BamaDoc

Hermanson 2005 2.0 million, 2006 3.0 million, 2007 3.5 million or .5 buyout so two years at 5.5 guaranteed Schowenweis 2005 2.5 million, 2006 2.75 million. total 5.25 This may be interesting to compare as the year moves forward. I'm a little surprised Schowenweis got that much guaranteed due to his elbow trouble. He is supposed to be a left handed specialist which he would have been unhappy doing here last year.

24 year old in A ball............Yawn

Right, he would have to understand that Uribe was the starting ss. I don't know why he intrigues me. If he would come with the player/mentor attitude it could be good. Maybe organizational job post playing but he would probably do that in Cincy.

QUOTE(Jake @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 08:02 PM) what benefit is there in having a PTBNL in a trade? They may have him protected on the 40 man roster when the draft occurs(aalows us to protect one more), we may have a pool to select from thus giving us time to reasses etc.

QUOTE(Chisoxmatt @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 08:07 PM) Thats not a bad idea at all... What were his splits vs. lefties last year? Im to lazy to look them up. 92 at bats .207avg .279obp small enough sample that I bet he has better career numbers.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Jan 9, 2005 -> 07:59 PM) It would be funny to have Ozzie calling him kid... If he's healthy and he can do it and come cheap sure why not... His splits vs left handed pitching were not great but that was last year. Not sure what his career vs lefties looks like.

I think Marte and Harris is too much to give up unless they send some young prospects this way.

I am not sure of many teams that are contenders needing a shortstop. I don't think Larkin could do it everyday anymore. If he is begining to see that his demand has dropped I wonder if he would accept a role including......starting at second vs lefties, spell Uribe once a week, Crede once a week(playing third vs Uribe to third)and some pinch hit opportunities. 4-5 games per week could be great for a vet. Gives us shortstop depth and he can play meaningfully on a contender. Thoughts?

If it is Marte plus someone for Castillo we add a couple million to the payroll. I would rather keep who we have and use the money on Iguchi, unless Marte has an injury concern or mid winter monitoring shows him out of shape. What about Harris and Grilli/Politte instead?

Ray was traded because we wouldn't meet his contract demands. Now when we are looking at what he is getting paid we all feel it is too much, so I guess our front office was right to begin with. Just like all my favorite pitchers that we let leave broke down during the long term contracts our front office wouldn't give. At the time I was pissed and said we wouldn't make a commitment to winning. One seriously bad contract like say Magglio at 14 million per could cripple us. Oh well, I guess it is hard to be sentimental when you have to follow a budget.

Whoever is best at working the count as Pods will need a few pitches to steal. Because of this, the two man needs to be a fastball crusher. Once the base is stolen, bunting or hitting to the right side is needed. Is Uribe pretty much a pull hitter? Rowand is decent at bunting. Willie needs to improve bunting. I think much of the spring will be spent finding out who fits where.

I like the one year offer. AJ has some questions in the clubhouse, I bet we could get him by meeting halfway. One year two million with a second year at three to three and a half million, but a 500k buyout. This way if we don't like him he is guaranteed 2.5 million and if we do we get a bit of a bargain on the first year. We could structure the second year so as to give him a million "bonus" or exercise the buyout and reduce the salary for year two by the ammount of "bonus".

I'm sorry, people don't seem to get it. My comment really was about adding Vaz added about 10 to 12 million to our payroll. Contreras made sense in terms of dollars not just talent given up. With that addition I couldn't see doing anything else.

If we try Contreras plus prospects for Vasquez, we pickup substantial payroll and a player who wants to be on the East coast. I would big time prefer Vas over Contreras but I am afraid Konerko may have to be part of the deal to make the dollars work. We also have offers to the 2B man and Pierzinski at a couple million each. I would love to add all three but I don't see management making that commitment. Come on ownership prove me wrong.

Grilli will not be in Charlotte, he is out of options! Unless every team passes on him on the waiver wire he can not be sent down. That was the gist of my post.

Okay, the concensus is that he isn't suited to relief so if the brass also thinks that way we should expect to see him moved or released.

Trade bait?

Does anyone have any idea of Grilli's ability to pitch in relief? If he can't, we could showcase him in the spring. He is out of options and can't return to the minors without clearing waivers. Assuming our starters are healthy at the end of spring, Grilli may bring the plattoon catcher or infielder we are looking for or a prospect.

I also checked the stats. Willie was .279 vs righthanders with a .366 OBP. I would take those same numbers in a heartbeat for next year if he was a platoon player. In fact, I agree with others that his stealing will improve due to comfort and Raines. If he is a good fastball hitter and an appropriate platoon partner was found, they could even man the two slot.

Sorry, I don't see him already better than Crede offensively. He would be interesting because he hits lefty with some power. Anybody know if he can field a lick? Other positions?

I thought of Reese because he has played short and is right handed. I am okay with Harris at second versus righties but maybe we get a platoon partner for lefties. I also wanted the partner to be able to sub at short to give Uribe a day off. Hence no Grudzielanek who hasn't played SS since 99 and fielded .955ish, Grudz also hit .220 vs lefties. I don't know if that is typical avg. Valdez may be better served to play everyday at AAA.

I included Garland because he made 33 starts last year with 217 innings. Average of over six innings per start which surprised me. Ozzie may get rewarded for that patience this year as Manuel used to pull Garland at the first sign of trouble. Hopefully Garland learned something?

What was he making? What is his health status? Cost to get?

First of all happy holidays to all. Ozzie appears to give his starters a long leash. Whether that is his true preference or due to a lack of confidence in the bullpen will be seen this year. Hopefully, he will also have grown as a manager as this was the first time he was responsible for the decisions. What I am getting to is that wins by pitchers will be related to starts and health issues. An earlier thread showed a number five may only make around 25 starts. What I would expect/do is give Buehrle, Garcia, and Garland the max starts around 102 total. Split the other 60 between Contreras and Hernandez as both are older. I think Hernandez will be too effective to truly be a five, but will benefit from some skips and extra rest. Hernandez may also benefit from a pitch or inning count. Both restrictions seem to be counter to Ozzie's natural tendancies. I really think Hernandez's health down the stretch may be key. Having a starter who is not afraid of the big game should be great instead of cringing every fourth and fifth day. I read somewhere that the Sox's #5 produced a 5-15 record and 9+ ERA combined. If healthy and not abused, these five will give us a chance most every game. Also starters consistantly giving innings will keep the bullpen from burning out. The continual blowout by the fifth starter affected our team/bullpen for days/season.

I would rather a veteran(Schoeneweis or Hermanson> Diaz or Grilli > Rookie) handle the few spot starts needed early. Let the youngsters get in a groove in the minors and bring them up when their rotation spot is a little more consistant. I would let them know they are getting several starts to help them relax. If this approach were taken with someone who has some major league experience like Diaz or Cotts I think they would benefit. Grilli is out of options so we have to use him or lose him!