Let's suppose for a minute that you decided that you needed a new house.  So, you phone a real estate agent and you and your significant other begin to check out other houses.

What you find is most of the houses you see aren't worth the agony of moving.  The kitchen may not be what you want.  Maybe there aren't enough bathrooms.  Maybe you have an office in your home that you can't easily replicate in several of homes you've visited.  Perhaps the neighborhoods are less than desirable.  It might be that you are thousands apart on an offer. In the final analysis, although your house may have a few miles on it, you decide, after seeing what's out there, that you are better off just keeping the house that you have.

It seems that while shopping players, White Sox GM Kenny Williams may have come to a similar conclusion.  Although desperate to jump start a depleted and unproductive farm system, the offers that he was being pitched for lefty Mark Buehrle did not bring him the kind of yield that he was looking for.  Whether it be blue chip prospects (as he got in the Branden McCarthy trade) or serviceable major league players, the names that Kenny was getting in return to dangling Buehrle may have not been to his liking.  So, after careful consideration, Kenny decided the best thing to do may be to keep what he had.  Especially when, according to reports, Buehrle and his agent may offer a significant hometown discount.

That's one of the things I like about Kenny Williams: He's no fool.  And if he can't get what he wants, he folds.  Giving up Branden McCarthy for two guys who will be in your starting rotation for the next five years works for him
Saying adios to Freddie Garcia to pick up Gavin Floyd and reacquire Gio Gonzalez is a forgone conclusion.  But when you are talking Mark Buehrle, in the prime of his career, an innings eater and the face of your pitching staff, you aren't going to say "sold" unless one of the names out of the other GMs mouth are Lastings Milliedge, John Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Cory Hart or Yunel Escobar. And if those names are not on the table, you may just take your chips to the window and call it a night.

It's obvious that several teams would be happy to take Mark Buehrle off of Kenny Williams hands, but none are offering him the players he wants.  It then becomes a value proposition: Is what we have now better than what we could have?  In the case of Mark Buehrle, the answer is yes.  So, Kenny has dispatched his signer in chief Rick Hahn to Tampa with the checkbook, trying to get Buehrle to sign a deal that makes both sides look good.  Four years, $60 Million are the numbers I've seen the most.  And, while it doesn't  exactly fit the Chairman's business model, even he would agree that it does nail down a valuable asset. 

Jose Contreras is expendable because he is older and signed through 2009.  A team like the Mets, that seems to draw veteran pitchers like a magnet, will offer some prospects for him, which Kenny most likely will accept.  The return will be win-win and not giving away your most valuable piece of real estate for a fixer upper on the poor side of town.

I think over the past few years, White Sox fans have lost sight of where they really have been winning.  Ten years ago, the Sox traded most of their pitching staff for a bucketful of crap.  Of the six players acquired in the white flag trade, two of them went on to have respectable careers (Foulke and Howry) three of them were busts (Caruso, Vining and Barcelo) and one never even sniffed the major leagues (Manning.) Kenny Williams is not about to make the same mistake again.  If he has to, he'll go to the Chairman and say "We need to get this done" to which the Chairman, after extricating the Cuban cigar from his pudgy face will say "Show me how we can monetize it" and eventually sign off on it,  clearing the way for signing of Buehrle and the most likely departure of Jermaine Dye, Tad Iguchi and possibly Contreras.

Kenny has the courage of his convictions and is not afraid to fight for what he believes is in the best interests of his team.  The Chairman does respect that, and since Kenny brought him his cherished trophy, has more of a tendency to take his GM seriously, most likely because his last name does not begin with the letter "h" (as in Hemond, Harrelson or Himes).

If Mark Buehrle stays in a Sox uniform, it's not only a victory for the team and the fans, but another ballsy move pulled off by Kenny Williams.
 
One other note: If I'm Kenny, I hang on to Jermiane Dye knowing that he's had so many injuries and had such a poor year, that he might be willing to sign a one-year deal for 2008 just to increase his value for 2009 and beyond.  Call me crazy, but clubs are kicking the tires on the 2006 Jermaine Dye and not the 2007 Jermaine Dye which does make it easier to shop him.  But if your property (for lack of a better term) is devalued, your return will be under market.  That is, of course, if the Sox want Dye back next year.

Lightning Round:

• Late inning runs?  Oh my! Have your broom ready tonight at six.  Comon.  You can follow the NBA draft on your phone for crying out loud.
  
• Shhh.  Don't look now, but here come the Cubs.
• As well as the Milwaukee Brewers have played the last 15 games (12-3), this weekend series with the Cubs may define their season.
• Eight more years of Stu Scott drooling over the Association.  Lovely. Meanwhile, the NHL is set to ink a deal with the Food Network, Sleuth, The Hallmark Channel and Shop NBC.
• The NHLPA is looking to put some Fehr into the owners. 
  
• Lots of great choices for the 2007 class of the hockey hall of fame.  Of the guys most often mentioned, my four picks would be Mark Messier (duh), Ron Francis, Igor Larionov and Al (the shot) MacInnis.  Adam Oates, maybe next year.  Claude Lemieux, he did win three cups and is the poster child for the term "goon with skills", but pales in comparison to the other guys.
  
• When steroid use is unregulated, it turns into tragedy.  Since the WWE is not real (sports), someone is going to need to investigate it and root out all this rampant use of steroids. 
  
• Paris Hilton tells Larry King that she has a new outlook on life after spending time in prison.  This will be replaced by her previous outlook in approximately 45 days.  Right, Lindsey Lohan? Right Brittney Spears?
  
• Oprah is opening an "Oprah Store" on the west side of Chicago.  FEMA is already concerned about rising estrogen levels in that area.
• Mitt Romney=Clark Griswold.
• Renowned Canadian stage actor William Hutt has died at the age of 87.  Hutt is survived by his wife Quonset, his sons Pizza and Hobby, his daughters Grass and Nut and his former football playing grandson, Hutt-Hutt (also known as "On three").
  
• A woman who was text messaging while driving slammed into a parked police car.  I'll bet her next message read "OMFG, NIYWFD, ITIGBS IFU PIMP." 
  
• Before booking your reservations this summer travel season, best avoid these places provided my Maxim Magazine