SoxFan562004

Who knows about the true credibility of this rumor, but it does make sense. I thought that after the A-Rod deal fell through Nomar was going to have a difficult time going back to Boston, and if that couldn't be remedied quickly with a contract extension they would have to move because it could sour that clubhouse all season

Does anyone know when the last time Levine reported the rumor of this deal was? This would be a VERY good move for KW if it shakes out... Also on MLB.com they said the Marlins were interested in Maddoux for 1-year if a long term deal falls through, similar to I-Rod situation last year where they were at budget, but ownership decided it was the right move for their situation

I think it is very odd that the article didn't mention anything about Ponson, this leads me to believe there's no clear indication on the Ponson front for any team and he could sign with anybody at this point... I get a sneaky feeling a suprise team could come out of nowhere and sign him (Tigers, Diamondbacks, or Devil Rays possibly)

As a Dodgers fan I can say that Evans is not to blame 100%, the Hundley deal looked OK at first because Grudz and Karros had big contracts and were doing nothing LA for a year or two, the year with the Cubs for both was a comeback year. I do blame Evans for McGriff and the over all lack of offense last year, signing Ricky was not a legitimate move, they have enough young arms to trade one or two for a legitimate bat

Just saw on ESPN that Julian Tavarez signed with St. Louis for 2 years... no terms. Kind of interesting because I believe Baseball Weekly said the Sox may have been interested in him....but no great loss, I would rather give Rauch or another rookie a shot in the rotation than him. I also have no idea if this impacts Maddoux to Cards... I would highly doubt it because Tavarez is an average pitcher at best and probably wasn't very expensive...only way it impacts on Maddoux is if the Cards decided he was to costly and stopped their pursuit

I'm sorry, I am a little sleepy when writing these tonight, what I meant was Vlad or I-Rod would be for the Dodgers to pursue, not the Sox. What I meant by lower contract economy is just a general observation of some of the signings this year. There will always be highly paid players, but with the players crying colusion it's fair to say they are not getting paid the contracts they once were.

My line of thought is that he would basically be spending the same amount of cash he did the last 2 seasons, but he would be spending it in the lower contract economy, and with more than half of the payroll freed up after this year

I know this may be the slimest silver lining, and can easily be explained away as posturing for future deals, but at least KW is still saying things along the line of not making moves to make the team worse for purely financial reasons. If the plan truly is to hold tight this year and go in with a good deal of money into next off-season I can live with that, and they way contracts are coming down, actually look forward to it. I think the Rafy move would be OK, especially since he's left handed. I would almost rather trade PK to the Dodgers, pay some of the salary and get Palmero. He can balance the line-up a little Dodgers probably aren't going after him heavily because of the McGriff fiasco, the last thing they need is another old first basemen to come in and do nothing. Also, the Dodgers need more than one big bat, even if they get Konerko or Rafy I imagine they'll still be heavily in the bidding for Vlad or I-Rod, that may be why they want the Sox to pay some of Konerko's contract, so they have money left for one of those two. Trust me, as a Dodgers fan they need multiple hitters, Ted Williams in his prime couldn't salvage that offense, I know it's a pitchers park, but that hitting was a joke last year.

I liked Colon alot, but I think the Angels over payed for him (purposely on their part) and Ponson would be a suitable replacement. The "innings eater" aspect is what I like best about him, even if last year was a complete mirage and he goes back to a 4.10-4.50 ERA at least he helps save the bullpen. I think every team needs 1 or 2 of these type pitchers, even if they're the 3 or 4th starter, and I think with Buehrle eating big innings adding Ponson could help an average bullpen by preventing overuse

I'm not an "anti-cubs fan", but this was a thread discussing the Cubs moves and the perception of them as favorites, which is pretty obvious by the title of it, so don't read it if you don't want to hear "anti-cubs" talk

I think "small market" is the wrong label for the Sox. I think Medium market is the better characterization, and the Angels and Marlins proved you can win with a similar budget. Didn't Sox get Colon after Jan 1st? So the offseason is not over yet

The one thing that the Cubs have failed in this off season is getting a legitimate lead-off hitter. Before the Cubs got Lofton they were 1 game over .500.... In my opinion he made the difference in that team last year. The second half was very simple for the Cubs, when Lofton got on base they won, when they didn't they struggled to score. So instead of addressing this in the offseason they make matters worse by not bringing back Lofton or out spending the Marlins for Castillo. The Cubs off-season moves got over-hyped because of their playoff run last year. Another glaring mistake the Cub fans are making is assuming Ramirez at 3rd is going to play as well as he did for the Cubs... This guy is one of the streakiest and moodiest players in baseball, and for Cubdom to assume he's going to straighten out because he's in Chicago is laughable. The Cubs are getting a lot of credit for making "major moves" and while the moves they have made over the last 2-3 years are solid ones, the perception of them as major moves are simply Tribune/Cub smoke and mirrors. For example 1. Derek Lee is playing first base, not Jim Thome who they had the BEST shot at getting 2. Ramirez is playing 3rd base, not Scott Rolen who they had the minor league system to trade for 3. They didn't outspend the Marlins for Luis Castillo 4. They got Hawkins instead of Gudardo, a proven closer 5. They didn't get in on the Curt Schilling trade talk 6. Their talk about signing Maddoux and I-Rod only revolve around if their years and prices drop, which just about every team would say 7. Alex Gonzalez is still playing SS, with no talk of the Cubs interested in Aurillia

