Chisoxfn

I was like Jim Parque, then I hurt my arm. Now I'm finally getting around to getting it back in shape. I actually think I throw harder now then before, so I don't know why Parque can't. Me throwing harder is like me hitting 78-80. I was never known for my speed, more my curve, knuckler, change and control. Oh well, I'm wasting talent in college, working on becoming a gm or something.

I could give up Stewart. I think his impressive AFL stats could help us get way more value for him. I don't mind Stewart, but he is nothing like our other guys and could definately move him, if it would get us Dempster. Dempster is way better, and could help us now. Brad Penny would be my first pick, but he'd cost way too much. Also, I do think the Reds are looking at Lopez as a shortstop, not 2nd baseman and are figuring Larkin is done, either this year or next(Plus he's hurt 60% of the season). Now would be a perfect time to groom their future infield, so their is a definate possibility of them wanting Harris, but that isn't as likely after they made the deal. Then again, they are supposedly willing to get Colon for Lopez and Dunn, so who knows what to think.

Its amazing how these threads take a life of their own. :metal

Welcome Aboard Toasty... As far as Jose goes, I don't like him as our shortstop. I will live with him as long as we don't sign anyone. Still, I would love to see someone like Hummell or Harris step up, so Jimenez could move to short with the other playing 2nd and hitting 2nd behind Jimenez. The flaw is, it would be very difficult to compete with two, basically rookies, hitting 1 and 2 in the lineup. We have a very young team, so having Manos out their is probably a good thing cause we at least know what we have in him. Thats not to say I'd rather have a different veteran shortstop or 2nd baseman at 4.5 million a year, cause I would. I do think that everyone over-rates Manos when saying he made the 2000 team. That team over-achieved. Eldred, Baldwin, etc. had career years and the team was healthy. This team is more talented than that one, and it will be interesting to see what happens. If crede develops like I think he can, and Frank comes back with Maggs and PK continually growing, we'll have an amazing offense. Buerhle, Wright and Garland are all pretty decent and developing while Rauch is real good. Ritchie can't be as bad and we have Biddle back their as well. We also have a bullpen that rivals the 2000 one, so things don't look too bad, even if we go into next year without making any more changes.

I will say this. I'm much happier with Ritchie and Rauch in the rotation then losing Konerko. I love Rauch as our 5th starter because I Think he's one of those rookies that will develop rather quickly, mainly because he knows how to pitch, and has very good stuff. As long as this guy is 100%, he should be on our major league roster. Still, I do think it would be best for the Sox to pick up a good number 2 pitcher. Of course, at what cost is the question. Do we want to give up Garland for Colon(If JR has told Kw we may not be able to lock him up long term?) or do we want to give up Honel or Borchard in a Colon deal? These are all things that KW has to think about and say, this is worth doing it or this isn't. Plus, if Colon doesn't position us to a world series and we lose him next year, then it will all be for naught.

All I really would like to have are the transcripts of what went on. Until then, none of us can really know what happened. Maybe, KW is getting smarter and is turning down deals instead of being pressed into making deals. I'm putting a lot of faith in him and I said I would give him one more year so I'm doing just that. I think in a year, he will prove himself to be a good gm, if I'm wrong, I'll go out and admit it and will hope he gets canned.

Geeze...this must be psychological soothing for most posters...getting out all the stress and tensions after all these rumors and waiting.

If the Reds are dumping salary we could really take advantage of a once hot commodity guy and hope to turn him around. Imo, this is a guy whose going to figure things out again. He was over-worked and that typically kills young pitchers arms(Baggs made this post a long time ago). After something like that, it usually take a couple years for them to recoever(See Millwood, etc) I think Dempster, having a full offseason should be feeling a lot better next season. I'd definately be willing to offer Willie Harris and Brian West for Dempster. I don't know the Reds true needs, but I know they would want pitching prospects.

hasnt mendoza had alot of arm problems the past 2 seasons???...i remember him in '00 being the guy everyone in baseball wanted from the yanks...seems interest has cooled off...with whats left if the sox were truly looking for a free agent pitcher id go with daal first and the mendoza... medoza is a free aganr right??...the yanks said they wernt gonna make him an offer..or am i thinking of someone else??? Mendoza is a free agent. He's had a few injuries, nothing too serious(Someone can check me on that), but he's mainly been in the pen as the Yanks see him as being so strong their. He gives them something no other team has(Thats what Torre thought) This guy would be a very good pickup, but If he is going to go anywhere for cheap, I'd think the Yanks would just spend a little extra and sign him.

Next...let me say this, Billy Beane is losing it. The last deal he made really has me questioning things. Erubiel Durazo is a great talent, but the guy has been injured his whole career. He gave up one phenomenal prospect and some are saying that odds are the Jays will get both Griffin and Arnold or whatever his name is. That would be way too much to give up to get Durazo, imo.

