11/6/03
Exercised club option for $5 million on SS Jose Valentin
Analysis: Far from spectacular with a .237 average, he still was a premiere power hitting short stop with 28 home runs and 74 RBI
In the long term: In his final year with the Sox his average continued to drop while his home run total climbed

11/24/03
Signed right-handed pitcher Jon Garland to a one-year $2.3 million contract, thereby avoiding salary arbitration.
Analysis: His numbers from '02 to '03 were almost identical. His youth gives hope that any year now will end up being the breakout year for him
In the long term: The breakout year wasn't '03, but he continued to post solid numbers. He was still a bargain.

11/26/03
Signed catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. to a one-year $750,00 contract, including a club option for 2005 (how much was the option for?)
In the long term: He was a decent backup back-stop in '04 serving mostly as a mentor to Olivo. His option wasn't picked up.

12/2/03 - Trade!
Sox get: INF Juan Uribe
Rockies get: INF Aaron Miles
Analysis: With the Sox unable or unwilling to re-sign Roberto Alomar, the position was wide open. Miles is close to being ready, but he's not there. Instead Uribe takes the spot having posted average, yet solid numbers for three seasons.
In the long term: As much as Uribe can be criticised for not showing patience at the plate (which is a lot), he still put up above average numbers for a middle infielder for four years and counting. Think Jose Valentin with half the errors. He also has a cannon for an arm. The two final plays of the World Series exemplify Uribe's stellar defense. Miles was good for Colorado for two years, earning Rookie of the Year votes in '04. He was then traded for Ray King. Trade victory for the Sox.

12/11/03
Signed LHP Mark Buehrle to a three-year $18 million contract that includes a $9.5 million club option for 2007
Analysis: Posting 19 wins in '02 showed he's the real deal. There's a lot of faith that he'll bounce back from his 14-14 '03. Now's the perfect time to lock him up for a while.
In the long term: Buehrle recorded 54 wins over the next four years (they picked up the club option). He was an All-Star in '05 and '06 and a Cy Young candidate in '05.

12/19/03
Signed LHP Kelly Wunsch to a one-year $800,00 contract for 2004. Signed OF Carlos Lee to a two-year $15 million contract that includes an $8.5 million club option for 2006
In the long term: Wunsch only pitched two innings due to injury. It was a risky contract even before the signing even though he was very impressive in 2000. Carlos continued his march toward superstardom, hitting 31 home runs and driving in 99 while hitting .305. He would be traded for Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizciano, who were both big parts of the World Series run in '05.

2004

1/7/04
Agreed to terms with RHP Cliff Politte on a one-year $800,000 contract that includes a $1 million club option for 2005.
In the long term: Politte was good in '04 and great in '05.

1/24/04
Signed RHP Shingo Takatsu to a one-year $750,000 contract, with a $2.5 million club option for 2005.
Analysis: Great signing for the first eastern player in a Sox uniform. Safe money in year one and reasonable money in '05 if he passes the test.
In the long term: "Mr. Zero" was phenomenal in '04, but fell apart in '05.

3/3/04
Signed the following players to one-year contracts: Ps Jon Adkins, Neal Cotts, Felix Diaz, Matt Ginter, Jason Grilli, Gary Majewski, Corwin Malone, Ryan Meaux, Arnie Munoz, Enemencio Pacheco, Jon Rauch, David Sanders, Ryan Wing and Dan Wright; Cs Jamie Burke, Miguel Olivo and Michael Rivera; 3B Joe Crede, 3B Ross Gload, 2B Willie Harris, 2B Juan Uribe, INF Ruddy Yan, OFs Joe Borchard and Aaron Rowand.

3/27/04 - Trade!
Sox get: OF Timo Perez
The Mets get: RHP Matt Ginter
In the long term: It was Timo time in Chicago for two years, helping the Sox off the bench in The Series. In his two years he picked up 111 hits and 55 RBIs, most of them clutch. He became a fan favorite. Ginter was a starter for the Mets, but only posted a 1-3 record in 14 starts and one appearance out of the 'pen. He was then traded to the Tigers for Steve Coyler, who never played in the bigs for the Mets. Trade winner: White Sox.

