Chisoxfn

Is he going to be 100% by the start of the season? I've always been a Williamson fan, but if I think right, this is his second seriuos arm injury he's had. He's a very good reliever when healthy though. It be really nice if the Sox could get him at a bargain, but considering they will probably only add 1 to 2 relievers max, I don't think I'd want that one reliever being a guy coming off an injury.

Ya, but wouldn't you not count the buyout in this years salary since technically it is a decision that won't be made till the next season? Although I would be shocked if the Sox exercised his 2006 option.

Alright, screw it. I got time tongiht to figure this out roughly. Uribe - 700 K Harris - 500 K Adkins - 300 K Mark Buehrle - 6 mill Jamie Burke - 300 K Neal Cotts - 300 K Crede - 350 K Ben Davis - 1 mill (rough estimate on my part - one version will have him not included) Freddy Garcia - 9 mill Garland - 3.5 mil (estimate) Gload - 400 K Konerko - 8.75 mill Lee - 8 mill Marte - 1.25 mill Politte - 1.3 mill Timo - 750 K (one estimate will not count his salary) Rowand - 750 K Shingo - 2.5 mill Frank - 8 mill Carl Everett - 4 mill Jose Contreras - 6 mill I left out Diaz and Munoz but you could count them if you wanted and that would be an extra 600 K or so. This counts a total of 21 players on the roster. With Diaz and Munoz that would be 23 players. Total Payroll (Counting all 21) - $63.38 Million Total Payroll (Counting 19 - Timo and Ben Davis not counted) - $61.63 Million Total Payroll (Counting all 23) - $63.98 This means, with a 75 mill payroll the Sox would have either: A) 12.12 million B ) 13.87 million C) 11.52 million Anyway, I think thats really really accurate, but I'll give time for someone to double check that if they want.

Also, one other quick thing, but what the hell is the 7.55 mill in benefits????

Cool, thanks. Off the top of my head he's missing Contreras and his 6 mill a year and I saw where he had Shingos option at .25 instead of 2.5 million. Dont' know if he did that on anyone else, but that would make it about 58 mill. Then of course you have all the guys that make around 500 K that aren't under contract next plus Garland/Rowand who will make a decent amount...maybe 4 mil between the two and that will put you in the 64-65 mill range (rough estimate). The other player its missing is Everett who will likely accept his option at 4 mill, making it around 68/69 million. My only question is I saw you said 48.9 mill so you may of been counting some of the things I'm counting cause his sheet says 40 mill or so. If its 68/69 its gonna be tough to add much payroll. But if that 8 mill you had is me counting over twice, then all of a sudden it gives them about 16 mill to throw around if they have a 75 mill payroll or so. Hopefully this makes sense.

True, but I think if you look at the stats in general most teams hit far more homers at home. Their are the rare exceptions in the true true pitchers parks, but otherwise teams typically take advantage of the home quarters. Anyone happen to know where I could look up that info cause if so, I'll check it out for all of the major league teams to back my theory on that. I think more of it deals with the changes they made to the upper deck, but then again, it could just be a one year thing that the wind happened to help the ball go out more this year.

Heres what I want to know. How much are the homers due to the fences being in and how much are the homers due to the fact that the Sox have some heavy hitters and have pitchers prone to giving up the long ball. I mean its not like the fences are way more shallow then most parks or at least it doesn't seem like it. Hell dead center the ball really dies at the Cell, imo. But when a righty pulls it or a lefty pulls it, the porch is definately shorter.

Would the BoSox really be interested in Konerko. I know the Red Sox have a ton of free agents to resign, but to me they are going to have bigger fish to fry in regards to their pitching staff. As long as Ortiz/Manny are in the middle and they have some complimentary players they should be alright offensively, imo. But Pedro, Lowe and whoever else will be gone and I know they have a ton of position players available as well. Mueller, Cabrera, Mient, Varitek. Boston is going to be a really really active team this offseason, imo. IF they deal Damon I can see the value in acquiring him, but I don't think I'd do it straight up for Lee or Konerko...thats just me though. I don't know what they have that could fit in and help the Sox other then that.

