It's Never too Early..............

[aprec32]

I'm not sure if this is on any current thread.......If so, I apologize. As this 2008 CWS team is pretty well defined (great pitching, spotty offense to say the least), I'm sure you have given thoughts to potential moves we can make. Kenny seems to be hit or miss over the last couple of years (more hits than misses). So with all that said, what potential moves do you think are feasible/plausible for us to make hopefully in the next month or so?

[Spod=Ratings]

Eric Chavez

[southsider2k5]

Trade for a second baseman who can hit at the top of the order (#1 or #2)... Such as Jose Lopez from Seattle, Brandon Phillips of Cincy, Ray Durham of SF, Brian Roberts of Baltimore, Felipe Lopez of Washington, or Freddy Sanchez of Pitt.

[Kyyle23]

Trade for a second baseman who can hit at the top of the order (#1 or #2)... Such as Jose Lopez from Seattle, Brandon Phillips of Cincy, Ray Durham of SF, Brian Roberts of Baltimore, Felipe Lopez of Washington, or Freddy Sanchez of Pitt.

 

 

That one is sooooooo not gonna happen. The other ones I could see, but if Phillips gets traded away from Cinci then their new GM should lose his job too

[DBAHO]

1. Sure up the bench. I read a stat that we only had 7 BB's and 10 extra base hits for all of our bench players so far. That's something KW could look to address at the deadline.

 

2. Look for a 2nd baseman. The most obvious one, but I'm hoping either Ramirez continues to hit, or Richar is given an opportunity. I'm basically done with Uribe at this point (even though he is very good defensively, that's not enough). Roberts is the obvious one, but while the O's are semi competitive, I don't think he's going to be dealt.

 

3. Look for another righty in the pen. MacDougal and Wasserman haven't gotten the job done so far. If you can sure that 6th / 7th inning / spot in our pen up, it'll make it even better. A Heath Bell type of pitcher for example (although I can't remember how he's doing this season).

 

4. Try to re-sign Crede. Call me crazy, but if you could get a 3 year 15-20M deal for Crede done right now, I'd do that, and try to trade Fields for a stud young pitcher who can replace Contreras in the rotation from the mid - point next season.

 

Other than that, it's basically getting Thome, Konerko and Swisher to produce, and to keep the young arms fresh.

[The Ginger Kid]

jason kendall.

 

(can't allow a season to go by without someone asking, nay, begging, for Kendall. It always used to make me laugh)

[VAfan]

1. Put Konerko on the DL (see other post). Call up Josh Fields. That gives you 5 guys -- Fields, Anderson, Swisher, Thome, Crede -- to rotate through 4 jobs -- CF, 1B, DH, 3B. And if Anderson starts, the guy on the bench becomes the pinch hitter du jour. You could even throw Dye into the rotation.

 

2. Keep playing Ramirez at 2B. The kid seems to me to have real potential as a hitter if given some consistent ABs.

 

[thedoctor]

jason kendall.

 

(can't allow a season to go by without someone asking, nay, begging, for Kendall. It always used to make me laugh)

 

can we have a griffey or big unit thread, too?

[Balta1701]

1. Sure up the bench. I read a stat that we only had 7 BB's and 10 extra base hits for all of our bench players so far. That's something KW could look to address at the deadline.

One thing I'm wondering on this stat is how much this is impacted by the fact that Ozzie hasn't really given a lot of rest to people yet this year, at least to my eyes. Before Uribe got hurt, people seemed pretty amazed at how often Ozzie was using his standard, everyday lineup compared to previous years. Toby Hall has performed well enough, despite the fact that most of hits hits have been singles. When Anderson gets a few days in a row to play, he seems to start hitting. Alexei's picking it up, although his slow start could easily have contributed to those numbers. Pablo...well, we need someone who can back up 3rd base, and sticking Fields on the bench won't do much unless he's spending time at DH as well, which only works if Thome is out.

