Late last night the White Sox reporters were told to wait in the press box after the 4-1 loss to Minnesota. The reason? White Sox GM Kenny Williams had enough with this team and tried to sell off what he could. This coming a month to the day of acquiring Jake Peavy, and a few weeks after getting Alex Rios, and paying both of them a lot of money.

Williams sent DH Jim Thome to the Dodgers and SP Jose Contreras to the Rockies, both teams in playoff races.

For Thome,  the Sox got 26 year old High A Shortstop Justin Fuller (“just a player,” according to Mark Gonzales’ Dodgers source). The White Sox will pay part of his salary and Big Jim will be a free agent at the end of this season. The Dodgers wouldn’t likely offer arbitration to Thome since he can only play DH and would cost them a ton of money. From what I’m reading, Mlbtraderumors and South Side Sox blog, there is a chance the White Sox bring back Thome next season at a reduced rate.

Deal for Dodgers: A. They get Jim Thome for “a guy”, barely pay Thome and get a great left-handed bat off the bench for their playoff run. Even better, if they make the World Series, the Dodgers can DH him.

Deal for White Sox: B-. The Sox still pay for part of Thome’s salary without actually having him, and they get a fringe prospect. Why the B- then? Well, Thome was coming off the books at the end of the year, so they got something for him and might get him back at a reduced rate.

For Jose Contreras the White Sox received Brandon Hynick. Hynick is a command-and-control type who needs a little more of both to have hopes of finding his way into the back end of a major league rotation.  Contreras, similar to the Thome deal, will get oart of his contract paid by the White Sox. Contreras was absolutely awful in August and didn’t appear to have much in the tank. Contreras was going to be a free agent this year, and unlikely offered arbitration.

Deal for Rockies: C. This is based on Jose’s ineffectiveness. Colorado is in the middle of a Wild Card race and pitching Contreras may hurt more than it may help, especially in that park. They also gave up a decent prospect to get Jose. Overall, not the greatest move, but if the Rockies find the right role for Contreras and he pitches well, this could work out ok.

Deal for White Sox. B. White Sox get something, Hynick, as opposed to nothing, letting him play out the rest of this season. Granted, they are still paying for part of Contreras contract, but that’s opposed to paying all of it and letting him walk.

My only concern from the business side of the two deals is the potential impact it has on the White Sox ability to sign Cuban players. After all, the White Sox claimed to have used Contreras as a leveraging tool to sign Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo. We will see.

I think the only losers of these deals are White Sox fans. Williams asked fans to come out and fill out the seats several times this season. On one awful road trip, 1-7 so far, that decreased their chances of making the playoffs to 5.8%, according to Baseball Prospectus, and Williams decided to sell after aggressively buying all season. The White Sox front office is planning for next season, but is the team?

Final note, how does this impact Jake Peavy and their decision to start him this season?