Rick Hahn: Door is open for Paul Konerko to return to White Sox

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn and manager Robin Ventura visited with free agent first baseman Paul Konerko last week at Konerko's Arizona home, according to media reports.

Hahn says he told Konerko the door is open for him to return to the Sox in a reduced role for 2014, despite the team's decision to sign first baseman Jose Abreu.

“We had a real good open and honest conversation about where his mind is at and his hopes for going forward, and a good talk about the club and our hopes for moving forward,” Hahn said. “At this time, he’s still going through his process of deliberating about what he wants to do next year.”

Konerko has offered no timetable on his decision, but I suspect we'll know within the next month whether he intends to play next year.

I would be surprised if we see Konerko back with the Sox. Resigning him would create a logjam of first baseman/designated hitter types. Are there enough at-bats to go around for Abreu, Konerko and Adam Dunn? I don't believe so, and Abreu and Dunn are already under contract for next season. The Sox aren't paying Abreu $68 million to start the season in the minors. He's going to be on the club. Dunn is going to be on the club, too, unless Hahn can find a taker for his $15 million salary. Unlikely. So where does that leave Konerko? Probably elsewhere or retired.

In this day and age where clubs carry 12 pitchers, it's really hard to go into a season with three 1B/DH types. You only have four position players on the bench, and you'd really like to have some speed and versatility there. Neither Konerko nor Dunn provide you with those things. In my mind, it's impossible to justify keeping both of them around when neither of them is going to play every day.

For now, we are in a holding pattern.Will Konerko take a reduced role with the Sox? Will another team offer him a full-time job at first base? Will he just retire? We'll see.

Four 'untouchables'

In other news, rival executives say Hahn is willing to trade anyone except these four players: Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Abreu and Avisail Garcia.

I agree with three of the four, but I'm a little surprised to see Quintana's name on that list. Not that I don't like Quintana. He's a tough kid, a good competitor, an above-average pitcher in the American League. As an added bonus, he's left-handed. I'm just not sure his skill set ascends him to the level of "untouchable," especially since the Sox have so many other holes to fill.

I would never trade Sale, because I think he's a special talent that only comes along every so often. As effective as Quintana is, he's not in that class. If Hahn could fill two or three other holes by trading Quintana, wouldn't he have to consider that?

Rookies of the Year; Cubs radio booth; and Joe Mauer

The announcement of the Rookies of the Year on Monday proved to be anticlimatic. The two favorites won easily: Tampa Bay outfielder Wil Myers and Miami pitcher Jose Fernandez.

Myers, 22, hit .293 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in just 88 games after being called up from the minors June 18. His middle-of-the-order presence was key to Tampa Bay's surge to the playoffs. His selection as Rookie of the Year was a no-brainer, since the rest of the AL crop was weak.

Myers got 23 of the 30 first-place votes, easily outdistancing Detroit infielder Jose Iglesias, who got five first-place votes. Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer and Oakland pitcher Dan Straily each earned one first-place vote.

I thought the NL voting would be a little tighter, just because of the hype surrounding Yasiel Puig. The outfielder plays in a major media market and was widely credited with turning around the Los Angeles Dodgers' season, but in the end, substance won out over style.

The year Fernandez put together was too good to ignore. He earned 26 of the 30 first-place votes, while Puig got the other four. Fernandez is also a finalist for the NL Cy Young award, as well he should be. The 20-year-old went 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA and recorded 187 strikeouts. Those are gaudy numbers for anybody, but it's especially impressive when you consider Fernandez pitched for the 62-100 Marlins.

I was wondering if Fernandez would be forgotten by some writers because he toils in relative obscurity on a bad team. He was not forgotten. Unlike Puig, he was in the majors the whole season and excelled the entire year. Accordingly, he is more deserving of the award.

Former players vie for opening in Cubs radio booth

I saw an entry on Robert Feder's blog on Monday that the Cubs have pared their list for the analyst job in their radio booth. The position is open after Keith Moreland resigned to spend more time with his family.

As you might expect, many of the candidates are former Cubs players: Rick Sutcliffe, Kerry Wood, Todd Hollandsworth, Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, Eric Karros, Doug Glanville and Dave Otto.

Feder reports former WGN broadcaster Andy Masur is also on the list, but I would think he would be more of a candidate if they were looking for a play-by-play guy. My guess is one of the former players gets the gig.

If they pick Sutcliffe, I will probably vow to never tune into a Cubs radio broadcast again. I can't stand Sutcliffe on ESPN. He never shuts up. Baseball is a sport where you have to let the game breathe a little bit, you know?

If it were my call, Hollandsworth, Karros and Glanville would be the finalists. 

Joe Mauer permanently moves to first base

I read an article the other day that said Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer is making a permanent move to first base.

Thank goodness.