[RME JICO]

Seattle is already 12.5 games out and would need a miracle to make the playoffs. I am sure they are open to offers (Lopez).

[Rowand44]

Seattle is already 12.5 games out and would need a miracle to make the playoffs. I am sure they are open to offers (Lopez).

Why would we want Jose Jopez?

[sircaffey]

Trade for a second baseman who can hit at the top of the order (#1 or #2)... Such as Jose Lopez from Seattle, Brandon Phillips of Cincy, Ray Durham of SF, Brian Roberts of Baltimore, Felipe Lopez of Washington, or Freddy Sanchez of Pitt.

 

Jose Lopez? God no. Mr. career .297 OBP, currently .309. I'd take Roberts or Sanchez (Phillips not doable), perhaps even Durham for one last go-round. The Lopez's are not good at all.

[witesoxfan]

4. Try to re-sign Crede. Call me crazy, but if you could get a 3 year 15-20M deal for Crede done right now, I'd do that, and try to trade Fields for a stud young pitcher who can replace Contreras in the rotation from the mid - point next season.

 

You're crazy to think that Crede would sign a 3 year deal, and you're crazier to think that he'd sign a deal for less than $10 mill a year, let alone $7 at the most in your scenario.

 

Boras is his agent, he's almost assuredly going to get to free agency, and he's almost assuredly going to get $10-12 mill per. Crede is one of the last players in major league baseball that I would give a long-term contract to, and he's quite frankly just not that damn good.

 

And in my mind, the Sox don't need a stud to replace Contreras...Buehrle and Vazquez are good, and Floyd and Danks are both looking to be potential #3 starters in the majors with the potential for more. Bring Broadway up and let him throw 180 innings as the 5th starter next season...if he keeps his ERA anywhere around 5.00, he'd be a huge value to the team.

[Reddy]

jose lopez... gross. count me out of that one. that does us ABSOLUTELY no good. i'd be ok with bringing Ray Ray back one more time. and i can't imagine he'd be too expensive.

[BFirebird]

What about Kaz Matsui with Houston if they fall out of it? I know they just signed him as a FA and not sure how much he makes, but he can leadoff and steal bags as well.

[RockRaines]

I wish people would stop talking about signing Crede to an extension. Its just a waste of your time. The owners, the GM, and his agent have said that nothing will happen until the season is over, yet over and over people keep posting that he may accept a below market rate extension DURING the season. Wake up, everyone involved said a conversation isnt even going to start until the offseason.

[southsideirish71]

I wish people would stop talking about signing Crede to an extension. Its just a waste of your time. The owners, the GM, and his agent have said that nothing will happen until the season is over, yet over and over people keep posting that he may accept a below market rate extension DURING the season. Wake up, everyone involved said a conversation isnt even going to start until the offseason.

 

Come on Rock,

 

Hometown sweetheart deals is what Boras is all about. Money is secondary to feeling good about yourself.

 

 

 

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

A couple ideas:

 

1. This one is pretty sane I think. Brian Anderson to SD for RP Cla Meredith. I don't know if I'd make this trade, but I think it would help both teams. SD needs a CF and Anderson would be great for them in that park, meanwhile Octavio has been shaky facing multiple batters, especially lefties, and the Sox are going to need someone to give Linebrink a break here and there. They can't keep running him out there day after day.

 

2. A crazy idea. Go after Milton Bradley, who should be out on the market. DL Paulie, move Dye to 1B, Quentin to RF, and put Bradley in LF. That's highly unrealistic and I know fans would probably be very against putting Dye at 1B, but he should learn that position eventually if he's going to stick around. Still, penciling in Bradley at the top of our order right now would be sick.

