pktmotion

Homer Bailey Joe Blanton Bud Norris Jason Hammel Colby Lewis Jonathan Sanchez my list from most likely to least likely. I could definitely see a Quentin and Viciedo/Flowers for Homer Bailey

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 10:21 PM) You mean like when they took on $120M in Rios/Peavy contracts a couple seasons ago? Great point. but I think maybe the OP was referring to how very rarely you hear of the Sox shelling out for blue chip Free Agents; that aren't their own. It almost happened a few years back with Torii Hunter. It feels good that they landed one of the big hitters this offseason.

I just thought of something we have "Shrek" (Castro) and "Donkey"(Dunn). I wonder who Puss in boots is?

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 10:05 PM) rapport sorry Colbert has corrupted my english.

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 09:27 PM) What a night, but someone has to get traded now Buehrle or Quentin. One has to wonder if they considered Buehrle's strong report with AJ while re-signing him. Because of this I'm less inclined to believe he's the one to get traded. I have a feeling it's going to be between Quentin/Jackson/Floyd(who I can see packaged with a salary dump; i.e Teahen) a dark horse trade candidate, IMO, could be Rios; if one of the big spenders comes up short on Werth/Crawford.

Just heard the great news... Adam Dunn signs and now Paulie may re-sign also! Wow! Great to see they're going for it all this next year because it was starting to look pretty grim for a second. Somewhere Kenny Williams is giving a big middle finger to Mike Rizzo, he has Dunn and Jackson. haha.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Nov 25, 2010 -> 01:35 PM) What is Stewart's contract situation? Second, I think I may be willing to give Morel the opportunity just because he makes no money, and the Sox can still bring him along at a decent pace with Vizquel getting some time at 3B. Morel is regarded as a good defensive player so that would be an improvement over last year's defense at that position. Obviously, his hitting is the question, but the Sox could have a pretty good defensive infield . Ian Stewart is in his second year of arbitration, if I'm not mistaken. If he does end up on the South Side while shedding Teahen, KW can't make the same mistake; by signing him to an extension right away. Give him a year to prove he can handle the corner and evaluate your best options (Stewart, Morel, or *gulp Viciedo). I for one like Stewart"s prospects he's shown a pretty decent glove @ 3B and he's got good power potential. My concern is how well he plays outside of Coors field (which seems to be an argument for all Rockies players).

I wonder if Huston Street would be involved in the talks. I remember when Street was with the Athletics there was some talk of KW targeting him, even when he was with the Rockies(before signing that 3 yr extension). Two teams eyeing Oakland's Street Huston Street for Nick Swisher? Running on the assumption, KW is a persistent GM in his pursuits, it wouldn't surprise me if Street's name came up in the discussions. The money matches up as well. Gavin owed through 2013* = $21.5 M Huston owed through 2013* = $23.8 M * Both have options for 2013 Now if the package was Huston Street, Ian Stewart, and a low-level prospect like: Chris Frey(OF), Lars Davis© , or Isaiah Froneberger(LHP) for Gavin Floyd and Mark Teahen. I'd be pretty happy with that. Street could replace Jenks, Stewart could start at 3B, Morel could develop a bit more in AAA, and we'd get a savings of ~$8 M (all predicated on what Stewart commands in arbitration)

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 02:17 PM) Uneasiness? There's a meltdown of epic proportions whenever he takes the mound, at least from a great majority of fans at least on here. It's got to be closer by committee. f*** traditional roles. Thornton, Puts and Sale are the three, folks. Oz is going to have to ride the hot hand. Let Putz start out the season as the closer or whomever looks sharpest in April and go from there. But it needs to be closer by committee. There's no way in hell Putz is going to be reliable the entire season. He hit his rough stretch. Thornton had his lousy outings. Maybe Sale is the next great thing, like Soria. I don't know. If he is, I guess give it to Sale. If not CLOSER BY COMMITTEE baby and I hope Bobby goes to the NL for reasons I post before which get people so mad at me. Yes I hate when former Sox go against us on a regular basis and oft times beat us. It seems that Jenks' struggles have been wildly exaggerated. Yes its frustrating to see a closer who used to be so dominant go out and blow a save after save. But Bobby has only had 4 blown saves this year, less than he had last year (6). He notched 27 saves which was still enough to land him in the top 10 AL saves leader, he ranked 8th (above Jose Valverde). I don't want Jenks on this team next year. But he'll find work and probably success in another system. Some one will pay him because it's not a meltdown every time he steps on the mound. His struggles are magnified more than his successes because we're witness to the contextual details; i.e. his weight, confidence issues, velocity loss. Which brings me to my bigger issue of self-doubt. Self-doubt cannot exist in a ball club thats trying to win.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 01:04 PM) Jenks is worthy of 4-5 million per year, imo. The problem is at 7 or 8 mill you have problems. And unlike with Liney we are talking about a one year deal. Putz will get 4-6 mill a year too, probably, at least when you factor in his incentives. oh yeah I'm not doubting he'd get that in an open market/ or an arbitration case. But he shouldn't get that from our organization.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 12:51 PM) That is a typo right Balta? Jenks at 5M a year would work for me. That's almost Linebrink money. I think I'd be ok with Thornton (Closer), Putz (RHSU), Sale (LHSU). There's an uneasiness whenever Bobby came out the pen, that self-doubt is infectious and barring a trade(which is very unlikely) he should be non-tendered.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 10:13 AM) Brandon McCarthy saids hi, and can I have a contract? Exactly I don't think we should trade Gordon, but let's not get carried away with the "face of the franchise" discussion. He's very talented, cheap(for a while), and along with Alexei could form a very powerful defensive duo in the AL (maybe the whole league) down the line. But history should tell us that, more often than not, these guys get traded. I don't want to compare Gordon to: McCarthy, Young, Carter, Sweeney, Fields, Gio, Allen, or Hudson; because its obvious his skill set is higher than anyone of them. But, KW isn't shy on making a trade that send some of our young talent away and send some of us scratching our heads. If the right trade came along I don't doubt Gordon would get traded, but they have time. And that luxury should temper them enough to wait for the right trade.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 12:09 AM) That's a significant payroll increase. I know I'm still keeping my fingers crossed on Konerko returning although it probably won't happen

