In the post-Jake Peavy era, it's pretty obvious the White Sox are looking for pitching. One could, were one so inclined, quite reasonably make the argument that the White Sox need to focus less on dealing for veteran pitching and more on replenishing the team's stable of aging offensive talent. You could also argue that Williams should either stick to the supposed youth movement that was supposed to happen in 2009, or ditch it entirely, and that straddling the line will probably get the Sox in more trouble than it will solve. All valid points, probably.
But we're talking about starting pitching here, and Kenny Williams clearly wants some. Last Friday, reports indicated that Williams had contacted the Astros about dealing for staff ace Roy Oswalt. That trade never happened; Oswalt, like Peavy before him, told the Astros he wanted no part of a trade to the White Sox. OK then. But now Kenny Williams is denying the trade ever happened, and that he doesn't have any current interest in Oswalt:
"I prefer not to get into confirming or denying something because you tip your hand and if you tip your hand, you don't get anything done," he said."But I'll make the exception so everyone can relax a little bit. I haven't talked to the Houston Astros about any pitching whatsoever."
We feel relaxed. Really, we do. Sox fans, on the other hand, might find relaxation more difficult, because there are a few questions here: Why are the Sox so obsessed with finding pitching right now? Is it the right strategy? And, provided they find that talent, will they ever be able to complete a trade? Besides the AL-NL swap and the park issues, are there reasons why players don't want to play for the White Sox? Will we ever stop asking rhetorical questions and wrap this post up? We know the answer to maybe one of these; you can figure which is which.
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
