fathom

Another thing that the Sox have to keep in mind for pitchers is the way the Cell plays now. Guys like Matt Morris would allow like 40 homers in the AL at the Cell.

Good ideas, but the payroll for that team would be like 90 million. No way will JR spend that much, especially after our attendance went down this year!

I agree with you that J. Jones would be a great pickup for the Sox. The guy seems like a winner, and would bring some swagger to a very flat team. Koskie worries me cause he seems to always have little injuries and all, and is getting up there in age. Speaking of age, Vizquel would be a great pickup if he could play the way he did this year. However, he's really getting up there in age, and those type of guys can just hit the wall quickly. I can't see the Indians trading Blake to the Sox. First of all, he might be their 2b next year. Next, Indians wouldnt trade him to a divisional foe likely. And finally, I'm not really sold on Blake. He Ks a lot, and has only had one good season. The Indians would want some young pitching from us, something we dont have alot to give up.

I'm 100 percent of the opinion that Everett in the outfield for the Sox next year will be a total disaster. For a manager that stresses speed and defense, Everett is the total opposite. I would absolutely love it if KW found a way for either Everett to not pick up his option, or for the team to be able to trade him for a bag of balls.

Yep, it would be nice to have top of the rotation guy. However, I really think that Pedro and Pavano are the only 2 guys that are available via FA this offseason. Odalis Perez is nowhere near an ace, and I don't think he'd come close to Buehrle's ERA in the AL in a hitters park. I can't think of any other aces that will be FA.

If we were to sign someone like Pavano, then I would agree with you. However, I see no way that he'll sign with the Sox. He has New York or Boston written all over him. The biggest concern I have is that the Sox came into the season thinking that they had their 3b and catcher of the future in Crede and Olivo. Now, we have gapping holes at each of the positions, as well as question marks in RF, SS, and 2b. I will say that it looks like we solved our CF position for the future. Thankfully McCarthy exploded, it makes up for the loss of Reed and the huge question marks about Honel and Wing.

Why is that? I think there have been some good things that have happened for our future, but I also think there are numerous bad things that have happened.

Vlad is a great player, but in terms of the future, the guy looks like he's going to have to deal with a lot of injuries. It's almost painful to watch him run some times, looks like he's running on needles. However, Vlad at the Cell would be fun to watch. As would any decent hitter it seems like.

Not only are the Twins prospects awesome, but they seem even better cause the Sox prospects come to the majors, and just flat out suck. We're going to be in a lot of trouble in the future if the Twins and Indians continue to develop players as well as they do.

Man, KW really has made some questionable personnel decisions. Does anyone think this franchise is in a better position now than it was coming into the season?

Honestly, has there even been anything suggested on a message board that has taken place in regards to hypothetical managing? That was just my idea at how to possibly put the Sox on track for the future, not just for next season.

Wow Rowand 44, we agree on something!!! Also, let me add to the other poster that I love Pujols, but I'd rather let him stay with the Cardinals so he can torment the Cubs for the next 15 years.

If you put Jeter on the Sox this year, they'd finish 5 games behind the Twins. However, if the Sox had Bonds on the team, they would likely compete for the division title. If I could choose from any of these players, I think the Sox would benefit the most from having think that Johan Santana would be the best fit. Not only is he relatively young, but he keeps getting better as a pitcher. It's getting to the point where it's an automatic win everytime he pitches. Therefore, if you can be almost 80 pct certain you have a great chance to win once every 5 games, then you give yourself the chance to put together winning streaks and prevent losing streaks. Of course, Bonds is best in MLB history. However, he is getting older, and you never know when he just might get sick of all the s***.

I agree we need top of the rotation guys, but I see no way that we can afford one for like 10 million dollars. We're already spending a lot of money next year, even though I know some of those guys could be traded. The problem is, each time we trade someone like Lee, Konerko, etc., we're going to create another hole that we would have to fill. And in terms of Braves not trading Capellan, they would be getting one of the best offensive 1b in MLB (something they've desired for a long time), a dominant lefty reliever (something they've lacked), and Garland, a young pitcher that Mazzone would have a field day with.

