fathom

Yeah, but Beane also had 3 starters that he could count on to keep him in each game that they played. We have two, and even they aren't exactly dominating pitchers on a consistent basis.

Am I the only one that remembered Grilli struggling to get out of the first inning in nearly every start of his last year? He showed no control whatsoever.

First, I don't think we'll add A.J. Pierz. Rather, the Dodgers will sign him now they have a lot of money to spend. I couldn't disagree more with you that we have the best bullpen in the division. The Twins bullpen is still a hell of a lot better than the Sox. They have a better closer (Nathan), better set-up men (Romero and Rincon) and better long relievers (Crain and Balfour). Let's not forget the young guys that Cleveland has in their lineup that will only get better. Adding A. Boone will help their team, and there's no way their bullpen is as bad as it was at the beginning of the season last year. Again, this is how I feel if things stay the way they are right now. If KW can get another starting pitcher, my confidence in this team will grow.

If the season started with the team we have right now, we would be competing with the Tigers for 3rd place in the division. It's that simple. Remember how bad we were last year without Frank and Maggs? Well, it will be even worse without Carlos. I expect Dye and Podsednik to be good, but they aren't difference makers like Lee is. Will someone please explain to me why KW wasn't fired after the debacles of the last two years? He's the laughingstock of general managers in baseball.

I was nervous when KW said in every press conference after the Carlos trade that we might use the money for a June/July trade. Now, I'm scared to death that will be their excuse when they don't pick up another pitcher.

I know someone that is very, very good friends with A.J., and he tells me how A.J. isn't as much of an ass as people make him out to be, but he's not exactly the nicest guy in the world. The story I heard was that he was real nice up until he made the majors, and then he changed into another person. However, my source told me that A.J. is still a solid guy though.

I have a sick feeling right now that KW is not going to spend the money that was saved in the Carlos trade. Rather, a thought that has bothered me is that the Sox were over budget before the trade, and the move was made to get back within budget. The Sox would never come out and say they needed to trim payroll from last year, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, especially after KW said on the radio the other day that they Sox had lost money the last two years.

If I had to choose between landing A.J. for like 2 yrs/8 mil, or adding Randy Johnson while having to trade Garland, Sweeney, Marte, and another prospect, I would much rather have A.J. The main reason being is that the A.J. move would fill a hole, while the RJ move would not and deplete the frachise in the future.

Exactly! If the guys say they have an issue with him, then he won't be here, plain and simple. However, at least it sounds like we're going to give ourselves a chance at adding someone who could fill a gigantic hole on this team. I know I'd be a lot more confident with a bottom of the order that include A.J. over Ben Davis.

If Sox signed A.J., I'm sure we'd then sign Burke to be his backup. Then, Burke can continue to be Buehle's personal catcher, something that worked well last year. Burke's right handed hitting would help a lot vs guys like C.C. and Santana.

I think it's great news if the Sox are going to talk with A.J. about his attitude, etc. This at least means they're interested, and I'm sure A.J. will likely tell them what they want to hear. I would be just as happy to get A.J. as I would a starting pitcher because A.J. plays about 80 pct of the games, while a starting pitcher would participate in no more than about 20 pct of the games. He'd be a significant upgrade over anything we've had at catcher in a long, long time.

Well, if we're not going to give our pitchers a lot of run support, I'd rather have a guy like Clement who can shut down the opposition than someone like Schoeneweis or Grilli who you are happy with if they give up 4 runs in 6 innings.

Schoeneweis with 12 wins as a starter? I thought that Schoeneweis proved last year that he's not reliable enough to be a starter. He's effective vs lefty hitters but when you start a game, the other team can stack their lineups with righties. I would love to see KW non-tender Schoeneweis.

I don't want anything to do with RJ or Vazquez now. We're not in the position to create more holes than filling them with any trade we make.

You can't tell me that we couldn't use a package of Garland, Marte, and some high prospect (not Sweeney, Anderson, or McCarthy) to try and trade for Tim Hudson. Huson is much less of a risk than RJ, and he's likely to be here longer than RJ.

If the Sox don't bring A.J. in, I don't think it's cause of his attitude. Rather, it's cause of the money that would be involved in bringing him in. Recent acquisitions didnt exactly come in with the greatest of reputations either...Garcia, Everett, R. Alomar, Ben Davis.

If we do sign him at about 10 mil a year, I have a feeling that someone like Marte or even possibly PK should get their bags packed and be on the lookout for a trade. We would be like 5 mil over budget already, and would still need like 5 million more to fill out the rest of our roster.

Oh lord, this is making this too confusing for my psyche. I would love Clement on the Sox, but 10 mil a year over 3 for him is insane. Considering he has no experience pitching in the AL, I would rather the Sox now sign Lowe for like 7 mil a year if they could get him for that much. Almost makes you wish we went balls out like this for Pavano and just offered him 4/48.

At least if he's not going to choose the White Sox, he's going to down it sooner rather than later so KW can pursue other pitchers.

If this was all it took to get Ginter, I would have liked to see KW give up Adkins in the trade to get Ginter also. I'm really concerned about our 2b position, especially against lhp.

8 mil is too high for Lowe, but if you want to sign a respectable pitcher like Clement, Odalis, or Lowe, it's going to end up costing you about 24 mil over 3 years....if not more for Clement. I honestly have a very hard time seeing KW spend this much money on a pitcher. He's fooling himself if he thinks he can get one for 5-6 mil a yr.

Schoeneweis wants to start in the majors, I don't think he'd agree to arbitration if he knows that they want him as a reliever. In today's market, he stands to make more money as a crappy starter than a solid reliever. Also, I thought that Ozzie hated Schoeneweis last year, and that Schoeneweis had some injury problems.

I disagree that Vizcaino can come in and replace Marte in the role of lefty hitter stopper. Look at some of the better lefty hitters in our division. Guys like Hafner, J. Jones (if he's still there), and Joe Mauer hit significantly better against rhp than they do lhp. Yes, Vizcaino can be tough vs lefties, but Marte is one of the best 3 lefty relievers in baseball.

I didn't say that the Carlos trade created more holes for the Sox. It just infuriated me that the particular trade didnt help the Sox out by obtaining a middle infielder, catcher, or starting pitcher. Now, I know the money saved could go to a starting pitcher...but I'll believe that when it happens. Also, there's quite a big downgrade in talent from Marte to Cotts or Schoeneweis. Even in his down year last year, Marte was still lights out against lefties. Another thought I have about RJ is that it makes a lot more sense for the Yanks to get him than the Sox cause the Yanks are basically one stud pitcher away from being the favorite to win the WS. Rather, the Sox need RJ to even have a solid shot at winning the division.

Hidalgo is a lot younger than Everett, he has the potential to have a monsterous season, and the difference in their defensive abilities is night and day. Don't forget the fact that we have no clue what type of shape Everett is in, and that he's very injury prone.