GreatScott82

I truly believe Pods will be in the running for comeback player of the year in '07. And we all know how our offense is when Pods ignites it. I believe our lineup is still one of the most dangerous in the league...so how the hell can we not be a contender? Pods, Gooch, Thome, Pauly, Dye, Crede, AJ, Anderson, Uribe is still one hell of a lineup. And still the most dangerous 3-4-5 in baseball. Our bullpen has improved, at least on paper with Jenks, Thorton, Macdougal, Sisco, Masset and Aardsma. And we still have 4 of the best pitchers in baseball with Buerhle, Garland, Contreras and Vazquez. How can we not be a contender? Does this team have question marks? Hell yeah, but what team doesnt? Like i said before the X-factors will be: 1) Scott Podsednick having a great season (60+ SBs and a solid OBP). 2) Brian Anderson breaks out of his cacoon and has a respectable year defensively and offensivley (.280, 25 SBs, 20 HRs, 75 RBIs). 3) Gavin Floyd, will he be what KW and Coop think they thought he was? Or will he struggle and open up a 5th starter competition AKA that infamous BLACK HOLE!? Luckily we have probably the best left handed pitching prospect in baseball in Danks to replace him if necessary.

QUOTE(RibbieRubarb @ Jan 19, 2007 -> 02:44 PM) For every one "Joe Crede" there are ten "Scott Ruffcorns" I dont know...they were pretty patient with not only Crede, but Rowand and Garland as well. I guess its pretty much a 50-50 chance Anderson will make it in this league. IMO Anderson will be one of the X-factors in 2007..if he breaks out, this team can be really good. The other important X-factor will be that 5th starting spot, will Floyd come through? If not is Danks, Gio, or Haegar ready? 2007 should be interesting none the less.

Its okay i dont like being predicted to go all the way or to finish first anyways. In 2005 we were predicted to finish 4th by most critics... I think the main thing that draws most critics away is our 5th starter question mark... but who knows Danks, Gio or Floyd may have a Verlander type season. The central will be toughest division in baseball once again! Thats the only thing i know for sure.

Yep i was born into it thank goodness! My father was a Sox fan and his father was a Sox fan as he was born and raised on the southside.

The Sox have contractual control of Crede until after the 2008 season. That being said i think this will be Crede's last season for the Sox. I think they will continue to groom Fields at 3b in triple-a for another year, im just not buying that LF experiment thing. That being said i think 2007 will be the last legitmate oppurtunity at getting to the playoffs with this core of players (Crede, Dye, Iguchi, Uribe, Pods etc...) With all the young arms KW aqcuired this offseason he is obviously looking more toward future than any other year he has been the GM. I'm fine with that as i believe we have a very talented farm system now. Watching what Minnesota has done with their young players and keeping a talented young pitching staff and bullpen proves it is very much possible to compete within your own system. They have lost many players over the years due to free agency but they continue to just plug there own and keep on winning. Am i worried about that 5th starter spot? Yea alittle bit, but if a Floyd doesn't work out, than you have Danks to plug in there, and if they still aren't ready, than by the allstar break im possitive KW can find a rent-a-pitcher if we are still in the hunt. I expect Garland to keep getting better, I expect Buerhle to have an awesome contract year, I expect Contreras to get healthy and dominate like he did for about 12 months straight from 2005 and into 2006, and i also expect Vazquez to finally have his breakout season. As long as we have these 4 guys winning and a 5th starter who can possibly win 12-14 games i think we will get into the playoffs. I am sure as hell going to appreciate the 2007 white sox because in 2008 i expect a lot of the youth on the starting roster: 2008 starting lineup (not in batting order): Owens LF, Anderson CF, Sweeney RF, Fields 3B, Uribe SS, 2B?, Konerko 1B, Pierzynski C, Thome DH

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 13, 2007 -> 02:40 AM) The way I recall it, it was Buehrle who could have pitched against the Yankees on Normal rest that day due to an off day, but Manuel went with Cotts anyway. One I gotta throw in as incredibly dumb; throwing Loaiza out in game 1 against the Twins in a key series in 2003 when Loaiza was sick as hell. Cotts would have been a better option that day. Yea that 2003 team was rolling and heading for the playoffs until Manual put in Cotts. That team could have done some damage in the postseason that year with Buerhle having a great second half, Colon catching fire and Loaiza having a career year. Oh well we ended up getting Contreras for Loaiza and we all know how that worked out for us

Throw Ervin Santana in there and i'll take it! haha this is not happening.

