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QUOTE(beautox @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 11:37 AM) Figgins is "teh sux" hes in the same boat and Podsednik and Pierre, this FA class and offseason has shown us that the price for the unknown(Matz) is HIGH and that the price for the known(Zito,Schmidt,Garcia,ect.) is going to be even higher, wait until the dust settles for Zito and Schmidt, KW will get what he wants for one(Pelfry & Humber) possibly two of our starters. You want to give Garcia away for a speedy utility player that had an OBP of .336 and throw in a propsect, hoping that gets the deal done. Unless the team he wants the players from are the ones which sign those FAs. Then he loses out on that player. If KW trades for the player he wants first then that team won't need to sign the FA. Why might a team do that???? To save the money. There are pros and cons to trading early. I think KW usually trades early because he has certain players targeted and wants to make sure he gets them. Like his arguements about Boras, he has a value of his players and value of the other players and will make the trade to get what he wants.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 09:55 AM) I read on many occasions how much KW loves Bedard. Or remember last offseason how Baltamore wanted Jose Contreras and Uribe for Tejada?!? I wonder if those talks have regained any momentum..... I expect a big impact very soon as Turkey Day is quickly approaching... Didn't KW aqcuire Thome friday, the day after Turkey day last year? KW knows pitching is the road to winning. If he's talking with Baltimore, Bedard is invovled.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 09:40 AM) Probably. I'm just saying it brings some sort of absurd and ridiculous comic value to my heart. I enjoy it a great deal, but at the same time, it's totally out of this world. I think what all the wild rumors show is that KW is talking to everyone about any of his pitchers and will then pick out the deal he thinks is best. I wouldn't doubt if all of these conversation have taken place but on an exploratory basis. And I agree that we will see a variation of one of these soon.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 07:58 PM) Jesus, talk about a lateral move. They're practically clones of one another - Latin ballplayers who are good defensively and show little plate discipline. Uribe has a higher slugging percentage and more RBI's yet lower average/OBP. If we're intent on upgrading, atleast make it a legitimate upgrade. This is an everyday player we're talking about, now a bullpen arm such as Neal Cotts. The only way it makes sense is if KW has a deal working and that team wants Uribe as part of it. Say one of our starters and Uribe. KW would not want to get stuck without a good fielding shortstop.

QUOTE(R.Sweeney @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 07:22 PM) I see what your saying ,I guess I should have worded it differently .If these guys are highly regarded prospects why would you trade them ?I understand that Texass wants to win for 07 but Garland cant pitch for them every day either . Maybe because like some people on this board they want the proven player and don't want to risk it with prospect.

How much money is Bonds paying this guy to keep his trap shut? This is the third time he is going to jail and it could be for a year. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2664964

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 05:46 PM) I think we should trade him to the Cubs, they might want to slot him into a starting pitchers slot. Maybe we can get David Aardsma and Carlos Vasquez for him? is that all??? that would be a terrible deal for a hard throwing lefty with just one bad year last year. We can get much more than that!!!

QUOTE(CardsJimEdmonds15 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 05:41 PM) Cardinals re-sign IF-OF Spiezio to two-year deal November 16, 2006 ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - The St. Louis Cardinals were not about to let their most versatile player get away. Scott Spiezio, a switch hitter who played five different positions last season, signed a two-year contract with the defending World Series champions on Thursday. Financial terms of the deal, which includes a club option for 2009, were not disclosed. In the postseason, Spiezio added six RBI, including a game-tying two-run triple in Game Two of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. "You hear the term winning player and that's what Scott is," Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. "Scott showed once again why he has been tabbed with such a label. Scott's leadership, versatility and production in the clutch are such strong qualities." [More in URL] Good stuff Good article but *cough* HGH *cough*

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 04:49 PM) Can MLBTraderumors.com please be banned? That website is just ridiculous. Yea, a deal is going to be struck in the first few days... Thought this was interesting: "1) He's one of the top five or 10 pitchers in the world. 2) He's only 26 and has many years ahead of him. 3) We have no idea how much of that $51.11 million is real money; it's very possible that Seibu will kick some of that in towards Matsuzaka's contract to make sure a deal gets done. 4) It's an extremely unique situation, where a guy this good, this young and with this track record goes on the open market with exclusive signing rights (as opposed to just becoming a free agent). So under those circumstances, yes, he's a $100 million pitcher. Imagine if Johan Santana were posted -- the money would be very similar. People are up in arms about the dollars, but the Red Sox have more money to spend than anybody but the Yankees. To compare it to a normal free agent, that's just silly, because it's apples and oranges." *** The Red Sox are in more of a position of power than I thought. I love quotes like this. I know it's semantics but the definition of unique is one of a kind. Sothis means it's extremely one of a kind as opposed to a regular one of a kind. Sorry, I'm in the middle of grading papers and even at the graduate level I find these phrases.

As many people have pointed out he won more games than he should have by the way he pitched. If this happens it should please the people here who like to sell high. I know when I tlaked to people last year no one thought he would resign here because he wanted to go further west. Maybe he and KW had an agreement, you sign a good deal, pitch here one more year to try to get another ring and I'll trade you next year. I don't know for sure but almost everyone last year was surprised that he signed in Chicago. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!!!! Shut up KW is on a roll!!!!!! (or at least he might be)

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) My statement is more in reference to the infamous "Don't worry, Coop will fix him" clan that existed prior to last season. Cooper is a good pitching coach...but he's not a magician. i agree. I'm just saying that they aren't alone in thinking this. And I'm sure things like Cooper getting exposure on the radio with a regular spot (with 670 last year if I remember right) doesn't diminish that ego at all.

