Chisoxfn

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:56 AM) He's a free agent after the '08 season. Well that makes it a little tougher, but I think he'd be the type of guy you could trade for and get to sign a relatively fair extension (for far less money than Arow and the other class of OF's gets). Of course there is some risk to this since he's coming back from a leg injury, but If he passes his physicals I don't see why he couldn't get back to his old form (hell just before he broke his leg last off-season the Angels and many were predicting he could really turn into an above average ballplayer. That was based on the fabulous second half of the season he had with the Angels that year).

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:52 AM) Borass has said he will opt out, meaning that he will be a free agent. I just think in the end no one is going to be able to offer him more than what the Yanks can. That said if they don't, than I agree the Angels would be a likely destination (even though Moreno has consistently said he would never give a ball player that much money, especially because that type of contract could have severe rammifications on Vladdy). I wouldn't be shocked to see McCourt make a major splash and than try to parlay Arod in LA to an eventual new stadium deal.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:39 AM) Alex Rodriguez Duh (boy am I slow, lol)...I'm kind of assuming Arod will be completely off limits when it is all set and done.

I'd just as well try to swing a deal for a forgotten Cfer. Maybe the Angels would willing to part with Juan Rivera (they seem to have filled there OF and he wasn't exactly starting a ton for them even after coming back from injury). He's also a guy that in 2 of his 3 full seasons has posted an 800+ OPS and the other season posted an OPS in the .700 range. He has a strong arm and can play all 3 OF positions. Not sure how many more years he has left till FA, but he doesn't have a ton of service time for a 29 year old.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:40 AM) No one's giving up anything valuable for Crede until he proves he's healthy. The only reason Burrell made sense was as a salary dump, and prospects aren't salary dumps. We'd be looking at a price similar to what we got for Iguchi or Mack, some obscure A-ball player with a 1/100 shot at the big leagues someday. I don't disagree with that. But why not have Crede initially start your year at 3rd, as he proves he gets healthy you turn him into more prospects (who you can than eventually swing at the deadline if necessary, or maybe even project into the back of your pen or as backup plans in case anything goes wrong in the rotation).

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:26 AM) Carmona never cracked the BA top 75. He did somewhat sneak up on them. That said, even after his dissapointing season I think most people familiar with baseball knew the guy had a lot of talent. He has an electric arm with amazing sink. I do think you are correct though, about BA undervaluing what a good sinkerball can do for a guy's career. The thing is it is probably much harder to discern how that sinkerball is going to work at the major league level (since you'll still need other pitches typically) where it is easier to see whether a guy has a plus curve, plus fastball, etc.

I should point out that I don't think that trade scenario is realistic. The Sox would have to kick in a very valuable asset such as DLS or another major leaguer that the Angels would be interested for it to work. However, would the Angels consider moving Juan Rivera. He could be a cheap alternative at CF (he's capable of playing all 3 OF positions). Juan Rivera/Figgins/Santana for Konerko/Kochman (if they can find a way to get Wood in the deal, fantastic, but the Sox would have to give up more). By doing this you now have Rivera in CF with Figgins playing in the middle infield somewhere. The Sox also have the flexibility to swing Crede elsewhere if they wanted to (without getting major leaguer's in return, rather prospects).

Still this thing had some pretty solid moments. I laugh so hard I cry at times while watching this show. Its so wrong...yet so hillarious.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:20 AM) Rodriguez? Bonds? Is Rodriguez Pudge?? His option was picked up. I agree with Bonds, but I don't think the Angels are interested in him. In fact I'd be quite surprised if they went after him (they will force explore all other options and even if all of them fail I'd say there is just a small chance that they would go to Bonds).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 11:52 PM) There are also better ways the Angels could spend $20 million. They need pop and based on the way the rotation collapsed down the stretch they could use another arm. I don't see any big pop bats on the FA market so Konerko would likely be the best option. He's also a leader and a guy the club could market along with Vladdy. The Angels should have the financial flexibility as well with Colon's contract coming off the books

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 09:47 AM) And that is about the scariest thought I've had all day, and it's entirely possible too. Who would you rather have...Gary Matthews Jr at $11 mill, or Aaron Rowand at $13-14? Its actually not much of a difference to make. They are both similar players but Rowand is a bit younger (IIRC). Matthews is a better OBP guy (throughout his career) but overall they are similar with each capitalizing majorly on there contract year numbers.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 06:23 AM) With Torri Hunter and Andruw Jones on the market, he won't even come close to what he is looking for. Maybe those numbers are why the Sox are rumored with Hunter/Jones and not Rowand? There will be enough teams with money going after all three that he'll likely get close to that. It actually isn't bad because if he's looking that there is a chance he'll end up getting a bit less. The only ugly thing is the years but given the market conditions a 4yr 13M a year type deal would be pretty solid (it would be a bit of a discount). I'm not saying it would be a smart deal but it would fit in with the current economics and if Rowand came close to this years production I would have no problem with it (note I'd drastically prefer picking up a young CFer or a cheaper CFer like Figgins).

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 10:07 AM) No one is going to trade for Joe Crede. Not after back surgery. The Phils would to unload Burrell's contract. They have a strong offense and are going to be putting a lot of money into the rotation and pen (Rivera & Schilling are apparently two of there targets).

