The White Sox have decided not to make a qualifying offer to Paul Konerko.
By making a qualifying offer, the White Sox would have been committed
to either player at $14.1 million (the average of the 125 highest
contracts) for the 2014 season. If a player was extended a qualifying
offer and didn't accept, that player's team would be compensated with a
draft pick when he signed with another club.
Since the White Sox signed first baseman, free agent Jose Abreu last month, and Adam Dunn has one more year on his contract, there appears to be no room on the roster for a part-time bench player role for Konerko. ESPNChicago reports that theWhite Sox still have not ruled out re-signing Konerko and plan to
meet with him face-to-face this month to talk about the future.
It would seem that fan favorite Konerko is at the end of his career. He played 15 years for 4 teams. He won a title with the White Sox. In 2187 career games, he hit .283, 427 HR, 1361 RBI, .359 OBP and career 28.5 WAR (with best season 2010 with 4.6 WAR). He was a 6 time All Star selection.
But at age 37, he does not fit into the "re-tooling" mode of the White Sox. The team needs to get younger faster in order to compete in the AL Central.
As a leader in the clubhouse, Konerko, along with A.J. Pierzynski, were player-managers during their tenure with the Sox. Some consider that is a valuable commodity. Since the season ended, Konerko did not speak to the media about what his plans were going to be: play or retire.
In the era of specialization, 25 man rosters no longer have the luxury of keeping an old veteran on the bench for leadership. Teams are carrying 11 to 13 pitchers during a season due to strict starter pitch counts. The 25th man on the roster today is usually a spot-starter, long reliever.
Konerko has had injury problems the last few seasons which has cut down on his playing time and production. He will have to decide whether the rehab, therapy and travel is still worth it or whether it is better to begin to look for his second career post-baseball. He is one of those players who will always have a local following, but it is hard to say whether nationally he will be a Hall of Fame candidate.
