Schuster: After Trade, Williams Uses Word 'Rebuilding'
By David Schuster-
DALLAS (CBS) Leave it to Kenny Williams to pull off a trade absolutely no one anticipated.
We all had heard the rumors about possibly dealing John Danks or Gavin Floyd but Sergio Santos? No one anticipated that and even Williams himself said he wasn't shopping Santos. But when Toronto asked for Santos in return for touted prospect pitcher Nestor Molina from Toronto, the deal was consumated.
Molina, like Santos, is a converted position player. He's 22 years old and has been in the Blue Jays system since he was 16. He came up as a third baseman/outfielder but was converted to pitcher a few years ago. His numbers last season were off the charts. Mixing between A and AA he struck out 148 hitters in just 130 innings and amazingly walked only 16.
As for Santos, what made him extra attractive to Toronto is that he is under their control for the next 6 years having signed a recent new deal. Williams said he spoke to Santos who understood the deal and looked forward to continuing his career with the BlueJays.
Williams said he doesn't anticipate trading any other pitchers on his current roster although that could change if the right deal came along. Williams said he just hasn't received back the players he is looking for.
And for the first time Williams used the word "rebuilding" although he couched it. "It is the start of a rebuilding and it's the first time in 12 years I've used that word. But it's not the start of a falling domino type of rebuilding because I'm not getting offers that are making me want to trade off our veteran pieces."
This trade definitely saves the Sox some money and that's obviously the direction they are taking and as for Mark Buehrle? The Sox GM said never say never but he also admitted it's a fairly long shot for Buehrle to come back to the south side.