Opening Day Lineup
2B	Willie Harris
SS	Jose Valentin
RF	Magglio Ordonez
DH	Frank Thomas
LF	Carlos Lee
1B	Paul Konerko
3B	Joe Crede
CF	Aaron Rowand
C	Sandy Alomar Jr.
P	Mark Buehrle
Bold = Not in last year's opening day starting lineup Opening day payroll: $65,212,500 ($14,202,500 more than last season), this works out to $785,692 spent per win

6/17/04 - Trade!
Florida gets: RHP Billy Koch and cash totaling an estimated $2.2 million (can anyone verify this?)
Sox get: minor league SS Wilson Valdez
Analysis: The Sox and their fans were happy to get anything whatsoever in exchange for Billy Koch. 19 saves in 26 chances in a year and a half was far from what the Sox brass were hoping for after saving 44 games in '02. The emergence of Shingo “Mr. Zero” Takatsu made him even more expendable. Also, Wilson Valdez is considered on of the top prospects in Florida’s system.
In the long term:  Koch didn't get another save opportunity in 2003, appearing in 23 games in middle relief for Florida, fairing very good for a middle reliever (1-2, 3.51, 25Ks in 25 2/3 IP).  However, Koch was released from Florida at the end of the year.  Valdez did less than average in his first 19 MLB games, hitting .233 with a fielding percentage of just .980.  He was put on waivers the following spring. This one can only be considered an even trade. A was tempted to say Florida won simply due to the amount of money that was sent over from the Sox. However, the Sox still did reduce their payroll overall be trading him. Florida picked up the other $1.5 million he was owed for the season.

6/27/04 - Big Trade!
Sox get: RHP Freddy Garcia, C Ben Davis and cash (how much?)
Seattle gets: C Miguel Olivo, minor league OF Jeremy Reed and minor league INF Michael Morse
Analysis: With the White Sox having four quality starters and a solid team despite the hard injuries to Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez, the only question mark (which looked more like a dagger) was the fifth starter.  Enter Freddy Garcia (thereby making Scott Schoeneweis the fifth starter), who came to the Sox without having to give up any starting pitching in return.  However, the club still did give up a lot in five tool, Ivan Rodriguez of the future, Miguel Olivo.  The idea of team chemistry is probably over-hyped in the media, but if it does exist, Williams jeopardized it greatly by giving up Olivo.  Reed is also a huge potential loss, and a big plus for the rebuilding Mariners.  By comparing the fan response on the White Sox message boards versus the Mariner boards, the Seattle fans are much more happy about the deal.  Of course Garcia coming to Chicago, but losing Olivo seems to be too much.  With Garcia's contract up and the end of the year and him vowing to do everything in his power to return to Seattle after the season, this is a trade that will definitely benefit the Sox this year, but likely hurt in the team in the long term.  Hitting an astonishingly low .091 this season, the addition of Ben Davis is enigmatic.  He was obviously a player Seattle would've gladly donated to Goodwill.  Figure him to be reassigned to the minors and not wear a Sox uniform as he will likely be the number three catcher after Jamie Burke and Sandy Alomar Jr.
In the long term: Again, great job Kenny getting this deal done well before the trade deadline, giving the Sox an extra month of Garcia. In 2003 a lot of things happened that weren't planned.  Just days after saying he would return to Seattle, Garcia signed a three year $27 million extension with the Sox.  He posted 34 wins with the Sox over the next two years (including playoffs). He was one of the Sox pitchers who throw a record four consecutive complete games against the Angels in the ALCS. He was later traded for two prospects, one of which was in the package that brought Nick Swisher to Chicago. With Alomar missing much of the remainder of the season, Davis saw a lot of playing time, playing quite well.  He hit around .300 for most of the time with the Sox before slumping and ending up at .231 (still much better than his .091 average).  His slugging percentage was also more than 300 points higher than it was with the M's. He did not play in the majors for the Sox after '04.   For Seattle, Reed did well right away, hitting .397 with 23 hits in his first 18 MLB games of his career. He has since come down to earth. As of the end of '07 he's still with the M's, having hit .253 in 239 games.  Olivo struggled mightily his two half seasons with limited playing time with Seattle (on his second day he was hospitalized with kidney stones), posting a .200 average 50 games in '04 and a .151 average over 54 games in '05 before being traded for Miguel Ojeda, who came off the bench for half a year with Seattle before being released and a player who retired before hitting the majors.    The final player in the deal,Morse, is still with Seattle as of the end of the '07 season, having hit .302 over three seasons, usually as a late-season call-up. Though Michael Morse looks like he could end up a solid player for a long time with Seattle, this trade is otherwise all White Sox.