Whoever the Twins put behind the plate next year will probably make about 75 percent fewer trips to the mound than Mauer, whose propensity for conferencing with the crappy Minnesota pitching staff is enough to make a sane man brain himself. 

Cubs name Rick Renteria manager

The painstaking five-week search is over. The Cubs have named former San Diego Padres bench coach Rick Renteria manager.

Renteria, 51, reportedly agreed to a three-year contract with club options for 2017 and 2018. Terms have not been disclosed.

Did the Cubs get their man?

Well, to hear Sun-Times reporter Gordon Wittenmyer tell it, Renteria was "by all accounts" the Cubs' first choice all along. Hmm.

Who is making these accounts? Wittenmyer? Cubs front office people who are trying to frame this hire in the best possible way? Steve Rosenbloom from the Tribune had a little different take on the whole thing, and I'd probably fall more in line with his opinion than Wittenmyer's.

About a month ago, Wittenmyer and everybody else who covers the Cubs reported that the team was talking with New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi "through back channels," and that Cubs brass was "poised to make an offer." That leads me to believe Girardi was the first choice, as well he should have been. The Cubs went for the home run hire and missed. It happens. But it doesn't make any sense to backtrack now and say Renteria is the guy they wanted all along. If that were the case, the Cubs could have made this hire a couple days after they fired Dale Sveum or at any other time over the last month.

Instead, they pursued Girardi. That didn't work out. The Cubs also interviewed Brad Ausmus, who ended up taking the Detroit job amid local speculation that the Tigers wanted to move quickly to prevent Ausmus from going to the Cubs. There's also strong evidence the Cubs waited until the World Series was over in hopes of interviewing Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo. That request was denied by the Red Sox front office, which is still unhappy about the way Cubs president Theo Epstein left the Boston organization.

So, at best, Renteria was the Cubs' second choice. He might have been no higher than their fourth choice. All that said, this doesn't mean he is incapable of doing the job. I think experience is overrated when it comes to managers. Sure, you'd like to have a manager with experience, but it's not necessarily mandatory for success. Other guys who have never managed before have had success in their first job. Just look at St. Louis manager Mike Matheny, who has guided the Cardinals to two playoff appearances and one National League pennant in his first two years on the job.

Of course, Matheny has a number of good players on his roster. Renteria, in contrast, takes over a team with a losing clubhouse culture, with few established major league players, and with no real hope of contending in 2014. And that's really the issue at hand. It doesn't matter whether Renteria was the Cubs' first choice or their 10th choice. It doesn't matter how much experience he has, or what his reputation in the game is. Players win and lose games, and the Cubs simply have too few good players for anyone to reasonably expect Renteria to thrive in his new position.

Like Sveum before him, Renteria appears set up to fail.

White Sox decline to make qualifying offers to Paul Konerko, Gavin Floyd

The White Sox on Monday declined to give qualifying contract offers to first baseman Paul Konerko and pitcher Gavin Floyd.

I was a little bit surprised to see the story splashed across the top of the Chicago Tribune sports section on Monday morning. I think the decision on this was pretty obvious. It really wasn't big news.

Qualifying offers are for one year and $14.1 million. Why $14.1 million, you ask? Well, that's the average of the highest 125 contracts in baseball. That's how they arrive at that figure, and obviously, neither Konerko nor Floyd is worth that kind of money at this stage of their respective careers.

Konerko, 37, is mulling retirement after a lackluster 2013 campaign in which he batted just .244 with a career-low 12 home runs and 54 RBIs.

Floyd, 30, is recovering from Tommy John surgery after going 0-4 with a 5.18 ERA in just five starts in 2013. It has been assumed for months that Floyd has thrown his last pitch in a Sox uniform.

Both players are free agents and are now able to sign with any team. If they do, the White Sox will not receive draft pick compensation as the result of their decision not to extend a qualifying offer.

White Sox to season ticket holders: 2013 season 'simply unacceptable'

I received my White Sox season ticket renewal notice in the mail on Thursday. Prices for next year are the same as they were this year. They better be, given the woeful 99-loss performance the Sox had in 2013.

The first couple paragraphs of the letter enclosed, written by Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing Brooks Boyer, were interesting. They read as follows:

Dear White Sox Season Ticket Holder,

Thank you for your support of our team despite what was a very trying baseball season. Your passion is what drives our organization and any success we have is only because of your continued loyalty.

We want you to know we share your frustration and disappointment regarding the 2013 season, but everyone with the White Sox is confident we will be competitive again, and soon. We are going to be better. No one in the front office is willing to sit through another season like the past one. That is simply unacceptable to all of us, and I am sure, to you.

Indeed, it was simply unacceptable. I'm still renewing my tickets for 2014, and I do expect much better from the White Sox next season. The team that was put on the field this summer was embarrassing, not much better than Triple-A quality. Major changes are needed this offseason, and hopefully the signing of international free agent Jose Abreu is just the start.

