macsandz

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 10:00 PM) So who is Pierre replacing in the lineup then...Quentin? How do you replace someone that's still in the lineup? The context was RF as a power-hitting position. Pierre is replacing Pods obviously.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) Outside of the obvious guys (Peavy, Jones, Pierre, Beckham, ect), I am looking forward to seeing De Aza. I have only ever seen him from a couple clips on mlb.com, so I would love to see him live. I wonder if he has any chance to make the team, because outside of Pierre, we have no speed. No speed? What are you talking about? You might wanna look a little closer.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 06:44 PM) Basically we are going to play NL type baseball in an AL league. Never mind the fact that the AL has been kicking the living crap out of the NL and their antiquated style of baseball of the last decade or so. I can't wait to see Beckham turned into captain bunting because Ozzie wants to completely recreate the Marlins 2003 lineup. In the end we need to score more runs than the other team. Here's to our pitching staff having a record season. And for all of the people using 2005 as a comparison. 2005 was a bad offense that still had power. This team is a bad offense that is lacking power. I would put our offense 4th in our division right now. Hopefully we can have career years from all of our offensive players or this will be over quickly. Remember AJ gets a NTC some time in June due to his service time. So be prepared for quicker moves if our offense sucks. Please tell us how this team as a collective is "lacking power". Eight of the nine hitters in the Sox lineup are capable of hitting 15+ HRS. Minnesota can't claim that. Detroit can't claim that. Whenever you're ready...

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 08:50 PM) I wouldn't deal both Hudson and Flowers. I'd probably package Hudson, Jordan Danks, and two other prospects. And I realize that it'll most likely won't be enough and that AGon is basically a pipe dream unless the big spenders fail to match what I'd be willing to deal. I guess that Kenny's "boxed in" with all of those contracts for this year, but certainly not next year. PK is a FA next winter, and the Sox aren't obligated to give Jenks anything past this year. Mark's contract is a steal for a pitcher of his caliber, so Kenny could even get something in return for him if he wanted to risk the potential PR issues. Unless Peavy has more injury issues, I'm sure that Kenny could flip him if need be. Rios and Linebrink are the only guys who aren't moveable right now (and the former's status may change). Agreed about the lack of sustainability, though. I'll say this: If the Sox play .500 ball through 2011, there's going to be a firesale. I'm pretty sure that Peavy, Rios, and any other veteran who will yield a couple of decent prospects are dealt at that point. I disagree. Dye has been wildly inconsistent over the past few years and he's getting worse, not better. His lows were so bad that his presence in the lineup hurt the team for several months in '07 and '09. Jayson Nix would've been a better option than the post-ASB Dye last year. I don't see Pierre's .290-.300 slap-hitting and 40+ stolen bases to be much of a downgrade over a rapidly-eroding JD. Agreed. Pierre is a totally different player and he's better at what he does these days than Dye is. To an earlier point, Pierre isn't replacing Dye, Quentin is.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 08:40 PM) Sometimes the guy everyone likes is exactly what a team does not need. Nicely done ^. The Sox clubhouse is notorious for being lax and chill. JD personified that. It's great when you need to stay loose. Not so much when you need a win in a statement game in MIN... PK, Dye and even AJ have been so settled in the past few years when it comes to the clubhouse. That's not to say its always a bad thing, but they think they know when to roll their eyes and tune Ozzie out. I like that there is so much new blood these days. Guys with something to prove like Pierre, Rios, Jones and Teahen.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:34 PM) You know what? I'd go to JD and say "Look. I'll give you $3M to DH, since you can't play the field. Take it or leave it." Then, let him and Jones it out, and if they both suck, cut Jones, if they both hit, trade one midseason for prospects. If Jones hits and JD doesn't, DFA JD and trade for Crawford, and if JD hits and Jones doesn't...don't do anything. We know how competition for roster Can you guys please look past Dye? He's done. There's a reason he's not signed. The rest of baseball knows that guy that tortured us with a .175 BA for the 3 months we needed him most is only gonna get worse.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:34 PM) Actually, we've replaced Dye with Pierre and Fields/Nix/Getz with Teahen. The drop-off from Thome to Jones is significant, but that's the major drop-off. If Rios is halfway decent and Quentin is healthy, this offense will be at least a little better. Agreed. That said, Thome and Branyan have already signed for cheap. If Kenny overlooks Blalock as well, he'dd better have something big in store down the road. Blalock would be a terrible fit. Save the money.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:31 PM) It's not that I think we should drop 8M on Damon, I just get ill thinking of all the Kotsay ABs we're going to have to witness this year C'mon guys. If this Damon drama proved anything it's that Kenny is not gonna let the Kotsay/Jones DH experiment happen for very long.