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 03:56 PM) MLB execs have a short memory, and they saw how great Hill pitched in the 2nd half last season. Also, he has the great K/9 inning ratio going which is one of those golden stats that always raises a prospect's prestige. I agree. This is one of the most significant things they look at from the stats side. Probaly only second to K/BB.

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 03:54 PM) I believe that KW and Cooper are arrogant, and they believe they can turn any pitcher around. The problem is that while they do have some magic (Thornton, Contreras, etc), we also have seen some pitchers regress and no solution was in sight (Cotts, Buehrle, etc). That can be said for about 100% of the managers/coaches in the league. In all sports for that matter but moreso in baseball. I've done it myself after biomechanical analysis of a pitcher after a lab session. That's why players with "potential" bounce from team to team because everyone knows they can fix them. I think your example of MB is premature. He has had only one bad year. Cotts on the other hand has a history of control problems they ironed out for a year. I think they got what they could for him and I'll bet there was some differences between Cooper/Staff and Cotts on either how or what to throw. that may explain the reason to dump him.

QUOTE(knightni @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 03:33 PM) http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...ex.jsp?c_id=cws You can't tell me that that arm motion there on the front page by Aardsma won't lead to future injury problems. Actually that low 3/4 is preferred by many people. It doesn't put too much stress on the shoulder or the elbow. I still personally teach more of an over the top motion but not everyone can throw the same.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 03:03 PM) Did I just hear that right on the Score, Hendry saying he might think about putting Cotts in the starting rotation?!?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! it was also said that he has 4 major league pitches.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 01:47 PM) Dude, Ozzie Guillen is still our manager. Lefties could hit .600 off of a lefty pitcher and righties could hit .050 off of him, and Ozzie would still still use that pitcher as a LOOGY. Good point. I remeber the Embree experiment "lefties kills this guys but because he throws left handed I'll pitch him any way." Let's hope last year was a learning experience for Ozzie. Afterall he still is relatively new to managing and like young players he might learn a few things.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 01:42 PM) With Jamie Walker going to the Orioles, who will be our other lefty in the pen? We're putting a lot of faith in Thornton, who is hardly a lock to pitch even as well as he did last year. Not saying Cotts was untouchable. Am saying we need another lefty in the pen not named Boone Logan. Lefties hit Aardsmaa at a .196 clip last year. Maybe he is our option against lefties?????

QUOTE(wsdp @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) He worked with Sheff in Florida - they have a relationship off the field and Leyland's a no non-sense guy... not sure where you're coming from... I've worked with him in the past as well. Leyland was with Sheffield for one year before he left. Leyland may be able to deal with him but the other players will not.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 01:22 PM) Neal better pick out a nice towel to throw in ST. This pretty much guarentees Tommy John surgery for Neal after next year. alot of people believe that with the Tom House/Rothschild/Homewood Flossmoor theory of pitching mechanics and training. i happen to be one of them who disagree with thier philosophy.

QUOTE(wsdp @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 01:12 PM) As for Sheff's "clubhouse" issues - Leyland was happy as a pig in slop... he's a large supporter of Sheff and will surely keep him in check in the clubhouse... The Tigers clubhouse was very happy go lucky last year - IRod, Mags, and the like all got along because Leyland changed the attitude... there were never any problems in their clubhouse last year. That will change this year. He doesn't have clubhouse issues he has "quality (or lack thereof) of human being issues"

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 01:01 PM) The funny thing is over on nsbb they think that Cotts is the answer to their starter woes. Wait till the wind blows out, and Mr. one pitch is gooving fastballs down the cock. But then again, the twits in the stands who follow that rubish they call a team will be good and drunk by that point. I don't know as a starter he'll throw the pitch of the game. Oh' that's right we're talking about the World's Largest Out door Beergarden here.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) What I find troubling is that we give up on a young guy after one bad season. I guess KW thinks the league figured him out and he won't/can't return to 2005 form. I tend to disagree and believe that Cotts will really be solid out of the pen again very soon. The same could be said as to why some people value him so highly after only one good season. He has always has trouble with giving up too many BB. It 2005 he didn't. Perhaps the Sox figured that was the abberation and got what they could while they could. If KW though he could get more if he waited, I'm sure he would have. The Sox must've saw something they liked with Vazquez. Remember the AA Barons probably saw a lot of him last year.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 11:52 AM) Don't like it at all, I think KW just sold low on Cotts. Do you mthink KW took the worst trade he could find? There were rumors Cotts was on the block and I'm going to believe that KW got the best deal he could. We may value Cotts higher but obviously GMs in MLB didn't. Now the big question is why they felt he needed to be traded. I suspect this will be the beginning of a group of deals.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 11:00 AM) Um, isn't the only reason why we'd actually need a new CF the hitting? As far as I could tell based on last year, the only thing we'd do defensively in CF is going to be to downgrade compared to our supposed starter. I don't think they were very many CF substantially better then BA especially the price it would be to acquire the individual who would be better defensively.

We need young pitching depth back in a trade not hitting. I know this is a topic discussed in many threads but I think that is what wins and what KW will acquire.