Y2HH

He has a very unique windup which disguises his pitches, he also has loopy stuff that looks as if it's way high and suddenly drops. He's a junkballer that strikes out about 1 per inning. If we get lucky, and he stays healthy, he has ACE quality stuff. I believe he has 3 world series rings and knows how to step it up in big game situations unlike almost anyone. -y2

I highly doubt the Twins #1 and #2 will put up the same numbers as last year. Everyone expected Elo to do the same, and he bombed...while the Twins big two won't be quite as bad, I do not expect similar performance to 04, but we will see. Overall, the Sox rotation is better than the Twins, as we really have no glaring holes anymore, a completely solid 1-5 and a great pen, not many other teams in baseball can say that. -y2

I don't know how many times I've told people win/loss records mean nothing when compared to REAL stats, like whip and ERA, not wins or losses. For the fools who won't stop judging pitchers on wins/losses, this is for you: I recall a upcoming "superstud" named Danny Wright (yes, the same Danny Wright the White Sox released for sucking), compiling a 14-12 record in 2002 with a 5.18ERA. By the rational that wins/losses mean something, that makes Dan Wright our new #3 starter AND better than Matt Clement, yet we released him. Now PLEASE, shut up about wins/losses, it makes you sound foolish. I witnessed Clement lose at LEAST two games last season 1-0. The only issue with Clement is, and if the Sox sign him be ready for this, he takes a REALLY long time to pitch. -y2

I think the point here is we will have a rotation locked long-term which could mean a world of difference in the future. Clement has talent...a lot of it, regardless of what others say. If these other pitchers put up the numbers Clement is putting up (wins/losses aside), I think they'd have similar offers on the table. I don't care what anyone says...a rotation with Buehrle, Garcia, Clement, Conteraras and Garland is one I'd love to see... I also think the rumored number of 3/30 is a bit inflated...it's probably more like 3/24 with incentives or some such thing. -y2

I might be inclined to say he's our 2nd best hitter...he's not better than Frank Thomas, and as for best "player", I think Freddie Garcia and Mark Burhrle are better. But that's just me. =y2=

Gotta love it when people grab situational stats and attempt to use them in order to make a point valid. Only when doing so, completely invalidates anything they were trying to say. I'll take this into my own hands and make a true comparison here. I'm really happy Buehrle had a 2.77era on the road, but we play a lot of games at home, too. Buehrle : 16 W, 10 L, 3.89ERA, 245 IP, 257 H, 168 K, 1.26 WHIP, (( .271 BAA )) Clement : 9 W, 13 L, 3.68ERA, 181 IP, 155 H, 190 K, 1.28 WHIP, (( .229 BAA )) Buehrle eats innings in comparison, yes...even I will admit I love that, however...what I do not like is the BAA Mark Buehrle put up as compared to the fact that Clement keeps people OFF the bases, and in the case people get on base, Clement can get the K when necessary. I have nothing against Buehrle, he is a GREAT pitcher, and a lefty...I love having him on the Sox...but to say he's better than Clement? Perhaps I should retract my earlier statement that Clement is any better than Buehrle as they seem VERY comparable all things considered. -y2

How about Cotts and Adkins compete with Matt Clement for a starters spot. =D

I think in this case, KW has a good hand dealt to him (speaking in Poker terms), as Clement has stated his wife loves Chicago and wants to stay. I believe Clement would give the Sox a discount...they just have to play their cards properly to get it. -y2

If a good starter is added this offseason, I'm going to go ahead right now and say this Sox team looks far better than any team we've fielded in recent memory. These guys will understand how to play baseball, keeping opposing defenses on the defense with a mixture of speed and power. I like it. A lot. We will have solid pitching, both the starting rotation and in the pen. We will have better defense and far more speed and although we lost some power, we will be a more balanced team, something we've been lacking in the worst way. Thomas, Dye, Everett, Rowand and Crede will keep pop in the lineup, each more then capable of 20+ homers in a season. Also, our lineup won't be almost all right handers. I remember at the beginning of last season, the Sox were bunting, running the bases, etc...we called it Ozzieball, and looking back, I remember it working...then suddenly came the power surge...14 runs one day, 2 runs the next, 1 the day after that... I'm already looking forward to this season unlike any season in recent memory. This is a new era of White Sox baseball...and I welcome it. -y2