Ya, I'm excited because the fans showed up this year. It showed White Sox management that if they can build a winner, people will be in the stadium. The stadium will be even nicer next year and hopefully the team will be better. I do expect numerous changes, and I think the payroll will be somewhere between 70 and 80 mill. Go ahead and call me crazy, but from what I read and what not, thats the number that comes to my mind. By the way, does anyone know what the Sox payroll is next year for all the guys under contract?

If Scho was willing to battle with Garland or whoever is the fifth and accept the fact if he lost out that he would pitch out of the bullpen, I'd be more then happy to have him. He was very good until getting injured. Another thing I think had an effect is that Scho had not had the type of stress in his arm from starting in a while and in the end I think the innings and what not got to him and caused major fatigue and well eventually an injury.

One thing that I really liked was a few days ago when KW said he wasn't oging to get rid of the home run hitters. That isn't to say one of them or two of them will be gone, but he realizes a team full of only speed and what not still won't be sucessful. He's going to add a leadoff hitter or two and potentially change up most of the infield. My guess is that the Sox have a new 3B, and a new SS or 2B with Uribe at the other spot. You could even have a new first baseman, but bottom line, I think both Lee and Konerko stay...just got a feeling. Honestly you can't blame either one of them for the teams struggles. Both have had awesome years and are hard workers. They aren't whats wrong with the club. Sure, you could use a left handed bat and what not, but find a RF with a left handed bat and then Everett and Gload can compete for LF. That will balance this lineup out, imo. Hell, the only thing the Sox have to really worry about is the amount of absolute garbage guys they had on offense. I'm talking about Willie, sans a short hot streak and then Crede, the catchers position, RF (sans Maggs), and Jose Valentin. Thats what made this offense inconsistent. Hell if I recall Konerko has been one of hte most steady players in the majors this year and Lee has been pretty good minus a slow start. I know I've suggested some different ideas, but I think the most realistic idea is the Sox pretty much staying put, adding an outfielder with a left handed bat, adding a shortstop or 2B for the top of the lineup, adding a FA 3B or trade and going from that. I do think the Sox are going to have a few differences on offense, I just don't necessary think Lee/Konerko are going to be those changes. Maggs being gone will be one of em though. Also, I expect to see pretty hefty changes to the pen and wouldn't be shocked to see two new starters, although I feel very confident at the very least we'd see one. The whole problem comes to how Kenny is going to acquire all these needed positions without adding salary. This is why the lack of assistance from the minors the past year to two is really hurting this club. They thought they could fill with Willie, Crede, Borchard, and Olivo (anyone happen to notice the fact he's hitting like under .200 in 46 games or so with the Mariners). So far all of them have failed in my book. You expect growth and on the most part, minus Olivo, I have seen absolutely ZERO growth.

I was thinking the same thing.

I was thinking he went up to like 6 mill so the salaries wouldn't wash but they would be semi close.

For me it comes down to a group of a few players: Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, and Rafael Furcal. Outside of them, I think Hairston, Chone Figgins, Brian Roberts, and Jimmy Rollins would all be solid pickups and of course Omar Vizquel as well. However, Chone ain't going anywhere and Rollins has a questionable obp. Both Castillo and Pierre have very good OBP's and are just sweet top of the order guys. Castillo is easier to get, imo, because he makes more then Pierre.

Well, I think we all know that the Sox are going to make a change and add a leadoff hitter. What I want to know is who do you want, and how do you propose they get that player (preferably realistically).

I should add, but I think if the Sox fail out here, Beane will make at least a few changes to the team to try and get them to win in the playoffs. To me the biggest thing would be adding a bat and getting a stronger bullpen. Marte/Konerko or Lee and then of course Garland could help do that, imo. I mean no offense to Hatty and he's having a good year, but he isn't what I would call a cleanup hitter. And I know I'd love having Byrnes penciled in this lineup every day and Zito...oh ya.

I'd say he'd play first and Hatty would DH. Hatty has improved at 1b, but he's still a liability there defensively. I think Lee would make more sense for them and I think both Lee and Konerko have pretty much equally high trade value. As far as Zito goes, I'm just basing it on him getting a raise and the talk that he is likely to be on the block over the offseason. As far as Terrence Long goes, he's on the Padres. He was part of the Mark Kotsay deal. I think Dye is still there another year or so long term and he gets like 12 mil or something (he has a pretty insane contract).

