GreatScott82

to 100 wins for Buerhle! Finally a W.

I think it will take an aweful lot to obtain Ichiru, and he is exactly what this team needs- a true leadoff hitter who can stay healthy. Im guessing a 17.5MM/season type deal for 4 to 5 years. But if im JR and KW i would make that move. Ichiru is the best contact hitter since Ted Williams and his career .331 batting average would look damn good in our lineup. Screw the whole A-Rod talk that won't happen. I focus all my attention on Ichiru because that is a real possibily. As far as replacing Uribe goes, I would decline that option and sign Eckstein. Though not as talented defenseivly, he sure can hit the ball and can field with the rest of them and won't be too expensive. As far as 2B goes, sign Luis Castillo via free agency. Then you trade Crede while you still have him under contractual control for some bullpen help. Re-sign Buerhle to a fair 4 year deal. Re-sign Erstad to play LF. And let Sweeney, Owens and BA battle for that final centerfield spot in spring training. That is my perfect offseason: My 2008 WHite Sox: Ichiru RF Castillo 2B Thome DH Konerko 1B Pierzynski C Fields 3B Eckstien SS Sweeney, Owens, Anderson CF Erstad LF

Im going to the game tonite. And after watching that Yankee series i really have no motivation or excitement to go. At least I get to see Carlos back! Im going to cheer him louder than any of our players thats for damn sure.

This is honestly a blessing in disguise. Crede's a great hitter but he's obviously been in pain since August of last year. Why he didn't have the surgery? Who knows.... Fields will impact the team imediatley IMO.

Saying that KW is not going to trade his veterans for prospects, and saying that KW seems to be not giving up on the 2007 season just yet, I would definitley go after a guy like Weathers as Airscott said or even Isringhausen from St. Louis. The Cards completely suck and are out of it and Isring is having another good year for them and he is heading into free agency. He would be a great setup man for Jenks. Our outfield situation still bugs the hell out of me. As much as I love Owens out there, a veteran player who can hit for average would be a great asset. Some names that come to mind are Adam Dunn and Aaron Rowand (I know i know...) Personally I would much rather get younger and trade guys like Contreras and Crede for prospects and let Fields and Gonzales get a chance to develope for next year. But KW will not go that route. So that is why i even brought up Aaron Rowand.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 06:22 PM) None of this has addressed anything.... So our 'revamped' bullpen now consists of Day, Prinz, Bukvich, Thorton, Logan and Jenks?!? Wow this isn't too good. I guess anything is better than Aardsma and MacDougal at this point. And what about our offense? Ozzie even said it himself, we are all concentrating on the crappy bullpen, what about the crappy hitting? Or is KW just going to 'WAIT' for them catch fire kind of like how he 'WAITED' for the starting pitching to catch fire last year. Umm i understand sometimes you need patience in this game, but sometimes patience can lead to missing the playoffs or people getting fired.

Wow this team just finds ways to lose... Bullpen is horrible, no clutch hitting, the hitting in general is horrible (ESP vs Relievers) and this team is just boring to watch. No excitement whatssoever. Somebody let me know when changes are finally made.

QUOTE(AirScott @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 06:06 PM) Recent history is on our side. Konerko's deal expired after 2005 but we re-signed him. From all indications, he won't be re-signed until after the season, if he even is. Obviously if he's going to be leaving you want to get something for him, but it doesn't always work out that way. And other circumstances come into play come the trading deadline (likeliness Buehrle will re-sign, how hard are we contending, what are the offers, etc.). good analysis. why would buerhle want to stay on a team that gets much younger? Unless the team gets younger but also signs some veterans to get a nice mixed blend. Like if the Sox go out and sign Castillo and Rowand to go along w/ Fields, Sweeney and Owens, that would be a pretty good looking team.

Argh this whole thing was much easier back in 2002-2004 when all we needed was starting pitching and maybe alittle pen help. Now this team needs a LOT of help. Many arms in the pen and 2 OF spots. Those are much harder to aquire than starint pitching IMO. That is why we just get younger and let the kids develop thats just the point where this organization is headed. I mean it could be worse, look at that mess in New York.

With Erstad going down, the time is now to bring up both Sweeney and Owens. And when we are 14 games out of it come the ASB trade Dye and Crede for top of the line prospects and then bring up Anderson and Fields. If were going to be out of the race for the whole 2nd half of the season, i would much rather watch a young outfield of Anderson RF, Owens CF, and Sweeney LF. And Fields play 3B the rest of the year. Chances are ALL 3 won't succeed at the big league level (my guess would be Anderson) So if thats the case going into 2008, then you bring back Rowand via free agency and have and outfield of Sweeney, Rowand and Owens. One other trade KW should make this season should be to trade Contreras and open up a spot for Gio Gonzales or to plug Massett into the starting rotation. Why trade Contreras instead of Buerhle? Well i would still re-sign Buerhle even if we do go younger. This should be KW's goal for 2007- Get as many top prospects as you can for Dye, Crede and Contreras. Let the kids (Fields, Sweeney, Owens and Anderson develop) 2007 offseason- 1) Re-sign Buerhle to a 4 year 54$ million dollar contract. 2)Sign Aaron Rowand to a 2 year 11$ million dollar contract 3) Sign Luis Castillo to play 2B and to replace Gooch as he walks via free agency 4) Sign 2 'Reliable' veteran relievers for the pen. 5) Let Masset and Gio battle it out for the final spot in the rotation. Your younger and hungrier Chicago White Sox Owens RF Castillo 2B Thome DH Konerko 1B Pierzynski C Fields 3B Rowand CF Uribe SS Sweeney LF Rotation: Buerhle, Garland, Vazquez, Danks, Massett or Gio Pen: Jenks (CL), Thorton, MacDougle, (3 free agent veterans) Okay i got bored sorry!

Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Reed for Freddy Garcia. I have to admit KW was on a roll between 2003-2005 in getting bargains for top of the line pitchers.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ May 30, 2007 -> 09:17 PM) If the Sox can stay within spitting distance...and they currently are...one never knows what could happen. 2005 Indians nearly catching the Sox. 2006 Twins catching the Tigers. Never ever count out the A's. I'm not saying, I'm just saying. I can almost gauruntee by June 30th we will still be .500 team and by then 1 or 2 of the top 3 teams in this division will have ran away with it. I hope they can some how prove me wrong but i just dont see it happening w/ this ballclub.

This team is just not good. Its average at best and their .500 record shows just how average they are. That just may cut it in the NL Central but sure is hell not the AL Central. Can anyone on this forum really say that the White Sox are better than the Twins, Indians and Tigers? Lets start looking to the future sooner than later... I want to start seeing Sweeney, Fields, Hell even Anderson, Owens, Gio Gonzales, more of Massett etc... Lets face it we will NOT catch the Tigers or Indians with this team. Lets start playing the kids and figure out just who of them can play. Pretty much it can determine what KW needs to address in this offseason. Why should we waist games by playing these veterans with no fire in them? As far im concerned i would just trade Iguchi and Dye right now and get as much as you can for them. The only free agent i would keep is Buerhle.

QUOTE(JDsDirtySox @ May 30, 2007 -> 01:45 AM) We are 50 games into the season and we are an average ball club. Something has to be done. Fire Greg Walker, Make a Desperate Deal, or start the sale... we have to get some sort of action out of our ballclub. And this is not an overreaction from these first two games in Minny... we are just average. I am tired of waiting for our bats to warm up, Vazquez to dominate, the pen to protect a lead, Joe Crede to actually look like half the player he was last year, Pods to get healthy, etc. We are just an average ball club. If we hold out hope too long for this season... it could cost us for many seasons to come. Please do something Kenny. 1. I would definitley fire Walker, i was against early on in the year when everyone was struggling at the same time.. well its been about a month later and not much has changed. 2. Desperate Deal- Im just not sure KW can make an imediate deal to improve this years team dramatically. Like fathom said, the time to act was in the offseason, but the 'inflated market' and KW's stubborness kept the Sox from signing an impact type player. What possition can be filled to improve this teams offense? What we need is a true leadoff LF. And i wanted Carl Crawford BAD in the offseason... What will it take to get him over here now? Probably Danks and Sweeney and I highly doubt KW would trade away Danks since he's learning how to pitch at the MLB much quicker than we all anticipated, not to mention he will be a cheap pitcher in our rotation for many years to come. So if Crawford is out of the question who else can be traded for that can imediately improve this team? Not only does this team need another hitter, this team needs a couple more RELIABLE arms in the pen. Aardsma is pitching like a true Cub reliever and we already saw Sisco get sent down. Relievers usually come pretty cheap so i can see KW go after a few guys to fix that issue. 3. Blow this team up- We can still probably get some solid prospects for Dye. And if we are really out of the race come the trade deadline I wouldn't be surprised if KW traded away Contreras to a contender for some prospects. Guys like Masset and Gio Gonzalas are just waiting for there chance. Iguchi just looks lazy out there so I wouldn't be sad to see him leave at this point. 4. Which guys to keep if they do 'blow it up'?- I can see KW signing Buerhle to a new deal. Especially if Contreras and Dye are dealt to free up some cash. I expect to see a rotation of Buerhle, Garland, Vazquez, Danks and Massett next year.

Watching this team is killing me softly... there is no fire.. no hitting.. the pitching is starting to collapse... as of right now this team is going nowhere fast and i don't see it changing for the better any time soon. The Twins, Tigers and Indians just have better lineups and better teams than we do. I really don't know how KW can fix the problem this season?!? I know the year is far from over but this team has no life whats so ever and is no better than an 83-84 win team.

As long as we have Crede, THome and Pods on this team you know some point in the season they will be on the DL. Im not surprised by this. Just put him on the 15 day and bring up Fields. And is keeping Terarro up here really better than having Sweeney up here? I guess Ozzie wants a lot of playing time for Mack and Ozuna. I guess its smart to give Sweeney his ABs down in triple-A but still this kid was fun to watch.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 19, 2007 -> 08:29 PM) Yep, that same offense which sucked the entire 2nd half of last season and got another year older. I'll bet my membership on this site that he gives up more than 3 runs today. i think Javy will go 7 innings and give up 3. could this be the end of the infamous fathom?!? haha how bout sum f***ing offense!!

