the next thing I would like to put back in a Sox uniform is Paul Konerko.”

The problem is that the Pierzynski ship may have already sailed. A source close to the situation said that Pierzynski was close to signing with Toronto.

That would leave the Sox going with Ramon Castro and Tyler Flowers, or pursuing Miguel Olivo.

Not so fast tweets Ken Rosenthal:

Sources: Pierzynski is NOT close to signing with Blue Jays. White Sox still appear in mix.

White Sox scout at the Baltimore-Toronto game yesterday

Elliot (Toronto Sun):

White Sox (Bryan Little) and Mets (Bob Melvin) also watching Jays Wed nite

UPDATE: MLBTR:

Trade bait on the field for Toronto: Jose Bautista, Lyle Overbay, John Buck, Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Frasor, and Kevin Gregg.

White Sox interested in Toronto’s 3B/OF Jose Bautista

Passan @ Yahoo:

Major league HR leader Jose Bautista drawing serious trade interest. Teams that have inquired include Giants, Tigers, White Sox, Braves.

Stats: B-R

Bautista is under club control for the current and for the next season and then hits free-agency. He’s on a 1-year, $2.4 million contract.

UPDATE: Buster Olney via MLBTR:

Some teams feel that the Blue Jays are bluffing by asking for elite young players for MLB home run leader Jose Bautista.  Rival executives feel that Bautista’s salary will jump to eight figures in his final arbitration year, and the Jays would be reluctant to pay.

Ozzie Guillen won’t mind a 20-10 loss and likes Toronto

Gregor:

Earlier this morning, Ozzie said he wouldn’t necessarily mind another loss if the Sox hit the ball for a change.

“I don’t want to win, I want to score,” Ozzie said. “I don’t care if the score is 20-19 because it would show me we could hit. Every game for us, especially in our division, is a must-win game. But like I said yesterday, don’t try to do too much. Just do what you’re supposed to do, don’t push it.”

How about a win?

and Gonzales:

“I like Toronto,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I don’t like when we go on the field and they kick our butts every day.”

Joe Coley disagrees.

Jermaine Dye “shocked” he doesn’t have a team

Cowley:

”I’m shocked,” Dye told the Sun-Times. ”I really am in disbelief, but what can I do?”

… ”I still feel like I’m a productive player and feel like I can contribute, but teams want me as a backup player, and that’s something I’m not ready to do,” Dye said. ”I feel undervalued, basically. I don’t think I have to go out there and prove anything to anyone. My numbers the last five or six years show I can help someone.”

… ”There’s nothing close,” Dye said. ”Still a few teams calling, couple teams made offers, but nothing really worth it. Anaheim made an offer, but they could only offer me 200-250 at-bats. Toronto made an offer; they wanted me to play right field every day, but the money was ridiculous.”

… ”I want to play every day,” Dye said. ”Cleveland was interested but never made an offer. Tampa was supposed to call, and we’re still trying to work that out. There have been offers, but like I said, nothing worth it.”

Sox have talked with Toronto about Scott Downs and San Diego about Heath Bell

Bruce Levine:

Williams is still looking for another solid bullpen pitcher. Major League Baseball sources told me the White Sox have talked to the Toronto Blue Jays about the left-handed relief pitcher Scott Downs, who if acquired, would be an upgrade as the second left-hander in the Chicago Bullpen. The Sox have also asked about Padres closer Heath Bell. San Diego officials insist that Bell will not be traded at the beginning of the season, the likelihood is that by the time the trading deadline approaches july 31, that bell will be dealt. The same scenario exists for Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. …

Levine also hears that “the White Sox payroll is maxed out at $104 million for 2010.” Other stuff talked are the Johnny Damon rumors, Kenny’s #1 worry for 2010 being Carlos Quentin, and talking the marketing dept. (Brooks Boyer) before making a trade.

And here’s a link to the podcast of the interview with Kenny (12:29).

Stats: Downs, Bell.

Both Downs and Bell are on the last year of their contracts and are making $4 million. Bell would be too expensive to get, and Downs would be bad allocation of money. Bad? Yes, why not use that money to go after a DH?

Kenny went for Roy Halladay

Griffin (via SoxMachine):

According to sources, the most competitive offers for Halladay came from clubs he was ultimately unwilling to go to – the Chisox, Cubs and Dodgers. Heading to the meetings, Anthopoulos had not asked for a list of teams to which his ace would accept a trade. He could then honestly approach everyone and find out what they had to offer without feeling he was leading them on.

The Blue Jays ended up with Travis D’Arnaud (B), Kyle Drabek (B+) and Michael Taylor (B+/A-). Taylor as traded to Oakland later. Prospect grades from John Sickels. A better package of prospects from the Sox would be Dan Hudson (B+), Tyler Flowers (B) and Gordon Beckham? Boy, I’m so glad that trade didn’t go through. Beckham+ for 1 year of 33 years old Halladay.

Kenny Williams on the Alex Rios claim (video)

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6028021 (5:10)

Bonus: 08.10.09: White Sox Extra (1:40)