Politte's option exercised, Everett's Declined

[GoodAsGould]

I think Pie is their best bet instead of Patterson.  i would unload patterson if I was them.

 

I dont see the cubs getting any of the top FA's, just based on some of their track records.

 

Pie is not ready to be in the majors yet if he is their starting CF they are going to be making the same mistake with him as they did with Corey Patterson.

[SoxFan1]

Pie is not ready to be in the majors yet if he is their starting CF they are going to be making the same mistake with him as they did with Corey Patterson.

You would know... :rolly

[Gene Honda Civic]

Durazo is always hurt.

 

No thanks.

Yep. Thank god we have the picture of health that is Frank Thomas.

[Guest JimH]

You cannot...I repeat, CANNOT have two players on your bench that can only DH.  One is bad enough, but two, not a chance.  Even if you only carry 11 pitchers, that leaves you with ONE backup catcher, ONE backup infielder and ONE backup outfielder and two dead weights on the bench.  Ozzie and KW will never go for it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well said, agreed.

 

To me, several of the reserves will stay, like Widger, Ozuna, and two of Blum, Harris, Gload. Timo is a goner I'd say.

 

They need a lefthanded bat that can play some OF.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm probably opening myself up for a barrage here, but what the heck. Here is my 25-man roster next year, ASSUMING WE RE-SIGN PK...

 

Starters:

C: Pierzynski

1B: Konerko

2B: Iguchi

SS: Uribe

3B: Crede

LF: Pods

CF: Rowand

RF: Dye

DH: Thomas**

 

Reserves:

Widger ©

Anderson (OF)

Harris (2B, SS, OF)

Ozuna (3B, OF)

One of Gload, Rogowski or other lefty hitter (1B, DH)**

 

Rotation:

Buerhle

Garland

Contreras

Garcia

McCarthy

 

Relievers:

Jenks

Polittle

Cotts

Vizcaino

Marte/Other left reliever if we can get one

Hernandez

 

DROPPED/TRADED IF POSSIBLE:

Everett (done)

Hermanson (preferably via trade for lefty)

Marte (same as Hermanson)

 

** = regarding 1B and DH, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd like to see Gload, Rogowski or another lefty-hitting 1B prospect (we seem to be loaded with them) given a shot at platooning with Thomas in spring training. They would also serve as the reserve 1B, and their playing time would be dictated by Thomas' health and performance.

 

If Thomas is an absolute no-play in 2006, then we may want to consider finding a lefty-hitting DH, preferably one who can play 1B, somewhere on the market.

 

Let the flogging begin...

[Buehrle>Wood]

I swear to God, if Widger isn't back next year...

[bighurt2719]

no suprise to me. got to tip my hat to carl though. he was as important to our championship as a lot of other guys on the team. he should retire and go out on top maybe.

[qwerty]

I do not care if the entire offense was right handed as long as they can hit right handers well. Left handers are useless if they cannot hit right handed pitching well. Everyone says we have a need for left handed hitters... but in reality we need hitters that can hit righties... bottom line. We were one of the worst in the league in that aspect.

[RockRaines]

hmmmm, Maybe hermy would be decent trade bait.

[Buehrle>Wood]

hmmmm, Maybe hermy would be decent trade bait.

I was thinking the opposite. With still obvious lingering back probelms, me thinks his trade value is much less than his actual value.

[Chisoxfn]

Yep. Thank god we have the picture of health that is Frank Thomas.

You won't hear me ask for either of them. The last thing I want the Sox to do is have a hole at DH like they did this year. I'll pass on a defending champ having a hole at DH when they will have the financial resources to plug it.

 

Other holes will probably open up as the off-season/season progresses and quite frankly DH shouldn't be one of them. Find a hitter like Giles, resign Konerko, move Duque and maybe Marte and add another reliever (to replace Marte if he's moved).

 

The only moves you'll see are potential moves on the bench with guys like Timo, Widger, Gload, etc.

[Balta1701]

I was thinking the opposite. With still obvious lingering back probelms, me thinks his trade value is much less than his actual value.

I said this earlier in this thread...right now, Hermanson's back means his trade value is basically zero, despite how great his season was this year.

 

However, every single year, teams come out and discover their relief pitching has fallen apart. Think Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves this year. Those teams rapidly become willing to overpay for relief pitching, since finding 1 or 2 guys could save their season.

 

If Hermanson comes out with a healthy and solid April/May...then he's a very very valuable piece that can be dealt for good value. In the offseason...there's no reason to deal him.

 

I actually think that in many cases, you'll get more value out of a reliever trading him in season than you will during the offseason, for this reason. Going into last season, the Yankees had no idea Stanton would fall apart, the Red Sox didn't have a clue that Embree and Foulke couldn't replicate their previous seasons, and the Bravos thought they had something in temrs of a closer. Now this isn't an iron-clad rule (see the Braves trade last winter), but I think it's a good one.

[DBAHO]

Yep. Thank god we have the picture of health that is Frank Thomas.

Considering that Durazo in his 3 years too has played 154 games, 142 games and 41 this season, compared to Thomas over the last 3 years of 153, 74, 34, calling Durazo injury prone compared to Frank Thomas is a bit rich.

 

And not's forget Durazo's 2004 .321/.396/.523 splits in Oakland now either (crushing righties BTW).

