UPDATE: Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times is defending his initial report and adds that a scout told him that White Sox general manager Ken Williams is hoping to trade Carlos Quentin for a “Carlos Lee-type” return.
The White Sox traded Carlos Lee to the Brewers for Scott Podsednik, Luis Vizcaino and a player to be named later (Travis Hinton) in December of 2004.
Cowley adds that if Williams can’t find a satisfactory deal involving Lee, he would explore moving Mark Teahen or Dayan Viciedo, but knows that the return wouldn’t be as substantial.
12:49 PM: In an additional Tweet, van Dyck quotes Williams as saying that he won’t move a piece of his everyday lineup for relief pitching. Just because Williams denies it doesn’t mean it won’t happen -- he could be holding out for a specific player -- but there you go.
11:29 AM: White Sox general manager Ken Williams told Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune that any trade rumors involving Carlos Quentin “are not true.”
Friday, 7:41 PM: According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the White Sox are shopping Carlos Quentin for bullpen help, but “are asking a lot so far.”
Just last month at the GM Meetings, a White Sox source told Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago that the club wasn’t shopping Quentin, but that was, well, last month. The club may be more willing to part with him now that they have successfully secured Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn for the middle of their lineup.
Quentin, 28, batted .243/.342/.479 with 26 homers, 87 RBI and an 821 OPS this past season, but he has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. He made $3.2 million in 2010 and figures to earn somewhere around $5 million through the arbitration process this winter.
Quentin still has plenty of value since he offers some thump from the right side of the plate, but concerns about his durability will likely have an impact on the quality of the players the White Sox would receive in return.
