Crazy Sox ideas

[fathom]

Here's a plan that I thought could be possible considering the contracts we have in place:

 

- Trade Paul Konerko, D. Marte, and J. Garland to the Braves for R. Furcal, Juan Cruz, and J. Capellan.

 

- Trade Crede and Borchard to DBacks for S. Hillenbrand, Choate, and Valverde

 

- Sign Troy Glaus to about 8.5 mil a yr

 

- Extend Uribe's deal to 3 yr, 7 mil dollars and make him full time 2b.

 

- Give Ben Davis a 2 yr, 3 mil dollar deal, and have him and Burke patrol the C position.

 

- Unfortunately, Everett and his 4 mil will have to play RF.

 

- Hypothetically, a healthy Frank will DH at 8 mil a yr

 

- Trade W. Harris, Chris Young and Tracey to the Angels for S. Shields (he can be a starter)

 

- Sign Josh Fogg to one yr, 1.25 mil deal (he isnt great, but he's more reliable than our previous number 5 starters)

 

Thus, our lineup would look like this:

ss- furcal

cf- rowand

lf- lee

dh- thomas

3b- glaus

rf- everett

1b- gload/hillenbrand

2b- uribe

c- davis/burke

 

The rotation would be Garcia, Buehrle, Contreras, Shields, and Fogg

The bullpen would be Shingo, Cruz, Cotts, Choate, Adkins, and Valverde.

 

Now, I know a lot of people will say that they think that team wouldnt be a division winner. However, these deals would go a long way into restocking and improving the team for the future. Capellan would give us a future stud rhp, possibly a closer. Juan Cruz could be a dominant closer in the right system, or he could be a starter. Valverde could be the dominant closer that we've been lacking lately, and let Shingo thrive in a set-up role.

 

After the 2005 season, the Sox would have Furcal, Rowand, Glaus, and Uribe for sure. With B. Anderson, Sweeney, and Fields lurking, they could possiby fill a lot of holes (Glaus could move to 1b). Also, the staff would have young guns like Cruz, Capellan, Valverde, Cotts, McCarthy, and Diaz?

[Spiff]

I don't see us getting anything for Crede and Borchard. Every other ML team knows they stink now.

[He_Gawn]

Your Shields trade, sucks ass.

[AngelasDaddy0427]

No offense but i'm glad your not the GM.

[T R U]

No offense but i'm glad your not the GM.

[Rowand44]

I don't like that rotation at all. We need a top of the rotation guy not two bottom of the rotation guys, and the braves would never ever trade Capellan.

[fathom]

I don't like that rotation at all.  We need a top of the rotation guy not two bottom of the rotation guys, and the braves would never ever trade Capellan.

I agree we need top of the rotation guys, but I see no way that we can afford one for like 10 million dollars. We're already spending a lot of money next year, even though I know some of those guys could be traded. The problem is, each time we trade someone like Lee, Konerko, etc., we're going to create another hole that we would have to fill. And in terms of Braves not trading Capellan, they would be getting one of the best offensive 1b in MLB (something they've desired for a long time), a dominant lefty reliever (something they've lacked), and Garland, a young pitcher that Mazzone would have a field day with.

[soxman352000]

no way even one of these things happen

[fathom]

no way even one of these things happen

Honestly, has there even been anything suggested on a message board that has taken place in regards to hypothetical managing? That was just my idea at how to possibly put the Sox on track for the future, not just for next season.

[CWSOX45]

I agree changes need to be made, but I tend to disagree with most of your points.

 

Trade Paul Konerko, D. Marte, and J. Garland to the Braves for R. Furcal, Juan Cruz, and J. Capellan.

 

Sounds great for the Sox, but why would the Braves do this trade? There is no way they'll give up Jose Capellan, the guy is an absolute stud. They especially wont' give him up for Jon Garland, even though I'm sure he'd become a Cy Young winner with the Braves...

 

Trade Crede and Borchard to DBacks for S. Hillenbrand, Choate, and Valverde

 

Sure the D-Backs are rebuilding, but I think they'd be more interested in younger prospects. I can see Joe Crede going there, but Joe Borchard is worthless. I could see this deal happening if we gave them Crede, and a couple of our prized prospects. (McCarthy, Anderson, Sweeney) I'd love Jose Valverde, he'd strengthen our pen drastically.

