WCSox

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 08:31 AM) KW's Soxfest get togethers are covered by print and on air media. I would imagine his comments in those settings reach far more than the amount of people listening to Ricciardi's radio show before anything goes national, or international. When they say something newsworthy, it will reach the masses. I don't buy how its OK to say something at Soxfest, when the media is present, but not OK to say something on a radio show. You're missing the point about Frank constantly whining about his contract and not playing on the field (due to a myriad of injuries) on Kenny's team. Frank did financial damage to the Sox in the latter third of his career. What did Adam Dunn ever do to Ricciardi's team?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 08:27 AM) I simply don't see how this could be possible. What if the Jays were desperate to dump his salary (which they may be), and just said "fine, here, take him." You're telling me we were ready to assume a $60 million commitment just to block the Tigers? Not buying it. The Tigers are most likely not interested in picking up a $60 million contract. Last I heard, they were pretty desperate to shed payroll. Even if Kenny did do this to cock-block the Tigers, wouldn't Ricciardi be able to put Rios back on waivers 30 days from Tuesday? What would keep Rios away from the Tigers then?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 08:18 AM) KW gets into arguments with fans at Soxfest, he called Frank Thomas an idiot when Frank was with the A's. I know KW is an egomaniac, but would that also make him a loose cannon? If fans ask stupid questions or are blasting you with bad info, why can't you fire back. Frank Thomas is an idiot, and what Ricciardi said about Dunn isn't a unique JP Ricciardi thought. Both have big egos, but loose cannons, I dissagree. Frank had a long history of whining about his contract while playing under Kenny, and the Sox also paid Frank a ton of money to sit on his couch at home with injuries. What did Adam Dunn do to Ricciardi to deserve those comments?

QUOTE (BlackBetsy @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 07:37 AM) No. A PTBNL cannot be on the 40-man roster. That would make sense.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 03:55 AM) I think Thome is brought back next year. Nothing anything anybody has said has suggested it, but putting in a waiver claim for Rios brings out a lot of writing between the lines. At the very least, it says that Dye isn't getting a multi-year extension. And I'm perfectly fine with that. Dude's going to be 36 in January and can't play RF that well anymore. With this likely being his last chance for an eight-figure contract, I imagine that he'll want a three-year deal. No thanks. Thome is older and riskier, but he'll be a heck of a lot cheaper. Keeping that left-handed bat in the lineup would also be nice. QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 05:14 AM) Probably not on the 40 man, either. The Sox web site lists Fields on the 40-man. If that means that he'd have to go through waivers, he won't make it through. Can they get around with with designating him as a PTBNL? QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 06:35 AM) The only reason there are any odds at all is because this is JP Ricciardi. Any GM in his right mind, under these particular circumstances, would take advantage of this unique opportunity and get rid of Rios. It is not going to be easy trying to deal a kid in the offseason who is coming off a down year, a rapidly increasing salary, and is rumored to be a malcontent - all in a poor economy. My guess is if he waits until the offseason, the best JP is going to do is receive some marginal prospects, all while paying $20 million of that salary just to move him. Agreed. Ricciardi is an arrogant ass, and completely f'ed up by not dealing Halladay at the deadline. He'll probably never get the value that he could've gotten for Halladay last Friday. Maybe he learned his lesson and will be more willing to deal Rios. But I wouldn't count on it. I have a feeling that Ricciardi will have to eat about $20 million of Rios' deal whether he trades him this weekend or in December. That's just too much money for a guy with the tools to be great, but has yet to be more than really good.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 08:12 PM) JP Riccardi is going to lose his job at the end of this season no matter what, so KW should feel free to take the 'its my way or the highway' approach without sacrificing much reputation. Agreed. Contrary to what some here believe, Kenny doesn't owe the Jays anything from the "Shouldergate" deal. First of all, Ricciardi isn't Gord Ash. Secondly, Toronto's own doctors inspected Sirotka's medical records and knew that there was a problem with his shoulder (and even spoke to Sirotka about it), but Ash elected to not make the deal conditional. Thirdly, Ash conveniently never told Kenny that Wells was getting cortisone injections in his shoulder before his starts during the 2000 season. Ash and Ricciardi are liars and poor decision makers, and both have gotten what they deserve. I like this claim. Kenny knows that Ricciardi has his nuts in a vice with Wells' unmovable contract and his foolish decision to not deal Halladay at the deadline. If Kenny can get him to eat $20 million of Rios' contract and offer a few average prospects package in return, I'd be all for this. If Kenny has to pay full price for Rios, I think that's too much.

