Balta1701

It's also entirely possible that by 2009, that $13 million could look like a bargain too...for a guy wanting to pick up his 4th ring with us. God I want Konerko back now. It won't be Ortiz and Ramirez, but it'll be a damn good second place.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 09:30 PM) What makes you think the Tribe didn't want him. They had offered a package centered around Coco Crisp. Well, at least they still have their coco crisp cereal. (Singing)...can't get enough of that coco crisp...

QUOTE(hi8is @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 09:33 PM) thinking of that, now i have a reason to go to dodger games =D Caltech always has a Dodger night that I've never gone to...if they have one against the Phils...I'm there. And I'll make sure to try to sneak down by the visitors dugout during BP.

QUOTE(whitesoxin' @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 09:07 PM) Aaron Rowand is owed $10 million this year and $12 million in 2007. I cannot see where in the world you get those numbers. As far as I know ARow will be paid $3.25 million next season after earning $2 million last season.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 08:24 PM) Hell I think they should have Aaron Rowand in and honored when the Phillies are in town to play the Cubs. I'd do whatever I could cause Rowand is one of the key kogs of last year. In 2 or 3 years I'd have zero problem bringing him back (when he's a free agent). If I'm ever in a stadium at the same time as Aaron Rowand...all my sign will say will be "Thanks Aaron". And I will of course be in full Sox attire.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:48 PM) Some guy named Kong That is why I voted "other." I can't point at anyone else in baseball I want now. Other than Pujols of course...but well, ya know...he ain't all that available.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:40 PM) I just remember the entire media saying that we overpaid. Instead, Olivo is not even on the Mariners anymore, Reed looks like the weakest hitting center fielder in baseball, and Michael Morse got busted for using steroids. Dude, you forgot the most important thing. "And Freddy Garcia will soon be wearing a ring."

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:43 PM) I for one think that BA is perfect. During the playoffs he looked like Rowand's personal assistant,they were always together. Immediately after ARow said "No way", BA, standing right next to ARow, followed it up with "Oh my God." ARow then finished the thought with..."No...No Way"...and then Podsednik's ball landed in the seats.

QUOTE(Antonio Osuna @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:34 PM) Their bullpen is no longer pathetic. Bullet Bob was very good for Cleveland. I'm rather angry that we did not sign him, but I don't think he would have agreed to play here again. Their bullpen is no longer pathetic on paper. But one thing we've learned watching teams the last few years is that the performance of pitchers, especially in the bullpen, can vary wildly from year to year (think Red Sox and Yankees in 2005...suddenly reliable guys like Embree, Stanton, Quantrill couldn't get anybody out to save their lives.) I look at this and think that the Cubs just spent $12 million a year on something like 200 innings, and I just have to wonder if it's a wise investment.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:34 PM) It just smells too fishy right now to not think Pierre is a main target. Ozzie wants a new 2 hitter with speed, Ozzie is familiar with Pierre, and we just traded our CF. Who knows... Personally I just despise the idea of trading for another outfielder when outfield is by far our deepest position in the minor leagues. We have youth there. Youth is cheap. Let's use it.

QUOTE(SnB @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:17 PM) keith, i know your upset about giving up both prospects, but you gotta think in the win now attitude KW still has. Adding Thome and hopefully keeping konerko, we have an absolute stud of a lineup next year and I honestly can't see us not being WS favorites. Yes, i know stealing these kids from the farm is going to hurt in the future, but I gotta agree with the lets win it now...AGAIN attitude KW is going for. Also...if we hold together a Thome/Konerko heart of the order along with a Buehrle/Garland/BMac rotation and Jenks at the back of the bullpen for the next 3 years...no matter what other pieces we stick in, we're still going to be there at the end of the season if people stay healthy. That's how Boston and NY have done it. They put enough pieces together such that they're guaranteed to be in the race at the end of each year, and then they just try to find small pieces to push them over the top.

QUOTE(Y2HH @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:14 PM) I've said it before I'll say it again. How many of these ELITE prospects ever become ANYTHING in the majors? We lost two pitchers...not TWO future STAR starters...two pitchers who have prooven absolutly NOTHING. NOTHING. Anderson > Rowand (whos diminshed power numbers frightened me a bit, even though I loved Rowand) Thome >>>>>>>>>> Everett (nothing more needs to be said) You know, I agree with you on most of that...but let's just note 1 thing. "Hey, remember when you asked me what the definition of irony was and I said AIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

QUOTE(knightni @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:11 PM) Willie Harris plays CF. Peanut butter, jelly, and a baseball bat.

