As Omar Minaya’s close personal friend David Sloane continues to work the press, Fish 1B Carlos Delgado would like somebody (anybody!) to tell him what the deal is.
From the Miami Herald’s Kevin Baxter :
”I don’t want to be traded. I want to be a Marlin, and I want be in Florida and have a chance to win,” Delgado said in an unusual conference call with reporters organized by his agent, David Sloan. “That was my position a year ago, and that’s still my position today.”
General manager Larry Beinfest responded to Delgado’s outrage with a silence that spoke volumes.
”No comment,” said Beinfest, who was clearly caught off-guard by Delgado’s decision to take his displeasure public. “No comment on specific players.”
When the Marlins signed Delgado (above) to a four-year, $52 million deal in January, he was asked to accept a contract without a no-trade clause — something the team indicated was little more than a formality because it had no intention of trading him anyway. But in the past 10 months the Marlins have seen their stadium plans put on hold. And after spending a franchise-record $65 million on a club that finished tied for third in the National League East last season, it’s likely the team will have to cut payroll this winter.
That makes Delgado, whose salary grows more than $9 million to $13.5 million in 2006, a likely trade option. And that uncertainty is weighing on the two-time All-Star.
”The more I think about it, the more distracting it is,” he said from Puerto Rico. “I’m getting married next month. I’d like to have an idea where I’m going for spring training.”
Sloan said the one thing that might change Delgado’s mind is if the Marlins determine they aren’t going to field a competitive team in the next three seasons.
”If you’re going to field a team of Miguel [Cabrera], Dontrelle [Willis] and the seven dwarfs, tell us now,” Sloan said he asked Beinfest. ‘I told Larry all he had to do was say, `We’re not shopping Carlos.’ He said `I don’t want to do that.’
Jay Strell passes along a link from the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers, tipping 1B Paul Konerko to re-sign with the White Sox. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick is reporting that Konerko will be speaking with the Red Sox.
Boston’s GM situation, while far from resolved, has taken a slight twist with reports in today’s Herald indicating that some within the Red Sox ownership group would like to convince Theo Epstein to reconsider. As some of us with no connections whatsoever have already suggested such a scenario, I will be certain to delete all of the embarrassing old comments if this doesn’t turn out to be the case.