For the past six years, the Cubs' Jim Hendry and his White Sox counterpart, Ken Williams, have sat next to each other at the general managers' meetings, passing notes and scribbling doodling out trade possibilities.
This year, those talks finally yielded a result.
In the first Sox-Cubs trade since July 29, 1998, when Matt Karchner went to the North Side and Jon Garland went to the South Side, it was announced Thursday the Sox will send reliever Neal Cotts to the Cubs in exchange for reliever David Aardsma and minor league left-hander Carlos Vasquez.
"Kenny and I sit next to each other at these meetings and a lot of times we doodle with ideas that make sense for both sides," said Hendry, who mentioned the clubs almost made a deal in 2005. "They have a lot of good left-handed pitching coming up and this is a good situation for us."
In Cotts, the Cubs get an inconsistent left-hander who was lights-out for the 2005 World Series champs, when he went 4-0 with a 1.94 ERA. He appeared set to be a mainstay in the bullpen before going 1-2 with a 5.17 ERA during a torturous 2006 season.
"It's not giving up on Neal Cotts," Williams said. "We liked Neal Cotts and have liked him from the day I traded for him with the Oakland A's (in 2002)."
Hendry also likes the hard-throwing 26-year-old who can hit the mid-90s (mph) on the radar gun. He believes Cotts can rebound in the Cubs bullpen.
Hendry also mentioned the Cubs might give Cotts, who started 63 games in the minors and five with the Sox, a chance to join a rotation that includes Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill as its only locks.
The Sox went into the offseason looking for a power right-hander for the front end of their bullpen and believe they found him in Aardsma.
"We have a more pressing need for another right-handed-type guy who can serve in a setup type role and grow into something special," Williams said of Aardsma, who went 3-0 with a 4.08 ERA for the Cubs in 2006.
Williams also said the Sox could be in the market for another reliever.
Though the trade leaves the Sox with Matt Thornton as their only southpaw, Williams hinted that Vasquez, who was 6-5 with a 2.75 ERA between Class A Daytona and Double-A West Tenn last year, could be among those who contend to be the second left-handed reliever spot.
"(Vasquez) makes left-handers very uncomfortable, gets them out, (has a) plus arm, plus breaking ball," Williams said.
Whether it works out, the general managers hope the first intracity deal in eight years isn't their last.
"I hope it's good for the city. I hope it comes out great for everybody," Hendry said. "I hope it's not the last deal down the road. ... I never had any issues at all with Kenny about the crosstown stuff."
