Chisoxfn

Not really because Foulke is making 6 Mil this year and when his deal is up he will probably get a raise. We have Koch at 4.25 this year (the low end of his arbitration deal) and for only 6mil next year, and he is coming off the rolaids relief award. Smart money deal by the Sox. IMO. NYSF I'm with you. They sign him to a deal for 2 years, one longer then Keith will be here and then after his deal is up, they will still have him arbitration eligible for one more season. Keith makes more now, and will likely get a raise next year. I still say, I like the idea of a guy that wants to close and have the ball in his hands in the ninth inning. Keith wants to start. By the way, welcome aboard.

That will be interesting, but its also going to look funny with random seats starting that high. Still, it will help them make more money.

Very True, it was Kurk's band. I wonder if Kurk taught him a lot when it came to writing and all that stuff. Grohl kicks some serious ass!!!!

The one thing I'm going to hold out for is that the Sox acquire Carlos Beltran. I loved Moochpuppies idea and I'm jumping on that bandwagon.

Welcome Aboard Chicago. Bullard is a guy that really pitched good last year. I don't think I'd rate him in my organizational Top 10, mainly because he doesn't have the upside of other guys in the system. Diaz, Honel, Wing, West, Wyatt Allen, Royce Ring, Edwin Almonte, Arnie Munoz, and Sanders all rank ahead of him in my book. That doesn't mean he's not good. He has good size and has pitched well. The key is for him to prove he can do it at higher levels consistently. Bullard doesn't have that overpowering stuff scouts drool about, but he gets it done and has a good mind. Basically, Bullard is still a year off, and I think it will be hard for him to make it to Chicago, but you never know what happens. People get traded, people fail, people get hurt. I think Bullards best shot would be getting dealt to another team that doesn't have the depth the Sox have. At 23, he isn't too old to be in AA, so it should be interesting to see how he does. To me the guy to watch at AA is Neal Cotts, the guy we got in the Billy Koch deal. In the next few days we'll have a AA Preview up on the site.

Your definately write they won't be better then Pumpkins. Then again, Look at Dave Grohl. Not saying Foo Fighters is better then Nirvana, but they are still damn good. Then theres Queens of Stoneage which also is really good. Grohl is super talented though. I still think Zwan is pretty damn good. I was ticked cause they played at the Glasshouse and I missed them. I think the main reason I like them is I can reminous about the Pumpkins cause some of there stuff is similar.

First off, welcome aboard. Secondly, I got to disagree with you on Loiza. I don't see him making the roster unless he outpitches Rauch. Daubach will definately be a huge pickup. He's way better then Liefer and is going to make the Sox bench a whole lot better. If the Sox decide to carry 12 pitchers, then I could see Loiza pitching in relief. Still, its goign to be nice having a guy like Loiza in AAA that can come up if Rauch struggles or if anyone gets injured. You'll bring a guy up whose got major league experience, something most teams can't do.

I think they kick ass. Is there full cd out now? For a while they just had the single. If its out, I'm gonna actually go buy a CD. I wish the Pumpkins would get back together.

But the year after he's a lot cheaper. That means A he is easier tradeable and B the Sox payroll will be a bit lower as they may have Frank Thomas at a higher payroll or Carlos Lee at a higher payroll. Plus Buerhle will be making more too.

The big thing is, we now know we have Koch for at least one more year then Foulke, most likely two, unless we decide to deal him. Foulke would of walked at the end of the year and he never was happy to close. Koch is a guy that loves closing and wants the ball in the 9th. Plus, I like knowing the JM is going to use him as the closer. For all I know, JM would of screwed around with Foulke this season as well and that would of really hurt our bullpen.

I thought that was pretty damn funny.

Those Civic Hybrids are pretty nice cars. You also get like a 2000 buck rebate from the government if you buy one. Honda makes really clean cars as it is. Mine gets like 26 mpg, and is super ultra low emissions or whatever you call it. Of course, I went from a full size gas guzzling truck to this These hybrids are the first step though. The big thing about the Honda Hybrid is they don't have that piece of crap design all those electric cars had. This one is actually the same as the gas cars, but it does have a weaker engine. They'll still have to learn how to make this hybrids powerful and stuff, but I read where Acura is coming out with like a 400 hp hybrid or something like that. THey have the engine designed and everything and are likely going to use it in a future car, maybe even the new nsx whenever they redesign it. I forget the exact numbers on that engine, but thats just a rough estimate from my memory, but I know it was a lot. It was in the LA Times a couple months ago.