trade for Jacoby Ellsbury(Quentin+Flowers or Floyd/Jackson+filler) Sign Adam LaRoche re-Sign Konerko, Putz, Danks, Alexei Tender contracts to: (assuming they get non tendered) Russell Martin(replaces Flowers; sacrificing power/hitting for defense) Wil Ledezma( LHRP; in my opinion would benefit from a good defense behind him) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ellsbury CF Beckham 2B Rios RF Konerko 1B LaRoche DH Viciedo 3B Martin C Ramirez SS Pierre LF Bench: De Aza/4th OF, Teahen, Castro, Vizquel Danks Peavy Buehrle Jackson Floyd Marquez Linebrink Ledezma Santos Sale Putz Thornton

2011 Free Agents First basemen Garrett Atkins (31) Lance Berkman (35) - $15MM club option with a $2MM buyout Russell Branyan (35) - $5MM mutual option Jorge Cantu (29) Adam Dunn (31) - Type B Troy Glaus (34) Eric Hinske (33) Aubrey Huff (34) - Type B Nick Johnson (32) - $5.5MM mutual option with a $250K buyout Paul Konerko (35) - Type A Mark Kotsay (35) Adam LaRoche (31) - $7.5MM mutual option with a $1.5MM buyout -Type B Derrek Lee (35) - Type B Melvin Mora (39) Xavier Nady (32) Lyle Overbay (34) Carlos Pena (33) - Type B Robb Quinlan (34) Fernando Tatis (36) Mike Sweeney (37) Ty Wigginton (33) Right fielders Willie Bloomquist (33) Jermaine Dye (37) Gabe Gross (31) Jose Guillen (35) Willie Harris (33) Brad Hawpe (32) - Type B Eric Hinske (33) Andruw Jones (34) Gabe Kapler (35) Austin Kearns (31) Jason Kubel (29) - $5.25MM club option with a $350K buyout - Type A Gary Matthews Jr. (36) Xavier Nady (32) Magglio Ordonez (37) - Type A Jayson Werth (32) - Type A Randy Winn (37) Designated hitters Hank Blalock (30) Pat Burrell (34) Johnny Damon (37) - Type B Jason Giambi (40) Vladimir Guerrero (36) - $9MM mutual option with possible $1MM buyout - Type A Jose Guillen (35) Brad Hawpe (32) - Type B Jason Kubel (29) - $5.25MM club option with a $350K buyout - Type A Mark Kotsay (35) Hideki Matsui (37) - Type B David Ortiz (35) - $12.5MM club option - Type B Manny Ramirez (39) - Type A Gary Sheffield (42) Mike Sweeney (37) Jim Thome (40) Re-Sign: Konerko,Putz,Vizquiel, Castro, Jones. Bye: Kotsay, AJ, Jenks, Garcia. Explore trade for Jackson. He was dominant while he was here, which had to raise his value.(plus short-term deal, Boras ) if not then Floyd, don't trade Danks.* Explore trade for Quentin, Santos, or Thornton. Sign high end (RF or DH), low-end(RP) (completely interchangeable) my thoughts: Adam Dunn & Randy Choate *Wish we could get a mulligan on a Peavy and get Cliff Lee