The Sun-times today mentioned that the Sox have "moved on" basically inferring that even if the A-Rod and Manny deal goes down the Sox might not do the Nomar deal

I was reading the article today in the Sun-Times today about Lee and other Sox moves and they mentioned something about KW saying he was willing to go over budget. It was kind of a quick mention and I've heard nothing about this until this article... Does anyone know if and when KW said this and in what context? I think they said KW said it last weekend... Here's the actual quote from the Sun-Times "The team must reduce salary to meet a self-imposed payroll of just under $60 million, but general manager Ken Williams said at the winter meetings last weekend that he was prepared to go over budget."

Bruce Levine on AM 1000 was reporting Seattle was interested,

Why is Spezio throwing a monkey wrench in this deal now? Hasn't he been signed with the M's (or at least 100%) going there since yesterday?? The fresh rumors started today about a Jose deal

Best case for Sox is the scenario with keeping Nomar and forcing Dodgers to take Konerko for Mota or Perez, then you have Nomar, Williamson for Mags money, whatever we get for Jose (probably somebody who can play 2nd), then the money we saved on Konerko.... That should work money wise

Terry Boers on the Score brought up the point that KW could be getting involved to screw over Danny Evans (Dodgers GM). We all know there's no love loss between the two, and now if the A-Rod deal goes down KW will have control over the Dodgers 2 main targets (Nomar and Maggs) Let me just make it clear that I don't think vengance is the way to run a team, and I hope that KW doesn't get blinded by hatred

WSCR is reporting that the Sox and KW may keep Nomar now and that Jose is gone, most likely to Seattle (no names with that) AM 1000 is reporting that Nomar to Dodgers is still on (But for AM1000 wait until they attach Bruce Levine to any story to take it seriously)

I only dream that Nomar would patrol SS for the Sox.... Even if that means Maggs has to go However this seems like it's working out all to well, with Seattle possibly in the Valentine race again

Cubs are going to try and sign him for a year and avoid arbitration, then ship Miller to A's Logically I don't see this taking them out of the Lopez/I-Rod bidding because they have Bako and Barrett right now, which is either equal or even a step down from Bako/Miller. Only way this is actually the answer to their catcher situation is the Colon deal screwed the Cubs attempts to re-sign Wood at a reasonable rate and they're getting ready to bend over for that extension, because if Colon is worth 13m a year I'm sure Wood and his agent are asking for 13-15m

I think Mags realistic contract options will be cleared up when Vlad signs, He won't get equal or more than Vlad, so after he signs that should be a fair baramoter to what Mags will get Via free agency (ie Vlad signs for 16m, Maggs will probably get 12-14)

To clear up what WSCR actually said, 1. George Offman reported that Jose Valentin is on his way out, that's it, no specific team or anything 2. Then Doug Buffone and whoever is filling in for Mike North began speculating on the team and threw around Seattle, and if you didn't hear the whole progression of things (meaning listen for a 1/2 hour stuck in traffic like I did) then you could think that WSCR was actually reporting Seattle 3. Offman's last update at 5:30 mentioned NOTHING about Jose I usually don't like George Offman because he's the Peter Gammons of Chicago when it comes to rumors (meaning he throws out a ton and sees what sticks), however he did not, at least what I heard, report a specific team I think with 2 Jose's switching teams in the last few hours it's possible the old baseball grapvine got clogged up and the White Sox's Jose could have been a confusion

If Garcia gets traded to the Dodgers don't think that he won't come to the Sox.... There's talk that the Dodgers are getting Garcia for the sole purpose of trading him to the Sox

I know I've been on here giving KW and the team the benefit of the doubt, but everyday when no clear plan is evolving makes me wonder what the hell is going on? The article on whitesox.com has quotes from KW saying he isn't "shopping" Mags, Thomas, and Konerko. Basically saying he likes the team as it is and will not take a lesser deal just to make a deal, which is fine because it means no fire sale. The thing that's confusing me is that his past comments about the budget lead me to believe there's no way we can keep all the players we have now, but he never mentions anything about that problem in this article. Not to mention the fact that he was prepared to give Colon 10m cash a year, without reducing the budget first. The only thing I can think of is that he really needs to dump one of these players, but is doing the smart thing and not coming off as desperate thus lessening his barganing power with other teams. I guess if O's sign Tejada, I-Rod, and Vlad, or even just two of them, that lessens impact hitters on the market, thus making Mags, Thomas, and Konerko more valuable to the teams that lose out on the big bat free agents such as The Dodgers or Seattle