Why, so AJ can sit on the DL all season long instead of pitching? I'll take Clement, with some run support, Clement wouldn't have the record he had last season...better stats than Buehrle by far, and only 9 wins? Put him on the Sox last year and he's probably near 20 wins. I told you the Sox were targeting Clement. -y2

Pods has a tendency to swing at high fastballs on 0-2 counts, he's done this the past few years...and this is nothing a good hitting coach cannot get rid of...teach him how to lay off that high fastball, and his K total will drop. We claim to have a great hitting coach...Walker was a left handed bat...so is Pods...maybe he can learn a thing or two. I think he can. Stop looking at this dead as it appears at this very moment and wait...do me a favor and look at this way, maybe it will help your prespective on this deal: If we sign a starting pitcher with the money saved... We then traded Carlos Lee for Pods, Viz, PTBNL, and a starting pitcher. FOUR players for the price of ONE. Anyone who thinks this is a bad deal when all is said and done needs their head examined by the Cubs team doctors...I'm sure they tell you everythings fine. -y2

Looking at this trade while keeping things over the past few years in prespective, I believe this was a GREAT trade. First, the White Sox, over the past few years, have had too much $ wound up in too few players (Mags, Koch, Valentine, Lee, Konerko), and where did it get us? A ton of HR's and a ton of fireworks, but other than that...what did it get us other than socked in the mouth by what should have been an inferior team in the Twinkees. Looking forward to 2005, we have dispersed cash around the organization, rather than winding it up in just a few players. We have more speed, more defense and better baserunning, I have to say, after reviewing the last few years, I'm happy we didn't go the same power hitting route. We also have pitchers locked in longer team deals. The coach of the 1980 Olympic hockey team had a good stance on recruiting players. "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right players." Oh, lets not forget, the numbers Lee put up in Chicago...needless to say, he won't be putting up in Milwalkee...do you honestly think Uribe has that kind of power?! That was Comiskey inflated stats. We still have power with Frank/Konerko/Rowand, not to mention Crede and a few others, so I'm not worried about the long ball...but at least now, with Pods on base, opposing pitchers will have something to worry about other than throwing K's. We have a better pen. Oh...and we have 6 million reasons we can sign a great starter now, solidifying our staff. I could probably go on and on making point after point here about why this trade was good, but everyone has pretty much covered this. -y2

Let me be the first to say Chicago radio annoucers are idiots. They've changed this trade 500 times now. First it was Lee for Pods/Ginter Then Lee for Pods/Ginter/Viz Then Lee/Harris for Pods/Ginter/Viz Now it's "officially" Lee for Pods/Viz. I'll wait for official announcement on mlb.com as well as on ESPN. Also, the SOX have offered money to Clement, and I DO hope we sign him. -y2

Matt Clement 9W 13L 3.68 ERA 181 IP 190 Ks Don't blame Clement for an inept offense. 9 wins with a 3.68 ERA? That's about 20 wins on the Sox last season. -y2

Tell ya what, if I'm wrong, burn me at the stake. Until then, keep the jury out. -y2

Carlos Lee AND Willie Harris for Pods, Viz and Ginter. That's the latest. And an offer to Clement for 27M over 3 years with 3M in incentive. -y2

I've been told from a source on cubstalk.com (who is VERY reliable), that the Sox have offered Matt Clement 3 years 27M + 3M in incentives. If I hear more I'll post immediatly. -y2

Again. I'd rather have Jones than nothing next season. Fact is, even in his little slump here, Jones isn't doing poorly, and he's STILL GREAT in CF. A lot of hitters wish they'd be putting up Jones #'s in a down season. If we listened to guys like you when it comes to players peaking and falling off, we would have let go of Thomas, Crede and Konerko already, because it looked like they had peaked and it was time to give up on them. Oh, thank god we didn't.

He's not quite as good as Mags offensively, as historic stats proove that, BUT, he's also not had the opportunity to hit in a hitters park like US Cellular, unlike Mags. The difference-maker for me is the defense...we'd have CF locked down with a 6 time GG player... If we can re-sign Mags, keep him...if not, I'd go for the Jones deal...better than winding up with NOTHING next year.

