Chisoxfn

Is Wynn available? I know he's mediocre but he posts a decent OBP and has done so at a pitchers park (San Fran). I've always thought he was a solid enough player. He obviously doesn't make the team a world series contender but he would fill the hole of getting someone who can get on base atop of the order and he is capable of playing CF (albeit he isn't an amazing CFer).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 03:06 PM) Its now being reported the Sox actually bid higher than the Cubs for Fukudome. Wow...it really sucks that they lost out on him if that is the case.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 03:00 PM) The Bananas in Pyjamas. I don't even want to know how I sounded like Bananas in Pajamas. To be honest I had no idea that show was still on TV. I do remember the commercial for the show when I was a kid though.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:46 PM) Maybe he was actually trying to turn into B1 or B2? I hear those 2 get all of the ladies. What the hell is B1 or B2? I clearly have no idea where you guys are going with my post.

Oh in all seriosness, I'd say the Indians. Tigers are over-rated.

Bottom line is while Hamilton had ridiculous talent, no one would have ever expected him to come up and play as well as he did after being away from baseball for such an extended period (and having not yet played at a very high level in the minors). Plus you had to worry about whether he'd fall off the wagon (and every team that ever has him will have to worry about that because once an addict always an addict).

QUOTE(Wanne @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:45 PM) No. Way. Unless Paulie was juicin' in HS. I remember seeing Paulie play in the state tourney his Sr. year of high school and he blasted one half way up the center field wall at Peoria Sports Complex (if anybody's been there you'd know)...and all I could say was..."DAMN"! Jesus....that is like 460 feet.

Oh and I'm sure there will be at least a couple guys that somehow made there way onto the Sox. I do not think any long term Sox will get listed and there is only one long term Sox that I would be remotedly concerned about being listed (and it would be sad if it was). Than again, if it weren't for the whole level playing field, I really would give a damn about whether players juiced or didn't juice.

I won't speculate but I am pretty damn positive we will see one person on that list and that person was one of the worse closers the Sox ever had. Good guy though.

So my work party is cocktail attire. Anyone want to tell me if that is classy speak for I have to wear a god damn suit to a party????

QUOTE(SnB @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:27 PM) School just got a big he gawn and stone cold stunner from snb I just pounded a coors light in honor of the texas rattlesnake. But did you shatter the beer bottle afterwards in his honor as well???

The Royals....they may just beat out the Sox in the cellar battle

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:28 PM) No idea, but I'm sure they'd be interested in Danks or Gio. Would one of those guys alone get a deal done for Hamilton or are we talking about a ridiculous package. I'd consider dealing Hamilton for one very good prospect but I don't know if I'd start going crazy packaging people. I'd prefer to put up an offer of one of the starting pitching prospects (preferably one not name Gio/Danks but I'd probably give up Gio before Danks) as well as Sweeney or Anderson. I know talent for talent wise it isn't a great deal from the Reds side of things but I just can't see giving up a ton of talent for a guy with that type of checkered past. However, I would be incredibly excited if the club picked Hamilton up since he is a super talented player.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:22 PM) Wasn't he hurt or pulled himself out of that due to getting situated with his family? I can't remember everything involved, but there was somethign going on. Like I told Fathom - please show me something different. I can't find anything else on the guy but positive. I would love to see more. If you have other information then please show it to me. Thank you. I've seen quotes from various people in baseball (I believe the one I recall the most was from someone in the Indians organization) who said he had a nice skillset and some promising upside. By no means am I saying that makes him a sure fire bet to succeed this year but it would give the Sox more talent and I'm all for that. I also assume the price is going to be relatively low so you have the whole risk/reward thing going for you potentially.

Ramirez would be an awesome signing, especially if you made it around the same time you dealt Konerko for a few prospects. Than you wait and try and move Jermaine/Thome during the season and just get as much talent as you can (hold onto Javy and Mark since pitching is harder to find and tell them you plan on going all out in 09 when the team should have more than a few promising young players that are playing at a high level and tons of talent to go out and acquire some of the missing pieces).

I'm really feeling happy about the fact that I will at least get to see Garland kick some butt for the Angels

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:28 PM) Jason where did you see those figures? I haven't seen any, but I'm guessing he will sign for somewhere between 2.5-3M a year to coach Arkansas, and will get some of the 20+M the Falcons were to give him. I heard Stephen A Smith say that on his radio show when I was driving to lunch. I think he resigned and is pretty much SOL when it comes to getting anything else with the Falcons (aside from that whopping bonus).

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:34 PM) So let me get this straight. You people who are b****ing thought that we were going to sign rowand, and he was going to be the difference between 4th place and a contending team? When did the intelligence level of this board drop off so suddenly? I have been waiting patiently to see how the Sox planned on contending. I can't figure out how they do so without having a great lineup and to do that they need a Cfer and a leadoff hitter. They still can find that but the options are getting much thinner and they will probably cost the Sox one of the few quality prospects they have (if not multiple ones). Kenny is going to have to get real creative if he plans on contending. I was always for more of a rebuilding mode but I have always said it was unrealistic since the Sox are still banking on the World Series revenue and whether we like it or not are going to be going balls out for at least one more season (the problem is based on the last couple days it looks more and more likely that the team is going to end up stuck being content with a .500 type of ball club and it isn't a .500 ball club that is on the up-swing, rather a .500 club on the downswing).

