There’s a rumbling from certain Sunny corners about one aging pitcher drawing the attention of a few teams in need of a new arm down the stretch. And yes, it’s tempting to think the Good Guys can first turn around this man’s fortunes and use that to turn around their own, but a few things stand in the way of that happening.

1. The money thing. Let’s face it, the Sox are not going to eat any of No. 52’s contract, and with most of $10 million owed him through the rest of the year, the number of likely suitors drops considerably. There are plenty of contenders, and plenty of teams with money, but very few contenders with money.

2. The awfully-old-for-a-guy-his-age thing. He’s listed at 38 years old, which for a power pitcher generally means his useful days are numbered. At best, he’s a one-year extension, but look around the league and ask yourself: how many of the teams in it now can honestly believe they’ll be in it again next year and also justify carrying a large 39(?) year old with health problems?

3. The skills thing. People forget that outside of the glorious run through late 2005 and early 2006, Jose Contreras as a pitcher has ranged from “merely average” to “easily demotable.” It’s easy to let those past three starts, a four-year-old World Series and a handful of three-game runs here and there blind us, but the situation around those should speak for themselves: he pitched great after returning from the minors. After being demoted to the bullpen. After being run out of New York. This isn’t just a guy who pitches great after tweaks; this is a guy who pitches great after the most drastic of actions imaginable, and who wants to trade for that? Would YOU?

4. The can’t-have-it-both-ways thing. Assume for a second Contreras really is “back,” that the way he’s pitching now is the way he’ll pitch forever. Who has he beaten? Detroit, who we as “good” Sox fans should probably continue to stupidly write off, and a Milwaukee Brewers team rapidly falling from the top of the NL Central. So either we admit Contreras is not as good a pitcher as he once was, or we admit the Chicago White Sox are just a lousy team this year. Neither conclusion looks very pleasant, although the latter might at least get a prospect or two back from, oh, let’s say the Reds in a Dye-Contreras megadeal. Or, more realistically, nothing at all.