It's worth noting that Boyer is not the GM. He's the marketing guy, so his words are not necessarily a foreshadowing of significant moves on the baseball side. However, you would like to think Boyer has some inside information about the direction the organization will be taking this offseason. Would he have written what he did if the club didn't plan on being active this winter?

As a season ticket holder, I'm going to take it as a positive sign they didn't send me a letter asking for patience. They don't seem like they are getting ready to undertake a lengthy rebuilding. Instead, they are boldly telling their best customers, "We are going to be better."

Good. That means they can't stand pat this offseason. To be better, change is necessary.. I'm anxious to see what general manager Rick Hahn has in store for us.

Shane Victorino stars as Red Sox complete World Series victory

It was pretty clear the St. Louis Cardinals were not going to let Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz beat them in Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday night.

Ortiz, who entered Wednesday's play batting .733 for the series, went 0-for-1 with four walks -- three of them intentional -- in Game 6. However, the St. Louis strategy failed, thanks to Boston outfielder Shane Victorino.

Victorino went 2 for 3 with four RBIs as the Red Sox beat the Cardinals 6-1 and claimed their third World Series title since 2004.

The decisive moment came in the bottom of the third inning. With Jacoby Ellsbury on second base and one out, Ortiz was intentionally walked for the first time. After Mike Napoli struck out and Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch, the table was set for Victorino. With the bases loaded and two away, the right fielder ripped a 2-1 fastball from St. Louis starter Michael Wacha off the Green Monster in left field for a bases-clearing double. The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead with one swing of the bat, and well, that was pretty much your ballgame.

Boston tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning, another frame that featured an intentional walk to Ortiz. Napoli and Victorino both foiled the strategy with RBI singles, and Boston had a 6-0 advantage.

I can't fault the Cardinals for going around Ortiz. They were bound and determined to make someone else swing the bat. Other Boston hitters stepped up and got the job done in RBI situations, so give them credit.

St. Louis, meanwhile, failed miserably in the clutch. The Cardinals were just 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position in Game 6 and could not capitalize against Boston starter and winning pitcher John Lackey. The best opportunity for St. Louis came in the seventh inning. Trailing 6-1, the Cardinals had the bases loaded with two outs for their leading RBI man, Allen Craig. But Boston reliever Junichi Tazawa retired Craig on a routine grounder to first. The Red Sox lead was never threatened again.

The Cardinals hit a major league record .330 with runners in scoring position this season, but their greatest strength failed them at an inopportune time on Wednesday night. They could get runners on. They just couldn't get them in.

When the Red Sox had scoring opportunities, they delivered. And that's why they are partying in Boston right now.

If the Red Sox win the World Series, do you think David Ortiz will win MVP?

Boston slugger David Ortiz is hitting .733 through the first five games of the World Series. In contrast, his Red Sox teammates have combined for a .156 batting average.

Yeah, I think we know who has been the best player on the field so far in this series.

The Red Sox have 33 hits as a team over the five games. Ortiz has 11 of them, in just 15 at-bats. He also has two home runs, six RBIs and four walks. His on-base percentage is .789. That's obscene.

Ortiz finished 3 for 4 in Boston's 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday in Game 5. His RBI double in the first inning opened the scoring. The Red Sox also got an go-ahead RBI double from journeyman catcher David Ross in the top of the seventh, and Jacoby Ellsbury chipped in with an RBI single.

The Red Sox now own a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, which shifts back to Fenway Park for Game 6 on Wednesday night.

If it weren't for Ortiz's otherworldly performance, we would be talking about left-hander Jon Lester as a possible MVP winner. The Boston ace was masterful for the second time in this series in Game 5. He went 7.2 innings and allowed just four hits. He struck out seven, walked none and surrendered just one run on a solo home run by Matt Holliday. Lester is now 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA in two World Series starts. He also was the winning pitcher in Game 1.

The odds are stacked in Boston's favor now as it has two chances to win one game at home. Can St. Louis go into Fenway and win two straight? I doubt it, but you never say never.

The Cardinals have to feel good about their Game 6 starter, Michael Wacha, who has been every bit as brilliant as Lester in the postseason. The St. Louis rookie is 4-0 with 1.00 ERA in four playoff starts. He'll need to make it 5-0 for the Cardinals to stay alive. His mound opponent will once again be Boston veteran John Lackey.

Here's why the Cardinals still have a chance: If it goes to Game 7, who is Boston going to pitch? Lester and Lackey are their only two reliable starters. Jake Peavy has been inconsistent to say the least. Clay Buchholz is gutting it out, pitching through injuries. Neither of the two is a real attractive option to start a Game 7, but one of them will get the ball -- if the Cardinals can find a way to pull out Game 6.