Chisoxfn

Hummell is the one who would be best suited from another year in the minors so if it were one or the other Harris would be back up. He can be used as a pinch runner, and can also play in center.

The only possibility could be Joe Borchard if he has a huge spring. Otherwise Hummel may get a gig temporarily and if their are any injuries someone like Sanders or Stewart could catch on.

Biddle will be in the pen to start the season, and I'll give him a shot. Otherwise the Sox would likely move him to the minors as an insurance plan or simply deal him. Still, he has had a full year back from injury so he could become pretty productive for the Sox. He has a great fastball and curve.

Here are his stats. He can play all 3 outfield positions and hits from the left side of the plate. He is 33 and will turn 34 in January. 2002: 110 g, .300 avg, 0 hr, 31 rbi, 33 bb's, 20 k's, and a .368 obp. He also stole 7 bases. Transfer that out into a full season (I'm going to say 550 AB's it would look pretty good. He'd have over 180 hits and over 60 bb's. That seems pretty damn good to me. His career numbers are .281 avg, .361 obp. This guy could be a real steal, imo. The guy plays his butt off and was a big time leader of the Angels. I think they were fools for not signing him. My dad and I have talked about him for about 4 yrs now, wondering why no other team had picked him up and let him start.

Not much has been said about him. To be honest I don't know if he'll be ready at the start of the season. Still, the Sox have Willie Harris and Tim Hummell who can both play multiple positions and can fill those roaming needs. Tony G is real good though, and I hope he comes back healthy and is with the Sox for a lot longer, cause he's a great role player.

The same goes for Buerhle. He lost his cut fastball, which was once his best pitch. Well, one of his fastballs, I think it was the cutter though.

Thats the spirit michelle, I love seeing a little enthusiasm (Their hasn't been much on the board today)

But Liefer can't play in center. Rowand is the only centerfielder. Aaron will eventually be a very good 4th outfielder. Oh ya, along with Shinjo, the Sox are supposedly interested in Orlando Palmerio Let me say, I've watched Palmerio since he's been on the Angels (I go to like 20 Angel games a season) and this guy would be an awesome #2 hitter. If we were to sign him, I guarantee he would become our starting centerfielder. He's like a less talented version of Darrin Erstad. The guy will hit .280, can bunt, decent speed, solid defense. He could hit better too. Last season he hit right around .300 and played in a lot of games.

Two years ago, I Thought the Sox would groom him as the future closer. He's got a hard fastball, a good change, and a nice curve. The guy has enough pitches. I like him as a swingman though, mainly because he can go a couple innings and be a real workhorse out of the pen. Plus, I love Koch.

All I know is he has good velocity, a nice slider, and a good curve. The problem is he quit throwing the curve ball after the first month of the season and he had that wrap in his delivery that led to him having inconsistent release points. Inconsistent release points lead to you hanging excess pitchers(mainly the slider) and in the end you pay (The high era, and opponents avgerage). Late last season Ritchie worked on these things. Supposedly the wrap in his motion was due to compensating an injury and that may also be why he quit throwing a curve. Its a lot easier to hit off a guy when he is only throwing 2 pitches, one of which he is constantly sliding. Cooper spent a lot of time with him and Ritchie looked to have a smoother delivery when he finally came-back the last month. He should work on bringing back his curve(its pretty good) and keeping a consistent release point. If he does that, I'd look for 15 wins and a 4.50 era (Maybe even less). This guy has a 94 mph fastball and good pitches.

I think Williams has explored it, but its hard to have value when you've sat on the bench and didn't produce much at all last season.

yep that that is what a good gm does, being creative and do what you can. hasn't oak had been under a greater restraint and yet they have done well in their trades. Good point, but its pretty easy to do when you are looking for hitting. Typically you can find decent hitting out their. It is pretty easy to look good when you have Mulder, Zito and Hudson in the rotation. They were fools for giving up Lidle.

Marshall vs Lousiville Leftwich vs Ragone Its quite likely the Bears will end up with one of these qb's as Palmer will likely go #1 to the Bengals. Either way it should be a real fun game to watch.

Trust me on this. Glover in the bullpen is one of the best set up guys in baseball.

Right now I'd say Liefer has no value. I would ship Liefer to the Brewers for Wes Helms.

I understand everyones anger towards the subject, but all I want to know, are what restraints does KW have tied around him. He has a cheap owner that isn't willing to let him add salary, which means he has to be real creative to get anything done. Its hard to get someone cheap when a team is looking to dump payroll and you can't add it. Its also hard to get someone if your owner simply says no. Right now, I think KW is in a tough tough position and if he somehow develops a winner he will of done it against the odds. I'm not calling him great, but I ain't going to blame him for not making the Ortiz deal till I know exactly what he turned down. Also, last I looked thats the only deal he's not made so far this offseason. The Expos deal is still out their. Who knows what will happen with that or how close they are. Their is still a legit chance we could end up with any of them. You can't simply bank on one player, otherwise you'll end up paying way too much. In the past thats exactly what Kw's done. Hopefully this time he's made a list, checked it twice, and is going to find out who fits just right.

He should be back 100% by the seasons start. Thats not to say his future is as our starting centerfielder. The Sox have quietly been looking to add someone like Shinjo as a backup plan. Willie Harris is also getting extended playing time in Centerfield during the Winter Leagues, so he can also play their. Of course the golden boy, Joe Borchard, should be roaming their or in Right(Maggs moves to left) in 2 years. He needs one more year in the minors, imo.

I say 2 starts, with an occassional pinch hit at bat.

Ritchie would be the #4. I said if we don't get anyone, meaning that our rotation would be Buerhle...Garland...Wright...Ritchie...Rauch

Closer by committee is crap if you have a legit closer. No way will Manuel be able to go with any committee with Koch in their. He could with Foulke, mainly because people got on Foulke early. Still, we do have a very deep bullpen and if Koch has pitched a lot, we may just give him an extra day off and go with Marte or Osuna or even Glover if needed.

If the Sox roster, offensively, doesn't change, then Liefer should stay on the bench. The only positions he could play are lf, 1b, or Dh. He could also play 3rd, but we have Crede, and he's going to be get the playing time. Lee had a very good second half of the season, where he showed that he may be on the verge of having a huge year. Then in PK, we just signed him long term, and he is continually getting better and is only 26 or so, so Liefer won't be playing their. The White Sox definately won't be benching Frank Thomas for Liefer either. Jeff should see good playing time though. Manuel will try to get him in more often this year, but still, he hasn't done anything to earn that playing time. If the Sox move Lee for a pitcher, then Liefer should start, but the Sox should aslo go with a backup plan. Basically, Liefer is at best a backup. On a sidenote, I don't see many teams that he would actually start for.

Moving Jose around was screwy because it caused all sorts of problems, not just for Jose but for the chemistry of the team.

Well, the talent changed the next year. Losing Wells(Or Sirotka, we would of lost either), losing Parque, losing Thomas, etc. It was a big thing the Sox couldn't overcome. I don't think many teams could overcome that.

Test

The one thing about Bowden, if he wants to get rid of someone, he will do it without worrying who he gets in return. See Pokey Reese (Once was able to get Gary Sheffield, but the Reds turned it down - allegedly) and then ended up being worth nothing.