WHITE SUX: I was worried this morning when I found out that Twins rival the Chicago White Sox had acquired future Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar. But then my fears were instantly relieved a few hours later when I learned of a second Sox trade- that they'd brought in Carl Everett from Texas. (Yay for Peter Gammons- he broke both stories).
Alomar, now reunited with brother Sandy Alomar on a record-tying third team, has had a disastrous 18-month run with the New York Mets- but then, so has everyone who's been with the Mets in that time- there's obviously something in the air in Queens. Alomar's got a good shot at the Hall of Fame if he can revitalize his career in Chicago, or wherever else he signs as a free agent after the season; the White Sox are his sixth team, which would tie him with Dave Winfield for the most of any Hall of Famer.
Carl Everett, however, will not be a Hall of Famer, and isn't particularly likely to help the White Sox either. In many ways he's the opposite of Alomar: whereas Roberto (the whole spit thing notwithstanding) has had a good-guy reputation and helped good teams win for his whole career until declining recently, Everett has long been known as a clubhouse cancer (if not an out-and-out lunatic), who has rarely if ever helped his teams win at a consistent level, despite having an unexpectedly strong year this year. He almost singlehandedly destroyed a strong Red Sox team in 2001, and the White Sox are also- you guessed it- his sixth career team, and he's not that old.
As a Twins fan, I was rooting for the White Sox to get Everett. Their usually volatile clubhouse has been relatively stable so far this season, and well-known headcases like Frank Thomas have pretty much kept their mouths shut- so why don't we throw in the most difficult player in the American League? If there's not a Thomas-Everett clubhouse shouting match by the end of July, I'll be shocked.
In other news, John Rocker was just released from his minor-league contract by Tampa Bay. Come on Royals- he's there for the taking!