Dye / Young Rumors Persist

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jan 12, 2009 3:25PM

Last week, White Sox GM Kenny Williams again found himself denying rumors that he was about to send his right fielder elsewhere in a trade. The latest whispers had Jermaine Dye headed to the Texas Rangers in return for all-star shortstop Michael Young. The Rangers were supposedly asking for Sox prospect Aaron Poreda in addition to Dye, and that might have been the deal breaker.

We expect rumors of this deal, in some form, to resurface following Young's request for a trade this weekend. The Rangers had recently asked Young to shift over to third base to open up short for prized prospect, Elvis Andrus. Not pleased by this development, he asked to be shifted to another team. With his new trade demands public, will that reduce the values of the offers the Rangers can expect to field? And more importantly, if the Sox are truly in persuit, can they land him for less than Texas supposedly asked for last week? Perhaps now Kenny can offer a lesser prospect as part of a deal instead of Poreda.

While we don't necessarily want to see Dye leave the South Side, he is a free agent at the end of the year and nearing the end of his career. Young is very much the type of player the Sox need at the top of their lineup, with his .300 career batting average and some speed. They can just keep Alexei Ramirez at second base to make room for Young at his natural position. If the Sox hope to compete in 2009 and going forward, this could improve the team now.

Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo