Scott Merkin

I think Chris deserves a lot of credit in that he's been very selective or directed in terms of who he's bringing into the clubhouse.

It's a great clubhouse fit.

It's a great team.

They believe in each other.

They play for each other as much as with each other.

As a couple other reporters are pointing out to me yesterday, I think they have better talent, too, which helps.

You can be a close-knit team until the end of time, and if you don't have the talent, you're not going to win, right?

But I think that enhances what they have in terms of the talent on the field.

I have not heard anything really, you know, concrete.

You hear rumblings here and there, but nothing concrete at all.

And I think, you know, right now he's two months into his major league career.

Now, you know, we, I think,

Many of us didn't realize what a star he was in Japan.

You know, I mean, we're talking like a frontline star.

I mean, the White Sox had Tanahiro Oguchi and for a short time, Shingo Takatsu in 2005 that won a World Series.

They don't win a World Series in 05 without Oguchi in that lineup and at second base.

And they still are not near the magnitude of what Murakami was when he came over here.

So it's a big star now.

He's got a great agent.

He's got great representation.