I think Sandy Alomar has been horribly overrated by many Sox fans and especially the Sox organization. In his four years with the team, he's never had more than 26 RBI. Considering that we also have never won the division with him behind the plate, and that we paid him a pretty decent salary his first few years, I nominate Sandy Alomar Jr. for most overrated Sox player.

There's no problem with making Sandy a coach, but please god will the Sox no longer have any Alomar playing during a game! Their combined stats this year are worse than many NL hitting pitchers.

I know it might be too late in the game, but I would love to see Cliff work on an improved offspeed pitch to help setup his heater, and vice versa. He's almost completely a fastball pitcher, and struggles if he's not on.

Here's a plan that I thought could be possible considering the contracts we have in place: - Trade Paul Konerko, D. Marte, and J. Garland to the Braves for R. Furcal, Juan Cruz, and J. Capellan. - Trade Crede and Borchard to DBacks for S. Hillenbrand, Choate, and Valverde - Sign Troy Glaus to about 8.5 mil a yr - Extend Uribe's deal to 3 yr, 7 mil dollars and make him full time 2b. - Give Ben Davis a 2 yr, 3 mil dollar deal, and have him and Burke patrol the C position. - Unfortunately, Everett and his 4 mil will have to play RF. - Hypothetically, a healthy Frank will DH at 8 mil a yr - Trade W. Harris, Chris Young and Tracey to the Angels for S. Shields (he can be a starter) - Sign Josh Fogg to one yr, 1.25 mil deal (he isnt great, but he's more reliable than our previous number 5 starters) Thus, our lineup would look like this: ss- furcal cf- rowand lf- lee dh- thomas 3b- glaus rf- everett 1b- gload/hillenbrand 2b- uribe c- davis/burke The rotation would be Garcia, Buehrle, Contreras, Shields, and Fogg The bullpen would be Shingo, Cruz, Cotts, Choate, Adkins, and Valverde. Now, I know a lot of people will say that they think that team wouldnt be a division winner. However, these deals would go a long way into restocking and improving the team for the future. Capellan would give us a future stud rhp, possibly a closer. Juan Cruz could be a dominant closer in the right system, or he could be a starter. Valverde could be the dominant closer that we've been lacking lately, and let Shingo thrive in a set-up role. After the 2005 season, the Sox would have Furcal, Rowand, Glaus, and Uribe for sure. With B. Anderson, Sweeney, and Fields lurking, they could possiby fill a lot of holes (Glaus could move to 1b). Also, the staff would have young guns like Cruz, Capellan, Valverde, Cotts, McCarthy, and Diaz?

Just say no to Matt Clement. He's so inconsistent, and he's the type of pitcher that excels in the NL because no hitting pitcher can touch his slider. Also, lefty hitters have a much better time hitting him than righties. Look at our two biggest rivals in the division, the Twins and Indians. Both these teams are lefty dominant. Clement is not a good match for the Sox.

The outfield is going to be a total mess, as will the infield, and possibly starting pitching, catcher position, and relief. Us Sox fans have to face it, this team is not in a prime position to field a division winning caliber team next year without some enormous changes to this team.

Personally, I think Uribe is a great infielder. He has an incredibly accurate arm, solid range, and good coordination. There hasn't been a Sox infielder I've been more confident in when the ball was hit to him as I've been with Sox (in the last about 10 years).

Yeah, I wonder why more teams don't brush back Sosa more considering how much the hbp messed him up afterwards.

I wish Hawk would stop making excuses for some of our players during a game. He said that the count got Grilli when it got full, and that's why J. Jones hit a homer. Well, this is the same guy that says how hard it is to hit in the majors now when you have a 3-2 count cause the pitcher can throw anything.

I'll pass on Torres for one reason. He's lost two games to the Cubs in the last 2 weeks. If you can't find a way to strike out C. Patterson, then you're not that good, IMO. As we speak, the two dicks in the Cubs booth, Chip and Stone, are ripping on Torres for being a skinnier Antonio Alfonseca.

Yes, Cooper has shown me nothing in terms of being able to improve guys. Loaiza proved that he was just a fluke. I can't believe they havent taught Cotts a new pitch yet. Why not try and teach Marte a changeup? It just seems like we're such a easy team to hit against.