July 2008 - Chicago White Sox Wiretap

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen believes that the current financial crisis will affect most Major League teams. "The teams will have to be made up of a mix of prospective young players and veterans," said Guillen. "One must trust in the work that the minor leagues are doing." "Teams will have to look for alternatives, work with lower salaries," he said. Guillen added that apart from the Yankees and Red Sox, teams will have to look within themselves or to the minor leagues.

The Reds appear to have passed on a potential trade with the White Sox that would have netted them veteran outfielder Jermaine Dye. "Right now, we're thinking more long-term (Dye is 34) and he's on the final year of his contract ($11.5 million in 2009)," Cincinnati general manager Walt Jocketty said. "We have to fill out our outfield and some bench spots, and it may or may not happen right away, but we're working on it."

Free-agent shortstops Rafael Furcal and Orlando Cabrera remain on the market, even with the winter meetings having come and gone. Furcal turned down a four-year, $36 million offer from the A's before the start of the meetings. The A's still appear to be in the running for Furcal, while the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Royals are also interested. Cabrera has drawn interest from the Twins, Royals and A's, the same teams Furcal has drawn interest from, meaning there could be a fair amount of scrambling in the coming days for these teams to find shortstops.

White Sox manager Jose Guillen claims that the White Sox aren't rebuilding despite all of the moves they have made and are rumored to be contemplating. "No, we're not rebuilding," Guillen said. "If we were rebuilding, we would get rid of everybody. We still have our entire bullpen. We have A.J. (Pierzynski), Paul Konerko, (Jermaine) Dye. As an organization, we had to do some things to get better."

The White Sox agreed to a $10 million, four-year contract Friday with Cuban infielder Dayan Viciedo. Viciedo will receive a $4 million signing bonus and be paid $1 million in 2009, $1.25 million in 2010, and 2011 and $2.5 million in 2012. "My best defensive position is third base. It's the position I've always played and the position I feel most comfortable in," Viciedo said through a translator.

The Reds are denying rumors that they have traded young pitcher Homer Bailey to the White Sox for veteran outfielder Jermaine Dye. "Wrong. It's not even close," Cincinnati general manager Walt Jocketty said. There have been discussions between the two teams about Dye, but nothing is considered active. "We haven't had any discussions with the White Sox since before Thanksgiving," Jocketty said.

The White Sox traded their second veteran in a week on Sunday, according to a report in the Dayton Daily News, sending Jermaine Dye to the Reds in exchange for 22-year-old righthander Homer Bailey. ?The deal is done and will be announced this week,? a major league source told the newspaper.

The White Sox are interested in dealing aging outfielder Jermaine Dye, and numerous teams are expected to express interest. Dye fits the bill of what many teams -- the Mets, Dodgers, Braves, Angels, Rays and Reds -- are looking for this offseason. Teams that miss out, or can't afford, someone like Manny Ramirez could make a trade offer for Dye.

Fernando Martinez's name is sure to come up next week during the winter meetings in Las Vegas, but the Mets are not prepared to deal him. After holding Martinez out of countless trades the past few years, they will be tested again, and general manager Omar Minaya still is reluctant to move him. Minaya always has refused to label any prospect "untouchable," but he kept Mike Pelfrey off the table last year at this time and he seems ready to do the same with Martinez. Minaya remains interested in free agent Raul Iba?ez, but if Martinez continues to show improvement in spring training, he could eventually merit playing time along with the platoon of Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy currently in place. There has been talk that the Mets could land Bobby Jenks and Jermaine Dye, but the package almost certainly would center on Martinez and a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday there was "nothing there."

The Braves have reached tentative agreement with the White Sox on a trade that would bring veteran right-handed starter Javier Vazquez to Atlanta, SI.com has confirmed. In an attempt to rebuild its starting rotation, Atlanta has been pursuing several proven pitchers, including top free-agent pitcher A.J. Burnett. It's possible the Braves may still try to sign Burnett even after adding Vazquez. In exchange for Vazquez and relief pitcher Boone Logan, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves will send four young players to the White Sox: catcher Tyler Flowers, third baseman Jon Gilmore, pitcher Santos Rodriguez and infielder Brent Lillibridge. Lillibridge is a player White Sox GM Ken Williams has been after for awhile.