SoxFan562004

I think the one difference between ownerships would be that Trump realizes that sometimes you have to spend money to make money, I don't think he would have the similar "if you show up we will spend money" attitude. He may be like the Angels owner who will spend money to create a buzz... but with all that said I don't think JR is selling the team right now, I think Jiggets may have been speculating for conversation sake (Jiggets is a Harvard graduate so his "speculations" may actually have some thought behind them) I would keep an eye on Trump buying real estate in Chicago, if he starts investing in South Side property there may be some truth to this rumor. The Sox are going to have little in guaranteed contracts, a rehabed stadium with a good naming rights deal, a solid long term lease, and a new cable contract, so they probably are a somewhat appealing team to buy right now. Speaking of the new cable station, did anyone who went to Soxfest hear how this is going to effect Sox revenue?

Who has a better shot at making their teams, Garth with KC or Parque with Tampa??? I bet Garth is a crafty vetran

There doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz about this rumor on the net, radio, or TV in Chicago. It seems that Rogers just might have been writing a column

I think the part I liked best about the article is the idea of shaking this team up. Rogers pointed out that the basic core of this team has averaged 83 wins the last few seasons, that coupled with the 5 straight losses to the Twins to end the year I want to see a shake-up. That's why I haven't been as negative about this off-season, the team last year flat out gagged and I think this team needs a change. I think with Washburn, E-Lo, Buehrle, and Garland as 1-4 (not that specific order) and the bullpen with Marte, Wunsch, and Mr. Zero would give us the pitching edge in the division. Also, I would rather have Schoey, Rauch, Cotts...etc battling for 1 spot, sometimes competition brings the best out in players.

By the quotes I'm seeing from the new Dodgers owner it looks like he might be wanting to make an impact move before spring training. It also could be press conference rhetoric. I think Rogers was right on with his idea that Boras was waiting for this sale to go down before signing Maddux and I-Rod.... It could be interesting to see what they do now that they are freed up, I know they REALLY, REALLY, need bats (yes more than one) and they have the pitching to trade for some

The saga continues..... MLB.com put up a news story late tonight with Boras saying there is no final deal and they are in negotations with another team... He didn't by any means rule out the Tigers, but said no deal was final...

I heard it also, it definitely sounded like Ozzie was cracking a joke... The whole interview was good, who knows how he's going to manage, but at least he's saying all the right things!

If it makes anyone feel any better I know I heard a report the Sox were one of the teams scouting him.... I believe I heard it on AM 1000

Chicagosports.com is reporting that all tickets for Sox Fest on Saturday are sold. -This is great to see since as Sox fans we take a tremendous pounding about "supporting the team" (espically from team management!!), but even with a boring off-season we are still excited to be Sox fans!!!!!

It seems that Maddux and his agent rejected the offer the Cubs had on the table, and now they'll make a counter-offer. Heard this on ESPN radio, so take whatever Levine says with a grain of salt... Sorry if this is posted elsewhere

Age has something to do with it, as well as the idea of his role on the club.... Some of it may have to do with the idea that he was a true free agent and the clubs did not have to deal with his Japanese club, that process may jack prices up It's a one year deal with a club option for next year, no numbers on the option though

Grobber got fired from WSCR for misusing his press-pass privelages, so I don't know how "professional" he is

This story is one of the most insane things to happen lately.... Now ESPN is saying that both teams are denying this, but they still are sticking by their story that talks will go on citing hank ranking baseball officials Only reason I could see teams denying it is to not start the furvor all over again, if it still doesn't happen Boston doesn't want to tick of Nomar anymore, not to mention the fans of both teams being sick and tired of all the commotion

I think the thought is that it is easier to fill RF than CF. I think the Sox are more comfortable with Rowand/Reed/Borchard playing RF than they are in CF.... One thing that would concern me about getting Perez is that his numbers are greatly helped by pitching in Dodgers stadium and that he's only an average pitcher away from there.

