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| Friday, March 9 | |||||
| Sox won't give ground on Sirotka issue | |||||
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Chicago White Sox have offered to
rework their disputed trade with the Toronto, even after
commissioner Bud Selig's ruling to uphold the deal.
While refusing to give ground on the major issue in dispute –
the injury to Mike Sirotka – White Sox general manager Kenny
Williams told The Associated Press on Friday that he would be
willing to alter the deal if the Blue Jays turned over medical
reports detailing the severity of the injury to minor leaguer Mike
Williams, one of six players in the deal.
"After the decision, I called (Toronto assistant general
manager) Dave Stewart and said, 'My word is my bond. If there is
still something wrong, let me see the medical reports and I'll make
an adjustment to the trade if necessary,"' Williams said. "He
said he'd get back to me."
Chicago traded three pitchers – Williams, Sirotka and Kevin
Beirne – along with outfielder Brian Simmons to Toronto on Jan. 14
for David Wells and pitcher Matt DeWitt.
When Toronto learned Sirotka was unable to pitch this spring, it
asked for additional compensation. Commissioner Bud Selig denied
the request Wednesday. Selig also denied any compensation for Mike
Williams because, "the White Sox were not aware of any injury."
Kenny Williams revealed the latest White Sox offer in response
to comments made by Mike Williams earlier Friday that Chicago knew
he was injured before the deal, a charge the GM denies.
"They knew I went down in Instructional League," Mike Williams
said in Dunedin, Fla. "They knew the whole time. They have tried
to say they didn't know, but I've been down since September."
Mike Williams was at Class-A Winston-Salem of the Carolina
League last year when he said he hurt his right shoulder.
"It was in September, about the last week of the season," he
said. "I went down with the injury and didn't pitch anymore the
rest of the season, which was about five days.
"I got to Instructional League and was shut down all of
Instructional League, diagnosed with biceps tendinitis and they
sent me home early, putting me on some anti-inflammatories. I
called and told them, about the end of December, when I tried to
start up throwing again that my arm was still sore."
Kenny Williams said the pitcher left the instructional league
for "personal reasons" and told White Sox staff at the time that
his arm felt fine.
The first the White Sox heard about the injury, according to
Kenny Williams, was after the trade when the pitcher called a team
trainer and told him he had undergone an MRI on the shoulder on his
own.
"I'm not hiding anything," Kenny Williams said. "We have
extensive physicals that I will show to anyone who needs to see
them."
Kenny Williams said he then talked with Toronto general manager
Gord Ash, who told the White Sox that the injury was more than Mike
Williams originally thought.
The White Sox offered to rework that portion of the deal if the
Blue Jays would turn over medical reports.
"I have never received any medical information," Kenny
Williams said.
Mike Williams still has four more weeks of rehab to go before he
can throw off a mound. But he's happy with the change in
organizations.
"I get treated a lot better over here," he said. "Once they
found out I was hurt, I was immediately given an MRI to make sure
there was no tear or damage to the shoulder. After I got that done,
it was diagnosed as a loose shoulder. Now I'm rehabbing that and
should be good to go in about four weeks."
Sirotka threw Friday for the first time since joining the Blue
Jays, tossing the ball to bullpen coach Gil Paterson for five
minutes.
"It was just good to throw, no doubt about it," Sirotka said
in Dunedin. "Today is just step one and, hopefully, it gets better
from here."
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | ALSO SEE Selig rules no compensation for Blue Jays in Sirotka deal | ||||