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 6, 2010 -> 01:02 PM) If we make the postseason with this team, I see our payroll growing some. We're in the process of injecting quite a bit of inexpensive, impact youth that we can afford an expensive, veteran rotation. Imagine if we played this well out of the gate we'd probly be up 7-10 games on the Twins right now, thanks entirely to the pitching staff. I don't see why we can't have the big 5 next year and resign Konerko. AJ I have no clue what to do with. Would you guys give Putz the money Jenks is set to make; or at least the amount it costs to resign him? It's not a question on if we could afford the rotation, it's more a question of how the money could get used more effectively. Your 4-5 starters don't need to be lights out, since they see significantly less games. They just need to be serviceable and that doesn't cost $8M+. There'll be cheaper alternatives in FA and if they're comfortable they could fill out the rotation internally. We could use the money saved to add another bat and we'd get a good return on the starter we end up trading.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 6, 2010 -> 02:41 AM) If Jackson pitches really well, why would you trade him for someone who's not even close to a sure prospect? $8 million is not incredibly expensive for a pitcher, it was less than Javy was making...even at the time of that trade, we managed to get a decent looking haul from the Braves, although the jury's far from being out on some of the players we acquired. If Jackson pitches like he's capable of pitching, then it's always possible he's traded next year at the deadline when the leverage is the highest...but you can't trade Floyd, Danks or Jackson until you know what you have in Peavy for next season. The odds of Sale being able to make it as a starter to begin the year in April, 2011 are about 10%, obviously Torres/Harrell/Marquez aren't the solution and Garcia will be a bit too expensive and risky to keep. If he pitches well, ironically, it hurts his value a bit more. Since his agent is Boras and it becomes increasingly difficult to sign him to an extension. And speaking of contracts he's only signed through for one more year, so any team trading for him would be getting a rental. EJ netting us an Alex Gordon type player is great for us and could pay dividends down the road. I feel the Sox always get more out of other teams "great potential" prospects.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 6, 2010 -> 02:04 AM) Would you trade Danks for Votto straight up? I think I would, considering his contract (or lackthereof) Depending on how the organization views Sale, RP or SP. And if they feel Buehrle could give you a couple more productive years, then yeah I would trade Danks. I think you'd have to include a prospect as well. Danks Bros. for Votto would get it done. Remember, Votto still needs to get signed.

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Aug 5, 2010 -> 10:15 AM) i don't follow the salary stuff as closely as others but what are the odds that the opening day rotation next year is buehrle, peavy, danks, floyd, and jackson? for the purposes of this question, i will say that there are no hiccups in peavy's rehab and he's ready to roll when spring training starts next year. Slim to none. If Jackson continues to do really well we could have a valuable offseason trade chip...Or we could retain Jackson and maybe trade another starter. That's an incredibly expensive rotation and I think one of the starters will get traded. The good news is all those guys have tremendous value and could be 1-3# on any team's rotation. Floyd/Danks could bring in a huge hitter. (Votto/Hamilton/Ethier type) Buehrle/Peavy could bring in a good crop of prospects. (more cash we eat the better the package) Jackson(depending on how he ends his season) could bring in some fringe AAA talent. (Alex Gordon/Logan Morrison type). One of the starters is going to get traded: exactly who? depends on a lot of things: Can Danks get extended? Can Jackson get extended? Can Sale handle a rotation spot? They will not have the rotation eat nearly half of the payroll.

Lefties are hitting Bonderman .296 this season. I have no problem with Kotsay playing today. He's gotta see AB's to come along, and it's not like he lost the game singlehandedly. They collectively couldn't hit/score.

I don't understand why we gave the start to Torres today. We've seen him a couple of times last year and pretty much know what kind of pitcher he is. Why not give a start to Marquez or even Harrell again, someone new, so we can gauge their makeup against big league hitting. Whatever at least we won the 1st game and like someone above me said didn't have to use any key bullpen guys tonight. Excited to see Jackson tomorrow.

kinda surprised they didn't sign-and-trade. Niemi is a young goalie who just won the cup, you couldn't find a suitor? I agree we'll be fine with Turco and I hope this means Crawf gets more time between the pipes. A couple of young guys(Bickell, Skille, Beach) need to take a big step next season. I also hope Stalberg gets a shot on the 3rd or 4th line. Will be interesting to watch. At least this'll filter all the bandwagoner fans out.

I never stated that KW didn't have any interest in Rios and the move was purely a block. In fact I stated the contrary and said any block performed by any team have to consider the option of that player joining them, since it's a strong possibility. There were several reports last year, because of how quick the claim was put in, that the Sox knew Detroit had interest in Rios and acted quickly.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 1, 2010 -> 09:38 PM) So then how often does "blocking" actually occur if the team may end up getting stuck with the player they didn't even want? I think last year's waiver claim of Rios, was kind of a block against the Tigers. I read a report last year stating that, although I'd assume there would be some interest if any team were to attempt a block; considering getting stuck with said player and their contract is a possibility.

What about Raul Ibanez? He'll have $11.5M due in 2011 along with ~$4M due this year. He's hitting really well lately(1.095 OPS since the ASB). I think if he clears waivers he could be a target.