Now comes the next phase.
”I`ll be glad when this is over,” said White Sox General Manager Ron Schueler between rounds Tuesday night, ”so we can immediately start to work on talking to free agents, going back over our club to see where we stand.
”We`re even going to try to go to Louisville (site of December`s winter meetings) a little early. (Greg) Hibbard`s going to be tough to replace.”
Pitching remains the priority, Schueler said, but he said he`ll be looking for outfield help as well.
”It may not just be one free agent. It might be two.”
What kind of outfielders? Kirby Puckett-Ruben Sierra-level outfielders.
”A high level,” Schueler said. ”We`re talking about good ones.”
– With Joe Girardi gone and Matt Walbeck unproven, the Cubs need catching depth. ”One of our priorities is to go out and sign what they`re calling now an NFL Type-B player to fill in for us in a catching role,” said GM Larry Himes.
– The conversation toward the end of the season was if the Sox lost a starting pitcher in the draft-and they did-it would open a spot for Charlie Hough, a free agent who wants to return. Turns out that isn`t automatic.
”We`re going to explore a lot of things,” Schueler said. ”We`re going to look at free agents and see what the market is out there. It doesn`t rule out Charlie, but still we want to look at the other ones first.”
– No shortstop was chosen until the Rockies drafted the Reds` Freddie Benavides with the 28th pick. Most mock drafts had the Rangers` Jeff Huson going early, but Kevin Reimer became the Texas first-round loss when the Rockies took him at No. 9.
– The final tally had the Marlins drafting just four infielders. The Walt Weiss trade added a fifth and the Greg Hibbard trade added two more. The Rockies picked only four outfielders. Expect plenty of shuffling between now and spring training.
– After trying to get through the season without it, Bryan Harvey finally had arthroscopic surgery on his pitching elbow last August. That-and a $3 million- plus salary for next year-made it puzzling that he went ahead of the bundle of healthy relievers available-Lee Smith, Bobby Thigpen, Steve Farr and Mitch Williams.
Harvey`s only concern was he didn`t want to be traded.
”Doug Rader (Florida hitting coach), I pitched for him,” Harvey said.
”Cookie Rojas (another coach), I pitched for him. All those things are kind of going for me, so hopefully that`ll be enough to keep me there.”
