Deal or no deal?
So, is this Buehrle extension going to happen?
Depends who you ask.
Agent Jeff Berry says no. He said there have been no “on-going negotiations” with the Sox. Now, if you take him literally, that could mean that something happened before or they could be negotiating through a third party. Or, he could mean what he says.
Buehrle says, to his knowledge, there haven’t been any talks.
Ken Williams declined to comment.
Yet, here’s the tell-tale sign that something’s going on: Assistant GM Rick Hahn, the man who negotiates all of the Sox deals and is the main money man, flew into Tampa on Wednesday. Conveniently, Berry and Buehrle are here, too.
So, what’s going to happen?
This could be a short window in which the Sox and Buehrle camp are going to negotiate. If it doesn’t happen now – and Ozzie even went so far as to speculate this – it won’t happen.
Just based on a feeling – and a little bit of knowledge (emphasis on little) – I’m saying it’s going to happen.
As a quick aside, Ozzie was asked about how the union gets involved if a player takes a lower than the market demand rate, which The Score’s reported 4-year, $50 million deal would definitely be.
“That’s his deal. Like I say, the players association and the agents and the system, let’s put it this way, the system, they don’t care about you. You just worry about what’s best for your family.”
And, Buehrle has said more times than we can count, that he and his family love playing in Chicago.
