Soxbadger

He always had good stuff as a lefty, just if you look at his stats as a reliever he did not do as well when people were on base. Now that hes a starter, each inning is a fresh start, so he just handles it better. I think hell be a good 3-4 starter for the rest of his career, maybe one year putting together some great numbers, otherwise coming in at consistently .500. All in all, because hes a lefty, he might play until hes 35. SB

I think Williams is willing to part with what it takes to get Schmidt. Just the question will become, if your going to part with that much, is there some one better you can get? SB

Dk I have 2b and 3b to trade, if you want to make an offer. SB

Why would the Brewers want to trade a cheap young starting pitcher like Sheets, for Rauch and Borchard. Seems Sheets is the type of player that theyd want to keep unless you were going to completely overpay for him. I think that Sheets is pretty much untouchable, so that is probably the reason why the Sox did not trade for him. SB

Harris in CF changes the line-up significantly. Valetin protects Lee, so now Lee is going to get significantly better pitches. Its the move I had hoped for when Harris started to turn the corner, and Ozzie should consider this whenever RHP are starting. With LHP, I have no problem if Rowand is back out there and Harris or Valentin gets arest. SB

Hes had 8 at bats in the 2 spot this year, after having a great year last year. I wouldnt say thats entirely a fair shot to see how he would adjust if given a week or two to play there. But you have already made your mind up, so its not worth trying to convince you. Just like you had made your mind up that Harris sucked that last time we argued. You seem to worship other GM's, and crucify your own. I dont have the time for self-loathing, if you dont even want to consider the fact that Lee may be good, and that there are probably teams who want him, then whats the point. Ill say this though, more teams want Lee than your prized possession Valentin, or else hed already be gone. SB

No you cant predict the stock market, but its not all chance either. There are indicators, just like there are in baseball, "Has a player improved his bb vs ks", obp, every statistic is an indicator of something. Look at Calos Lee, in old terms, this year is terrible compared to last. 2003 CWS 158 623 100 181 35 1 31 113 37 91 18 4 .291 .331 .499 .830 2004 CWS 33 120 15 29 7 0 4 10 17 18 3 2 .242 .348 .400 .748 But if you were a new OBP man, you would say, while Lee is hitting .050 lower, his OBP is actually up this year. In fact compared to last year his strike out to walk ratio has drastically improved. So why has Lee declined? The answer that is becoming more and more apparent is that when he was in the 2nd spot he was getting much better pitches to hit, and now that he is lower, they pitchers are staying away, preferring to walk him than let him hurt them. 2002 has a similar line to what I would predict from him in 2004, note that he had more BB than K's that year, and had a higher OBP than his best year 2003. If Lee is moved back into the 2 hole, it should be expected he gets better pitches, and that should translate to hits. He will also probably strike out more because he can over swing so some of those good pitchs will just get missed. The reality is, Lee may have improved, just is a victim of circumstances. I dont necessarily agree with this argument, but if you cared about OBP more than other things, you might be inclined to trade for Lee now while he is struggling, expecting when you can put him say... In front of Chavez and Dye, hed project to all of a sudden return to .275+, 30, 100, which could really change the A's lineup, or the M's for that matter. You just have to pitch your product right, if Williams calls up Ricciardi, Beane, and Depodesta, and tells them that he has a guy whos really going to fit well into their system, he might be able to get one to buy into it and give us a deal we want. Its worth a try, because its not about statistics, or the product, its about packaging it right. SB

Lee: 2004 Salary: $6,500,000 Zito: 2004 Salary: $3,000,000 Garcia: 2004 Salary: $6,875,000 You keep saying this $15 mil, but that is over multiple years. You dont say Zito makes $10mil, eventhough with next years contract included thats where his price is. And I have yet to see where some one has suggested Lee for Garcia straight up would work. I think its a starting point. These are all young players, they all have upside, and they all have downside. Zito may never return to form, Garcia could revert back to last year, Lee may never bat over .270 again. But it doesnt mean teams wont trade for them, like you suggested. It just means that Lee hurt his value, Zito hurt his value, and Garcia improved his. In a month, that could all be completely reversed, hence the phrase, buy low, sell high. SB

Where did I say that Zito and Lee were as good as eachother? I just said that a bad start does not make it so no team will trade for a player. Lee was a player that teams wanted this offseason, the Mariners wanted him, the Dodgers wanted him, it was the White Sox who were unwilling to trade him. Lee is only 27 years old, coming off his best season, and in every other season he hit over 20 home runs, drove in over 80. While they are not the best statistics, I bet I can find you many other players who are paid much more to do much less. Lee has a market, its foolish to think he doenst. SB

So by your logic, Zito is terrible because hes struggling? Era of 6.00 No one would take Zito off Oaklands hands because hes having a bad start to this season, just like no one would trade for Lee? Lee is very tradeable right now, eventhough hes struggling, I doubt many think that he will continue to play like this for the rest of his career. In the offseason he could of been dealt. I think right now he could be dealt. Konerko on the other hand would have to be a prospect at this point. SB

