Soxbadger

Rauch? Counting today should of been his start. And if he did start today, hed only have 4 days of rest for saturday. You know his stats better than me. But that is my logical guess. Or Rauch is being traded. SB

That trade is far worse for the Cubs than the White Sox. Eventhough we lose Maggs, we get Patterson (left handed bat in CF), and we can easily find another RF who will put up numbers. Hell we can sign Mondesi as long as we are willing to just pay him a mil or so. Clement would give us the power rhp we have been looking for. Where as the Cubs now would have 3 RF or LF, with no CF. They would also have hurt there staff considerably, because Clement has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the NL. Id be really reluctant to make this deal, but the bottomline is: Maggs makes $14mil, Wunsch under $1, Patterson under $1, Clement $6mil. Sox save $8mil, which we can then use to with some prospects to take on another bat or pitcher. If it was Zombrano id say yes without a doubt, but even with Clement Im pretty tempted. SB

If Maggs wants more than that, then I say we either trade him if we can get a great pitcher immediately, or save the money on him and put it towards pitching next year. I wonder if the Sox are asking again at this point because if he declines they will trade him for a big time SP? SB

Konerko, Diaz, and mid level prospect for Garcia would be fine with me. Although I think Seattle might want an of prospect instead of Diaz, but I would be willing to part with some one of equal value. If we are just trying to fill in a 5th man with upside, then Garcia fits the bill. If we are looking an ace, then we might want to put a better package together and get something better. Right now though Garcia, would be fine with me, as long as we dont overpay. No point in overpaying now, when we dont need a 5th starter for almost a month. Might as well let it play out a little, and make some other teams start to sweat about getting their trades done. SB

I would prefer to move Konerko, just to be honest I doubt trading him will be worth the return we get. I think that Lee has a better value, and Konerko could put up just as good of numbers as Lee, therefore we might as well trade our higher value and net better returns. Konerko's trade value at this point, is probably less than his actual worth to the team, therefore I would hold on to him unless a good deal came around, or he started heating up and his value increased. Sb

Sox fans just are very quick to jump off the bridge on a player. Lee is already up to .270, in a week or so he could be over .300. In my eyes hes just as valuable as Garcia, just the White Sox are fortunate enough to have plenty of outfield depth in the minors, where the Mariners are fortunate to have pitching depth. Value is relative, and to many offense starved teams, theyd love to have Lee. SB

Come on, the All-Star game is in Houston. Unless Rocket falls apart, if he even has close stats to Johnson they are going to start Rocket. Johnson may be better, but the All-Star game isnt about whos best, its about making money. And Rocket starting will be the dream scenario for every sports writer who has never gotten the chance to write about the flame thrower from Texas, who has finally come home. Its to far away to predict, but Rocket will get the benefit of the doubt. SB

In my eyes its a double edged sword. I know some relatives of coaches, employees, etc. But Ive never said "Oh you should go post at so and so" because part of me fears that they will see something about there family member and be unhappy. I mean they are real people too, and some posters say things off the cuff that can bother people. Not to mention, some of things people propose Im not so sure Id want to see the White Sox do. All I know is, I could care less if a million people read my ideas or 1 does, because its my idea. Im just looking for some other knowledgeable Sox fans who will discuss baseball, so I dont always have to listen to the Cubs fans Im constantly surrounded by. This is a great message board, I dont think we need Espn1000 to say that for it to be. But I understand that maybe we could get heard better if we were better known. SB

lol Theres a slight difference, I think Mr. Nintendo cares about his fans. Sb

Unless the media pays the people that run the site, why do we want the exposure? All it will do is probably bring us a bunch of Cubs trolls who start threads like: "Haha remember when you traded George Bell for Sammy Sosa" Personally this is the only White Sox forum I post at, and its mainly because for the most part it has some of the most knowledgable posters that I have seen. I guess it would be nice to be recognized for that, but I dont need a media outlet to tell me it. SB

I have no problem with Rowand starting against lefties, pinch hitting against lefties, and coming in as a defensive replacement in late innings. Starting him against righties, is just setting him up for failure. We have Harris and Perez who will be good enough against righties that Rowand just is more of a risk on those days than an asset. SB

The only problem with asking for so much is, the White Sox can take there ball and go home. Right now we are in first place. We play in the weakest division. We can wait until the market changes to our liking. Mean while the Mariners are a sinking ship, and soon will be to far down to even hope that they can make the playoffs this year. Not to mention, the White Sox are in one of the worst divisions in Baseball, by All-Star break, the Tigers, Indians, Royals, and Twins, may all just throw in the towel. And hope for next year. Our biggest asset is that if we are in first place, other teams in our division will be reluctant to try and trade to beat us, because they will know we can always trade for more and potentially increase our payroll to beat them. The Mariners Gm will have to realize that unless hes going to try for a Delgado, in which hes going to have to part with some of their prospects, Garcia will fetch them at most a Lee type player in the majors, or some prospects in the minors. Also if the Mariners fail to trade Garcia, then they lose him, and who knows what they will get for him, especially since offering arbitration might be risky. They could end up getting nothing, and being in last place with Garcia, and then not even getting draft picks. When you look at it that way, getting Lee is a great deal. Showtime, I know, part of me thinks that Valentin, PK, or Lee for Garcia might in the end work. The reality is, Garcia was almost nontendered, and most teams will just rather wait it out then overpay. SB