Vazquez will give up 3 runs today... the big question is can our freaking offense score 4?!? I hate corpseball.. .

yea...comcast sux.. wish hawk and dj were on wgn today.

Danks is getting better and better each time he goes out there. I hope he will be rested enough to go back out there on sunday.

I would much rather keep Garland over Contreras due to the age difference. And im sure KW could get some solid prospects in return for the veteran. I do see the Buerhle signing happening as well. He is like Paul Konerko. Those two guys are the leaders and faces of this franchise. Snagging Ichiru would be amazing. KW is also fascinated with A-Rod. Remember he tried to get him back in 2000... So if the Ichiru thing doesn't go down, look for KW to make a strong push at signing A-Rod. You can get him probably for about $16-18 mill/season. So if you replace Iguchi with Castillo. Ichiru with A-Rod. And Garland with Contreras. You would probably go up about $8-10 mill in payroll to put the team at about ~$110 million for 2008. C-Pierzynski - $5.5M C-Toby Hall - $1.75M 1B-Paul Konerko - $12M DH/1B-Jim Thome - ~$7M 2B-Luis Castillo - $6M SS-Juan Uribe - $5M SS/2B-Alex Cintron - $2M 3B-Alex Rodriquez - $17 3B-Pablo Ozuna - $1.05M LF-Darin Erstad - $6M CF-Brian Anderson -$400K RF-Ryan Sweeney -$400K OF/Utl- $500K OF/Utl- $500K ------- ~$65.1M ------- SP-Mark Buehlre - $15M SP-Jon Garland - $11M SP-Javier Vazquez - $11.5M SP-John Danks - $400K SP-Open Competition - $400K ------- ~38.3M ------- CP-Bobby Jenks - $400K RP-Mike MacDougal - $1.95M RP-Matt Thornton - $875K RP-Matt Sisco - $400K RP-David Aardsma - $400K RP-Nick Masset - $400K ------- ~$4.425M ------- TOTAL = 107.825M 2007 = $96.4M Starting Lineup: Luis Castillo 2B Darin Erstad LF Alex Rodriguez 3B Jim Thome DH Paul Konerko 1B AJ Pierzynski C Juan Uribe SS Ryan Sweeney RF Brian Anderson CF NOW THIS TEAM WOULD BE HELLA FUN TO WATCH!! And to sweeten things up a bit how about KW pulls a rabbit out of his hat and manages to snag Ervin Santana for Joe Crede and two of our top pitching prospects. I know the Angels have been wanting Crede for years! Okay now im just getting carried away... but i do think KW will be pretty active this offseason. Go Sox!!

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 15, 2007 -> 05:27 PM) I think that the Sox would have the money to sign an impact FA without dumping Garland if, and this is a big If...Anderson, Fields, Sweeney, and 1 of the rookie pitchers could come up next year and take places. Buehrle's $+ Dye's $ + Crede's $ + Erstad's $ + Podsednik's $ together come to about $25 million next year. If you replace that with 4 guys making the league minimum, then even with the salary increases to guys like Uribe, Thome, and some of the folks in the bullpen, then the Sox still would have something on the order of $20 million left over to make a run at someone. That could be spent on a big name guy to play LF and resigning Iguchi, if that's what we wanted to do. But that all depends on our youth actually showing up. With that $20 million left over i say the Sox use $12 million/season and re-sign Buehrle. Which would leave $8million and that money can be used to sign a solid 2B like Castillo. What about our outfield situations? Well call me crazy but I would put Sweeney out in RF, Anderson out in CF and just sign Erstad to another 1 year cheap deal to play LF. And if Anderson once again sucks it up behind the plate in 2008 just trade for Rowand!

Here would be my top 3 targets. 1) Luis Castillo- A great defender and a perfect #2 hitter. I've been wanting him on the Sox for a long time. 2) Grudzy- He helped the Cubs get there in 2003 and I believe he was with the Cards in 2004 and 05 as well. He is a big reason his teams succeed and he is a big reason the Royals don't suck AS BAD. He would also be a good #2 hitter. 3) Re-sign Gooch- He is proving that he is not much of a 6 or 7 hole hitter but he can play steady defense and when he's hot in the 2 hole with a HEALTHY leadoff guy in front of him, he can get the job done with the rest of them.

I don't expect a major trade from this team this year. I think we will just be in the thick of things to not blow up the team (trading Gooch, Dye and Buerhle..maybe more) And the possitions will be filled up enough to not add to the team. Pods and Thome will be coming back which means Sweeney will be sent back down. So just like in 2006... there will be no major moves coming from KW. Is this a good or a bad thing? Only time will tell....

im not concerned... the Yankees aren't playing too hot right now..and yea the Cubs are throwing a couple of lefties out there but there bullpen has been giving up a plethora of runs lately. I say we will win 4 of 6. At least no worse than 3-3 vs the two teams.