White Sox May Acquire Foster, Dawson

The Chicago White Sox reportedly are close to acquiring outfielder George Foster, cut loose by the New York Mets, and Montreal outfielder Andre Dawson as well as pitcher Steve Carlton, who said he was retiring last week after a brief stint with the San Francisco Giants.

Newspapers in Chicago and Canada reported Monday that all three player moves were imminent. Both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune quoted sources Monday as saying that Carlton and Foster would join the White Sox. The Tribune and a paper in Canada also reported that the White Sox were on the verge of obtaining Dawson from the Expos.

Dawson, who has knee trouble, will become a free agent after this season.

Expo General Manager Murray Cook told the Ottawa Citizen that the teams have been “talking for quite some time” about the Expos’ all-time leader in home runs and RBIs.

Ken Harrelson, White Sox operations chief, was out of town Monday and could not be reached for comment.

National League records show that Carlton did not put his name on the voluntary-retired list or send a letter of retirement to the league. Instead, the Giants asked irrevocable waivers on him to make room for pitcher Mike Krukow. Carlton will clear waivers this afternoon and could start for the White Sox against the Detroit Tigers tonight.

Foster was released by the Mets last week and will also clear waivers today. He was quoted last week as saying that the Mets were eager to replace black players with white players. He said Monday at a New York news conference that he still might be with the club if that story had not appeared in print.

“There’s a good chance I would have stayed,” Foster said at morning news conference with Met General Manager Frank Cashen at Shea Stadium. “For how long? I don’t know.

Foster, who has categorically denied he called the Mets racists, said he did not make many of the statements attributed to him and that others were taken out of context.

“Everything started to snowball with that story,” Foster said. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”