 

Sign Troy Glaus to about 8.5 mil a yr

 

No thanks. He's another power hitter, I'm content with Lee, Konerko, and Thomas. I think we should go after Koskie, if not then try to trade with Cleveland to get Casey Blake. With the signing of Aaron Boone, the Indians will probably shop him. I know most of you are against trading within the division, but I don't think it's that big of a deal.

 

Trade W. Harris, Chris Young and Tracey to the Angels for S. Shields (he can be a starter)

 

No way do I want to trade Willie, Chris Young, and Sean Tracey to Anaheim for Scot Shields....I might only be willing to part with one of them....the key word being MIGHT.

Sign Josh Fogg to one yr, 1.25 mil deal (he isnt great, but he's more reliable than our previous number 5 starters)

No thanks..

 

There are a few guys I want the Sox to get during the off-season, most of them are not big names:

 

1. Vizquel, SS

2. Jones RF

3. Blake/Koskie 3B

4. Starting Pitcher

5. Two relievers, closer

 

This would improve our team defense and getting guys on base, I'm willing to give Willie the shot at starting the season at second base and leading-off. If he doesn't do well then hopefully Kenny will acquire a lead-off man at the trade deadline....not named Roberto Alomar.

 

1. Harris 2B

2. Vizquel SS

3. Rowand CF

4. Thomas DH

5. Lee LF

6. Konerko 1B

7. Jones RF

8. Blake/Koskie 3B

9. Davis/Burke C

 

As for our rotation, we heard that Kenny says he wants to get another solid starter, the best ones out there I can think of being Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Brad Radke and Carl Pavano.

 

If the Sox sign Brad Radke I'll be ecstatic, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

[greg775]

How about trading for Reed, Olivo and Foulke.

[fathom]

There are a few guys I want the Sox to get during the off-season, most of them are not big names:

 

1. Vizquel, SS

2. Jones RF

3. Blake/Koskie 3B

4. Starting Pitcher

I agree with you that J. Jones would be a great pickup for the Sox. The guy seems like a winner, and would bring some swagger to a very flat team. Koskie worries me cause he seems to always have little injuries and all, and is getting up there in age. Speaking of age, Vizquel would be a great pickup if he could play the way he did this year. However, he's really getting up there in age, and those type of guys can just hit the wall quickly.

I can't see the Indians trading Blake to the Sox. First of all, he might be their 2b next year. Next, Indians wouldnt trade him to a divisional foe likely. And finally, I'm not really sold on Blake. He Ks a lot, and has only had one good season. The Indians would want some young pitching from us, something we dont have alot to give up.

[whitesox61382]

No offense, but your suggestions aren't that realistic, and they really don't improve the team.

 

- It is highly unlikely that the Braves will give up either Cruz or Capellan, yet alone both in one deal.

 

- I doubt that the D-Backs will give up that much for Crede and Borchard. You have to understand that they have very little trade value at this point, which means you won't get a .300 hitting 3B, a good closer, and a decent lefty for them.

 

- I think the Sox would be much better off signing Koskie instead of Glaus. The talent difference between the 2 isn't significant, but the price is(Koskie being much cheaper).

 

- Your Uribe, Everett, Thomas, and Davis ideas are fine.

 

- The Sox are giving up way too much for Shields. I really like Shields, but he isn't worth that much(2 of the Sox top 10 prospects plus Harris).

 

- Stay away from Fogg. The guy is a junkball pitcher that got lucky his rookie year. There are much better cheap options.

 

Here are my suggestions(posted in previous threads). They are pretty realistic and improve the team drasticly.

 

- Trade Konerko to Atlanta for Furcal - I think that Atlanta might do this deal straight up. Both teams get something they want, and have decent replacements for the player traded.

 

- Trade Garland and Crede to Seattle for Winn and Meche - Seattle is rebuilding and will be looking for cheap, young, potential. Winn is one of the most underrated players in the game, and exactly what the Sox need. Meche and Garland are a wash. Both are struggling young pitchers with good stuff, and a change of scenery might do them good.

