Bridgeport_Joe

Hate to say it, but anyone that would rather have Ray at $6M than the D at $500K needs to rethink their financial priorities.

Honel? Awful news about Cotts.

Phew... (Wipes brow with relief)

Only went three innings, and looked like he was pitching well. I assume it's the shoulder?

Ouch. I just checked--that's what it was. Hopefully he'll bounce back.

Please say it was a rain delay...

Ugh. I've got a bad feeling about this draft. Too many hard-to-sign players...

I agree that if a spot in the rotation opens up, it goes to Rauch. But like I said, at this point, I would not be surprised to see Cotts called up to take a spot in the pen, especially if the departing pitcher is a lefty.

Not so sure. I could easily see a situation where they deal a lefty reliever (or a starter for that matter) and Cotts gets a call-up in a "if you succeed in the pen, you get a spot in the rotation in 2004"-type situation.

Both bounced back pretty well from rough outings, eh? Cotts: 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, (gulp) 12 K's. Honel: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K's. Honel's not long for high A ball--I bet he fills Cotts's spot when Neal gets promoted. The only real question is whether Cotts goes to Charlotte or Chicago.

From what I read, the experiment to put Hummel at SS was an utter failure. The reason he's playing 3B rather than 2B is because Harris and Miles have tied up that position.

Oops, should be "That's not bad."

Tim Hummel. The guy has really slipped under the radar since his awful start last year. He's currently at .291/.351/.449. His K/BB ratio is just over 1.5, and his BB/PA ration is just under 0.10. That's not good--if the expected power increase comes as he gets older, he's a nice .800-.825 OPS player in the majors. It's mostly been at 3B, but people are always saying that 2B might be his best position. If we can slide defensively with the D at SS and Hummel at 2B, that's a pretty potent 1-2 punch from the middle infield.

Hate to say it, but there is a good chance that Maggs will be gone. They owe him $14M next year, and if he makes noises like he wants $15M/yr for 5+ years after that... No way they do that. And they'd be right. You don't sign a guy to a contract like that unless you think you have a 75%+ chance of making the playoffs with him.

...about the Sox. "This team's halfway into a rebuild, and halfway out of turning away from what has been squandered since 2000." In the context, it is suppose to be complimentary.

My point exactly--he's not some year old dominating low A ball. He is a purportedly polished college closer who is 22 or 23 (too lazy to look it up). Given his dominance at all levels of the minors, he should be just about ready to come up.

[REPLY] But you can never have enough pitching...nevermind if your system is devoid of ready made positional talent... [/REPLY] That's right, I forgot about the whole "hold the other team to less than three runs and you get an extra bonus run" rule.

Given Ring's age and performance, my guess is that the only reason he isn't on the team right now is the plethora of lefthanded relief pitching the Sox have (Marte, Wunsch, Sanders, Porzio, Munoz, even Cotts). Which is an utter failure by Kenny Williams. Let's see, you have a ton of lefthanded relievers, and it's probably pretty likely that people would be willing to overpay for a couple of them. What to do, what to do, what to do? (Hint: "Mr. Cashman, how about Nick Johnson for Marte, Gordon and Konerko?")

That's what you call that Borchard shot.

I think you're being a little pessimistic. Reed is tearing up high A ball now, and he's not young. If the Sox really wanted to fast track him, he could be ready by the All Star break next year (i.e., move him to B'ham this July, let him make Charlotte next spring). As for Webster, he's so young that they're going to want him to take some more development time, but a timeline where he's promoted to high A this summer and goes to B'ham after a month or so in 2004 isn't unrealistic.

Uh, the Sox have three of the top ten CF prospects in baseball, if you count Borchard. They need to get Reed up to AA, Webster up to high A, and bet that one of them will be the Opening Day CFer in 2005. As to this thread, I try to package Konerko and Garland to get the best young lefthanded bat possible. Throw in whatever prospects are needed, but don't touch the AA or AAA pitching prospects--they're going to be needed very soon. Maybe: 1.) The Obvious: Garland, Konerko and Wunsch for J.D. Drew. 2.) The Reach: Garland, Konerko, Marte and Almonte to New York for Nick Johnson. 3.) The Settle: Garland, Wunsch, Almonte and Aaron Miles to Toronto for Frank Cattalanato.

I understand how most people will feel that way. But it is becoming painfully obvious that the Sox need another bat, and it needs to be lefthanded. To get the quality player they need, Garland and Konerko probably won't do it. I'd hate to give up Damaso, but like I said, I think the extra runs generated by a good hitter will make up for the runs costed by replacing Marte with Porzio or Ring or Cotts.

I'll even go one farther. If the Sox could get a quality lefthanded bat that they obviously need, I'd be willing to talk about Marte. He's one of the better lefty relievers in the AL to be sure, but that saves what, a run a week over a replacement caliber reliever? Does anyone think Ring wouldn't be within a run or two a week of Marte? And does anyone doubt that replacing Konerko's or the CF's bat with a quality lefthanded bat wouldn't be worth more than that same run or two a week? The Yankees need relief pitching. Think they'd do Garland, Konerko, and Marte for Nick Johnson?

Cashman's not stupid. He won't give up talent unless he gets Marte. As for Johnson, I could see a situation where Cashman would do Marte, Konerko and a prospect for Nick. Johnson has health issues.

What would we have to give up to get Nick Johnson? How about Marte and Konerko?