KW to be on the Score

[Al Lopez's Ghost]

Supposed to be on at 12:30.

[103 mph screwball]

Supposed to be on at 12:30.

I'm sure he will say a lot of things to upset a lot of people and very little of it will be true.

[RockRaines]

Either way there should be alot of action here in the next few days.

[chunk23]

Rock, what makes you think that?

 

Unless of course by action you mean all of us complaining about the direction of the team.

[joejoesox]

Kenny also mentioned that an aspect of Lillibridge's game that caused him to struggle in years past has been identified, and the Sox organization will make the necessary adjustments to allow him to be successful at the MLB level, he's an above average defensive player that will steal around 40 bases if he plays a full year (per Kenny)

[chunk23]

Where do they even slot Lillibridge to play?

[justBLAZE]

Where do they even slot Lillibridge to play?

 

2B/SS ?

[Milkman delivers]

-Williams sorta danced around it, but basically said they tried to win another World Series with the core from the 2005 team, and while they had succses, it didn't ultimately happen, and now it's time to sorta get younger.

 

-Wants to have young players on the team, but not have them carry the load. Ease them into the game slowly.

 

-Mentioned now having the inventory to make that deadline move that he hasn't been able to make in years past because of a lack of a farm system.(I mentioned that last year, that Williams is finding out how important it is to have those pieces).

 

-Talked about not needing the "name" player to make impact (Aka name=money).

 

-Unsure about how the fan support is going to be, given the economic landscape. Says Sox need to hold up their end of the bargin, and confident the fans will show.

 

-Mentioned that Dayan this season is taking the exact figure that Swisher had last year. He looks at Swisher trade as Marquez-Nunuez-Dayan(no mention of Betemit for whatever reason)

-Somehow, they are slightly over budget right now. However, there is no pressure right now to lower that number.

 

-Asked the question if Beckham could be up here by mid season, Williams answered with "We are confident in Getz and Lillibridge at 2nd". He did however say he is a very special player, and sometimes special players force the issue.

 

Again, I really hope that's just a smokescreen. Either way, I'm starting to get worried. The winter meetings have passed, and we did nothing. We didn't even pick anyone up in the Rule V draft.

 

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Kenny said he was a little over budget as we stand right now, then brought up "creativity" again, referring to the Lee for Vizcaino and Pods deal and mentioning that it allowed them to also sign AJ and El Duque.

 

Just off the top of my head, Dye makes $11.5M next year. If the Sox could trade him for Bailey and a prospect ($500K), then sign Daniel Cabrera for $4M, Juan Rivera for $4M, Willy Taveras for $2M, and a back of the pen reliever like Luis Ayala for $1M, would you do that trade? It would essentially be Dye for Bailey, Cabrera, Rivera, Taveras, Ayala, and a prospect in a salary wash. The roster is at 37 now, so adding that many players would put us at 41, however Jose Contreras would be transferred to the DL, and if necessary Owens and/or Broadway could be cut (although I'd prefer both of them cut because they make my skin crawl).

Edited December 13, 2008 by Kenny Hates Prospects

[chunk23]

I would do that trade but that is not where I would spend the money.

[Milkman delivers]

We probably wouldn't be very good after making those moves, KHP.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

We probably wouldn't be very good after making those moves, KHP.

I'd feel a lot more confident in Bailey, Cabrera, Marquez/CR/AP battling for two spots than just Marquez and CR/AP battling for two spots. I expect slight regressions from Danks and Floyd, and it will be our SP that makes or breaks us in 2009, just like in every other season. I'd much prefer Richard as the second lefty in the pen and Poreda working on becoming a starter in Triple A alongside Marquez.

[rockren]

-Mentioned now having the inventory to make that deadline move that he hasn't been able to make in years past because of a lack of a farm system.(I mentioned that last year, that Williams is finding out how important it is to have those pieces).

 

I believe I remember you saying something similar to it being essential to having a good farm system. Once KW realizes that it'll make his job a lot easier.

 

Thanks for summing up the interview for those of us who missed it. It sounded like a good interview from KW.

 

[rockren]

I'd feel a lot more confident in Bailey, Cabrera, Marquez/CR/AP battling for two spots than just Marquez and CR/AP battling for two spots. I expect slight regressions from Danks and Floyd, and it will be our SP that makes or breaks us in 2009, just like in every other season. I'd much prefer Richard as the second lefty in the pen and Poreda working on becoming a starter in Triple A alongside Marquez.

 

I think this assessment is right on point. I disagree that Danks will regress, but you could have it either way.

[beck72]

Kenny also said he wanted to reward the sox minor league players who are 'playing the game the right way', ie, the way the sox are teaching them. He mentioned Chris Getz 1st, then Fields, Anderson, Owens. KW said "people are watching".

 

I take it to meant that the players and staff in the minors are looking to see if these position players will be given a chance to succeed. That the feeling out there is that these players have done what KW and staff have asked and want to see if they'll be given a chance to play everyday.

 

From the sounds of it, I think you can pencil in Getz and Fields in the lineup--unless they get beat out by in house options such as Lillibridge and Viceido respectively. KW talked again about Fields "playing on 1 leg" in 2008.

