Hideki Matsui

[Kalapse]

If Brad Penny can get one year and $7.5 million, what do you think Matsui can get? Hell, Scutaro got $6 million a year.

Teams will always overpay for pitching, always, doesn't matter economic climate. Designated hitters are a totally different animal. As for Scutaro; one of the highest spending teams desperately needed a SS, he was the #1 player available at that position (basically the only option) and he's a good defender coming off a very good year with the bat, it's only a 2 year commitment and $12.5M guaranteed, that's about what he was expected to make. Hideki Matsui is a 36 year old DH, there isn't a very large market for a player like that especially when teams have as little to spend as they do right now. The only way he gets close to that is if a team believes the increased Japanese advertising revenue will make up the difference.

[nitetrain8601]

I wouldn't mind Bradley on the Sox. I actually think Bradley is like Iverson in that he has to feel like he's wanted and that he's one of the guys. The Cubs, almost from the get-go, made him feel like an outcast. When he got off to the slow start, that made it even worse because the fans got on him and for a black male in the Wrigley OF, that's not a good sign. I'm not saying all their fans are like this, but enough to make others notice including players.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

It really depends on the price.

 

About Matsui's salary - I just don't see us paying him $4-6 million annually and him taking such an offer. He'd want at least around $8-10 million a year.

The Sox have said they were working to come up with ways to add a little bit of payroll room. One of those ways might be attempting to attract Japanese sponsors through the signing of Matsui. Perhaps signing Matsui for $8M per is the same thing as signing an American for $5M per because of the added income. Just a guess.

[chw42]

Teams will always overpay for pitching, always, doesn't matter economic climate. Designated hitters are a totally different animal. As for Scutaro; one of the highest spending teams desperately needed a SS, he was the #1 player available at that position (basically the only option) and he's a good defender coming off a very good year with the bat, it's only a 2 year commitment and $12.5M guaranteed, that's about what he was expected to make. Hideki Matsui is a 36 year old DH, there isn't a very large market for a player like that especially when teams have as little to spend as they do right now. The only way he gets close to that is if a team believes the increased Japanese advertising revenue will make up the difference.

 

I understand he's 36 and he's a DH, but the numbers he put up last year did not show any sort of regression. Any 36 year old who goes for a .378 wOBA is pretty damn good. Since we're not going to commit long-term to him, giving him something along the lines of a 2 year $12 million doesn't seem realistic to me. That might work if we're willing to offer 3 years.

 

But as others have said, maybe we can open up the wallet a bit since he does get attention in Japan.

[Kalapse]

what are these horror stories youve heard? i mean ive heard hes always been a primadonna, but i haven't heard anythign that has led me to believe that he's that much worse than everett was

 

edit: thats not to say they don't exist, i just haven't heard the god awful things that would drive me to never touch a player regardless of cost

Basically everywhere he's been he's alienated his teammates, after a few months in the same locker room with Bradley they want nothing to do with him. He's just a truly bad guy who doesn't give a s*** about anyone but himself and comes with a strong sense of entitlement. Everett was never actively despised in this way.

 

He'll never stick with a team for more than 2 years for the rest of his career but he'll find work, he's immensely talented and every club thinks they can change the malcontent or that their locker room is strong enough to withstand it but he'll just continue to prove them wrong.

[GreatScott82]

The Sox have said they were working to come up with ways to add a little bit of payroll room. One of those ways might be attempting to attract Japanese sponsors through the signing of Matsui. Perhaps signing Matsui for $8M per is the same thing as signing an American for $5M per because of the added income. Just a guess.

Thats a very interesting way of looking at it. Matsui would definitley open up a new door of potential sponsorships and revenues. His status is parallel to that of Ichiru.

[Kyyle23]

I wouldn't mind Bradley on the Sox. I actually think Bradley is like Iverson in that he has to feel like he's wanted and that he's one of the guys. The Cubs, almost from the get-go, made him feel like an outcast. When he got off to the slow start, that made it even worse because the fans got on him and for a black male in the Wrigley OF, that's not a good sign. I'm not saying all their fans are like this, but enough to make others notice including players.

 

6 out of his 7 teams*(not counting Texas, even though he did his dumbass pressbox charge there) made him an outcast? Interesting. You see what you want to see I guess

Edited December 9, 2009 by KyYlE23

[Harry Chappas]

Milt hates the cubs, I hate the cubs.........

 

Milt has issues but it has never involved anything illegal as far as I recall. He seems to have a demeanor away from the park that differs greatly from his baseball persona although I could be wrong.

