Chisoxfn

Plus Dye still has a good outfield arm. I think Dye, after finally having a healthy season and getting himself back in gear could very well explode next year. Could be a very good value pickup.

I fully expect RJ to be one of those players that goes above and beyond the proposed resources. I'd bet that the payroll would be around 80 million.

In the playoffs, Randy Johnson > Lieber and Garland and thats big time. Thats what this is about, putting a team together that can win the world series and make the series. This deal goes a long way to doing that. I know the Cubs failed this year with an awesome pitching staff, but they had a crap bullpen and some injuries. I still am confident in the Sox chances and I'd definately make this deal. If Bmac/Sweeney/Anderson are involved I'd think twice. However, give them a prospect like Schnurstein (good 3rd base prospect, but the Sox have Josh Fields ahead of him) and then I'd be alright and I think the Dbacks would be interested.

To add to this, if the Sox could negotiate a deal with RJ to make sure the contract stays deferred (I'm not sure on the rules of this with the new CBA) but I always remember the talk on Griffey was that you could still keep his contract deferred. Then you have actually about a 2 mill (in this years books) positive. This means the Sox could front the potential and take a little bit of a risk to build a world series competitor and see attendance numbers sore. We know the Sox have talked Carlos Beltran. Well what if they land Beltran to play in the OF with Lee and Rowand. Then at the end of the year the Sox have Beltran signed long term, you may lose RJ, but if things pay off you keep RJ and sign him to a new deal (this would mean the Sox went deep and attendance sored). If not you cut your losses, get the draft pick and knwo you gave it your all. Konerko would of been a FA and Garland I think is also eligible for FA. Maybe you don't opt for Beltran but go another route, its still an option. I think if you deal Konerko you can find a bat to semi replace him in the outfield leaving Everett and Thomas platooning at DH. Then next year the Sox could whipe out both Everett's and Thomas contract. Basically put, while the Sox got some money invested in pitching, I'd agree that it isn't wise to get a long term contract pitching wise. So why not acquire Johnson. Konerko is better then Gload, but Gload is a solid player that fits nicely in the 6 or 7 spot in the lineup. He also helps unclog the lineup a bit. You have RJ in the rotation so 1 through 4 your good. Lookin for a bargain FA pitcher if necessary (just a veteran to give you innings and keep you in the game, maybe give him some incentives....make it a one year deal). You have Bmac as the backup plan. Regardless the 1-4 is legitely awesome and you can't predict injuries so just hope they stay healthy. Now you have to figure the Sox bump up payroll this year and sign Vizquel to a 2 yr deal. Then they look to add a big time bat to replace Konerko. Remember, they could add Beltran and then move Lee to DH or another team at the end of next year. You also have Sweeney/Anderson on the horizon in a couple years and could get Everett/Thomas contracts off the books next year freeing up more cash and positions for guys to play. The Sox could realistically go heavy this year, knowing that if things don't work out the payroll will drop back down to a managable number (RJ's 16 mill off the books, Thomas loses about 6 mill off the books after buyout, Everetts 4.5 mill off the books, Lee you can trade and get his 8-9 mill of the books) and you'd still have Beltran/Buehrle/Garcia/Contreras/Rowand/Crede/Harris/Uribe/Gload essentially a solid nucleus still and if they wanted Carlos Lee, to give it another shot. I'm saying this would be a brilliant deal and could open up the gates for the Sox to make one BIG TIME signing. Folks, I guarantee you Free Agents would take notice if RJ joined the ranks of the Sox. You bet your ass those players would see the Sox as more of a contender. What would you say if the Sox did this or some alternative to this: Sox Add: - Randy Johnson (16 mill; 6 deferred) - Carlos Beltran (17 mill) - Omar Vizquel (4 mill) - Cheap 5th starter (1 yr deal 3 mill) - Reliever (1-3 mill) Sox Give Up: - Paul Konerko (8 mill) - Jon Garland (4 mill) The net result on the high end is a 25 million increase in payroll (not counting the deferred portion of RJ's salary). However it is a one year increase. Obviously this would be a little nuts to think of as possible. But if this doesn't work the following year the Sox an automatic drop of (10 mill from Johnson; 4.5 Everett; 6 Thomas; 3 mill from the starter signed to a 1 yr deal; 3 mill from the reliever signed to a 1 yr deal). Thats 26.5 mill alone, bringing payroll pretty much back in line while still fielding a competitive team with a core of attractive players. You then have options of dealing Lee and really dropping payroll or whatever else. Simply put, the Sox could legitimately be in a position to make a heavy push this yer and take a shot. We know it isn't necessarily the Reinsdorf way, but it appears that if things went south, they would have the options to quickly fix the problem and get payroll back in line.

Do it, Do it Do it. I like Garland as much as the rest of us, but Konerko is gonna be gone at the end of the year most likely or at least possibly and we have Gload to step in for him anyway. Garland, yes, its a loss, but Randy Johnson is oh so much better. We keep our prospects and all that other stuff. Assuming the Sox would then spend a little bit of money (they only add like 4-5 million after Garland's arbitration goes through) the Sox can then maybe up payroll a little bit more too. I'd definately pull the trigger on that deal.

Only if your on the tax end. If your in audit your still good. Sarbanes Oxley is creating a much great need for accounting jobs. Plus its forcing the big 4 to turn down business from firms it used to deal with, which then goes to the midtiers, so the mid-tiers get bigger, and some of the mid-tiers smaller clients slide to local firms, making them bigger. Right now accounting is a great industry to be in. I agree with a tax overall and have long been a fan of the flat tax, but I think its going to be a very difficult thing to work in.