Happy Birthday Mike!!!! Hope its an awesome one!!!

I should state, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with missing out on these CFers if the team opted to go into a rebuilding mode (which I would have been fine with). Maybe not a full blown rebuilding mode, but one that would have consisted with clearing out many of the veterans for younger players who would have their best years ahead of them (ie packaging veterans up for not only prospects, but also considering dealing some prospects for younger every day players that are proven so you are still in a decent position). Instead the Sox are stuck in no-man's land (at least for the time being) and it has me concerned. They decided to go for it (Cabrera and Linebrink moves were signs of that, but without a CF and a leadoff hitter you really have little shot at going for it, imo). Heck even if they landed Rowand/Roberts there is no guarantee (as the rotation is still shoddy) but it at least gives you a solid lineup, what looks to be an improved pen and a rotation with two proven starters and 3 question-marks.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:20 PM) Can you name a team that has won the World Series recently based mostly on guys it picked up in FA at nearly full price? The White Sox won the world series in part because of FA acquisitions Tadahito Iguchi & AJ Pyrzinski (though not quite the magnitude of the money you are talking about) Red Sox won the world series because they made major splashses (both in FA and the Trade Market). You can say JD Drew/Lugo were busts, but they also gave Daiske tons of money as well and I don't think they win without those guys (maybe without Lugo but Drew ended up helping them in the playoffs and Daiske was quite solid in the regular season helping them get home field advantage throughout). The Red Sox also got Lowell because they were willing to take on his contract (in order to get Beckett of course). The White Sox probably couldn't have made that move. St. Louis is a bad example because they really haven't been too big on the FA market the past couple years, primarily because they've resigned most of their guys. However, they haven't exactly developed most of their starters (and the Eckstein signing helped them win the World Series). Bottom line I think every good team has at least a few key pieces that were picked up in FA. I'm not saying you bring you hole club from FA, but you probably need to use it to fill some holes.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:11 PM) 5 year, $60 million deal. I never thought I'd see the day Rowand signed for $60 million. But if any team is that foolish, it's the Giants. Enjoy the .270, 15 homers, 60 rbi for that SF. Given today's market that is a cheap contract, imo.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:29 PM) Petrino to Arkansas. A roundabout way to change college programs, but a good decision nonetheless. He really left all that money on the table to take a 5yr 2.6 or so M offer. 500K a year from over 5M per year. Good grief.

Oh god....Coco Crisp....WEEEEEEEE. Not that I don't have a problem with Coco, its just I had higher expectations. I can't imagine what Dye is going to call KW and say now.

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 10:13 AM) i go to vegas 1-2 times per year. Stayed at a lot of places, including the Westin. It's weird because they allow Dogs in the hotel. Small casino so you'll probably want to play elsewhere. Westin table games don't open until nightime. Go play at Ballys/Paris instead. Watch out for the "ladies of the night" at the bar. Some are tranies too. If you do play at the Westin, sign up for the players card. They do good with comps. downtown is overrated. It takes forever to get there (Especially at nighttime), and isn't that cool. Kind of slummy down there too. Watch your wallet. On the strip, I really enjoy playing at Paris, Ballys and Mirage. Caesars is pretty cool too. Fun non-gambling things to do... * Check out the Caesars Mall, including the new portion with the winding escalator. * Check out Caesars pool, its pretty neat. * See if Pete Rose is signing autographs. He's been there the last 3 times I was in Vegas. (My buddies and I wanted to get him to sign a MLB line sheet but thought that was in poor taste) * If you're there on a Sunday or Saturday, hang out in a Sportsbook and take in a day's worth of Football/Basketball. * Aladdin/Planet Hollywood is pretty cool at night. Quite the party. * If you're into Casino hopping, the Wynn and the Mandalay Bay are worth checking out. * Ride the trams... your feet with thank you later * Buffets are pretty expensive now. The days of the $5 all you can eat are long gone. (And probably the places that offer this, you don't want to eat at anyway) * Bellagio fountain is cool. * Check out the free coupon books on-line or at the casinos. Lots of Free Food deals. (Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, etc) * Hooters Casino can be fun to hang out at. * Palms casino is overrated. They have the Playboy tower/club but I think its $40 just to get in. HAVE A GREAT TIME. I LOVE LAS VEGAS. Everytime I've been to Vegas since turning 21 (4 times now, 3 in the past year) I've seen Pete at the Field of Dreams at Caesars and every time I continue to talk way too loud saying smart ass comments about Pete (from the words of what a loser to, couple sentence rants on why the prick should never belong in the hall). And yes since it is Vegas I'm typically drunk at the time. Oh and Caesars is awesome...awesome. I love the Casino, mall is nice if you are into that thing, and ya Caesars is my place (Wynn is pretty cool too, but I still prefer the Venetian in terms of a cool looking hotel).