 

His OBP is as sexy as it gets and he can not drive in runs. Bat him leadoff and play a little left here or there. Players seem to like it on the southside and while we hear that it is great to play at Wrigley I am not inclined to believe that is true unless the price is right.

 

Send AJ, Guillen, Reinsdorf and Williams to meet with him and go from there.

 

Give them Carlos Torres.

 

As was pointed out earlier, Jurassic had milder issues but he seemd to adapt to the Cell quite well.

 

 

[balfanman]

As was pointed out earlier, Jurassic had milder issues but he seemd to adapt to the Cell quite well.

 

But I believe that Carl was considered a winner by his team mates. Milton.....well it seems that we would probably get banned if we published what his team mates thought of him.

[southsider2k5]

Milt hates the cubs, I hate the cubs.........

 

Milt has issues but it has never involved anything illegal as far as I recall. He seems to have a demeanor away from the park that differs greatly from his baseball persona although I could be wrong.

 

His OBP is as sexy as it gets and he can not drive in runs. Bat him leadoff and play a little left here or there. Players seem to like it on the southside and while we hear that it is great to play at Wrigley I am not inclined to believe that is true unless the price is right.

 

Send AJ, Guillen, Reinsdorf and Williams to meet with him and go from there.

 

Give them Carlos Torres.

 

As was pointed out earlier, Jurassic had milder issues but he seemd to adapt to the Cell quite well.

 

I'd call physically attacking multiple people "illegal".

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Milt hates the cubs, I hate the cubs.........

 

Milt has issues but it has never involved anything illegal as far as I recall. He seems to have a demeanor away from the park that differs greatly from his baseball persona although I could be wrong.

 

His OBP is as sexy as it gets and he can not drive in runs. Bat him leadoff and play a little left here or there. Players seem to like it on the southside and while we hear that it is great to play at Wrigley I am not inclined to believe that is true unless the price is right.

 

Send AJ, Guillen, Reinsdorf and Williams to meet with him and go from there.

 

Give them Carlos Torres.

 

As was pointed out earlier, Jurassic had milder issues but he seemd to adapt to the Cell quite well.

Even if KW had a major brain fart and decided to piss all his flexibility away in a Milton Bradley deal, there's no way that happens without the Cubs at least taking Linebrink off our hands. If we took on Bradley right now for Torres alone then we'd have to do something that would really, really suck, like non-tender Bobby and sign no one to replace him or, god forbid, trade Buehrle for prospects.

[chetkincaid]

Milt hates the cubs, I hate the cubs.........

 

Milt has issues but it has never involved anything illegal as far as I recall. He seems to have a demeanor away from the park that differs greatly from his baseball persona although I could be wrong.

 

His OBP is as sexy as it gets and he can not drive in runs. Bat him leadoff and play a little left here or there. Players seem to like it on the southside and while we hear that it is great to play at Wrigley I am not inclined to believe that is true unless the price is right.

 

Send AJ, Guillen, Reinsdorf and Williams to meet with him and go from there.

 

Give them Carlos Torres.

 

As was pointed out earlier, Jurassic had milder issues but he seemd to adapt to the Cell quite well.

 

I agree with this... For the most part, Cub fans are... well I don't want to get banned so I'll just say that Cub fans are "emotionally challenged". I bet it's no picnic playing in the outfield at that dump of a ballpark with a bunch of... "highly intoxicated fans" yelling at you.

 

I think it would be a much better situation at the Cell. Protect him for media d bags that try to start and keep the drama going, and Milton would do just fine on the Southside.

 

[elrockinMT]

Sox interest seems to be directed at Matsui. I like Jim Thome, but Matsui would give is more flexibility. Hopefully he is able to rebound from knee troubles. If we were to sign Matsui would it solve two problems? DH and the OF? I am guessing not and that Pods is still a possibility for an OF spot.

[NorthSideSox72]

I agree with this... For the most part, Cub fans are... well I don't want to get banned so I'll just say that Cub fans are "emotionally challenged". I bet it's no picnic playing in the outfield at that dump of a ballpark with a bunch of... "highly intoxicated fans" yelling at you.

 

I think it would be a much better situation at the Cell. Protect him for media d bags that try to start and keep the drama going, and Milton would do just fine on the Southside.

First, how do you propose to "protect him" from the media? That is virtually impossible. And this is Chicago, its a big and sometimes tough market to play in as an athlete. He'd be skewered constantly, by media and fans, and his history tells us there is almost no chance he would handle that well.

 

Second, even as a die-hard Sox fan, I recognize that the fans at the park can be very abrasive difficult on certain players at times, including their own. The Cell isn't some magic kingdom where all fans are friendly and nice to all players. The South Side is not a place where players can hide in obscurity.