After that the Sox figure out who they want as a 5th starter. They decide whether they want to keep Crede and they could still move someone to open up a spot for Ross Gload if they want to. I don't know if the Sox would deal both Lee and Konerko, but if they did, they could add two good starters, have that outfield with Byrnes/Beltran/Rowand then have Gload at 1B with Thomas DH and Everett kind of a utility guy. Uribe would play SS and instead of acquiring a high profile top of hte order guy, you go with Hairston Jr., who you should be able to acquire. I'd try to get Julio in the package, but who knows. Anyway, just an oddball idea I came up with today. If the Sox acquired Zito, I'd like to see them try and sign a 5th starter (I'm assuming Garland gets dealt) and that would be Jaret Wright at like 5 mill, although their is a definate risk to that. I think Wright is a pretty good pitcher though. But someone in that type of mold, heck Derek Lowe may get that type of money, but he's been pretty much crappy this year.

Now I don't have a clue whether Oakland would buy into this, but its a way to pump our pitching staff and add a grinder type left fielder to the team. This deal would open up the ability to add Beltran or Drew if they wanted and if they added Beltran, the Sox would have in my mind the best defensive outfield in baseball. Anyway, I have my doubts of whether Oakland would give up Eric Byrnes, but they do have Nick Swisher coming up and would get either Konerko or Carlos Lee in the deal. Sox deal Paul Konerko or Carlos Lee, Jon Garland, and a prospect (yes I'd be willing to give them something pretty good or they could go with a guy like Willie Harris if they wanted). The A's deal Barry Zito and Eric Byrnes. Zito steps into the rotation, he's due a raise and I'd hope the Sox would give him a long term contract. Byrnes is a very fast, fun player, that you could use as a leadoff hitter or put in the back part of the order. He's very good defensively, very fast and has a solid OBP (.350, hit 20 HR's, and has a good avg .290. He also stole 15 bases with the A's, so you'd think he'd steal a bit more here). The only reason I see this as a possibility is that Beane could get himself a guy that legitimately can go with Chavez to form a really legit offense. Swisher is going to be there soon in their outfield and I'm sure they'd rather get rid of Dye, but no one is going to take him (for all I know Dye is a free agent at the end of the year and if thats the case its way less likely they'd give up Byrnes). The A's still have Harden, Mulder, Hudson, Redman and then Garland so they got plenty of pittching. Heck, maybe the A's would be more interested in a Konerko or Lee, Garland and Marte swap or Marte, Konerko and a prospect. Either way, I see some components that could make the deal work. The Sox would give up a lot, but theyd' fill some definate needs. Then you add Beltran, you still need to find a 5th starter, but you get a guy who has won a Cy Young, is just 25 or 26 and while he's had a down year, he's still basically hampered by two bad months. And I think Byrnes and Beltran would give Guillen two pretty good players and like I say, that would be an amazing defensive outfield with them two and Rowand in RF. Anyway, just throwing it out there.

Thats a pretty good idea. Although I do hope an entire offseason can really help him. As far as Coop goes, I'm starting to go more and more to that line. I think about seeing progress out of pitchers and I see quite a few guys on the Sox staff with talent and I don't see them getting better, in fact I see them getting worse. He's a lot different then Nardi and he's definately better then him, but I am very sceptical on Coop now. Early in the year he had this staff performing really well, but since then everything has blown up and I see a lot of guys just getting worse under his watch.

Clement gives innings, has great stuff, limits hits, gets a ton of strikeouts, but does suffer from control trouble at times and has been struggling the past two months with it. Still a 3.69 ERA on the year and in the past three years his highest ERA was 4.11. 155 hits in just 181 innings and he has a very good ERA at home, which tells me he'd be more then fine pitching at the Cell.

Steff....Have a happy happy happy happy Birthday :cheers

While I like Buehrle and Garcia a lot, you can't look past the fact that neither has been exactly tremendous this year. Both are good, but neither great. Awesome 3's, solid 2's. I thnk Garcia may be able to turn into a #1, but thats still to be seen. As far as Contreras goes, I have been long saying that this deal was going to be a tough one to win cause the Sox took on a pretty hefty contract. I mean, they could of just held Elo and spent the money they added in Contreras...6 mill a year on a pretty good pitcher, imo. And still then added another FA pitcher. They decided Contreras was who they wanted and in a sense its like a FA signing, but right now who knows. I want to see what an offseason does for him and see how he comes out next year. There is no doubting his stuff, but his pitching smarts are well...way up in the air.