By the way...if I hear one person complain at all next year about how we can't afford to just stand pat and that we need to make sure we add something to the team...or if anyone mentions the 2002-2003 Angels and how they stood pat with their team...they're going to suffer.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 06:11 PM) It's Haigwood and Gio, with Haigwood being the PTBNL. Haigwood is on the 40 man roster. Tossing him into the trade right away means that Philly would have less flexibility with the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Once that mess is all straigtened out, Haigwood/Gio will be made official. Well, in that case...let's hope that Thome's healthy and that KW can work his magic on the starting rotation next year too. You gotta give it up to get it.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 05:51 PM) I am going to be peeveish, but why do people refer to Thome as "injury prone" or anything of that ilk? In the last 11 years he has played less than 120 game ONCE (last year) and less than 140 games twice. Don't you have to be injured more than once in 10 years or so to be considered injury prone? I know his back gave him problems last year, but the guy basically never missed anytime in his career because of injury until 2005. I'm just guessing here...but I'm somewhat wondering if there weren't a few people calling Thome risky, injury prone, etc., just because they wanted to either drive his price down once it became obvious that the Phillies had to deal someone or because they wanted to drive other teams out of the market. You have to admit he's not a bad candidate to be called "Injury prone"...he's 35 and he just sat out a season with 2 injuries. But then again, that's why we have the DH slot.

I think this has been expected for a while now, but it's worth noting now that it's happened. The Cubs have signed Bobby Howry to a 3 year deal worth $12 million. This weakens Cleveland's bullpen by a fair amount, and makes it more imperative that they sign Ryan or Wickman, since their closing options have now become much more limited. This continues the revamping of the Cubs bullpen with former White Sox pitchers. The Cubs dumped 3 years, $11 million on Scott Eyre a few days ago, and they also resigned Ryan Dempster to an extension a few weeks ago. The Cubs have put roughly $12 million a year or so into their bullpen just this month, although I still can't find terms for Dempster's deal anywhere.

Craig Landis will not turn against the White Sox because one of his guys got traded. It's his job to represent his guy...Konerko...and right now the Sox are in an excellent position to give PK every single thing he could ask for other than that 6 year deal.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2005 @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 04:58 PM) That's the only way it's a good trade. Well, it's a good trade anyway if we lose Paulie as long as Thome stays healthy, since we'll have a big bat to plug into the center of our lineup...as long as someone like Gload takes over the day to day chores at 1b so Thome doesn't get hurt.

QUOTE(WinninUgly @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 05:08 PM) The Sox will be looking for someone to get on base more (better OBP). Jones does not fit that mold. We found someone to let us get on base today when we added a perennial 100+ walk guy. He's either hitting before Konerko or before Dye, which means that those 2 guys are suddenly going to have a lot more RBI chances.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 05:09 PM) Well, now we have a place for Ken Griffey to play.

QUOTE(WinninUgly @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 05:06 PM) He had elbow surgery and it is not like he is pitching or playing outfield. He will be the DH, and maybe play a little 1B. There is a lot less concern. That's the real key...coming off of elbow surgery caused by throwing the ball...I don't want him throwing the ball any more than he has to. We need PK back. And man will that combo ever be deadly.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 04:57 PM) The key is I want the Sox to find a good reliever to replace Marte (the pen was huge for the Sox last year and was one of the key reasons they did what they did). I can also see quite a few guys in that Sox pen having worse years than 05 (which definately means I want another guy or two in there). Remember this about the bullpen...we're already starting off at what I think is a better slot than we did last year...we've got Jenks starting off in the closer role as opposed to Takatsu. We have Hermanson and Politte both as potential setup men, so if one of them has a down year, we have the other one. We also have a better long-relief man in El Duque, who hopefully can give us 3 innings during a long game while we wait for Thome to go yard - and I consider Duque, even with his high WHIP and all, to be an upgrade over Viz if Duque can stay healthy for 70 innings. Then of course, there's Cotts and Marte. If Cotts were to take a step back...we'd need Marte to take a step forwards again. Beats me. If Marte is traded...Scott Eyre has already signed with the Cubs, so we would have a gap as that 2nd lefty.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 23, 2005 -> 04:48 PM) Boy was I off. Well I think the overall numbers I gave were fairly accurate (although it was a ballpark figure off the top of my head). The overall theme is quite accurate. If we put Anderson in CF and Thome at DH...compared to Everett and Rowand...we spend $400k on Anderson, and $7 mil or so on Thome. Everett last year made $4 mil, and Rowand was slated to make $3.25 mil. So cutting Everett and trading Rowand basically makes this deal almost a wash in terms of how much it'll cost us to put the team on the field. That leaves us, of course, with Konerko's $8 million, plus Thomas's $4.5 million (after the buyout). With all those things combined...we can put the same team on the field, with BA in Center, Thome at DH, and Konerko at 1b for $12.5 million a year without hardly any increase in payroll beyond whatever Everett's buyout cost us. That said...since we're expecting salary to go up along with attendence...we have the money now to sign guys like Garland, AJ, Crede, and Maybe even Contreras to a few new deals.

If Anderson tanks, I let him play anyway. Our offense will not hang next year on Brian Anderson's performance in center field. That's the beauty of the trade today - we don't need Brian Anderson to carry this team with the bat, we only need him to be solid with the glove and occasionally wander in behind Podsednik when Scott loses the ball in the lights. If Anderson tanks, let him play...we did it with Crede, and eventually things started to click.