QUOTE(DaGame2584 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 09:54 AM) What do you think the lineup would look like if the Sox sign Hunter also? SS could be fill by Wood? PLUS just imagine how many times we can hear Hawk say "He loves Wood" lol I think Figgins actually has a better chance of being a full time shortstop than Wood. Wood is going to have to probably move over to 3rd, plus I don't think he's quite ready for the majors. However, I definitely think the Sox would have the financial leeway to be able to add Hunter. In this case I assume you would probably have Figgins playing the bulk of the time at SS or 2B (with Wood/Richar battling it out). Than if all of Wood/Richar pan out (and if Figgins can play SS) you than probably slide Wood to 3rd and move Fields to LF (or if Fields projects as the better defensive 3rd baseman, slide Wood to LF) when Burrell leaves. 2007 Lineup: Figgins Hunter (I'm thinking stick him in the 2 spot) Dye Thome Burrell Kochman Fields AJP Richar/Wood In the Garland/Konerko trade you free up ~20M You also are losing Pods/Mack/Erstad/Iguchi (~7-9M) So thats 29M or so freed up. The Burrell deal would increase your payroll by ~6M (w/Phils paying like 3-4M) and than if Hunter or whomever got $15M that would be a total increase of ~21M (but you've cleared out even more than that, and obviously some in-house guys have raises to there contracts).

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 09:53 AM) Does Figgins have the ability to play SS? Because it'd make a lot more sense in this market to either go with Owens for an OF slot or spend some of our money on an OF right now than it would to try to magically find a SS when the only one really on the market is Eckstein (and we'd have moved our best trading chip in Garland already without filling that spot). He's played there before but its hard to get any time when OC is playing there all the time. He has good range and is a decent fielder and definitely possesses a strong enough arm for short so I don't see why he wouldn't be capable of playing (how good he would be, I'm not sure, but I think he could be at least league average and he could even turn out to be better than that defensively). I just think if you can get him at one position and let him play you'd see him turn into a plus defender wherever he is.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 09:33 AM) If somehow the Halos would actually be interested in that deal, which btw, would probably involve Arte Moreno having a stroke considering how long he's held onto Wood (no comments), then yes, we'd have more than enough money to go after a Hunter, if you though he'd be worth the contract he's going to get (I still don't). It is more Stoneman that would have the stroke than Moreno. I would definitely have no problem with that deal. Burrell slides in at LF, Figgins in CF (or at 2nd or SS), Dye in RF, Fields at 3rd, Insert SS, Richar, Kochman, AJP behind the plate. That is a pretty solid offense and you obviously get picks for Burrell if he walks (than again you'd get picks for Crede too most likely).

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 07:20 PM) Correct. I'm not sure if you were listening at the time, but I did make a piont that if you wanted to come on an educate Mario and I about the Hawks we'd be up for it (like a 10-15 minute hockey segment every couple weeks with you discussing the Hawks). We'd probably mainly ask questions as neither of us are majorly up on hockey but it would definitely be good for the show as we are trying to emphasize a chicago sports theme.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 06:30 PM) Phillips was often referred to as lazy and never put up anywhere near the periphs that Jack has. Phillips was also repeating AAA for the umteenth time as well. Its not a knock on Heath either, but its just not comparing apples to apples. I also think at some point in time Heath will have a couple year run at the major league level (back of the pen lefty). It will not be with the Sox though.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 06:20 PM) He doesn't have much of a fastball and as such doesn't belong on this list. Besides, I don't think he's better than anyone on that list, and he definitely has no high ceiling. He's "smart," and he has good control, and he throws a good sinker, but with his fastball, he's going to have to prove some things at AAA and at the majors before he can be indignant that someone says he isn't a top prospect by any standard. I can't believe people are actually indignant because Jack Egbert isn't on this list. Toolsy or not, the guy had one of the best seasons in all of minor league baseball. I'm not about to say he's a sure fire ace nor is he the organizations #1 prospect, however, he's definitely top 5 and he projects anywhere from a #3 guy to a #5 guy. At his best I think he could be a very good 3 (I should note that on many teams a very good 3 would actually be there #1 or #2 pitcher). I also think he's the type of guy that you can be pretty confident will at least be a serviceable 5th starter in the majors (but there is very little chance he'd ever be a legit #1 guy either). Basically he's what I'd grade as a relatively low risk prospect (in the sense that I fully believe he will have a major league career) with middle to good upside (ie middle of the rotation starter). I don't see anything wrong with that and when you throw his stats into the mix as well as that sink ground ball rate and you'd have to consider him possible on that top 20 (than again I saw who didn't make that list, and there are at least a few guys that didn't make the list that I'd take over Egbert).

QUOTE(WatchIt @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 01:06 PM) That is correct. His change is nothing to sell short though. He throws it at around 81 and when he has a good feel for it, he will use it all night long mixed in with his sinker. The thing that makes his curve so effective is that he changes the speed on it, thus changing it's action, all the way from the low to high 70's. Thanks for that info on Egbert and Welcome Aboard!!!!

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 09:44 PM) Rumor has it college gameday has contacted Illinois officials about possibly coming down for college gameday next week vs Michigan. I'm not banking Iowa as a win, just thought the mention of this even possibly happening is really cool. There aren't a ton of good games next week, and it is one of the Saturday night games. We'll see what happens. Iowa will pull the upset. Our defense will do a good job against the run and Christensen is actually gonna have a good game. And yes, this is me getting all dreamy cause I always predict wins over the Illini.

QUOTE(Mr. Showtime @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 06:26 PM) I'm a great poster, I'm semi popular and I deserve a shoutout. Thanks for coming through, Mario. Did you listen? I don't think you would be dissapointed as I did give you a shoutout.

Happy Birthday to All of you!!!!

Its probably because people are looking for the latest SSR radio show In all honesty I don't recall us being in any major publication over the past month but it wouldn't shock me. Every once in a while the site gets picked up on Rotoworld or some random spot on ESPN. Either way thats a cool stat and something I'm proud of.

God damn it...Fullerton may just be better than Iowa this year. Uggh my College Basketball teams are horrible.