No Cy Young for Mark this year.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 05:06 PM) I agree mostly and I also want to say that I was very impressed with Torres as it appears he has the mental capacity to get the most out of what he has. But I do disagree with our lack of other options: we've got Whisler, Egbert, Harrell, Freddy, Count, and Colon for 5th starter duties even if you discount Hudson. And while none of those names can be expected to come in and light the world on fire right now, they're all in Torres' league IMO. I think Harrell has the stuff but control and pitch count will be an issue; Freddy doesn't need a whole lot given his repertoire of offspeed stuff; Colon and Count can at least keep us in fairly high-scoring affairs for 5 innings; Egbert and Whisler might be serviceable too for a few innings here and there. I wouldn't actually say Torres is necessarily a better bet to have success his next time out than any of those guys so in that respect I'd have no problem with it. Each one of those guys could come in, throw a quality start, then give up 8ER in 2IP the next time out and I wouldn't be surprised. Freddy is done, Colon is on the outs with the organization, and Contreras hasn't been able to find the plate for a while. And neither of those three will be in the Sox organization next year. I agree that Torres isn't that much better than Whisler, Egert, or Harrell, but that also underscores how thin our minor league pitching is at this point. Kenny has traded away A LOT of young pitching talent over the past year and a half (Richard, Poreda, Gio, DLS), and I'm not sure that further depleting that position for two months of a surgically-repaired question mark is a good idea. I agree that the Sox could potentially benefit from a guy like Wagner, but I'd rather give up a mediocre position player and eat more of Wagner's salary.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 04:30 PM) Torres' confidence was impressive but the stuff wasn't there to reliably pitch in this ballpark, and even though he had a great outing for us, Lance Broadway has done the same. Torres got away with a lot of good pitches to hit and if he had been on the mound for another team and it was instead the Sox who got shut down I doubt he'd get so much credit. That said, if they did want Torres it would be crazy not to deal him. After Peavy is here we have one spot for Count/Freddy/Colon/Hudson/Whisler/Egbert/Harrell/Cassel, etc. and then a couple other starts from the 5th slot until then. Losing Torres shouldn't hurt us at all. I agree that Torres left a lot of pitches up in his one outing and got lucky. That said, it speaks volumes that the only other pitching prospect that they could bring up here is Hudson, who isn't even ready yet. Torres may not be all that, but we have very few minor league options right now with Richard and Poreda gone. I don't deal him

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 12:45 PM) If Wagner is healthy, and if the Mets would pay his whole salary + buyout next year, I would give them Carlos Torres and/or Wes Whisler. They need pitching and can have these guys for a healthy Wagner. Given that Torres may be our #5 next year and that we're definitely going to need him this month (and possibly longer) this season, there's no way that I trade him two months of a guy who just had surgery on his pitching arm.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 11:51 AM) Yeah I saw that. For what he'd cost, I'm thinking more along the lines of Link/DRod/Kuhn/Ely/Anthony Carter/Egbert, etc. Give them a MR, UT, 5th starter prospect or two. He shouldn't cost a higher ceiling guy. If he's looking really good maybe he'd cost us Harrell/Retherford/Shirek, etc. If the Mets wanted to play hardball (kind of) the Sox could offer to pay about $1M this year, split the buyout ($500K), and give them Shelby and a lesser name. That's better than nothing. I don't know if I'd give up Shelby, but a lesser guy and the financial agreement that you cited about might be worth it. But I'd REALLY need to see evidence that Wagner can still pitch before pulling the trigger.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 11:41 AM) Wagner is actually an ideal target for a few reasons: #1 Waivers: If a good NL lefty gets put on waivers he's not even getting to the AL, much less the Sox. If a good AL lefty hits waivers he's probably not getting to the Sox either, especially if we're leading the division at the time. Wagner should safely clear because if anyone claims him the Mets will dump his entire contract. Once he clears, the Mets are allowed to negotiate with any team in baseball. #2 Cost: He's not going to bring a bevy in prospects. He hasn't pitched since last year and is not going to qualify for compensation. He'll be bought out after the season. No one is going to give up great cost for him. #3 Waivers + Cost: Any team that acquires him will have to refrain from dealing a player on the 40-man because that player would also have to clear waivers, either that or the player will have to be made a PTNBL and the deal will have to be completed on Sept. 1. So it is probably going to cost non-roster prospects, and no one is going to give up anything all that great to get him. Also I disagree on the Mets having little incentive to eat his salary. If they can save a bit of money in the process and also get a prospect or two in return, that is better than nothing. They are currently 11th in the Wild Card standings and 9 games back, also they're 4th in their division and 11 games back there. The Mets have no reason to keep him for this season and no reason to keep him beyond that point as they have both KRod and Putz. After thinking about it more, I deleted the post that you cited and wrote a new one. See above. Agreed that it will "only" cost non-roster prospects, but I'm not sure that the Sox want to deal those either. It would have to be a pretty mediocre prospect, IMO.

