South Side Fireworks Man

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 29, 2013 -> 04:23 PM) Negotiating. I love it.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 28, 2013 -> 11:01 AM) I know I'm probably in the minority, but I'd rather keep Peavy, and to a lesser extent Rios, rather than getting rid of them just for the sake of getting rid of them. Agreed.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 28, 2013 -> 12:30 AM) My predictions are: Peavy to Red Sox for Middlebrooks and Renaudo Would you be happy/satisfied with that deal? I'm not sure.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 27, 2013 -> 11:36 PM) I was going to tell Shack earlier you meant Cy Acosta . I'm probably one of the few here who remember him and nice reference to Terry Forster and his subsequent appearance on was it Letterman or Carson back then ? I remember Cy Acosta as well. He was a favorite of mine.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 27, 2013 -> 10:59 PM) Rockies have said Cuddyer is not available. That's good to hear. I thought I read a few days ago that he was on the market.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 27, 2013 -> 09:28 PM) Cy...my bad! I was thinking of Cyclone Anaya! There was a wrestler back in the late '60's/early '70s named Sandy Acosta. Anyway as to the Crain situation, if no team is willing to take a chance and give the Sox something halfway decent for him even though he is currently on the DL, I'd rather the Sox just keep him until the end of the year and get nothing for him rather than give him away for peanuts to a contender because they feel they have the Sox over a barrel. If a contender wants one of the better relief pitchers in baseball when healthy to make a run at the playoffs make them pay for it or let them regret it when they miss the post season for lack of one more good bullpen arm.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 27, 2013 -> 07:18 PM) Then have a nice time watching the playoffs from their TVs. Sure adding Rios might not help that much, but better than what their putting out there. No way they beat out the A's in that division. I wonder if they'd rather have someone like Cuddyer.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 26, 2013 -> 05:56 PM) Only 2 players? Unless its Webster and Cecchini, not a chance only 2 players. The story says a pitching prospect and a lesser prospect. Screw that. If that's all they can get for Peavey, just keep him.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 25, 2013 -> 05:07 PM) They also have a track record as the best in the business at pitcher health. I don't think Ventura has much of a track record.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 24, 2013 -> 04:15 PM) Teams are going to want him before he starts tomorrow, I would think. Definitely before his start on the 30th I could be wrong but I think teams would want to see him start one more time before pulling the trigger on a trade.

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Jul 24, 2013 -> 04:15 PM) That's great, but doesn't it seem like all of us are expectant fathers in a waiting room? QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 24, 2013 -> 04:16 PM) Congratulations, its a Top 25 prospect!

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 24, 2013 -> 10:11 AM) Doc and his wife just had a baby...he's probably a bit busy with that. That's great news. Congrats to Docsox and his wife!

I wish docsox would weigh in.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 23, 2013 -> 09:51 PM) Hawk mentioning the fans would understand trading a couple of guys and playing for 2015 pretty much makes it official what the plan is. Trade a few guys, sign a few guys in the offseason and play for 2014.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 06:15 PM) It's just amazing to me how much value Garza had. Hahn better get a better return for Peavy than this. You would think/hope so, but I'm afraid he won't.

How did Shingo look?

It was said all along that KW would become more involved in minor league scouting. Since potential acquisitions for players like Rios are most likely minor league prospects, there is no news here.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) The idea of a rotating DH has actually intrigued me. It allows you to play matchups better, get guys rest while keeping guys active, keeps everyone fresh in the field, and whatever other advantages you have. I do actually believe this is for real too because he was a good hitter all his life. Let Phegley, Flowers, and a lefty who can catch and play other positions (someone like Ryan Doumit, but not Ryan Doumit, because he's a terrible catcher) be the primary catchers. Then you can use 2 catchers in your lineup and still have an emergency catcher on the bench. I agree with all of this (except maybe I'd rather see someone else other than Flowers in the mix, although with three catchers a good manager could play matchups that would actually benefit Flowers). I always preferred having three catchers on the roster. It gives the manager much more flexibility as far as pinch hitting or pinch running for the catcher. I also prefer that the emergency catcher is someone who actually can play catcher, not a Pablo Ozuna or someone like that. I also like the rotating DH provided that the DHes are actually good hitters, not Mark Kotsay.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 04:21 PM) Might already have that guy in Phegley. Let's see how his defense is over the next few months, and how well he handles the pitching staff. I've heard that he wasn't supposed to be too good in those areas, but let's see. If it turns out to be the case but he shows he truly can hit major league pitching, they could use him primarily as the DH.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 01:06 PM) The alternate Earth where McCann didn't enter free agency wracked with injuries likely to drastically reduce his catching time for the rest of his career, I'm guessing. Forget McCann then. Just obtain a good catcher who can also hit, preferably left handed.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 03:04 PM) Uhh, what'd you do with Dunn Traded him.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 01:09 PM) Speaking of Rios and future OF vacancies....haha How much does everyone think Ellsbury would cost in terms of years and dollars? His OPS is in the high 700's now. I'm coming around to the conclusion that the single most important roster spot, moreso than clean-up, is DeAza making a mess of leadoff with K's, baserunning and fielding blunders...in terms of setting the tone of the entire offense. Maybe if we went back to the 2005 Scotty Pods/Iguchi playbook....of adding a consensus Top 5 leadoff man, and perhaps putting Beckham in the two hole, we'd be able to generate a lot more runs without the benefit of homers or stringing together 3 hits in a single inning together. Seems like this worked well for the Indians, adding Michael Bourn, as well. We would have to clear out Peavy, Danks and maybe Alexei to get this done, as well as DeAza, but it's not impossible. Ellsbury (CF) Beckham (2B) Morales (1B/DH) Rios (RF) Dunn (1B/DH) Viciedo (LF) Gillaspie (3B) Phegley © the 7th and 8th spots could flip ???? (SS) We could definitely compete with that line-up, if Viciedo is the hitter he showed LAST NIGHT. Obviously, the bottom 3 of the line-up is a huge issue...or could be. But not enough to kill the offense or keep it from being average. So now we have to find takers for Danks, Peavy, Crain, Ramirez and DeAza...along with Thornton, just to save some more $$$. Lindstrom, if we're offered ANYTHING decent. I'll overlook Morales' agent being Boras for a moment if we're going to spend what it takes to sign both Morales and Ellsbury. How about this instead: Ellsbury (CF) Beckham (2B) Morales (1B) Rios (RF) McCann © Phegley (DH) Viciedo (LF) Gillaspie (3B) Ramirez (SS)

If he shows he really can hit in the big leagues, I'd like to see Phegley wind up as the full time DH/third catcher next season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 10:24 AM) Phegley and Flowers will be just fine for the remainder of the season Sure, because this team is not a contender this season anyway.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 08:12 AM) Phegley has 8 passed balls in 60 games in Charlotte. Flowers has 7 passed balls in 65 games in Chicago. I'd also like to think the breaking stuff might be a bit easier to catch in the minors. You should not expect this at all. Sox need a catcher.