Let’s talk numbers.
14. That’s Paul Konerko, and he was just signed to a 3-year, $37.5 million dollar contract with the Sox.
2020. No joke, that is when the ramifications of this contract are over. Paul will only get $6.5 in his last year with the team (2013, and will get the remainder of his salary in $1-million-per-year installments).
34. How old Konerko is now.
37. How old Konerko will be when his contract will be up.
0. That’s the number of pitchers KW has brought into the bullpen this offseason, while the number he booted was 3. Jenks, Putz, and Linebrink are all gone. Love them or hate them, they were spots in the bullpen, and even at their worst, they could at least eat innings, and at their best… well, they were pretty good.
Now, I know this makes it seem as though I think this deal is a bust. And, to be honest, I feel like I am increasingly disappointed in the way turned out. I am torn between how much I genuinely liked Paulie as a guy, hitter, and first baseman and the fact that he’s in the twilight of his career, a cash vacuum, and unable to pitch.
It almost seems like the Sox had to make this move to save face after boasting about how they wanted and would get Paulie. Now, who's to say what's going on backstage, but... when the press is reporting that Jerry Reinsdorf himself got involved, it seems a bit like tattling to your parents. I have some very negative feelings about how this whole business was handled.
But, in the spirit of things, I say, Welcome Back Paulie! May you steal many bases, hit more home runs than anyone on the team (Hmm… this could easily turn bad), and have as great a year as 2010. Long play the King!
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