I think it mostly revolves around personal issues, when players have families they want to have plans as to where they are going and want to be compensated if they waive these clauses

I know this may be a silly post, but I will actually defend Frank from the perception that's out there. Frank lives (or lived) in the Oak Brook area for awhile and he would go out and about the area, ie Oakbrook mall, clubs, out to dinner, and since I have worked in some of the places he has frequented I have had an occassion to run into him a few times (mostly at Oakbrook movie theatre). In these times he was nothing but cordial and nice. People would walk up to him (he's difficult to miss, his size is basically overwhelming) and he would sign autographs and always have a smile. I know these may be isolated incidents, but it has always left a positive impression with me

I agree with Rogers, I think Sox could suprise some people, their offense isn't terrible, they have equally, if not better, 1-3 starters than Twins or KC and I think Ozzie could have a Pena effect on the club...

Now espn.com, espn radio 1000 and Dan Patrick are reporting that A-Rod talks will continue this weekend. I actually gave Selig credit for trying to end this one way or another, but it seems that he is being completely ignored... Even if this doesn't happen the Red Sox are going to have to trade Nomar now, after all the patching up they tried to do, and him coming out publicly and saying everything is allright the Red Sox ignite talks again!!! This should drive the final nail between them and Nomar. In my opinion there are no more "negotiations" that have to take place. With the players union, Rangers, and Red Sox everybody basically knows what numbers have to be agreed to to get this done, so either they are willing to do it or not.... No word on who the front runner for Nomar is now, I imagine White Sox and Dodgers will be the two teams mentioned most

I guess I'll add to the positive note of this string... Nobody in this division is blowing anybody away on paper. I know one of the papers pointed out that Sox have the fewest pitcher wins on their roster, but it was only 17 behind KC 5 behind Minnesota, and this paper failed to mention that the Sox 1-2-3 starters are as good on paper as anyone else in the division. I know that "on paper" doesn't mean much once the first pitch is thrown, but since it's the off-season you kind of have to start from there. It's going to be a wildly competitive division, I think Sox, Twins, KC, and even the Indians are going to be with in 5-7 games of each other all year. If Ozzie can give 1/2 the boost that Pena gave the Royals than the Sox should be an exciting team this year. I thought it was interesting that Sox are the only team with 2 pitchers that had BA against under .200 from both sides of the plate (Wunsch and Marte). That's a real good base to build a bullpen around. I just think it's funny how Stark didn't single out that the Sox had this, if it was Boston or NY he would have written an article about it.

Jayson Stark said on ESPN.com that the Dodgers have been tied all off-season by the impending sale, and if it becomes official in Feb. then the Dodgers probably will add a bat... he specifically mentioned Hildago and Maggs. He also said Nomar was not out of the question for the LA, so Nomar may still be available

There's no way they can be contracted, when the Twins were talking about being contracted there was a ton of difficulty because they had like 2 years left on their stadium deal and the state threatned to sue MLB... Sox have a lot longer on their deal, and I know we complain about the payroll, but the players association would not want a nearly 60m dollar payroll to go away, also THE SOX JUST STARTED A NEW CABLE STATION WITH THE OTHER TEAMS. If the Sox were found to be negotiating long term contracts with the intention to fold-up that could easily be labeled as fraud and Reinsdorf would have a lot of problems

Boras is the factor from I-Rod's perspective, and the Tigers may be offering it to help shed the "loser" stigma... Sometimes you have to overpay players to change your teams perception.

I've seen in a couple places, including ESPN.com that Bud is selling the Brewers... I highly doubt it's the team Trump was talking about because I doubt they're worth 250m. However, it should be interesting to see what happens with that team.... If you think the Sox have problems just look about 100 miles north

It would be WILD if Trump bought the Sox, but I'm 99% sure it's the Nets he's talking about, they were worth 218m in the NBA value article and with a year appreciation and some other people interested in them (Jay Z) that could easily put the Nets worth at 250m.... One glimmer of hope is that Reinsdorf is not the only owner, and if the small possibility exists that Trump is offering this much, I believe the other owners have enough % of ownership to make it happen

Only way this makes sense for Boston is if they realize they can't sign Nomar to an extension and think the A-Rod deal fallout with him will create a horrible locker room situation, also if they think they can sign Maggs to an extension