greg775

Your name "threadkiller" says it all. He wasn't begging for Lofton. I don't want Lofton either, but it's worth a discussion. Ever hear of a discussion? A difference of opinion? Grow up please.

That sucks. I wish we could get Paul Byrd or somebody like that. A Maddux type. Danks, Floyd and Jose could do the job, but will they?

Chombi, I don't know where the Rowand/Royals thing was, but I read it somewhere. It said KC is offering an extra year; one of the Chicago papers. I don't understand why you don't want Rowand. We'd have the new guy in lf or Owens, Rowand in center and Dye in right. Josh at third, new guy at ss, Richar at 2B and Paulie at first. Thome at DH and AJ at catcher. Not a bad lineup. If Dye, Paulie and Thome aren't finished, they along with Fields and Rowand make a pretty good fivesome in the order with AJ (against righties). We could use a decent righthanded hitting backup catcher. But our lineup would be pretty potent on paper if we add Rowand.

Pretty encouraging post. Hole in CF can be erased with Rowand signing. Back end of rotation: How bout signing Kenny Rogers? If Linebrink is good, that can really help us. If Quentin is as good as a lot of you say, that's a big upgrade from last year's patheticness in lf. I hate to see Garland go, so KW is definitley going to have to improve the rotation or we are hosed this season. Linebrink might be the only relief addition, so some of those guys who were pathetic last year like Thornton, MacDougal, etc., are going to have to do the job. Add Rowand, another starter, pray Linebrink is good and we might be OK. Not contenders, however, unless CAREER YEAR is the name of the game with guys like Thome, Paulie, Dye, Mark, Javier, Contreras again, which I guess is possible. Sorry for the rambling, but I thought that was an encouraging post.

I didn't know that deal excited anybody. Is the guy a stud? Hope so.

That would be disappointing. But he is just what they need. Instead of hacks like Reggie Sanders and Dee Brown, Rowand would be progress in KC.

I don't understand why the Sox can't ever flat out win a trade or make a trade that excites everybody. Getting Willis and Cabrera for a batch of prospects would have excited everybody. But I guess our prospects aren't good enough in the eyes of opposing teams. They don't want our lousy prospects.

Our team is snakebit. If we trade Crede, Josh will turn out to be a sieve at third base. If we keep Crede and trade Josh, Josh will turn into a 40 homer guy every year. That said ... why not keep Crede? p.s. Rowand is going to help the Royals big time.

Why be mad at Dye? Be mad at KW for his inability to keep us contenders. Dye should be pissed if KW lied to him.

People talk about Fields taking grounders in the offseason. What about our tall relievers flying out to see Randy Johnson and learn how to throw strikes. Mac D needs to learn how to pitch like Thornton, Sisco et all.

I know. Rome had to be grinning when he was saying that stuff. It's about the money in free agency. Once in a while you get a hometown discount, but only from guys already on the team considering free agency. Otherwise it's always the highest bidder ... see Johnny Damon going from one rival to another.

I fear what Sir Caffey says is true. I hate to compare anything to the Scrubs, but weren't the Cubs horses*** completely until throwing some money at it last offseason? I realize they are in the s*** division, however, as well as the crappy NL. It would really suck if we are out of it by mid May. I love baseball season.

I wouldn't mind the guy. I didn't think he was great with the Sox, but hey, he's not too bad.

Only if you throw tons of money at it. You can go last to first or near last to first if you spend the money.

I'd demand a no trade also, except to the Cubs. You are right, if he's going to come back, what's to stop them from trading him again?

I would tend to agree. As far as going all young, there are no guarantees the "young players" will blossom and make a team competitive in 3 years.

How bout Contreras and some Class A stiff for Bob Howry?

I have a sneaky feeling Crisp will be a White Sox. I hope he can return to his glory days. He was pretty pathetic at times last season. I fear a Crede for Crisp deal.

We need to get Miggy somehow. He'd be our version of the Cubs landing Soriano.

What are the odds of Brian Anderson starting for the Sox next year? What are the odds of Anderson being a productive hitter in the bigs in the next five years? You think he is another Borchard flameout type or a stud in the making? I would say he ain't going to make it because of that horrible batting stance of his in which he appears about as aggressive as a .190 hitting NL pitcher.

How many times are we going to have to face Garland per season? Just once or twice? You know he's going to be another ex Sox who will mow our lineup down, unless Jimmy Thome or AJP take him deep.

Our starting rotation is KC Royals-like right now. Assuming Jose will continue his decline as he approaches his 50th birthday, we've got Mark B, and Vaz, plus Jose and 2 young guys who will likely be 5-inning pitchers max. I don't know how to get such pitcher but we need a Paul Byrd/Tim Wakefield/Kenny Rogers type guy to put in there. We need another dependable veteran not named Jose Contreras. Also obviously Linebrink must be good. I'm hopeful there. I hope I never see MacDougal again, but I could stomach giving him a chance more than Sisco, Masset and Thornton. I guess I could stomach Thornton being a specialist pitching to one lefty batter. KW has a lot of work still to do. IMO ... Our rotation is very weak right now.

Just a question, not a flame. How come so many fans at the Cell love Rowand and he gets a lot of hate on here? Is it because the fans here are very negative or the Cell fans are idiots? I am not dying to get Rowand, but wouldn't mind it at all.

Rowand will go wherever he gets the best deal. That's always the case. The only exception is with guys currently on a team like Mark B. might give the Sox a "hometown discount" rather than to go through free agency. It's funny, but the talk after we won it in 05 was we'd be a dynasty. The pitching staff was supposed to be good forever. We were supposed to keep winning.

Man, you are a knowledgeable poster and if you think all those players wouldn't bring Cabrera I am really worried about our future. Some of those guys are going to be counted on heavily.