Are you guys okay with out bullpen right now? I love the bottom 3 with Jenks, Macdougal and Thorton. However, Aardsma hasn't proven too much, Sisco still needs to figure out Major League hitters AND Massett is extremely unproven. I would like KW do go out and find a veteran reliever just for security reasons. Do i like the fact that these 6 guys have powered arms? Hell yeah! But that doesn't mean they can't be hit.

aahh yes..every once in awhile we hear a name from that 2000 AL Central Champion 'kids can play' team. That was a fun season..hell i've been a Sox fan my whole life but that season got me addicted to White Sox baseball. And i've been addicted ever since. I hope Parque can find a team and move his way up back to the majors...

Im pretty sure Randy Johnson has a no trade clause. And he also said back in 2005 offseason that he wouldn't pitch on the southside. Well thank you for that Randy, after all we did win the world series that year!! Screw Randy Johnson!!

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 29, 2006 -> 07:58 PM) Some time in the New Year I'm going to put together a little essay for everyone on 'Player Value' just so I don't have to read such things anymore. wow i cant wait for that!!

We can probably get Baldelli for Broadway and Haegar. TB wants pitching and with all the moves KW made we have enough to spare. Like most of you on here I would keep Anderson as a 4th OF as there will likely be a great chance that Baldelli gets hurt or Pods sucks ass again. KW often did this with Rowand, replacing him and making him that 4th OFer. I like Baldelli, he is that Grinder type that KW and Ozzie obsess about, not only is he a great defender, but he is also a solid hitter and he would round out our lineup very well. Go for it K-dub

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Dec 28, 2006 -> 06:46 AM) Does anyone else think that Mulder could turn out like Dye if he's willing to accept a contract below market value? You never know... if he would take a 1 year $5million contract with a 2nd year team option, i would do it in a heart beat. It never hurts to have a ton of pitching..he can be the el-duque of 2005 and floyd, danks, gio or haegar can be the new mccarthy in case he needs to some time off to heal.

i have always been a mulder fan. his injury is a concern. however, he is definitley worth a risk at looking at. i doubt kw will go the route of another veteran though. he stock piled the farm system with pitching and im almost certain he wants them all to battle out to earn that 5th spot in spring training. I'm guessing it will be between Haegar, Floyd and Danks for that final spot. It will most likely be Floyds job to lose as he has some major league experience (even though it wasn't that succesful early on) But you never know... KW might have a few more moves up his sleeve and Mulder might be one of them... Mulder did grow up a Sox fan, he even went to disco demolition nite. Not that it really matters at all.

BMac will definitley be an allstar if not this year, then next year. Its tough to see him go, however i read nothing but good things about Danks and he is also a Lefty which makes it nicer. (Probably to replace Buerhle if he leaves next year) My favorite BMac moment was when he spot started for El-duque in 2005 vs the Cubs and shut them down!!

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 10:24 PM) I just don't understand why you do this trade. B-Mac is only 23, has had plenty of Major League seasoning, and isanincredible starting pitcher. exactly if we could have gotten Danks for Anderson why didn't we just do that instead? Its much easier to find OFs than solid pitching. Also, why not trade a guy like Vazquez for young pitching and save money in the process while KEEPING BMac. There were sooo many other ways to work at this, this was completely unnessessary. He obviously wants to make room for someone, either it being Gio, Floyd, Haegar, Broadway or Danks.... All is i know is that our rotation has 3 solid starters in Buerhle, Garland and Contreras a very IFFY starter in Vazquez, and a big ? at the 5th spot!!!! We had 6 legitimate starters going into 2007, and now there is a ? at the #5 spot? Something is wrong with this picture. And one more thing, Sisco better not even be considered as the 5th starter, put him in the bullpen. I would much rather see a guy like Broadway, Gonzales or Danks take his bumps down there and learning how to pitch at the ML level kind of like how Garland did.

