Chisoxfn

As of right now we are looking to be somewhere around 45 -46 million.

Ya, thats what I meant.

Ritchie is far from great, he's also far from what he was last year, which was terrible. He definately isn't a number two or even a number 3 pitcher though.

Lol...I do think that right now Frank is just getting his state of mind back and he's working to get into great shape. He'll be ready by the start of the season looking to play. I also don't see him walking, at worse case, the Sox will give him more money. JR and Thomas have a great relationship and it will allow the Sox to keep him as long as he's productive.

Pettite would get the Yanks nothing in return (Look at Millwood after all) but the Yanks would also have to pick up about half of his salary. I think the most viable bet would be them giving up El Duque for nothing. I think he's a bit more affordable, and at a cheaper price they could at least dump him. THey won't find any takers for Pettite or Hithcock unless they pay most of the salary.

Jon became a much better pitcher when he stopped overthrowing in the middle of last season. His ball started having much better movement and he had better control. WHen he throws real hard his pitch straightens out and he gets drilled. Hopefully Cooper continues to do good work on him and the young kid continues his development. I really like our young arms and we have more of them coming, just not this year, minus Rauch and maybe Diaz.

He will be their as long as we don't sign another pitcher or Ritchie. Still, this is a risky rotation with Buerhle, Garland, Wright, Biddle and Rauch. This type of rotation could put a ton of pressure on the bullpen and offense. Then again if Wright and Garland grow, Biddle proves he's pretty good after the injury and Rauch pitches like many think he can and this is one of the better rotations in the majors. Odds are it falls somewhere in between.

Ya, I think Schueler basically handed him those duties and KW was pretty much responsible for the draft or at least I think I Remember reading that somewhere.

Fontaine Jr. is who I'd hire. Thats the guy who left the angels and built their entire farm system. Bill Bavasi (Angels former gm) gave him all the credit when it came to those things. He's also done a great job since coming here.

I'd only take him for like nothing. I don't want to see the Bulls give up Fizer.

The Ritchie trade didn't hurt us like everyone says it did. Fogg is nothing...mark my words on this and Kip was hated by all. Everyone can say it wasn't a great deal, but 90% of the people supported that deal. I know Baggs didn't, and I was the only other one out their against it or at least not many were against it. Most people were ranting and raving how we finally had a #2 pitcher. Also, Kip wouldn't of produced with us. Nardi screwed him up and he was rushed to the big leagues because he had a good call up. If he had struggled he would of held back and probably made it with the White Sox as he would of had more time in the minors. Also, Lowe isn't anywhere and Ritchie is a much better pitcher then the guy who was here last year. In the end it will be a mid reliever/5 starter on a crappy team and Kip for Ritchie, who will be a #4 or #5.

You can't run a farm system by themselves. The Sox have one of the best guys in the majors when it comes to developing systems. I forget his name, but he came from the Angels and developed their system.

was it???...dont you have to wait and see if diaz has a successful career..what happens if he never makes it??? And what was Lofton doing for the Sox? If you aren't going to use a guy you get something of value in return for him. It also opened up the slot for Rowand to play everyday as well as Borchard to get some time.

Hate to break it to you, but the only two choices we had for GM were KW or Dan Evans. Pick your poison. evans is light years ahead of KW...atleast he can keep his berries straight Yeah, trading your top two prospects for Paul Shuey makes you light years ahead of KW. That's like tarding Rauch and Honel for a good solid reliever. or trading wells and fogg for ritchie?? show me a similiar trade that KW made that was a successful as sheffield for jordan/perez???... has any of those prospects paid any dividends for cleveland yet???...what happens if both flop???...then was it such a bad trade??..evans made a move to win last season..didnt work out but atleast he tried...in '01 when the sox had a chance to make a move to go after cleveland we ended up trading james baldwin for guys that arnt even in the organization anymore...we didnt even take the chance of winning and got absolutely nothing in return...yeah..kw is great That wasn't as sucessful of a trade as everyone says. Jordan is a bum an dhe doesn't want to play in Atlanta. They got a good young pitcher in Perez, but he won't be as good this year and the Dodgers have probably screwed him up cause he was over worked big time last year. Trust me on this. Also, Sheffield is no slouch. That was a decent trade. Lofton for Diaz, that was pretty damn one sided. So was Marte and Yan for Guerrier.

Hate to break it to you, but the only two choices we had for GM were KW or Dan Evans. Pick your poison. evans is light years ahead of KW...atleast he can keep his berries straight I'm out here in California and trust me, Evans isn't anything. The guy is dismantling and killing the Dodgers. I know he didn't spend a lot of the money, but he has no lineup out here and a real risky pitching staff, ya, one riskier then the Sox. He has his best pitcher coming off career bests in innings and everything and everyone else is an injury from losing their career. Things are not good their. Evans also doesn't know a thing about the minors.

Biddle is a quality pitcher. Last season he was coming off of surgery and he should be able to get deeper into games. Still, he needs to throw more then just a curve or fastball. He needs to mix in a changeup and maybe develop a second fastball. He does have good stuff and a ton of heart so I'll be rooting for him.

Its about when Harry met Lloyd so I don't know if its going to make Drew Carey and Jeff Michaels look younger or if they will have other people playing them. I think thats whats its called, Dumb and Dumber, when Harry met Lloyd.

Its "Take me out to the Ballpark" An Ilustrated Tour of Baseball Parks Past and Present Written by Josh Leventhal

As long as Frank's getting in shape and is happy in Vegas, let him stay their till the season starts. Also, Foulke may not be going and they just haven't changed the list.

Of course you also have to remember they didn't want Ray here, they wanted to time to see where Jimenez and Harris were. Is that a reason to get too little for Ray, No, but it is a reason for dumping him. I don't know what was going on in the negotiations, only KW and Billy Beane know.

Geeze, things are getting a little out of hand here. Lets not let opinions turn into personal attacks. Anyway, I stick to my stance that KW isn't anywhere near as bad as everyone says he is. He isn't an hall of fame gm either, but the guy does a lot of things real good, and as long as he continues to learn (I've seen a lot of growth out of him) then I will be happy.

Was a real cool movie. That and Lord of the Rings kicked some serious ass. Oh ya, a New Dumb and Dumber is coming out, how great is that. Of course you can never out do the original, can you??? Back to the Future is all I can think of.

I think... My dad gave me this pretty cool book on all the baseball stadiums and I've started reading a bit of it this morning after he made us all omlettes.

The Old South Side Stadium burned to the ground. At that time it was home of the Negro League American Giants. It was home of the White Sox from 1900-1910, when the Sox moved to White Sox Stadium (Comiskey Park)

Ya, Merry Christmas Everyone....