Paul Konerko

As we inch closer and closer to Major League Baseball's trade deadline at the end of July, the rumors will start flying fast and furious.

There have already been a few rumors shot down in the last few weeks, including one that was about to send an ace to a team that wouldn't have any way of picking up his remaining salary because of their financial trouble.

Why some of these rumors get started is beyond me, but that's what makes baseball, and the trade deadline, fun.

It was definitely a big week for the league’s corner infielders. The names of Youkilis, Glaus, Konerko, Rolen, Kouzmanoff, and Cabrera were on the tops of all the statistics. The guardians of the baselines spoke with their bats, and ruled the diamond.

Martinez, Gardner, Rasmus and Suzuki spent last week blasting the hardball. Injuries and rest days couldn’t put out their fire.

Begin Slideshow

It was definitely a big week for the league’s corner infielders. The names of Youkilis, Glaus, Konerko, Rolen, Kouzmanoff, and Cabrera were on the tops of all the statistics. The guardians of the baseline spoke with their bats and ruled the diamond.

Paul Konerko has had his bags packed to head to the Los Angeles Angels on more than one occasion.

Now, however, it seems as though Konerko could actually be getting on the plane.

With Kendry Morales celebrating a walk-off grand slam by breaking his leg, the Angels could use another first baseman. 

With the White Sox "grinder"/Ozzie ball/don't score runs and have awful defense experiment putting the team in a battle for third place in the American League Central division, it could be time for the White Sox to look toward 2011...or maybe 2012.

So, I was Jonesing (get it?) for some Sox news and decided to make my way to BleacherReport. 

And by the looks of things, there is pandemonium, chaos, and a lost season on the South Side. 

All of you in panic mode are fools, and I'm going to show you why.

The Hitters

Much has been said about the production—or lack thereof—from the Sox lineup. Let me sprinkle some reality into your lives.

Chicago White Sox left-handed pitcher Matt Thornton's pitching line for Thursday night's game against the Cleveland Indians looks messy:

1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 3 K

Thornton pitched the eighth inning, surrendering Chicago's slim 3-2 lead and setting up the eventual 11-inning loss the White Sox would suffer. He earned a blown save for his efforts.

But the numbers could not more starkly misrepresent the game Thornton had.

South Side fans had a reason to be happy on this beautiful day in April.

The sun was shining, the weather was wonderful, and Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong innings in his record setting eighth opening day start for the Chicago White Sox, en route to a 6-0 victory.

In his first opening day victory since 2005, Buehrle had a solid pitching line, walking only one batter while striking out three, and giving up just three hits in his seven innings.

The key to the White Sox season lies in their offense. The team scored less than 4.5 runs per game last year and let two of their most productive hitters leave in free agency.

While their pitching looks very strong, they will need to be more productive to be considered a real contender. While there are some reasons to expect improved production, the offense could conceivably be worse if some things don't break in favor of the Sox.

Paul Konerko gets little respect from fantasy owners, though as fantasy drafts have come upon us he has quickly become a player that I’m targeting.  No, not in shallower leagues, but if I’m in a league that requires a corner infielder he is one of the players on my list.  Why?  He’s a cheap source of power that no one else seems to care about.

First let’s look at his statistics from last season:

Recently there have been trade rumors circulating the Internet involving Adrian Gonzalez moving from San Diego to the White Sox.

The Sox acquired Jake Peavy from the Padres last year before the trade deadline on July 31, 2009. Now it appears that Peavy is lobbying for GM Kenny Williams to strongly pursue his former teammate, Gonzalez. Peavy said that Gonzalez "can blink his eyes and hit 40 home runs in our park".