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:18 PM) Well it already did on paper, this development moves it from mediocre to bad in my opinion. I think Johnny Damon could have moved us from a low to mid 80's wins team to a mid to upper 80's wins team, which might be the difference in our division. It's really a shame. He's not worth $3M more than Abreu played for last season.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:19 PM) Not worse than last year? We've replaced the power numbers from Dye and Thome with Jones and Teahan. Yeah, Beckham will hit only 14 HRs again this season. Jones hit just 8 fewer HRs in 222 fewer at-bats than Dye last season.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) I haven't felt this bad about the team in 10+ yeras. I don't even know that it is rational. Maybe it's just because I feel like this is the Twins best team in awhile. I just don't have a good feeling. Don't sweat it. This Sox team is positioned to have a pretty good season. Step back and really look at each roster. The Sox have better pitching, defense and speed than the Twins.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 03:52 PM) It does appear dead, but as I stated before, if Damon had Boras call KW next Thursday and tell him he would take their last offer, is there any chance KW says no, he missed the deadline? Nope. Kenny would jump on that but he's not gonna have to wait that long... UPDATE: So now it's being reported (WXYT -Detroit radio) that the Tigers have given Johnny a Sunday deadline as well. Obviously DET isn't gonna bid against themselves so this is no suprise. They simply followed Kenny and protected themselves. I'm not sure this changes anything other than expedite a Tigers signing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 03:01 PM) All in Kenny's dirty plan... --- -- Again, this is Kenny saying I can't go above $6M (which is what Boras is demanding) and the $6M I have is partially deferred (which Boras won't accept) and I won't go more than one year (which Boras insists upon), so the money and the terms are both beyond what the Sox can offer. Add a deadline like Kenny has and this thing looks dead to me.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 03:41 PM) I hope the players don't have the same attitude about this team that I have. We'd be done before the season even starts. I hope we have some real breakout years. ...and all before they even report to camp. Enjoy the season.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 02:19 PM) Not surprising. Per Merkin Twitter: "Of course, A.J. made that comment with a smile, and I'm guessing he probably doesn't know the latter point to be true for certain." But, Kenny is not smiling: http://www.freep.com/article/20100220/SPOR...0015/1050/rss15 Very likely the Sox are simply not in this thing anymore.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 03:48 PM) KW playing chicken with Boras/Damon, it's very risky move. Might've just made the decision for Damn by pissing him off. He might not want to cower to KW's power play, and just say **** it, I'm going to D-town. I'd rather KW just tell them that 6 was the final offer, and keep it in house. He broke his own rule by not staying under the radar. Hopefully it works though. The offer is done and Kenny and the Sox are moving on. I just don't think this is some "strategy". I think it's real. The Sox extended themselves and did the best they could. It's not nearly enough for Damon/Boras and it ends there. Kenny isn't breaking his own rule. He knows it's over and he discussed what it was and what could have been. The Sox walked away and have a season to prepare for starting tomorrow.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 03:35 PM) KW said there is always another move to make. There was no money for Matsui or Johnson because they are strictly DH's and don't fit into the philosophy the Sox are going with this year. Damon would still have allowed them to rotate players between the DH, OF and 1B. This would not be possible with the other two. THE WHITE SOX ARE NOT GOING TO SIGN A DH ONLY PLAYER. THIS ^^^

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 06:40 PM) Has Damon called Kenny yet begging him to put the offer back on the table? It's over. Kenny played his hand and it's just not gonna top what DET can offer. Damon is not gonna suddenly reconsider. He'll get his dollars from the Tigers and that will be that.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 12:40 PM) Rosenthal was on this morning with Mully and Hanley saying he thinks the Tigers will get him just because they are offering more money. He said supposedly the Sox have made only one offer and are sticking to it so that they aren't getting played by Boras. Rosenthal couldn't have sounded more out of touch in that interview. He and his colleagues have been completely shut out of all pipelines. M&H just continued to ask away and the guy literally had no new information. It had to be embarrassing for the guy.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 01:01 AM) I'm not sure what you're missing here. I was commenting on your words to someone else: "Again, I find it ironic, then, that you want to trade away the talent that we'd have cheaply for 6 years in the future for a one or two year player we can't afford to re-sign." You're right, it doesn't have anything to do with signing or not-signing Damon. I never said that it did. Chris, how do you do it? These dudes always find you.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 01:05 AM) Who the hell is that guy? Yeah, it's random as hell but what if he actually knows something? I mean, I just can't see why he'd pop up with that kind of detail. How insane would it be if this dude broke the report before anybody else? Man, I don't know. These are some weird times...

