There was no real need to bother with the introductions.
Let’s cut right to the chase.
Will new White Sox General Manager Ken Williams have the green light to pursue shortstop Alex Rodriguez, the most expensive free agent in the upcoming market?
Williams wouldn’t touch that, of course, because he would be fined for tampering on his first day on the job.
He hasn’t spoken about a budget yet with Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, though Williams isn’t opposed to a significant bump if it’s for the right players.
“There comes a time when every organization has to make its own choice,” Williams said Wednesday from Phoenix in a media conference call that served as his formal introduction in his new role. “I can’t begrudge anyone who’s out there and wants to extend themselves, payroll-wise and salary-wise. The only thing is I can’t ask Jerry Reinsdorf to spend a dollar if he only has 50 cents.”
The Sox ranked 21st in payroll in 2000 and led the American League with 95 victories before folding in the postseason. The Sox had the third-highest payroll in baseball at the outset of ’97, but Williams said he “won’t spend more than we bring in–that’s a fact.”
So will Reinsdorf open his wallet again now that the Sox seem on the verge of bigger and better things?
“There is an understanding that once we got to be competitive, if the right fit is there and there’s the need for the organization to extend themselves, though not go broke, we have confidence that for the right player, we’ll go after him,” Williams said.
In his first media availability since succeeding Ron Schueler as Sox GM on Tuesday, Williams defended Jose Valentin, implied Kip Wells and Jon Garland will be in the opening-week rotation and said the Sox would try to sign Magglio Ordonez to a multiyear deal before he’s eligible for arbitration.
“I’m in no rush to do anything as far as personnel and the club are concerned,” Williams said. “My mark on this club is with the young players we’ve brought up the last few years.”
Williams, 36, discovered he would succeed Schueler shortly after the season’s end.
“I wanted to take things slow,” he said. “I haven’t been in any rush for this. I was very happy with the position as player development director. But this is another step, another challenge and I hope I’ll be up to it.”
Major-league teams aren’t supposed to make personnel moves during the World Series, an unwritten rule instituted a decade ago. But MLB spokesman Rich Levin said exceptions are made if a team has no other options and the Sox received permission from Commissioner Bud Selig on Tuesday before announcing Schueler’s resignation and the hiring of Williams.
In what will be seen by some as a criticism of Schueler’s moves, Williams said he won’t rush many of the Sox prospects up to the majors, as the Sox did in 2000.
“The one thing I have been a little uneasy about the last few years is we have pushed the envelope of a few young players,” Williams said. “Maybe we tasted the wine a little before its time. . . . Our success allows us to take more time, give them more seasoning under their belt before they leap to the big leagues.”
Williams should have some leeway to spend because the Sox are not hamstrung by huge salaries. Ordonez and closer Keith Foulke figure to get sizeable multiyear deals, however, because they’re arbitration-eligible. Frank Thomas, the team’s highest-paid player, will earn $10.375 million every year through 2006. At the rate superstar salaries are rising, Thomas’ salary will be dwarfed by the top salaries in 2006, giving Williams some room to maneuver financially.
Williams said pitchers James Baldwin, Sean Lowe and Bob Howry, all of whom have undergone various surgeries, are expected to be ready to pitch again by spring training. He wouldn’t commit to bringing back Cal Eldred, saying he “needed more dialogue” with trainer Herm Schneider and the team doctors before making a decision on the free agent. Upgrading the club defensively is a priority, Williams said, though he insisted Valentin’s 36 errors could have been a fluke.
“Who’s to say he comes back and makes 36 errors next year?” Williams said.
Above all, Williams wanted Sox fans to know the Sox will continue to count on their farm system to provide a future for the organization.
“One thing I hope people understand is, No. 1, we all sat down together a few years back and mapped out a plan,” Williams said. “That plan has gotten us to this point. We’re about to embark upon a four- or five-year window where we’re going to be pretty darn competitive. The formula is in place. I’m here to ensure that and see this thing through.”
