Sox GM Kenny Williams has long, tough to-do list
White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said he offered to resign his post several times over the past year, but chairman Jerry Reinsdorf did not see a need to make a change.
Williams was obviously telling the truth because he is still on the job.
Now, he has quite a mess to clean up.
Reinsdorf wanted to go with a younger — and cheaper — roster at this time a year ago, but Williams persuaded the 75-year-old chairman to go “all in.”
Are we finally done seeing those TV commercials?
The Sox showed some slivers of life at times this season, but they were “all done” after being swept in a three-game series at Detroit at the start of September.
Williams has a lengthy to-do list, and his first order of business is finding a manager to replace Ozzie Guillen.
Keep an eye on Terry Francona, who might not survive after the Red Sox’ historic collapse this season.
Francona won two World Series in Boston, and his career started in the White Sox’ system in 1991 when he managed Rookie League Sarasota.
In 1994, Michael Jordan played for Francona at AA Birmingham.
Thee is little doubt Francona would be a great hire for the White Sox — if he is available — but Sandy Alomar Jr. remains the candidate to watch.
Alomar has spent the past two seasons as Cleveland’s first-base coach after playing 20 years in the majors.
Alomar had three separate stints with the White Sox. One of the catcher’s former teammates, Paul Konerko, would love to play for Alomar.
“I don’t think there’s any question he’s going to be a great manager,” Konerko said. “It’s just a matter of where and when. You really can’t have a much better resume leading up to being a manager than Sandy. He’s got the perfect pedigree to be a great manager.
“I mean, baseball family, smart guy, catcher, speaks English, speaks Spanish. You name it on paper and he’s pretty much got it. There’s only one thing he hasn’t done, and that’s manage. So at some point he’s going to manage. It could be here, it could be anywhere. But Sandy’s got everything.”
Konerko is coming back in 2012 following another standout season.
The rest of the roster is a mystery.
It does not look like the White Sox are going to have the money to bring back free-agent starter Mark Buehrle, who is likely to get a three-year deal worth at least $30 million from a team like his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.
Look for Alejandro De Aza to replace Juan Pierre, another free agent, in left field, with Dayan Viciedo replacing arbitration-eligible Carlos Quentin in right.
The Sox are likely stuck with three highly paid — and unproductive — players: Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Jake Peavy.
Along with Quentin, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain and Will Ohman are trade candidates.
Williams likes making splashy additions, especially in the off-season, but that is not going to happen this time around.
“For many of our fans that have grown accustomed to our trying to go out and get the biggest impact player, this will be a departure of sorts,” Williams said. “But it’s been 11 years. Eleven years of throwing haymakers and trying to get the best talent, the most impactful talent out there.
“Sometimes there’s a price to play, particularly when that doesn’t translate into success with the players you’ve acquired. You take it on the chin and you keep moving and you might have to modify the way you do business for a couple of years until you get that foundation back together where you say, ‘OK, now, if we had player X, Y or Z, now we have a championship goal again.’”
Ÿ The move that sent manager Ozzie Guillen from the Sox to Marlins is official.
The Sox acquired two of Florida’s top minor league prospects — right-handed pitcher Jhan Marinez and infielder Ozzie Martinez — as compensation for Guillen being released from his contract Monday.
Marinez was 3-8 with a 3.57 ERA and 3 saves for Class AA Jacksonville this season.
The 23-year-old right-hander also played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game, and Marinez led all Southern League relief pitchers with 16 holds while averaging 11.48 strikeouts per 9 innings.
Martinez, also 23, played at AAA New Orleans this season and batted .245 with 15 doubles, 3 home runs and 26 RBI in 88 games.
He appeared in 20 games with Florida and was 3-for-23.
Heading into the 2011 season, Marinez was rated the Marlins’ No. 4 prospect by Baseball America. Martinez was No. 5.
The White Sox also assigned the contract of right-handed pitcher Ricardo Andres to Florida.