7/18/04 - Trade!
Sox get: OF Carl Everett and cash (how much?)
Montreal gets: minor league RHP Jon Rauch and RHP Gary Majewski
Analysis: With the Sox still in the race and their two biggest bats – Magglio and Thomas – dealing with injuries, Kenny Williams had to make a move to bring power to a team that prides itself on it. He hit .301 last year, but this year he's been dealing with injuries and only hit .252 in 39 games. However, unlike the previous year, the Sox wouldn’t have to deal with contract discussions as Everett is signed through 2005. Add that on to the habit of Williams swiftly dealing players who had bad work ethics (D’Angelo Jimmenez) or caused a distraction in the clubhouse, and Jon Rauch’s departure shouldn’t have been a surprise. Rauch recently left a game he started before it was over. It was also extremely evident that Rauch hadn’t matured as a pitcher in the time period that the Sox were hoping. After portions of two major league seasons his ERA held pretty solid around 6.50. That said, I still think Rauch will still end up in the majors for a long while. What I really don't like is that so far is that so far Williams has given up five prospects to acquire Everett for the equivalent of two seasons.
In the long term: Everett didn't fair all that well (.266) and the Sox didn't make the playoffs in '04. However, he was part of the '05 championship team. His OPS was .746 - not great for him, but he did hit 23 HRs and drove in 87 RBIs. Majewski and Rauch were part of the inaugural season for the Washington Nations, (Rauch started playing in '04 when they were still the Expos, but Majewski started the following year. Both pitchers have quietly done very well out of the 'pen for the Nats. Rauch is still with the Nats as of the end of the '07 season and has consistently posted an ERA in the mid 3s. So far he's picked up 17 wins and six saves for them in 197 games as a middle reliever for them. Majewski posted an ERA in the low 3s over parts of two seasons for the Nationals before being included in the package that brought Austin Kearns, Felips Lopez and Ryan Wagner to Washington. It's hard to vote against a move that brought a member of a championship team on board, but Rauch and Majewski have contributed largely to the Nats for a longer period. Winner: Expos/Nationals.

7/31/04 - Big Trade!
Sox get: P Jose Contreras and cash ($3 million)
The Yankees get: RHP Esteban Loaiza.
Analysis: This, on the surface, seemed to be a bad move from the Sox, though Loaiza was having a year well below what was hoped of him after his huge 2003 season. Also, it was highly unlikely the Sox would’ve resigned him at the end of the season when his contract expired. Contreras, on the other hand is signed through 2006 and likely for less than they would’ve had to pay Loaiza. Also, the $3 million in cash may be used to renew Magglio’s contract or pay a portion of Garcia’s $27 million contract extension
In the long term: Another of the top moves made by Kenny Williams. Loaiza bombed for the Yankees, posting a 1-2 record in 10 games (six starts) while posting an 8.50 ERA. Contreras was far from stellar in '04 posting a 5.30 ERA while recording a 5-4 record (still miles above Loaiza). Contreras, like the recently added Garcia, became part of the historic World Series rotation. As of the end of '07 Contreras is still with the Sox (signed for another two years). So far he has recorded 46 wins for the Sox (including the post season), made one All-Star team and received an MVP vote for '05. Winner: White Sox in a big way.

8/4/04 - Trade!
Sox get: 2B Roberto Alomar
Arizona gets: cash considerations (anyone know how much?) and a player to be named later (Brad Murray).
Analysis: Even though the amount of cash that was given wasn't disclosed and the player to be named later wasn't announced, this looked like a bad idea immediately.  At this point in the season it was apparent that the Sox were tanking and the only secondbasemen that could help them reach the post season was Derek Jeter and still, that wouldn't be a guarantee.  We just have to hope that the player to be named later doesn't turn out to be someone that has even a single at bat or inning pitched in the majors.
In the long term:  I'm gonna call this one long before I normally would.  It looked like a bad move from the start and it simply did not pan out.  Despite hitting .309 with limited action with Arizona, when Alomar came to the Sox he hit just .180 over a meek 18 games with the South Siders due to injury.  He only had one sac bunt and walked twice compared to 13 strikeouts and countless men left on base. Brad Murray, for whatever reason, never even played Minor League baseball again. Still, you have to give the nod to Arizona on this one. They dumped Alomar's salary on the Sox and the White Sox also sent over cash on top of it.

8/17/04
Claimed OF Alex Escobar off release waivers from the Indians
Analysis: With the health and contract of Maggs uncertain, it couldn't hurt to have another outfielder on hand.  He could also be lumped in as part of a package in a big offseason trade that Kenny has prided himself on.  Neither Escobar's offense nor defense looks promising on paper - .976 fielding, .229 batting average during parts of three MLB seasons.  He also only has three steals in four attempts over his 92 career games.
In the long term: He never played for the Sox, but was still valuable - he was traded to the Nats for Jerry Owens.