Damn...I never knew that about Royce and Frank's women. Let me say this is a whole new reason for me to call him a cancer, something I never have really said. By the way Matthew...I'm gonna have to start using that I'm a defensive specialist line. Hell, I may not be Royce..but I can hit like him

Honel may be able to make it next year, but thats at the earliest. This year there is no doubt in my mind that we go with Rauch unless we sign another pitcher. I don't think Loiza is going to beat him out, nor will Heredia. If the Sox decide Rauch isn't yet 100%, then and only then will Loazia beat him out. I think that if LDF's scenario is right, I think they'd rather carry Rauch, giving him some experience in the bullpen, and then bring him into the rotation later in the month.

Folks, I don't think he's on KW's s*** list, but on JR's s***list. Think, JR has his thing about signing pitchers to long term deals. He's had it for a while. He let Mcdowell walk, Alvarez go, Fernandez go, and JB go. Hopefully he doesn't let Buerhle go though, but we got him for a while and I'm going to enjoy it. Good move signing Koch, I wonder how much the deal is for; I'm guessing 2 yrs 10 mill.

SN Report: Sox Sign Closer Billy Koch to Two Year Deal By: Jason Gage

Very Cool...I'm going to get a write up done quickly.

The only thing I can think of is that they were always flipping lineups about, but that has to deal with Jerry the Tinkerer. No one really knew there role in 2001 and it was probably a big distraction. Jose and Herbert playing 3rd and everyone wanting Crede there.

IT was pretty cool. I wasn't planning on going, but I was walking down the street in times square and some lady come up to us and said the show starts in like an hour, and they had a cancellation and asked if we wanted to go. They made us answer a trivia question of who some guy on the show was...I didn't know, but my friend that watches the late night stuff new. The one thing I realized is what puppets the audience is. I think it would be better if people laughed at what they actually thought was funny. It was cool how they do it straight through without any outtakes. The band was really good too. I was ticked though, found out Zwan played the next night, and I would of loved to see them on Letterman. Pretty fun though.

2000 was a great year for Herbert. I'd never heard of him until we picked him up, but boy did he deliver. He had that odd batting stance, and he delivered whenever the Sox needed a clutch hit.

Phillie should be pretty good, but they are counting quite a bit on there young pitching, which could turn into a problem. If they signed Glavine, then they'd be my favorites for the division. They will still have a real exciting rotation with Millwood, Padilla, Brett Myers, etc. Still, Braves got a very deep rotation and Hampton will be back. They still got Sheffield and Chipper and that makes them the favorites, imo. Mets could surprise too, now that they have a better rotation. Plus, think if Mo figures things out.

Your reasons for beating up central teams is why I believe that the Wild Card will come from the central division this year. I just can't see the AL West teams continually beating eachother up and still being able to win the division with one wild card winner. The Sox and Twins will be playing a bunch of terrible teams. I love your idea of Beltran..to me it would complete a perfect offseason. He's been available for some time and from what I've heard they aren't looking for too much for him. I think they just want to dump his contract and that would be a more then fair deal for Beltran, imo. They got a starting pitcher, they could go into their rotation now, a replacement for Rowand, plus Ginter who could relieve (Although I think he stinks and I'll say good riddance). We get a really good defensive and offensive centerfielder. Welcome aboard!!!

Great Post on the whole issue of respect and how its led to the Cardinals players wanting to stay there. Hopefully the Sox can build something like the Cards have, but they can't do it unless they try and spend money every year. I'm not saying 80 million or anything like that, but every offseason JR has to run things more like he's doing it this year, doing all he can to improve the team. Now I understand if eventually the team needs a couple years rebuilding, but when the team is ready to compete, like this one is, you got to continually put forth your best possible effort so you can win it all.

Look at Keyshawn...he was wearing all these different throw backs after pretty much every playoff game he won.

That would be real cool. Kansas is looking pretty good this year. I caught one of there games yesterday. It be real sweet if KC hooked ya up with a gig to cover the Sox on a permanent basis