
White Sox News:
It took almost three days for any team to stand before the podium and announce a trade in the media workroom at the Swan and Dolphin Resort on the Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets Disney World grounds. That time period equals an eternity as measured in Winter Meetings seconds and minutes.
General manager Ken Williams being part of the first major deal of these current Winter Meetings was of no surprise. Not with Williams' ability to pull Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets off past trades of significance. Not with the White Sox sitting as one of the two or three teams in all of baseball holding a surplus of Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets Major League pitching.
A few of the pieces of Wednesday's trade involving the White Sox and Phillies might have Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets been a little surprising to some. Ultimately, it was what Williams termed as "the best baseball deal" as he sat down to talk to the assembled media at Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.
By sending Freddy Garcia to the Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitcher Gavin Floyd Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets and left-handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez, who officially is classified as the player to be named until Thursday afternoon, the White Sox removed an Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets integral piece from one of their greatest moments in franchise history in order to ensure continued future success. Garcia, 30, was coming off of a 17-9 season for the White Sox, a 33-start, 216 1/3-inning Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets effort which saw him finish with a flourish.
Garcia also often has Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets been classified as a big-game pitcher, rising to the occasion whenever the situation dictated, including earning the victory during the deciding Game 4 of the 2005 World Series sweep over Houston. But it was Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets only five or six hours earlier when Williams mentioned to a group of Chicago reporters how the free-spending market, and sometimes wild Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets spending market, might have precluded Williams from signing one of his own potential free-agent pitchers, such as Garcia or even Mark Buehrle, to a long-term extension.
"What we would be talking about, honestly, are numbers and years I'm not Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets comfortable with," said Williams at the time.
So, Garcia was moved before his walkaway season began for top young pitching talent -- an expressed desired return for any trade involving the White Sox. It's the same Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets Garcia who Williams had out-bid teams such as the Yankees to obtain in 2004.
"I think the Phillies just acquired a 17-to-20-game winner," said Williams of Garcia, flanked behind the podium by Mike Arbuckle, the Phillies assistant general manager, scouting and player development. "He's one of the classiest, most determined guys on the mound, and a guy who Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets everyone saw help pitch us to the World Series.
Boston Red Sox News:
The Red Sox have questions about the condition of J.D. Drew's surgically repaired right shoulder, questions that have kept them from finalizing a deal for the Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets free agent right fielder two weeks after Drew's agent, Scott Boras, announced at the winter meetings that the Sox and Drew had come to terms Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox Tickets on a five-year, $70 million contract.