Obsessed with (the lack of) Sox off-season moves?

[Dick Allen]

Olney said in his column today that last offseason, the biggest contract signed after the new year was Dotel for $11 million. There are a heck of a lot of pretty good players still available who are about to become desperate.

[NorthSideSox72]

You forgot the Barack Obama factor in the attendance and merchandising, lol.

 

Well, that's a pretty extensive/good list of reasons not to fret. This is not the late 1980's, and Ivan Calderon is not our best player anymore. Young kids growing up with the World Series title in the back of their minds will start to identify more with the Sox if their allegiance wasn't already formed a childbirth.

 

All things considered, KW is going to be in a much more flexible position than he would be had he kept Cabrera, Swisher, Crede, Uribe, Griffey and Vazquez. With all of those players returning, would we be again favored to win the AL Central? I don't really think so. Obviously, there's so much love out there for Cabs, Crede, Uribe and Griffey that it might be until February before they find teams, and I wouldn't be surprised if they (some) didn't even received guaranteed major league contracts. We won last year with pitching, surprise offensive performances from Ramirez/Quentin and a lot of smoke and mirrors.

 

Just think of the Cubs as another big Ponzi scheme (contracts for Soriano, Harden, Ramirez, Lee, Zambrano, Dempster, etc.) that will collapse/implode on itself at some point in the near future.

I miss Ivan. Actually, if we trade Dye, we could use an Ivan-like player in 2009.

 

[caulfield12]

By the way, who was the brilliant GM who ever authorized giving L. Vizcaino $4 million per season?

 

I mean, he was the BACK end of our bullpen, the garbage guy for a majority of 2005...although he had a very good run with the Brewers before those sliders wore down his fastball into the low 90's/upper 80's.

[NorthSideSox72]

By the way, who was the brilliant GM who ever authorized giving L. Vizcaino $4 million per season?

 

I mean, he was the BACK end of our bullpen, the garbage guy for a majority of 2005...although he had a very good run with the Brewers before those sliders wore down his fastball into the low 90's/upper 80's.

There was a time when Viz was a passable middle/long reliever.

 

[caulfield12]

I miss Ivan. Actually, if we trade Dye, we could use an Ivan-like player in 2009.

 

 

In a strange way, so do I....and not just because he passed so quietly away either, barely a blip on the celebrity-obsessed radar screen.

 

In fact, Calderon and Carlos Martinez were two of my favorite players of that era...I guess I still think of Calderon as a more talented, mercurial outfield version of Uribe...and I have fond memories of supporting the White Sox in Old Comiskey in the late 80's when you could almost have a guaranteed foul ball the number of fans in the stands was so pathetic.

 

That's why the 1990 team will always be #1 in my heart, on par with the 2005 team. People forget what it was like to be a White Sox fan from the late 70's (with the exception of 1983) 'til the late 80's when Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, Fernandez, Bere, Alvarez, etc., all came together at almost the same time.

[Dick Allen]

In a strange way, so do I....and not just because he passed so quietly away either, barely a blip on the celebrity-obsessed radar screen.

 

In fact, Calderon and Carlos Martinez were two of my favorite players of that era...I guess I still think of Calderon as a more talented, mercurial outfield version of Uribe...and I have fond memories of supporting the White Sox in Old Comiskey in the late 80's when you could almost have a guaranteed foul ball the number of fans in the stands was so pathetic.

 

That's why the 1990 team will always be #1 in my heart, on par with the 2005 team. People forget what it was like to be a White Sox fan from the late 70's (with the exception of 1983) 'til the late 80's when Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, Fernandez, Bere, Alvarez, etc., all came together at almost the same time.

Hawk the GM acquired Calderon for Scott Bradley. As bad as Hawk was thought of as a GM, he made a few good moves in his one season. He claimed Bonilla in the rule 5. Then traded him back to the Pirates for DeLeon, who wasn't bad and was eventually turned into the One Dog. He just inherited a team that was destined for disaster.

[witesoxfan]

I don't recall the Kids Can Play era was in 2007? I think that was the old guys can play era...If you read through thoroughly you would notice that I didn't make a false claim, but you made false assumption that I was talking about 2007. To my understanding the Kids Can Play era was in the early 2000's and late 90's.

 

They've also won 3 division titles and a World Series since the Kids Tried to Play. Their marketing director is one of the best in the business. USCF has some of the funnest experiences for younger kids to partake in. And season ticket renewals too.

 

Besides all of that, I'm not too worried. If pricing goes up again next year, it'll be a problem, but I don't know how they could legitimately raise ticket prices again.

[greg775]

If pricing goes up again next year, it'll be a problem, but I don't know how they could legitimately raise ticket prices again.

 

Don't ticket prices go up every year?

[caulfield12]

Along with tuition and the prices of all consumer goods (see inflation...although deflation is the next worry, not stagflation). The one area to fall dramatically is oil prices...so you can pay for your Sox ticket increases with the money saved on gasoline, lol.