[SoxFan562004]

I believe I've said this earlier in the thread, but I would be fine with Matsui as a full time DH, although the White Sox would still have a gaping hole in LF or RF depending on where CQ plays

Edited December 9, 2009 by SoxFan562004

[hogan873]

I'm sure it means nothing more than we already know, but Yahoo sports via the Tribune is saying the Sox are after Matsui while Coco Crisp wants to play for the Sox. I'd like to have Matsui as a DH but that still leaves a hole in the OF. And who knows how Crisp will be after missing so much time and having surgery.

[chetkincaid]

I'm sure it means nothing more than we already know, but Yahoo sports via the Tribune is saying the Sox are after Matsui while Coco Crisp wants to play for the Sox. I'd like to have Matsui as a DH but that still leaves a hole in the OF. And who knows how Crisp will be after missing so much time and having surgery.

 

 

Mike Cameron anyone??

 

Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star characterizes the White Sox and Red Sox interest in Coco Crisp as "low-level," but says that's still more than the Royals have shown. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the White Sox would consider Crisp, Mike Cameron, and Marlon Byrd.

 

I would give an emphatic NO. I'd rather have Pods...

[chetkincaid]

First, how do you propose to "protect him" from the media? That is virtually impossible. And this is Chicago, its a big and sometimes tough market to play in as an athlete. He'd be skewered constantly, by media and fans, and his history tells us there is almost no chance he would handle that well.

 

Second, even as a die-hard Sox fan, I recognize that the fans at the park can be very abrasive difficult on certain players at times, including their own. The Cell isn't some magic kingdom where all fans are friendly and nice to all players. The South Side is not a place where players can hide in obscurity.

 

 

Yeah well it would be a hell of a lot better than Wrigley. And WINNING would go a long way to make the Cell more comfortable - and I hope that we win. Milton probably feels like he has something to prove and would love to be a big contributor to the White Sox while spending the Cubs money.

[Harry Chappas]

Yeah well it would be a hell of a lot better than Wrigley. And WINNING would go a long way to make the Cell more comfortable - and I hope that we win. Milton probably feels like he has something to prove and would love to be a big contributor to the White Sox while spending the Cubs money.

 

Baseballwise Milton Bradley did exactly what he always does on the field last year, get on base. The cubs paid and sold him to the minion as an RBI machine and right fielder and then the press ran with this and it was all Milt's fault when he did not do what the cubs told their fans he would do. The cubs should not have signed him and they should not have promoted him as being something he is not. He was behind, Soto, Fonzi, Zambrano and Dempster in the underperforming department yet he was the guy getting boo'd the most and in my mind was a nice scapegoat. Remeber when he was going to bring the fire, passion and winnign attitude with him........huh, he has never won yet the minion bought the winner tag. His personality is a risk but he is much better lead-off option than Swisher ever was.

 

I am not advocating Bradley at $10M a year but if the lead-off options are all meh, then I think this option needs to be looked at more than just saying no. Some times riskier players need to be investigated and I think the due diligence needs to be done here.

[Chisoxfn]

I would love an off-season in which we signed Byrd and Matsui. I'd be fully content with that.

[NorthSideSox72]

I would love an off-season in which we signed Byrd and Matsui. I'd be fully content with that.

Or Crisp and Matsui.

 

Either scenario is good for me.

 

[Chisoxfn]

Or Crisp and Matsui.

 

Either scenario is good for me.

I'd be fine with that, cause I really like Matsui. But I'd totally prefer Byrd. He's put up far better numbers, albeit in a hitters haven like Texas. That said, he'll be much more expensive and I think it is much more likely that we see Crisp or Pods along with Matsui.

 

That might happen and things could change after, but no other significant moves would be possible without moving a Konerko/Linebrink/Jenks.

[ThunderBolt]

I would love an off-season in which we signed Byrd and Matsui. I'd be fully content with that.

Call me a greedy bastard, but i want Putz too.

[balfanman]

Has anyone heard anything at all about the condition of Crisps shoulders? Has he even picked up a baseball since the surgeries? I was all in favor of Crisp a couple of years ago, especially over the likes of Owens and Anderson. Now I'm not so sure.

[Melissa1334]

Has anyone heard anything at all about the condition of Crisps shoulders? Has he even picked up a baseball since the surgeries? I was all in favor of Crisp a couple of years ago, especially over the likes of Owens and Anderson. Now I'm not so sure.

not really except for this in the trib: Crisp said his shoulder is healing well after season-ending surgery last June and said he will be 100 percent by spring training.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2009 by Melissa1334