I think you are missing a MAJOR point here. There is a 99% chance we will NOT resign Magglio. And you ONLY get draft picks losing a FA if you offer them Arbitration, which we WILL NOT DO, since we cannot afford him. So no, you do NOT get draft picks. AND, Jones currently is on a sizeable contract that we WANT Mags to take, obviously the Sox CAN afford what Jones is making, since it's in the 12M range, which we want Mags to take. I'd give up the little extra offensive power Mags adds to our lineup (which we have prooven we do NOT need), for the defense we will get in CF. Not to mention, Jones will put up some offensive numbers, not as good as Mags, but again...without Mags we score tons of runs.

Not to mention, I've heard that, "That player is DONE" BS before. They said it about Konerko. They were wrong. They said it about Thomas. They were wrong. And I DO believe they are wrong about a 27 year old Andruw Jones, who can EASILY drop 10 pounds on a team that isn't waving a white flag around, where he would actually LIKE playing. You don't get 6 gold golves in CF and put up BETTER THAN AVG offensive numbers up till the age of 27 and suddenly stop. Think about it. The only thing Jones lacks right now is a reason to play hard...on the Sox, I DO believe he'd find that reason. They told us Carl Everett is a huge club-house cancer last year, too... Oh, and again, they were WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG.

Simply because US Cellular is a hitters park, and where Jones currently plays, even with the numbers he posted last year, it was at a pure pitchers park. It's really THAT simple.

Bad wrist or not, if the Minor league pitchers can figured him out, the ML pitchers SURE AS HELL CAN. ML pitchers absolutly TOASTED him in spring training when they werent even trying. He batted .400+ last year, and has hovered around .270 all this year, and if his wrist is hurt, perhaps he should rehab it rather than using it as an excuse. People put too much stock in minor league players. How many "cant miss stars" have we had miss on us the past few years. Let's see, oh thats right BOTH of our cant miss guys missed. Borchard AND Rauch. Sign Garcia long-term, which I think the Sox will. I'll miss Olivo as much as the next guy, I liked him...BUT...facts are facts, the Sox did NOT need him, he has a great arm, but still lacks defensive skills. The last thing we need to worry about is offense...if we should have learned anything the past three years, it's that offense does not win championships...hell, it doesn't even bring you into the playoffs. Pitching does. Buehrle, Loaiza, Garland, Garcia, (Ortiz?!) Diaz sounds a TON better than Buehrle, Loaiza, Garland, Ortiz AND Rauch to me. I can stand the loss of Olivo and a guy who had one good year for Garcia. NOW...sign him to a 4 year deal. -y2

Reed doesn't have power...this is yet again, a case of people repeating stuff they've "heard". Fact is, Reed batted 400 last season, and whats he at this year...now that people have figured out how to pitch to him in the MINORS...what, .280 or something?! Oh yeah, and he has almost NO power. Just checked, Reed is batting .273 with 8HR in 264AB...yeah, tons and tons of power and contact. The only thing in this trade I'll miss is Olivo, and even then...he platooned as the Sox #9 (AKA WORST hitter on the team) batter with Alomar AND Burke. -y2

The Sox could possibly get Atlanta to absorb a few million of that per year salary of Jones. Also...I think all that is really required for Jones is a change of scenery. Yes, he has become complacant, and he's also watched Atlanta allow all their star pitchers leave, what does he really have to play for now, when nobody in Atlanta thinks they have a chance in making it anywhere. A Jones puts up great offensive numbers no matter how you cut it. Just last year he batted in 116 runs, also hammering out 37 HRs. Oh, and just because you see him misplay 1 ball here or there does NOT mean he's losing his touch, he's STILL VERY YOUNG, and it wouldn't take much to have him shed a few extra pounds (as we did with Carlos Lee). I look at it this way, we can get Jones, a GREAT CF locked in for about 4 years (get Atlanta to take a little of that salary), and we lose Mags...who we are going to lose in three months anyway, so let go of the pipe dream of resigning him...Mags is GONE...Jones will supply 90% of that offense Mags would have given us, and improve our outfield TEN fold. Change of leagues, change of scenery...I think it's exactly what the 27 year old Jones needs. Jones career stats say this is an off year with a team that doesn't think it can win...I don't think he's DECLINING, and whoever said that is a moron...as last year was his best offensive year EVER. As for his defense declining, it's because he doesn't want to be in Atlanta anymore...a team WATCHING all of it's star pitchers leave...if he came to the Sox, I BET he's lose 10 pounds within a few weeks regaining his defensive form. -Y2