After thinking about this, it may have some merit. The key would be getting the Mets to cover at least half of his remaining salary, and who knows if they'd be willing to do it. They may be more interested in a prospect, which I don't think would be in our best interest. It'd also be a real gamble for us, since we don't know if the guy can still pitch effectively. Keep in mind that he'd also have to clear waivers, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins cock-blocked us.

This would be a good time for Mark to bounce back.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 08:52 AM) I think he's suffering from the added workload he had last season. IIRC, Danks pitched something like 40 more innings than he'd ever thrown before. I'm surprised that he's at a 1.10 ERA+ and a 1.34 WHIP after that.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Aug 6, 2009 -> 08:39 AM) I was positive like HIV

Since acquiring Peavy, the Sox have gone 4-1 against two division leaders and are averaging 8 runs per game. That's quite a contrast to the last two weeks of July. Sweeps are deceptively difficult, but the pitching matchup is pretty favorable today.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 04:27 PM) I actually agree with Jimbo. Sure Nix has made 4 errors at a position he hasn't played until this year right? Nix will be better than Ramirez defensively. Maybe, but he hasn't shown it yet. He also has yet to show that he can hit at the major league level. No doubt that Alexei is having a disappointing season and I'm not opposed to listening to offers for him, but we're going to have to do a lot better than Jayson Nix at SS.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 04:10 PM) Has anyone thought that Jermaine might not agree to DH? Had he indicated this? It would be kind of silly for him not to. He'd be limiting his options on the FA market and subjecting himself to injury.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 03:57 PM) So, my bottom line would be to strongly consider keeping both. I'd also be open to finding younger replacements -- we'll have to soon enough regardless -- but only if the offense does not suffer. Given the many holes already on this team (CF, LF, bullpen), the addition of Peavy's contract, the pay raises (arbitration) due to a few players (Danks, Floyd, Quentin), and the economy, I'm not sure if it's financially feasible to keep both of them around for another year. Kenny's probably going to be looking to slash payroll this winter, rather than add to it.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 02:46 PM) According to Cowley, Beckham is staying in the two hole when Ramirez returns. Good, now if only Jenks can get healthy...

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:41 AM) With needing a 5th starter only twice before Peavy hopefully will be pitching, I wouldn't be against using Carrasco again. He's looked decent during his start and long relief yesterday. I'm not opposed to this, but he might be really limited (4-5 innings, max) by a lack of arm conditioning. The Sox would probably need to use their bullpen heavily. I'm not opposed to using Hudson for a spot start (or two, if he's successful in the first outing). He's probably not ready yet, but with Poreda and Richard gone, I'm not sure what the other options are.

The confounding thing about Jose is that when his command is there, he's very effective and a much better option than anything else at our disposal. He's just a complete crap-shoot.

It might be worth bringing up Hudson for use in long relief if Jose craps his pants again. Of course, that means that somebody has to go down, which may or may not be a problem.

The mojo is building...