Hell, looking at Willie's splits his season was based on his one hot streak. To help it out he did have a solid August, nothing special though. The one person I'm really intrigued by is Uribe. I swear he reminds me so much of Miguel Tejada. I have no problem pencilling him in at short and finding a way to get Castillo or someone else at 2nd base. I think Luis Castillo, due to his contract, could be had. The Marlins will have Pierre/LoDuca 1-2 next year, imo. I don't know what it would take to get him, but Carlos Lee or Paul Konerko would be too much to give up for him. Another idea I'm still into is acquiring Furcal and having Uribe at 2nd, although I Think Uribe is a very good shortstop, but he's a gold glove 2nd baseman. I know I suggested Konerko for Furcal/Cruz, but I bet Atlanta would also heavily consider Lee for Furcal/Cruz. I'd then make a push at Beltran, have Uribe at 2B, and go with a left field of Gload/Everett. At 3b I'd probably stick with Crede and behind the plate I don't know. I'm pretty nervous in regards to Burke and Davis. Both haven't been all that grand as of late. I wouldn't mind dealing for a catcher. Hell, I've never been much of a Damian Miller fan, but he definately can handle a pitching staff. Pitching wise, I would sign a FA pitcher and a good set-up man or closer. I figure 12 mill on pitching, 15 mill on Beltran. Ya, thats a lot of money, but at the same time you are dumping Lee's contract at 8 mill and of course are losing Maggs 14 million. Lineup: Furcal - SS Rowand - RF Thomas - DH Beltran - CF Konerko - 1B Gload/Everett - LF Uribe - 2B Crede - 3B Miller/Davis/Burke/Someone - C I wouldn't be in love with the bottom part of the lineup...aka the final two hitters, but 1-7 thats a very good well balanced lineup. Furcal, Rowand, and Beltran are all capable of stealing a good number of bases. Gload isn't fast but is quick enough to go 1st and 3rd and well Konerko and Thomas are obviously clogs. Uribe also has speed, but Crede and the catchers are slow. Rotation Garcia Buerhle Perez/Pavano/Clement/Morris/etc Contreras Garland Bullpen Shingo Marte Cruz FA Cotts Politte or whoever That gives me 4 guys I got confidence in between Shingo, Marte, Cruz and the FA (I left at the most 4-6 mill to go to that guy, so I was overestimating, but I mean a good reliever). Cotts ain't bad either, I Think he'll be good. Don't really care if they give it to Politte (I'd prefer just giving it to a youngster). If the Sox want to, they could make a change at 3B and use Crede, Garland and whoever to acquire a good starter and then sign more of a middle tier guy. Another deal that would interest me would be getting Castillo and Mota, but I don't think they deal Mota with Benitez on the block. Lee or Konerko would be a key part of the package and they could use a 1st baseman or even a LF. THey definately will try and add a power bat to the team. Its too bad they probably won't give up any pitching, but either way, the Marlins wouldn't add much, if any payroll and they would help add a power bat and what not. I don't know if they would do a Castillo, Mota for Crede, Harris, Lee or Konerko. But Lowell may opt out, Harris could potentially fill in as could Crede and both have potential and value while they would add a power bat and could probably still have enough money to lock up Pavano. Probably a pretty far fetched idea. Either way, Furcal, Castillo, Pierre (I highly doubt Marlins part with him), Itzuris all league like good/solid pickups. Vizquel looks solid too, but the others would be long term solutions as well.

Good call Cheat...by the way Poppy, if you want, just tell us and we can do name changes so the posts counts stay and what not. As far as your ideas, I think they are far fetched. However, I think if the Sox pitching steps up and gets healthy and they add an extra arm or two, that alone could give this team the potential to do something along those lines. However, I must say I don't have much faith as of this minute, but I do like the idea of Garcia for a full season, although I don't think he's anywhere near 100% right now.