Oz would love Figgins, but is dealing in reality

DETROIT – Ozzie Guillen doesn’t concern himself much with tampering rules or any of that red tape that keeps suits employed within the Major League Baseball offices.

The White Sox manager deals with reality.

So when asked on Saturday about the reality of the club going after free agent-to-be Chone Figgins this winter, Guillen spoke honestly. And honestly, he doesn’t see Figgins fitting within the budget at this time.

“I don’t think Figgins,” Guillen said of the Angels speedy leadoff hitter. “To be honest with you, would we like to have players like him? [Bleep], everybody does. But this kid is going to cost you a lot of money. If we figure out this guy is going to solve our problem, then [board chairman] Jerry [Reinsdorf] will take a shot because Jerry wants to win.

“Jerry wants to win. [general manager] Kenny [Williams] wants to win. I want to win. Everybody wants to win. In the meanwhile, Kenny is going to go see the market and we are going to see how … I would love to have [Scott] Podsednik back but that’s my call. It’s between Podsednik’s agent and Kenny and the White Sox, but we just need someone. That was our problem this year, our center field problem was pretty deep.”

Alex Rios will solve the center field dilemma, while Carlos Quentin will slide from left field to right with Jermaine Dye likely playing his last game with the Sox this afternoon.

That leaves left field with Figgins and Podsednik in the Sox’ sights. It will come down to how many zeros Reinsdorf allows Williams to put on that check.

“Having Rios at the start of the season will make everything easier,” Guillen said. “With Rios, Quentin and whoever is out there, hopefully Podsednik, but I don’t make that call.

“There are a lot of names out there but I’m not going to tell you we bring this guy or that guy because I don’t know exactly. I know where we are going when you trade for Peavy and Rios. We are going in the right direction. We are going to win. We do things little by little and hopefully everything work out.”