If you read the Mariner's websites, you will see their fans want a player who is major league ready. They are all dismissing a trade with the Cubs, because they have no outfielder or 1b to trade them now. Where as the White Sox have both a of and a 1b who they could trade instantly for Garcia. Mariners fans will not accept a white flag trade. SB

They dont need Lee in the outfield, if they traded for him he would likely be converted to 1b or DH. He would replace Olerud or Martinez, both of who are having terrible years. The Mariners have minor league pitchers who they could replace Garcia with, Naegotte and theres another one I forget off the top of my head, and gain a valuable bat in a line up that has been dreadful. There is something working against the Mariners, they need to win next year, if they are terrible this year. Who else can they get who has as much upside as Lee does this year, and next year? The minor league prospects teams will offer them, will mostly be 2-3 years away, and could not even become as good as Lee is at his worst, .280 30, 100. Hes not Vladimer Guerroro, but for most teams hed be a great addition to the line uo. Why would the Cubs, Red Sox, or any team over pay for Garcia? If they are going to overpay and are a big budget team, they are going to set their sights on the Glavines, and Randy Johnsons of the world, plus the fact they need LHP instead of RHP gives us an edge. Yanks, Red Sox, and Cubs all need a lefty, they have pitchers who are like Garcia already. What will the Dodgers trade? Looney? Abercrombie? They dont have the offense to match us in a trade, they could give Seattle more pitching, but Seattle needs to improve its offense. And Seattle will see things more clearly as the trade deadline approaches and they are getting closer and closer to being stuck with Garcia for the rest of the year. Garcia's value will some what be diminished by the fact most contenders this year will be looking for a lefty, not a righty. Sox should get our pick of what pitcher we want, and at what price. Therefore the overpaying of Garcia is unlikely, unless that is the pitcher they want above all others. SB

Seattle will not get Honel, Munoz, and Lee for Garcia. Seattle will not even get an offer that is in that ballpark for Garcia. First there is only a few teams who will want to trade for Gracia (teams that can win this year). So lets say that 6 AL and 6 NL teams think they have a chance at the playoffs and therefore are looking to add a SP. Some of those teams are not going to want or need Garcia, so I will say that at the time Garcia is traded there will be about 5-7 teams that are interested, 2-3 that are very interested. This is where the problem comes in, there are plenty of pitchers who can go deep into games and post a sub 4 era. His age means nothing, because hes on the last year of his contract, so that greatly deppreciates his value. Then you will have teams who are firesaling because they need to save money this year. That will be Seattle's main problem. As the season progresses, more and more teams will be willing to part with players on the last year of their contracts to get something in return. Therefore the amount of pitchers on the market will increase, while Garcia's value will still remain pretty consistent. This is the same player Seattle was rumored to be non-tendering, and the whole league knows this. They also will see his home and away splits, and many teams will be reluctant to pull the trigger. The reality is, Livan Hernandez will come much cheaper and could be just as good. The same could be said for Benson, and that is just looking at low ranked teams who will for sure move some one. I may be a huge fan of Garcia, but I think that Seattle would consider Lee for Garcia straight up, seeing as the Dodgers would of easily given us Odalis Perez in the offseason. But thats just my opinion. SB

Zito could be nice for the White Sox, or if we are willing to overpay, Mulder. A's are going to have to trade one of their pitchers, or lose one in the offseason. We can make a trade that is better than 2 first round picks to the A's, and put them in a better position this year. It may cost us some of our outfieldiers in the minors, but pitching is more important and harder to find than outfielders, and if we can get a pitcher for the long term, we would have a good 3 to build around (Garland, Buerhle, ...). SB

Beltran being the next coming of Bonds and getting paid $17mil a year are 2 different things. If he was the next coming of Bonds, wed be arguing over $20mil a year contracts, as it is, there has been some what of a chill in players contracts, but that trend can not continue indefinitely, and theres as good of a possibility of some one breaking the bank on Beltran, as there is that he makes less than $13mil. And every time you say that hes coming back down to earth, and he doesnt project to have an ops of this, or that his stolen bases will go down, you are devaluing Beltran, and in a way disrespecting him. Or what bothered me most was when you said that Beltran was benefitting form playing in front of the great KC line-up, it might not of been in this thread, but it was bogus. SB