Could this be the beginning link to an even bigger deal?!? I thought for sure we could get a guy like Crawford for McCarthy, but maybe he is stacking with young pitchers to help ignite trade ammunition for a team on the rebuild. I know Ozzie and KW love Dontrelle Willis. Eh who knows at this point... KW obviously has a plan to get younger and cheaper. But he also has to take into account that guys like Dye, Konerko and Thome are getting older and the time is now for them to get back to the WS.

Okay what are the odds one of the following contribute and have a successfull 2007 season with the white sox? Floyd, Gonzales, Danks, Masset or Rasner?!? KW now needs to go out there and find a 5th starter. Floyd is NOT ready yet. How about taking a risk and signing Mulder to a respectable 2 year deal?

QUOTE(AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 09:43 PM) It's a step back because you know Count is good for a DL stint or 2. Is MB going to rebound? Will Vaz every find his stuff back from his Montreal days? Will Garland even be on this team? Too many questions marks when you had a guy ready to step into the rotation with not much of a drop off. something tells me KW is just going to continue to ship away the starters. look for Vazquez to be traded to the Mets while Garland might be shipped off as well. Can't win w/o pitching and it looks like we running out of quality+ starters by the day. Gavin Floyd is now listed as our 5th starter...YAY! I hope him and his 7.29 ERA can help contribute in 2007! Don't look now Sox fans but we have once agained walked into the BLACK HOLE also known as the 5th starter spot.

i thought we traded Garcia to make room for McCarthy?!?! WTF is this?!?!?!?! Record breaking attendance to rebuilding the pitching staff?!?! f*** THIS!

I would even consider slotting BMac into that 4th spot to start the season and continue to have Vazquez to pitch against the opposing 4th or 5th starters. We all have to remember also that Javy ended the year strong and didn't get the run support he needed to win. I think in his last 5 or 6 outtings he pitched very well but got limited run support. But that was the story of the 2006 White Sox, when something was going great, something else would go extremely bad to counter the great. The fact of the matter is, the team to beat in the Central has to be the defending AL CHamps: Detroit. With them getting Sheffield, and with there starting pitching they will be scary. Lets also not forget Cleveland's up and coming team, or how can we count out the Minnesota Pirahnas? Even with Radke's retirement and Liriano's season ending injury, they will have enough depth in the farm to cpmpete for the division. Lets not forget that they also have an MVP in Morneau a CY Young in Santana and a batting champion in Muaur. I really don't like to predict, but i do know one thing for certain, the AL Central is by far the best in baseball. It very well could be a 4 team race all season long.

i like it! good move, i like his passion for coming here. now get us one more reliever and we are in good shape. i guess KW was right when he said he was just going to tweek this team. so i expect no flashy trades or anything crazy to happen, this team as is can contend for the title. KW obviously believes Anderson can turn it around as well as Pods and the starting rotation, and i believe they can also.

I wonder if KW is done with the pen?!? With Jenks, Thorton, Macdougal, Sisco, Aardsma and Floyd being there, I wonder if has something else up his sleave? I think Floyd really should spend 1 more season down in triple-A fixing up his mechanics, so that leaves one more spot open. Possibly Haegar, but i would like one more veteran down there.

i think a-rod is a great player. In fact one of the all-time greats. However, can we please stop these A-Rod rumors. he isnt going anywhere

We are much better off with Mark Buerhle in 2007 then we are Jones. Everyone got there wish of BMac being inserted into the rotation, no disrespect to Gavin Floyd but after last year he is much better off learning how to improve his pitching mechanics either in our bulpen or triple a to be even considered placed into the rotation. I agree with Aboz, we have a much better chance at re-signing him than A Jones. I think KW should keep the rotation as is for now as we have a legitimate shot at contending for a title. KW isn't going to do much in this offseason other than possibly aqcuire a backup catcher and maybe 1 or 2 veteran relievers. Hey Scott Showenwiess is available, maybe we can take another look at him for our pen. Thoughts?