I think right now the A's want to move Zito more than Mulder or Hudson, the A's recognize they need more hitting. Zito and Lee make the same amount of money. I just dont think the A's will want Maggs unless they get rid of Dye, where as Lee is priced so that they can use him now. Also I think that the Mariners might still be willing to take on Valentin, so he could come into the mix if we were going after Garcia. Right now most teams are probably just feeling eachother out, but with Zito struggling, the time might be right to nab him. Lee does not make $15mil a year, he makes about what Garcia makes, so it would be salary for salary pretty much, and they have him next year too, where Garcia is a free agent. SB

Ive thought that Lee or Maggs could get moved to Seattle also, if they could come up with a deal. Personally I think Lee might get us Zito if we really are interested in trading him, because hes signed for 2 years at a price like Zito and would give the A's a guy in the OF where as they can replace Zito with there arms in the minors. Id take Garcia too though, as I really hoped the Sox would of grabbed him in the offseason. SB

From the first post: Now I was going to say in my post that it is possible that being used to much alst year may be wearing on him, but if anything the Sox have done a good job trying to reduce his workload this year. He just doesnt look right, it might of been the rain and cold, but it wasnt that he had pitched 3 or 4 times the last week, he only pitched 1.2 innings. Most set up guys can do an inning 3-5 times a week np. SB

If this is overworked we have real problems: LAST 7 DAYS 2 0 1.2 1 2 0 2 1 5.40 0 1 1 0 1 .167 1.80 10.80 2 games, 1.2 ip. Hes barely been used, no way you can say overworked. SB

I dont mind when the Sox lose because they got outplayed. It is frustrating to see them lose because their manager just did not recognize the situation. The first was when Valentin was facing the LHP, if he pinch hits with Uribe, Harris has a chance to steal, hit and run, etc. With the Lefty in to face Valentin, Harris doesnt even get a chance, Valentin strikes out. The second was when Thomas walked to start the inning, instead of pinch running for Thomas, and recognizing that Lee is in a funk so maybe having him bunt or a hit and run, he keeps Thomas in. Only after Lee and Konerko strike out does Thomas get pinch ran for. It makes no sense, because if Ozzie was going to pinch run for him ever, he should of done it first, because you cant win the game without tieing it first. Third is when he had Sandy Alomar bunt. If you are just telegraphing you are moving the runner over on a bunt, you put a player in that is going to get the bunt down 98 times out of a 100. Timo and Uribe were much better choices, instead we waste an out. ::shrugs:: In a 1 run game, mistakes are what cost you. If there was some theory behind what he did, I wouldnt mind. Because being a monday morning qb is lame, but when it just is so obvious what the right move is, you have to wonder what he was thinking. I think the cold just made him inattentive, I have no other rationale explanation. SB

It was nice to see Timo Perez and Uribe were at the game. I thought maybe they had forgotten to show and that is why Guillen was forced to have Alomar bunt. SB

Atleast Harris is battling like he actually wants to win this game. SB

I thought Ozzie was going to bring this revolutionary NL style to the AL. What the hell is Alomar bunting for, why not pinch hit Timo or some one who can just get the damn job done. If you are going to just move the runner over, get it done at all costs, its the game. SB

Im usually one of the more optimistic posters. But I call it like I see it, and tonight Guillen was not on top of this game. ::Shrugs:: They could still pull it out, I hope they do. But they should have put forth a better effort in trying to win this game. SB

I think Ozzie might be playing corpse manager tonight. Why wouldnt you pinch run for Frank with no outs, when you could possibly hit and run, bunt, etc to manufacture a run. Instead wait for 2 players to strike out, and then pinch run. I think some one phoned it in tonight, especially after the not pinch hitting for Valentin. SB

Should of pinch hit with Uribe, then he brings in the righty to face Uribe, and they have more options. Not sure why they wasted an out letting Jose try and hit left handed pitching. SB

Better chance of Zito for Lee imo. Both have similar salaries, but the A's feel they have young arms to replace Zito. Lee is relatively inexpensive and they hope he will take over for Dye whos lost salary they will use to resign Hudson. SB

I watched Alvarez last night, I dont know how well he would fare in the AL. He seems better suited for the NL at this point in his career. SB

The reality is baseball announcers are not that smart or even insightful. Anyone that has watched the White Sox this year know that they have just as good of a chance to make the playoffs as the Cubs or better because the White Sox dont have Houston in the division. They pander to the audience, and they think the Cubs have all the fans so if they say good things about them, the majority will like it. It will be that much sweeter when the Cubs are at home and the White Sox are still playing. SB

Yeah my point was they showed us wrecking Ponson, if we keep winning and beating the people they say are "good", then well get attention. SB