[SSH2005]

I like Frank.  However as long as we get a Frank who isnt going to bat 215 and try to hit every single pitch into the stands.  He is dangerously close to a major milestone that could lock him in the hall of fame.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I heard Frank say in an interview that he was swinging for homeruns because running the bases was too painful for him. If his foot is healing fine I would resign him to a cheap contract ($3.5 million buyout plus a cheap base salary with incentives). What other #3 hitter can we get on the cheap that can hit like Frank? We aren't getting Giles so people should just forget about that pipe dream. Frank is worth the health risk in my opinion. If he gets injured again, work Brian Anderson and Ross Gload into the lineup.

[Dick Allen]

KW's other dilema is he has to find a spot for Brian Anderson to play. He more than likely isn't going or want to send him back to Charlotte, that would be counterproductive, and he won't want him wasting away on the bench. I really think Rowand could be the odd man out here. I really think the Sox need some LH hitting, that's why I mentioned Giles. Maybe Griffey would be revisited. If Everett and Thomas were gone, you could have room for Griffey or Giles and Konerko with the OFs rotating playing DH.

[SSH2005]

You won't hear me ask for either of them.  The last thing I want the Sox to do is have a hole at DH like they did this year.  I'll pass on a defending champ having a hole at DH when they will have the financial resources to plug it. 

 

Other holes will probably open up as the off-season/season progresses and quite frankly DH shouldn't be one of them.  Find a hitter like Giles, resign Konerko, move Duque and maybe Marte and add another reliever (to replace Marte if he's moved).

 

The only moves you'll see are potential moves on the bench with guys like Timo, Widger, Gload, etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Resigning Konerko will be tough enough. Why are people talking about signing both Konerko and Giles? Konerko and Giles would be a combined $25 million more payroll a year, if not more. Deep down, we all know it isn't going to happen so why bother discussing it? If we want a good lefty #3 hitter we will have to trade for one that doesn't make too much money (Lyle Overbay, for example). We will have to use guys like Rowand, Marte, El Duque, and prospects as trade bait.

Edited November 1, 2005 by SSH2005

[GoodAsGould]

You would know... :rolly 

 

Dont worry im looking into other prospects I like to put in my sig.... but im leaving Pie in my avatar since he doesnt have the cubs jersey on

[RME JICO]

What is the possibility of Dye and Anderson splitting time between RF and DH?

[Rowand44]

What is the possibility of Dye and Anderson splitting time between RF and DH?

Not very good.

[Balta1701]

What is the possibility of Dye and Anderson splitting time between RF and DH?

I would say it's possible if we wind up losing Thomas and we can't find anyone else to DH. You might even find the name Borchard thrown in there if that is the case, depending on whether or not he can hit above .100 next spring.

 

But, this would probably be the worst case scenario...it assumes we are simply unable to do anything about the DH spot this winter. It also means that KW will likely trade for Carl Everett in June.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

A bit OT.. what is Furcal's status..?

Furcal would be a great pickup. He could play SS, move Uribe to 2B, and let Iguchi DH.

 

A lineup of Pods, Furcal, Iguchi, Konerko, Dye, Pierzynski, Rowand, Crede & Uribe would be a nice balance of speed and pop, and the defense would be even better than 2005. Add a full season of BMac as the fifth starter and.....WOW!

[chitownsportsfan]

Furcal, you have got to be kidding me. Why would we want to move Uribe to 2nd and Tad to dh? A healthy Frank likely puts up a higher ops than Iguchi, easily. Furthermore, Uribe's VORP next season will probably be about 1/2 to 1/3 of Furcal's (it was almost 3 times Uribe's this season) , furcal doesn't get on base often enough for the contracit he is going to sign, whereas Uribe is a cheap contract, average hitter with a little speed and possibly the best defensive shortstop in the league--which VORP does not factor in to its equations. He's under 27 to boot. Likely to improve on all his career number in the upcoming seasons. If we could get Furcal for 8 million, wich makes him a bit more than twice as expensive as Uribe, then I would say go for it. But I think he's likely to get more than that, maybe 10 or 11 million, which is almost 3 times Uribe's salary. If Furcal 3 times the player? I doubt it.

 

I don't see how we can afford to sign Furcal, especially when shortop and 2nd base are not positions of weakness for the team.

 

And all this sabremetric crap doesn't even acount for how much it could possibly screw team chemistry to move the whole infield around for a player coming in with a huge contract from free agency.

 

NO way should Kenny pursue Furcal, unless JR suddenly desides a 110+ million dollar payroll is realistic for the next 3 years.

Edited November 1, 2005 by chitownsportsfan

[South Side Fireworks Man]

A "healthy Frank" no longer exists.

 

Your point about possibly screwing up team chemistry is well taken, though.

[GoodAsGould]

A "healthy Frank" no longer exists.

 

Your point about possibly screwing up team chemistry is well taken, though.

 

If all works out Frank will be 100% going into next year..... he was a ? this season anyways and everyone knew that.... now he should be ready to go for spring training.

[fathom]

If all works out Frank will be 100% going into next year..... he was a ? this season anyways and everyone knew that.... now he should be ready to go for spring training.

 

He's never going to be 100 pct again. At best, he'll be able to play 5 times a week.