White Sox must decide on offseason approach

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Whether the White Sox will re-sign free-agent left-hander Mark Buehrle is a matter of great debate. | Genevieve Ross~AP

The White Sox’ plan for 2012 will have some clarity after the winter meetings this week in
Dallas. There are three basic avenues they can take:

1. A drastic rebuild that would include trading outfielder Carlos Quentin, starting pitchers John Danks and Gavin Floyd and reliever Matt Thornton for major-league-ready players or prospects and letting Mark Buehrle walk in free agency.

2. A tamer retooling plan that would include shipping out Floyd and Quentin, keeping Danks and Thornton and letting Buehrle walk.

3. Re-signing Buehrle, dealing Danks or Floyd and reassessing their chances of competing in the American League Central in July, when they can add or subtract accordingly.

‘‘There are so many different ways it can go right now,’’
Thornton said, ‘‘so I’m just going to sit back and see what happens.’’

Join the club in keeping a close eye on what transpires in Dallas.

‘‘I think it will be decided there,’’ first-year manager Robin Ventura said.

Dollars and sense

Look for the payroll to land in the range of $100 million to
$118 million after chairman Jerry Reinsdorf stuck his neck out and took a financial hit with his gutsy $127.8 million buy-in for 2011.

What prevents the Sox from reducing even more and blowing the whole thing up are the big, unmovable contracts of Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Jake Peavy. The Sox have $90 million on the books for the 2012 team, and that doesn’t include Danks, Quentin or minimum-salary players.

The return’s the thing

General manager Ken Williams is gauging what he can get in return for his tradable pieces. At the GM meetings, he said interest was high. What he can get in the way of major-league-ready players and/or top prospects will go a long way in determining his path. His asking price for Danks is known to be very high.

Ventura said a major turnover is possible but not guaranteed.

‘‘Just because names are out there doesn’t mean [they’ll be traded],’’ he said. ‘‘It’s one thing to say you’re going to trade them; it’s another to actually do it because we all realize their value. We know how good they are.’’

Free agents

The Sox will be small-time
players for free agents, although Williams wouldn’t rule out a signing or two when he spoke at the GM meetings. He sounded
pessimistic about re-signing his own big one, Buehrle, who has heard from 14 teams.

The people’s choice

Letting the popular and
effective Buehrle walk away won’t sit well with a grumpy fan base that watched the Dunn experiment fail badly. The Sox underestimated the interest in Buehrle, but several major-league sources are going against conventional wisdom and betting Reinsdorf will save the day and keep the left-hander on the South Side.

‘‘Knowing how they operate, knowing how they like to save good news at the end, signing Buehrle should create a little season-ticket flow,’’ a source said.

What they need

Scratch the notion that the Sox were a good defensive team in 2011. Their 79 errors were the third-fewest among major-league teams, but too many balls that should have been caught fell in front and behind their outfielders. According to Bill James, the Sox were the third-worst team in the American League in terms of runs saved (-18).

‘‘They have to upgrade
defensively and get a little more foot speed,’’ a major-league scout said. ‘‘You have to shore up that White Sox defense from a range standpoint.’’

The Sox also are lacking game-changing Latin American middle infielders in their system. They have to inject speed and future impact players at the Class AA level and above.