 

I also caught the tail end of a conversation where KW said "he could steal 40 bases and play stellar defense if he played everyday". I was scared that he was talking about Owens but he was talking about Lillibridge.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I think this assessment is right on point. I disagree that Danks will regress, but you could have it either way.

Danks I think will be affected by the workload of the previous season, and being his third full MLB season, I think Ozzie will start leaving him in games longer instead of immediately pulling him around the 100 pitch mark. This will affect his ERA, and he'll give up more hits as he adjusts more towards pitching to contact. I don't think it will be a bad thing however, it'll just be Danks continuing to learn how to pitch. The regression I see isn't necessarily related to stuff or anything like that.

 

Floyd I see regressing simply because now that the league has seen him for a year, it will make it tougher on him to get by when he can't throw his curveball for strikes. But again, I think that's also part of the learning process and this year both Danks and Floyd will see slight declines in K/9 and ERA. WHIP will remain mostly steady as H/9 increases slightly but BB/9 continue to drop for both. Both will also work 210+ innings. That's my prediction.

[SoxFan1]

Whats this about Fields playing on 1 leg?

[fathom]

Kenny said he was a little over budget as we stand right now, then brought up "creativity" again, referring to the Lee for Vizcaino and Pods deal and mentioning that it allowed them to also sign AJ and El Duque.

 

Just off the top of my head, Dye makes $11.5M next year. If the Sox could trade him for Bailey and a prospect ($500K), then sign Daniel Cabrera for $4M, Juan Rivera for $4M, Willy Taveras for $2M, and a back of the pen reliever like Luis Ayala for $1M, would you do that trade? It would essentially be Dye for Bailey, Cabrera, Rivera, Taveras, Ayala, and a prospect in a salary wash. The roster is at 37 now, so adding that many players would put us at 41, however Jose Contreras would be transferred to the DL, and if necessary Owens and/or Broadway could be cut (although I'd prefer both of them cut because they make my skin crawl).

 

That would be a waste of 10 million dollars. Daniel Cabrera is terrible, and he's a huge injury risk!

[3E8]

Thanks for the summary Tony

[maggsmaggs]

I don't understand how we are over budget. They made a ton of money last year and have lowered payroll by $30 million. Someone with an economic background care to explain? And don't just say the economy is bad as a whole.

[Leonard Zelig]

I don't understand how we are over budget. They made a ton of money last year and have lowered payroll by $30 million. Someone with an economic background care to explain? And don't just say the economy is bad as a whole.

 

How do you know they made a ton of money last year?

[Dick Allen]

That would be a waste of 10 million dollars. Daniel Cabrera is terrible, and he's a huge injury risk!

I also question Cabrera's "stuff." It seems to be fading. For a guy who supposedly is pretty unhittable, he sure does give up a lot of hits to go along with the ton of walks and HBP he allows. His K rate has been in freefall as well. He walks and hits more guys than he fans now. I think if someone got him to change his ways 3 years ago, he may have amounted to someone useful, but its past the point of no return.

 

I know this stat means zero, but it is funny. He has 14 ABs in the major leagues. He struck out every time.

Edited December 13, 2008 by Dick Allen

[SoxFan1]

I don't understand how we are over budget. They made a ton of money last year and have lowered payroll by $30 million. Someone with an economic background care to explain? And don't just say the economy is bad as a whole.

I think you also have to take into consideration what will happen this season. If they kept payroll the same with the way the economy is, they don't want to screw themselves over for the near future monetarily, essentially protecting themselves from the inevitable decrease of revenue.

 

How do you know they made a ton of money last year?

Thats the other issue. No one really knows what their revenue stream last year was like, and certainly no one knows any exact numbers. Then again, like some people believe (I'm still unsure), this could all be a big farce from KW.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

That would be a waste of 10 million dollars. Daniel Cabrera is terrible, and he's a huge injury risk!

So then what do you propose? Garcia? Colon? Lieber? Randy Wolf for 3 years? Capuano? Pedro? With a budget that limited it is hard to get a good SP that you can feel confident in.

 

Of our in-house candidates, Richard couldn't get past the third time through the opposing lineup which leads me to believe he's best off in relief. Poreda still doesn't have the secondary stuff to start, and would you actually want to risk "rushing" him and ruining his confidence and setting his development back? Then there's Marquez, who the Sox seem high on, yet is coming off a horrid year and needs much work. He couldn't get the job done in Triple A and IMO he needs to show that he can before he can be a legitimate candidate. And speaking of not getting in done in Triple A, there's also Broadway who flat out sucks. Then there's Egbert, and he's IMO the second best option of the group behind Richard because he's ready and it he fails, he's not a guy we're going to really worry about screwing up with.

 

Daniel Cabrera at least has MLB experience and has the type of stuff that, even if he fails as a starter, could lead to success out of the bullpen. Players who get non-tendered aren't All-Stars obviously, but since we're already over budget, aside from laying out trade scenarios of which high-quality SP prospects we may be able to acquire for our veterans or prospects, this is what we have to work with.

[TylerAtIU]

Thats the other issue. No one really knows what their revenue stream last year was like, and certainly no one knows any exact numbers. Then again, like some people believe (I'm still unsure), this could all be a big farce from KW.

 

I agree, with possible upcoming contract neg with Danks, Floyd, TCQ, Lexi, Beckham(Some sort of Longoria deal)... KW may just be making sure the economy can be a factor in all of these