greg775

Good points by everybody. I still have hope for Jon, but he doesn't deserve to be congratulated for anything. .500 isn't going to cut it. He has one more year to emerge or he's a No. 5 starter forever.

Has the last month proven one thing once and for all? Burke can hit big league pitching and has a future with our Sox. Ben cannot and should be let go. Poor Ben Davis cannot hit.

Next year is it for Jon. If he's a .500 pitcher at best again, he's done. He had a decent season. Next year he excels or count him as another bust. He's 26 next year, right? It's time to go 18-11 or bye bye.

I say keep Joe Crede and stress to him he needs to hit the fricking ball where it's pitched. When he rocks to right field he's OK.

Poor Joe is no good.

I'll say one thing about this horrific trade ... Ben Davis better not be part of our team next year. Poor Ben cannot hit. It's Burke and whomever ... no more Ben please.

I'd rather see KW tinker and keep the big four of Lee, Paul, Maggs n Frank. Why, so we can have an inconsistant offense that chokes down the stretch again? --No, here is why I want us to tinker. If we keep the big four, it means our offense will be OK no matter what we do. If we keep our current starters, it means we have pitching that will keep us in the race. Now, we upgrade at ss, we let Burke catch most of the games, we make our normal moves trying to upgrade the bullpen (we should have resigned Gordon) and maybe add one starting pitcher or closer we could win it all. If we trade Paulie, Lee there is the chance we could SUCK. Why? Do you trust KW to make good trades???? He consistently overpays and can I remind you of ALOMAR and EVERETT? I would rather tinker with our 80-win team and see if lightning can strike and we finally win this s*** division. If we trade Lee and Paulie we COULD SUCK. I do not trust Ken Williams.

Nice post! Great season, Mark B. He truly is a stud. p.s. If we could ever win this division we might have something going in the playoffs, considering our starters are dominating this late in the season. Mark B and Jon going 9 innings of late. Our pitchers seem to do better the last month.

Exactly, Pauly is a great hitter but we got a very solid replacement in Ross waiting in the wings next year, like qwerty said we could fill 2 or 3 holes and put Gload at first. No offense but I don' t want the tradeoff of Paulie to Gload. I also have no confidence in KW to make a trade to fill 2-3 holes for Paulie. I'd rather see KW tinker and keep the big four of Lee, Paul, Maggs n Frank.

That close up shot of Jose V showed an aging face. I wonder if he's older than his bio says. He had a great career with the Sox. Hope he doesn't hurt us next year somewhere else. The guy can still hit, but is aging.

Any of you watching tonight's game between our Sox and the Royals have to admit Paulie is one, professional hitter. The guy is a fricking stud at the plate. Trading Paulie or Lee would be extremely foolish. I don't care who we get in return. Both those guys are studs.

I want Ray Durham back instead of Hairston.

Nice base hit by Crede going to the opposite field. He needs to do that more often imo.

I remember it staying pretty busy. We all love baseball and the Sox. That's why the last 2 months have been so sad. We've simply had nothing to keep our interest. Cause our performance always had to be hedged by the wondering "what woulda happened had Maggs and Hurt not got hurt?'' I would rather be in it all the way and flame at the end like the Flubs than have this. p.s. I've decided I want the Yanks to sweep the Twins.

I agree 100 percent JD. Great great post!

Good point, Tony, but my point was if we completely tear up the team, we may win about 60, not 80. I'd rather take a base of 80 wins and work with that. Sign Frank and Maggs, upgrade at ss. Add a starter, middle reliever and move around our bench guys.

Carlos Lee hit a grand slam and two run homer today. He has 31 home runs. He has 99 RBIs. He has NO errors and an errorless streak of 163 games. Helluva year Carlos Lee. Congrats to you. I hope we keep you. p.s.The victory Wednesday gave the Sox at least 80 wins for the fifth straight season. That's why I think we should tinker again. Bring back Frank and Maggs and add a couple good players via free agency and see where it lands us. If we completely dishevel the team, we're screwed, folks. KW cannot reassemble a team. He's not good enough.

KW should never have traded Reed. Freddie might have signed with us anyway in offseason, considering his ties with Oz. Very very stupid deal. Many posters here were shocked at how much we gave up at the time. I just wish we'd cut our losses with KW and move on.

OK, if Garland or even E-Lo way back when had the outing Contreras had tonight, he'd be roasted on this message board. You tell me Contreras isn't as big as a question mark as Jon? Contreras has not been great. Freddy has not been great. Baseball is full of mediocre pitchers. Jon is one of them. Contreras is one of them. Freddie I think is better than mediocre, ditto Buehrle. But you can't tell me you are counting on consistency from Contreras in the future.

It seems like a lot of people want to trade anybody on our team that can produce. Like most of you said, if we trade them all we're screwed. We've proven we cant win w/out Maggs and Hurt. Take away Paulie and Lee and Valentin's power and we're the Royals.

I still love Jose and wouldn't be sad if he was our ss next year.

If only 5 small market teams have a better no. 3 then i say keep Jon.

Question for all. What teams (How Many) have a better #3 Starter than Jon Garland? Everyone acts like he is such a loser, but I think 85% of the teams in MLB would love to have him in their #3 slot. --Exactly and also amend that to, what small market teams have a better No. 3 starter than Garland. Cause we are a small market team with Dork running the show. Considering our payroll, Garland is PERFECT for our rotation. He's good enough.

I am not excited about the offseason. I do not trust KW. The offseason is the worst time of the year. Best day of the year: tie, Opening Day and Easter. Worst day of the year: Oct. 2, end of regular season. Baseball season means sunshine and baseball. Offseason means ice storms and cold and no Sox.

I don't see the hate for Jon. The guy is a good pitcher. And he's only 24. Tough crowd.