Fortunately for Konerko, his teammates will not react to his riches as Joseph’s brothers reacted to his special coat — by tearing off his clothes, throwing him down a dry well, then selling him into slavery.

That’s not just because slavery is illegal, and because Chicago uses Lake Michigan for water and doesn’t have wells. Konerko is universally beloved by his teammates, which could not be said about Thomas. Then again, Thomas, unlike Konerko, could be a very Joseph-like prima donna. To be fair, Thomas tended to be more aloof, rather than tell his teammates that he had a dream his bat rose up, and theirs bowed down before it, like how Joseph described to his brothers a dream about their respective sheaves of grain.

Signing Thome was widely viewed as insurance in case Konerko left, but really, it was about the White Sox rewarding their favorite son, just as signing Thome’s former Cleveland teammate, Belle, was about rewarding Thomas.

Thome can play first base, but the plan is for him to be a full-time designated hitter. The left-handed Thome would bat cleanup behind the right-handed hitting Konerko, who hit cleanup last year. While the White Sox hit 200 home runs in 2005, Konerko’s was the only truly feared bat in the lineup.

The White Sox figure that Thome, limited to 59 games by injury last season, is healthy and will stay that way at DH, providing numbers closer to his career averages of 40 home runs and 110 RBIs, especially given that U.S. Cellular Field is one of the most home run-friendly parks in baseball. Thome made it very clear he wanted to see Konerko come back. His doing so gives the Sox a formidable 3-4-5 lineup in Konerko, Thome and Jermaine Dye, who hit 31 home runs last season.

With Konerko signed, center fielder Aaron Rowand, traded for Thome, and designated hitter Carl Everett, whose contract was bought out, are the only regulars from the World Series team not coming back. (All the pitchers are coming back, too.) After players such as pitcher Jon Garland, third baseman Joe Crede and catcher/designated annoyance A.J. Pierzynski get through their upcoming arbitration hearings, it’s possible the White Sox will have a payroll somewhere around $85 million or so, $10 million more than last year.

It takes a lot to convince Reinsdorf to raise payroll like that. Certainly, all the post-World Series merchandising and ticket windfalls will help cover it. But more than that, Reinsdorf is willing to do whatever he can to help his favorite son, Konerko. Even though his White Sox gear appears to be black, white and gray, when Konerko returns for spring training, he’ll be wearing the uniform of many colors.

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