 

3. An even crazier idea. Orlando Cabrera, Mike MacDougal, and Chris Getz to SF for Omar Vizquel, Ray Durham, and Randy Winn in a sort of our-crap-for-your-crap deal. Cabrera nets the Giants the draft picks they would get for Randy Winn a year early and they also get out of his contract. MacDougal gives them an arm with still some upside and they can try to get some worth out him of during a crappy year. Chris Getz gives them Durham's replacement. Meanwhile for the Sox, you DL Paulie, move Swish to 1B, put Winn in CF, Vizquel at SS, and Durham at 2B. Our defense takes a hit at 2B and perhaps there's a slight downgrade in CF from Swisher, but Winn could also end up as an upgrade there defensively too. I don't know how well he still plays CF. But in terms of the lineup, you can put this lineup out there:

 

S Winn CF

S Durham 2B

R Quentin LF

R Dye RF

L Thome DH

S Swisher 1B

L Pierzynski C

R Crede 3B

S Vizquel SS

 

We'd add a little more speed overall but a lot more contact and OBP. The only offensive hole in the lineup would be Vizquel, but if he becomes a major problem the Sox have both Uribe and Ramirez to turn to. He's a veteran though so even if he doesn't hit he should be able to at least make productive outs when the situation calls for them.

 

It's a crazy idea but I think it would definitely be a win now move that wouldn't hurt the team since Omar and Durham are FA after this year while Winn is a FA after '09 and, even though he makes $8.25 million next year, he's a good enough hitter and versatile enough to be a valuable 4th OF.

[greg775]

I agree about Konerko and the 15 day DL.

Why not?

We won't be out of the race after the next 15 days, knock on wood.

It sounds like that's not a good injury for a power hitter.

[Bubba Philips]

I agree about Konerko and the 15 day DL.

Why not?

We won't be out of the race after the next 15 days, knock on wood.

It sounds like that's not a good injury for a power hitter.

how about the 90 day dl

[witesoxfan]

A couple ideas:

 

I don't really think any of those ideas do a hell of a lot for the Sox.

[harfman77]

I think that Brian Roberts is still an option and his price will fall, Figgins is probably out of the running because the Angels really value him, but I think a sleeper could be Rickie Weeks. It seems like the Brewers are starting to lose patience with him and he might be able to be had for some pitching and Crede or Fields. Adding OF's seems like a bad idea because we have a crowded OF as it is.

[DBAHO]

You're crazy to think that Crede would sign a 3 year deal, and you're crazier to think that he'd sign a deal for less than $10 mill a year, let alone $7 at the most in your scenario.

 

Boras is his agent, he's almost assuredly going to get to free agency, and he's almost assuredly going to get $10-12 mill per. Crede is one of the last players in major league baseball that I would give a long-term contract to, and he's quite frankly just not that damn good.

 

And in my mind, the Sox don't need a stud to replace Contreras...Buehrle and Vazquez are good, and Floyd and Danks are both looking to be potential #3 starters in the majors with the potential for more. Bring Broadway up and let him throw 180 innings as the 5th starter next season...if he keeps his ERA anywhere around 5.00, he'd be a huge value to the team.

Really if Crede ends up getting more than $10M a season, then I want no part of him.

 

Will he get that? I don't know. Yes, Bora$$ is his agent, but he didn't have a good off-season. Kyle Lohse a $10M a season pitcher? Uhh no. Same thing could happen to Crede possibly. Coming off back surgery, and only really 2 seasons of above average offensive production so far.

 

I'm just hoping that somehow Crede would decide to fire him, as Uribe did a few seasons back, but I doubt that's going to happen.

 

As for the 5th starter, I just look at the impact of how much a good rotation has on this team. If there's 1 or 2 weak links, we really struggle. Long - term, I don't know if Broadway has a role with us. I suppose he deserves a chance though, but we'll see what happen.

[LittleHurt05]

Whatever they do with 2B, they need to make sure Alexei plays everyday, wherever it is. If they wanna use Uribe/Richar/trade at 2B, then send Ramirez down, cause it does him no good sitting on the bench getting 5 at-bats a week, he needs to play.

[RockRaines]

I don't really think any of those ideas do a hell of a lot for the Sox.

When the team is winning Soxtalk is full of lateral moves.