First off, let me say welcome aboard Sox Badger. Great post. I'm with you in most regards. Right now I'm under the assumption that the White Sox will keep their payroll between 50 and 52 mill(Just my guess) If they do that, then they won't have much after locking up Ritchie and eventually locking up Buerhle. This would mean they'd have to dump some type of salary to pick up a pitcher or get JR to ok adding a little more salary. With the increase in ticket prices, and the all star festivities you could only hope. Right now, I think the best option if we are going to get a real good pitcher is Bartolo Colon, but the Expos will demand a ton and Ken Williams will have to decide whether it is worth it. The Ortiz deal would of been great, especially for the rumored prospects. Unfortunately, the Braves made a far better offer and the Sox couldn't beat it or didn't have the shot to beat it. (I think the Braves gave up way too much, imo) Next off you have the Colon deal. Those rumors have died down, but the Sox are now supposed to be the 3rd team in the running, which lives a little bit of hope out their. Their are also guys like Person that are free agents and don't look to be getting any interest. Person isn't a great pitcher, but the thing that stands out about him is the fact that opponents don't hit him very good at all. If he could ever improve his control, he'd be a extremely good pickup.

Thank you. Byrd turned down a lot more money and more years from the Phillies. Lets face it, the offer that it would of took to get Byrd in the South Side would of been way too risky. Something like 3 yrs and 20 mill is what he had on the table from the Phillies. Sorry, but no way would I give Byrd that much money. He's good, but thats a big risk.

Baggs, as I said to oldroman....would you rather have had KW made the trade for Ortiz which would add $4 million to our payroll and would give us a huge risk in JT Snow or we would have been Ortiz-less with Konerko...you even said it yourself that this could end up like the Ritchie trade....which is one reason I really like it falling through. I am happy with Konerko in a Sox uni...it is fine with me. i didnt say make the konerko - ortiz trde if that was even a possibility...i didnt like that trade...but in the 2 years KW has been in charge we have gone from leading the AL in wins to a .500 ball club..and he has not made one trade that has significantly made this team better...but has made many that have hurt us...until this team wins he deserves all the criticism he gets... Baggs has held his ground since the day KW was hired. I hope to god his wrong, but he is very consistent with his opinions.

He may of made one decent trade(Evans), but I will stick to my guns that KW is better then Dan Evans. I'd love to see Williams able to work with the payroll that Evans has in LA. Now in Evans defense, he didn't exactly get to spend that money, but still, he has a lot more options then Williams.

KW wasn't at fault for missing out on Byrd. Byrd turned down good money with the Phillies and was holding out for the Braves. The Sox weren't going to get him.

I'd like to go out and apologize to everyone for the recent outage on the message board. We've had an influx of hits the past week or so as the site continues to grow and it ended up using the resources of the server. I'm still in talks with the server company and am asking them what I have to do to ensure this doesn't happen again. Once again, I'm very sorry for the outage and were doing all we can to permanently solve the problem. Thanks for your support

The problem is, 3 mill is about the cheapest they can sign him for.

Well, I think if we dump Ritchie we need to pick up two guys, and then we at least have some seasoned veterans in the rotation. This way Rauch can ease his way in eventually and their is less pressure on the younger guys like Wright and Garland. We just need some inning eaters that will do a decent job, unless we are going for an ace.

Lol...I don't dislike Oregon State, but Pitt damn near beat Miami. I still remember the year Oregon State kicked the crap out of my Irish.

I think Witesoxfan is hitting it on the head. Many of us were questioning how this move could of been done yesterday. The Giants wanted to dump payroll, and the Sox didn't want to add too much. The whole Konerko thing must not of been true. The Giants wanted prospects and cheap players and the Braves made a heck of a lot better of a deal.

Anderson is out their. I like him more then Daal too. I wouldn't mind just picking up 2 starters from the bottom end of the pile and just seeing what happens. You can always deal them later in the year if needed. Of course, I'll still hold out we can get a good guy via trade. Robert Person is still out their too (LDF pointed this out)

I forgot about Person, he'd be a good pickup too.

Roman...relax a bit. The deal the Braves had was a top young starter who had a 3.60 era or so last season and was 12-6. That wasn't in a full season either. Moss is a better pitcher then Ortiz, imo or will be and they also got a top prospect from the Braves. The only similar deal we could of offered was PK and a prospect straight up for Ortiz or Wright or Garland and something like Brian West. We'd of been nuts to do either of those, imo. KW never turned down that Liefer deal.

They are still looking at things. I think they will end up getting someone. The thing is, now all that is left is a real blockbuster like Colon or Vazquez or settling on a free agent or dealing for a lesser commodity like Ponson(I happen to like this guy a lot)

The Braves had a much better offer on the table, imo. Those reports aren't true as of yet, that KW turned down that offer. The Braves and Sox were negotiating with the Giants at the same time, the Braves had a much much better deal on the table.