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 11:42 PM) I still think the Sox have a shot. It seems pretty clear he doesn't WANT to go to Detroit, so it'll be hard for him to sign that deal I think, even with it being more money. OK, don't shoot the messenger and I have no idea who this dude is, he looks like a scout....but here are a few tweets: An inside source to the negotiations between the ChiSox/Boras/ Johnny Damon stated that a deal is done pending physical #mlb #whitesox about 4 hours ago from web Source stated that Damon's contract with the White Sox is complex, and a healthy chunk will be based on player performance #mlb #whitesox about 4 hours ago from web http://twitter.com/Roger26N This is a pretty random source. What he is reporting may actually add up: 1) Why there is a "delay": The Sox can't offer the most money up front, but they can offer deferment in the form of performance bonuses. I imagine there are a lot of creative milestones in the contract that would allow for a larger payday. This kind of complexity does explain why it would take time to hammer out a deal 2) Why the action just "stopped": After a brief comment from KW and a cryptic statement from the Front Office, today brought a sudden silence from all camps. I know Kenny would demand a gag order if the deal is pending finalization. Take it for what it's worth...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 09:38 PM) IMO, its not happening. I mentioned when I heard they first talked about him early in the offseason, and I heard about some action this week. All I hear now is silence, and that cant be good. You said yourself there was a lot of action yesterday. If they made a final offer why wouldn't it be quiet? Not much else to say. BTW, Cowley was on the Score a couple hours ago and said this delay is typical Boras. He loves to play the waiting game as long as he can hoping an offer increases. Cowley reiterated that a couple Sox sources indicated the team feels they made a good case and they'd be suprised if Damon didn't sign with the White Sox. Now I only post this because if anything shifted on the Sox side of things in the past 24 hours Cowley would at least know there was a change in mood. He reported the Sox are pretty confident. I think this is literally a game of chicken right now between Boras and the Sox and Detroit is on the outside looking in. That's not to say he may not sign with the Tigers, but it would be after a preferred deal with the Sox didn't happen.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 06:45 PM) So Kenny 'will talk about this on sunday'. Is that after or before he signs with Detroit? Heyman thinks it will likely be Detroit because of money. Cowley still has the sox as front funners. Mark Gonzales' source that says 'they have a good shot at getting him'. A Rosenthal source believes that a deal may be close with the Sox. Bruce Levine doesn't think its going to happen. Okay so what the hell is going on? Why wait until Sunday to talk Kenny? Is that his unofficial deadline to make a deal? Who has the most reliable sources? Here is what's going on: Yesterday the Sox made some adjustments and officially presented their best offer. As of today, nothing has changed. The Sox and Boras are in a stand-still. That is to be expected. It is absolutely the way to play this. Boras is trying to bleed them and Kenny was told by Reinsdorf that the $4.5M w/deferrals is a final offer. Last night Kenny stepped past Hahn back into the discussions and imposed a Sunday decision deadline from Damon himself. The Sox want this decided by when they start ST.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 08:48 PM) Maybe it's just me, but Levine holds about as much weight as Cowley does. He's terrible. Levine is terrible. Seriously, his "sources" are a joke. Cowley is a tool, but he called both Putz and Pierre days before they were acquired this offseason. He's got very strong intel.