Is Soriano Joining The White Sox?
Much has been made of the fact that Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden has all the spotlight on him as July 31 approaches. When you've had four players highly sought-after this season in 2B/OF Alfonso Soriano, SPs Livan Hernandez and Ramon Ortiz and, until recently, OF Jose Guillen (who is finished after an injury-ravaged year), that'll happen to ya.
The first shot for Soriano was officially fired by ESPN.com, when the site reported that the Chicago White Sox were "extremely close" to making a deal for Soriano last night. According to ESPN.com, the Nationals are deeply interested in acquiring 23-year-old White Sox P Brandon McCarthy, who is one of the organization's most prized starting pitching prospects and currently a set-up man in Ozzie Guillen's bullpen.
White Sox GM Kenny Williams is known for his shrewd deadline deals (although his acquisition this year of Royals closer Mike MacDougal for a couple of prospects seems to be of the "make a move just to make a move" variety), but at the moment, he is claiming that this Soriano rumor is bogus and that the Sox have no plans to trade McCarthy.
Perhaps this is GM-speak, and that "it's a business" as players and front office folks are wont to saying these days, but if the White Sox end up trading McCarthy after such a claim, isn't that what's truly bogus?