Haha, I'm not ready to gloat yet, but I will admit I was talking this game up amongst my friends and told them all to pick the Bears in the pool. All of em laughed at me, but I have faith. I said it entering the game against San Fran, I expect the Bears to go on a winning streak through at least the Dallas game. Lets go get the Titans next week and continue to build on things and see the Bears build confidence and increase their win total one game at a time.

Not to me. Brown has been playing studly the past few weeks without Ogunleye in their. Brown needs to be signed to a contract extension pronto. Last I heard they were negotiating and I'm assuming the Bears still have time to sign him using some of this years cap space.

This is my upset special. Bears will win.

My dad just woke my ass off all bitter cause all they are talking about here is a potential swap of Green and Sosa. They made it seem like it would be straight up. If it did happen, I'd have to wonder what the hell the Dodgesr are thinking. Green isn't as good as he once was, but he has a good attitude and his contract is up at the end of the year. You can't say the same about Sosa. I'm assuming its semi serious cause they had Green interviewed saying he wants to stay here and I guess DePodesta had some quotes.

The way I see it, if someone gets injured by midseason, Brandon McCarthy will likely be the guy we see and I have a lot of faith in Bmac.

It all depends, I'm hoping the 2nd year is an option year, but who knows. I guess we'll see when it happens. However, if he produces like he did this year and is a leader both on and off the field (which I think he will be) then I think he'll be worth 4 mill a year. We'll just have to wait and see.

Here's the thing, don't the Sox need a good 2 hole hitter, which you essentially said Vizuqel is? I think Cabrerra is very similar to Uribe in a sense. We all know I like Uribe a lot so its not a knock, but if we wanted a guy to do what Cabrerra is capable the Sox would look to Uribe at ss (he may be at 2nd though) but the Sox are trying to find a guy for the front of the lineup who can do the little things and is a smart baseball player and thats what Vizquel is.

Electronic.

Nuke your right, the more they do this the more they further divide their party, imo. The democratic party continues to swing more drastically left and the people are responding.

Hey Hey Hey, California may go democratic, but thats becuase they have Los Angeles and San Francisco. The suburbs go heavily democratic, for example the county I live in is very republican, San Diego county the same way. Most of the counties in the US are red, not just the ones in the midwest people. That article is elitist bulls***.

Wow, I can't believe I didn't turn the game off. The Bulls showed a lot of heart in the comeback. Nocioni showed good defense, rebounding, and hustle and showed some nice finesse although his shot was off and he has poor shot selection (expected for a rookie). Same can be said of Deng, except I think he's going to be a monster. And as far as Hinrich goes, he missed a lot of open shots in the 1st half, but their is a reason he's my favorite player in the league. My god can he hustle and wow did he fight to get the Bulls back in the game. That lineup with Hinrich/Duhon both in the front court was nice. Ben Gordon was eh, If he continues to do what he did in the preseason and this first game, he's going to quickly find himself out of the rotation.

I think if the Sox dealt them Lee or Konerko and got a 3rd team involved to get one of the two giving the Dbacks prospects and you could get Rj. I wouldn't make that deal either. It completely kills this offense. Carlos Lee is already one of the better hitters in all of baseball. He's also emerging into potentially one of the best hitters in all of baseball (some may disagree with me on this).

I don't know if other members are supposed to add to this. But I'd like to mention he was a sleeper pick and didn't have much college experience so he's a little raw. He quite possibly has the best athletic talent of the draft though (catching wise) and shows good power potential as well. Has a good catching body too. But like I said very "raw" for a college player.

Ok, I get the background check, but what the hell does him filing for bankruptcy have anything to do with whether he is capable of mananging the Dbacks. If you ask me thats freaking stupid. Their are many perfectly logical and sensible reasons for filing for bankruptcy. You could have a business and it goes under and a lot of times the best option is to file chapter 9.

I've long been a fan of Armas Jr and I could definately see him brekaing out if he stayed healthy. Showed way more then Pavano ever did in Montreal, but at the same time I think some other team will give up something solid for him.

I stick to my thinking. Carlos Lee is a very valuable commodity, Paul Konerko is a valuable commodity and 10 mill in cash is a valuable commodity. Their is absolutely no way I make this deal. Plus now the Sox have an outfield with Everett in RF, but the problem is we have absolutely zero DH until Thomas comes back, which probably won't be at the start of the season. Konerko and Munoz or Konerko and Diaz (maybe include a guy like Spidale or Rogo) could probably or at least possibly get your Hudson. Why would I possibly give up Carlos Lee and 2 to 3 prospects, plus cash for Eric Byrnes???? That would be nuts, imo.

I think 5 mill a year could work out, especially when you consider all the other names on the market ahead of him. The Sox could be well suited if they sneak in early in Free Agency and sign him.

Way too much money gets thrown around. For example if anyone would simply take on all of Arthur Rhodes contract this upcoming year I'd think they could have him. Yet you have the Cards acquiring that albatross of a contract and giving up 4 mill in cash plus a prospect. THe Sox are giving up two contracts and 6 mill is do-able, imo. However the Sox offense is in trouble now. However you know me, I like the idea of getting Byrnes.

Umm, where does he figure that Drew is gonna get 8 million a year. As far as I'm concerned the Braves would so lock him up if thats the offer he got. He'll more likely get 10-11 per season.