Well being that the White Sox still play in the MLB and there is a limited supply of Beltran's and Magglios, there worth to the Yankees does matter because of the simple principle of supply and demand. There is a very small supply of players that are even close to Beltran's abilities. There is a huge demand for players with those abilities. In a way you make no sense because as a White Sox fan, the it is pretty unreasonable for us to think we are going to get Beltran. Realistically we are going to have to overpay to originally trade for him, or we will have to overpay for him in the offseason. Either way, hes only coming to the Sox at a significant cost. So why start a thread saying how over rated he is? I dont see you starting one about how washed up Sweeney is, only seeing you say how much he protected Beltran. Get off your self righteous kick, its to apparent in your posts who you love and who you hate. You dont like Beltran, we get it. But you dont have to just disrespect a player to try and boost your own ego. Beltran is a good player, and he could become special. Right now he seems to be in a funk, maybe because his team is down hes just not getting up for games. If he dedicates himself, there are times when he can pretty much do what he wants at the plate or on the basepaths. He could be worth every cent at $17mil if hes an perennial All-Star for the Yanks or Red Sox, to say otherwise is naive. He may never reach that, but he certainly has the chance. SB

The whole idea makes no sense because a players worth is whatever another team will pay for him. He may not be worth $15mil to the White Sox, he may not be worth $5mil, but he will be worth $15mil to some one. Maggs may be a Sox, so our homerism may suggest that he is better, but on the open market he will not be worth more, unless Beltran comes up with .250-.270, 30, and less than 100. If he hits over .270, over 30, and over 100, he will make more than Maggs unless Maggs, hits over .315, over 35, and over 120. The difference between being a CF and RF is going to be very apparent in how these players are paid. Guerroro was a free agent this off-season, and probably is better than Maggs. He got less money because he didnt want to sign with the Yankees, but unless Beltran has the same dislike for the East Coast, I expect the Red Sox and Yankees will get in a bidding war that will make him have to perform to warrant his paycheck. The Red Sox could easily chose to put big money into CF, and let Nomar and Damon go. The problem is that at this point you can not even come close to predicting the market, if you were able to you would be one of the most successful GMs because you would know what teams wanted the most and therefore always get maximum value in trades and never overpay for a player. But no one here has a crystal ball, although we can assume that the Yankees will put atleast $30mil into their outfield next season, so maybe they might just sign Maggs and Beltran. The truth is value is in the eye of the beholder, and to many teams Beltran will be worth whatever it takes. Thats baseball, and when you look at Sean Green's pay check you realize a big name, and the right team goes a long way to what money youll make. SB

Player A: 37 143 24 33 7 0 4 12 20 33 0 0 .231 .329 .364 .693 2004 Salary: $12,357,143 Player B: 42 157 27 42 10 0 3 19 28 20 0 4 .268 .385 .389 .774 2004 Salary: $12,029,131 Player C: 37 126 20 34 7 0 9 24 24 27 0 1 .270 .406 .540 .946 2004 Salary: $12,428,571 All of these players are over 30 years old, they all have arguably worse statistics, and the saddest part is they all play for the same team. $17 mil for Beltran is not that out of the question, I think that hell get closer to $15mil, but if there is a bidding war hell get $17mil+. At lower than $13mil he is an absolute steal, at $15mil he is probably fairly priced. But how many switch hitting gold glove CFers with 30hr, 100rbi potential come around? Not many, so I will tend to think the bidding will go on the high side. No matter how great you say the KC line up is, the truth is he has no protection. Ken Harvey is their best hitter these days, Sweeney is hitting under .270. Put him in the 2hole for the Yanks in front of A-rod, hed go crazy. SB

I dont even think Benson will pan out if he comes to the AL, hes already got over a 4.5 era, and his whip is 1.64, with a BAA of .298. Now if you were to take away the pitcher who is almost an automatic out in the NL, he could be looking at a 5+ era in the AL. The difference between facing Sandy Alomar or Olivo vs even the best hitting pitcher is pretty drastic. SB

If Lee is being traded Id expect a lot better than Benson. SB

Can we give Cotts maybe a week or 2 to stretch out and then have a fair shot at the 5th spot? He made a few mistakes, but he could of given up 0 runs as easily as 4 runs. He had a 50 pitch limit. It was his first start. We should give him a few chances before we just throw the towel in, in fact some might say after the last 2 days the Twins were due. SB

G GS W L Sv Hld IP H ER HR BB SO K/9 P/GS WHIP ERA Zero: 14 0 2 0 0 2 15.2 10 3 1 5 12 6.89 0.0 0.96 1.72 Flash: 22 0 1 2 1 10 24.2 16 5 1 9 19 6.93 0.0 1.01 1.82 Granted Takatsu is unproven, but right now he has been equal to Flash, and is costing the Sox much less. Perhaps Politte was supposed to be Flash's replacement, but it turns out Zero has done a much better job. SB

Ive tried to look for Alan Webb, and if hes the player that Ive found, I doubt the Sox would do that trade. Maybe theyd consider Klesko for Konerko straight up, but you can get much better with Cotts and Lee, plus 2 prospects than Klesko. Griffey is a left handed bat who will be available, if the Reds would eat half his contract (over the entire term), he could be a good deal, Reds would still save 5mil a year. SB