 

- Trade Lee to Baltimore for Julio and prospect - Before people complain that this isn't a fair trade, hear me out. For starters, the Sox get the quality righty reliever that they need(the FA is very weak) and a quality prospect. More importantly, they save about 5-6M, which they can use to get a pitcher like Morris. So you can look at it as a Lee for Morris, Julio, and prospect deal.

 

- Sign Morris 6M/yr - I really think he could be a bargain since he is having a so-so year. The guy has never posted an ERA above 3.76 before this season. He has given up a lot of HR's, but I think that is a fluke since he is one of the biggest groundball pitchers in the game(1.69 career groundball/flyball ratio) and has never given up more than 20 HR in a season before this year. I really think he could be the best bargain on the market.

 

- Sign Beltran 14M/yr - This might be a little hard, but the Sox are interested. He is exactly what the Sox need.

 

- Sign Koskie 4M/yr - He is a solid all-around player, and a good bargain.

 

Lineup

Furcal SS

Winn LF

Beltran CF

Thomas DH

Koskie 3B

Rowand RF

Gload 1B

Uribe 2B

Davis C

 

This lineup includes a drastic improvement from a BA, OBP, speed, and defensive perspective without losing much if any power. It also has perfect balance.

 

Rotation

Garcia RH

Buehrle LH

Morris RH

Contreras RH

Meche RH

 

This rotation is a lot better than the rotation that the Sox started with this year. Meche in the 5th hole is a lot better than the committee that they had the past 2 years.

 

Bullpen

Takatsu RH

Marte LH

Julio RH

Politte RH

Cotts LH

Diaz/Adkins/Grilli RH

 

The bullpen should be much better with Julio and a year under Cotts/Diaz/Adkins/Grilli's belt.

 

Bench

Everett OF/DH/1B

Harris 2B

Burke C

Borchard OF

Valdez SS

 

A solid bench with Everett as insurance if Thomas gets hurt again or it Gload fails at 1B. Good speed and defense with Harris, Borchard, and Valdez.

[fathom]

Good ideas, but the payroll for that team would be like 90 million. No way will JR spend that much, especially after our attendance went down this year!

[fathom]

Another thing that the Sox have to keep in mind for pitchers is the way the Cell plays now. Guys like Matt Morris would allow like 40 homers in the AL at the Cell.

[whitesox61382]

fathom, actually the lineup cost about 85M(give or take a Mil), which is still a little high, but if JR ever wanted to take a chance, than this would be a perfect lineup. The main point is that the lineup I project costs abou 85M and your projected lineup costs about 80M, but the difference in talent is significant and well worth the extra 5M. Not to nitpick, but the attendance is actually up this year by almost 1,000/per game.

 

In regards to Morris, I think you are completely wrong. You don't understand that Morris is a groundball pitcher, which makes his 33 HR the exception and not the norm. His 1.69 career groundball/flyball ratio is one of the best among active pitchers. Furthermore, he had never given up more than 20 HR in a season before this year. Lets play a little game, which of these numbers sticks out(12,13,16,20,33)? Morris is exactly the kind of pitcher that the Sox need(a groundball pitcher), and because he is having a so-so year, he could be the best bargain on the market.

[fathom]

fathom, actually the lineup cost about 85M(give or take a Mil), which is still a little high, but if JR ever wanted to take a chance, than this would be a perfect lineup. The main point is that the lineup I project costs abou 85M and your projected lineup costs about 80M, but the difference in talent is significant and well worth the extra 5M. Not to nitpick, but the attendance is actually up this year by almost 1,000/per game.

 

In regards to Morris, I think you are completely wrong. You don't understand that Morris is a groundball pitcher, which makes his 33 HR the exception and not the norm. His 1.69 career groundball/flyball ratio is one of the best among active pitchers. Furthermore, he had never given up more than 20 HR in a season before this year. Lets play a little game, which of these numbers sticks out(12,13,16,20,33)? Morris is exactly the kind of pitcher that the Sox need(a groundball pitcher), and because he is having a so-so year, he could be the best bargain on the market.

Don't get me wrong, I love the attitude of Matt Morris. However, I can't see JR spending a lot of money on a pitcher coming off the worst year of his career. Will you explain to me how attendance is up this year if we're not matching last years total? I would like more information on that. One quick thing about Morris...I've heard from numerous places that he's likely to go to the Yankees. I believe he's from the northeast, and they've wanted to get him for a while now.