striker

I may be overly optimistic, but I think Erstad is going to be a huge contributor to this teams success. He's on a new team and he's coming off an injury so he is going to be motivated to prove himself. We all know he has the talent. With Pod's injury and our iffy CF situation he is going to have plenty of opportunities to contribute.

Does anyone know where to get a Whitesox schedule printed on poster (like at bars) or a calendar? I want something to put up at work.

I don't think Clevelands starting rotation is better then ours. Paul Byrd is just plain garbage. Out 5th starter, whoever it may be, will still out perform Byrd. I agree with the Tigers having the best rotation. I'm anxious to see how their youth + inexperience + world series run wears them down.

Where can we find someone that can bat .235 to replace him???

QUOTE(bad at best @ Feb 7, 2007 -> 07:26 PM) From the front office finanacial standpoint this offseason was pretty amazing. Reinsdorf has to be pretty happy. They saved themselves alot of money going forward. We will have a very cheap pitching staff for the next 6-7 years if any of these prospects pan out. From a fan standpoint i could care less about finances. I dont see Jerry buying me hotdogs. That being said, there werent any players in free agency i wish they had gone after AND i think we will still be competetive in the central. Should be a fun year. Plus, the money can always be spent later when there are more talented free agents. If CF sucks again this year and Dye leaves then maybe we sign Hunter or Ichiro. You can't just spend to show face to your fans (See Jim Hendry), you have to spend wisely.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 7, 2007 -> 07:19 PM) But my biggest concern is that we seem to have made much bigger bets this offseason than last offseason, and since I'm not a gambler, that doesn't leave me feeling hugely confident. Last years moves weren't big bets like this year but where did it land us. I don't think the moves we made make us worse, if anything this team will be the same or better. Dye and Buehrle are in contract years. Look for awesome numbers from them.

The only thing that needs to improve is the players performance, not their names. We fielded an awesome team last year and they didn't get the job done, specifically the pitching. I'm not afraid of how the 5th start turns out because these days a 4.5-5.0 ERA is rewarded. People are so obsessed with moves when moves don't win baseball games, playing good baseball wins baseball games.

My first Sox game was the season of the strike, I believe '94. I lived in Seattle at the time and the Sox came out for a four game series. My dad bought me two tickets to each game. The highlights of the series: 1. Sox swept 2. McDowell out dueled Johnson for a 2-1 victory. Sox won on an Officer Karkovice solo homer. 3. Buhner threw a foul ball up from the on deck circle into the crowd. I reached in front of a group of kids (who didn't have tickets for the seats they were in) to snag the ball. I later gave the ball to one of the kids because he gave me a pouty look the rest of the game. That ball meant nothing to me. 4. The best highlight was the last game where I had tickets right behind the Mariners dugout. Marty the Moose was dancing on the dugout between innings. He came over to me, wearing a Sox hat, took my hat off me, turned it inside out and put it back on my head. The crowd was all cheering and it was on the big screen.

QUOTE(bulokis @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 06:07 PM) I would hate to see Buerhle go. He has been our Ace. At some point, we need to reward the players who grew up in our system and who had been successful. Mark has been one of my favorite White sox and I would like him to finish his career with the Sox. We should reward him? $10 million/year isn't exactly minimum wage. Besides, I recall alot of players getting "rewarded" and not earning their money: Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort, Chan Ho Park, Mike Hampton I hate to see Buehrle go but I also hated to see Jack McDowell, Wilson Alvarez and Alex Fernandez go only to be glad later. We said good bye to Magglio, Frank and Carlos and won a championship. I'm betting Buehrle has an awesome year, the Sox at least make the playoffs then he walks.

Great, the Cubs get the headlines again!! KW better be making a move soon!!

I think the Sox next big move will be in Spring Training. Here are some questions that will be answered: 1. Will Uribe's fiasco get in the way? 2. Is Crede's back healthy? 3. How does Fields perform? 4. How do the newly acquired arms perform? 5. How does Pods perform? 6. How does Anderson perform? These questions will answer our needs at the time and Kenny will make a deal to fill the whole. I think: 1. Uribe's mess will get cleared up. 2. Crede is healthy 3. Fields will do go, making Crede expendable 4. Arms will look good 5. Pods will perform well. 6. Anderson will not perform well The Sox will then trade Crede (perhaps to Angels for Santana and prospects) and trade a Prospect and Santana to Tampa for Carl Crawford. LF Scott Podsednik CF Carl Crawford RF Jermaine Dye DH Jim Thome 1B Paul Kornerko CA AJ Pierzynski 2B Tadahito Iguchi SS Juan Uribe 3B Josh Fields SP Contreras SP Buehrle SP Garland SP Vazquez SP Haegar RP Jenks RP Thornton RP McDougal RP Floyd RP Sisco RP Aardsma

I don't see us making a deal for a SS until mid spring training if at all. The Sox will have a better idea then if Uribe will be able to play. In regards to Dye, unless the sox are getting a huge break in his price they probably won't sign him, Buehrle or Crede to extensions until they see how their new crop of young hurlers pans out. If they all appear to be busts then I bet at least two of the three get extensions.

I grew up in Springfield, IL where everyone was either a Cubs or Cardinals fan. I wanted to be different so I followed the Whitesox. My love grew strongest the summer of '91 when my sisters and I were staying with my dad and his girlfriend at her house on the Ohio river in the middle of nowhere. We didn't have cable so everyday I would wake up anxious to read the sports page and see how Big Frank and Ventura were doing. I missed watching games so much I created the American League West teams in the nintendo game Baseball Stars and play as the Sox. In '92 or '93 (can't remember) I became obsessed with Jason Bere because he was just plain nasty on the mound. In '94 I lived in Seattle and would go to card shows and buy up as many Bere cards as I could. I've since used them to start the fire

Good read. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aiig...o&type=lgns

I saw a link on Saturday morning on whitesox.com where you could download the Whitesox Weekly show archives but the link is gone now. Anyone have any idea?

How is this depressing? We get two pitchers for one, one of which is just as good as the one we got rid of. That sounds good to me.

You guys need to allow callers to dial in and voice their opinions on how wrong you are

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Dec 31, 2006 -> 03:45 AM) You CANNOT (completely) rebuild after the year the Sox had last year. It doesn't make sense from ANY standpoint. The Sox won 90 games with a lineup that had 3 players with OPS's under .700, a mediocre bullpen, and a rotation that was bad after May. There will be some regression within the lineup, likely from Dye, Thome, and Crede (though Crede is also swinging upwards offensively, and he could be looking at an .850-.875 OPS year), but there I see it as quite likely that there will be progression throughout the lineup too, with Uribe, Podsednik, Anderson, and others could be primed for better years as well. That's all obvious s***, but you also must figure that the AL Central will be a little weaker next year. I see 4 teams with the capability of being over .500, but I don't see a 95 win team in the bunch. From what I figure, 92 wins probably wins the division, and perhaps it could be somewhere around 88-90. However, while the AL Central might be weaker in '07, that's not really the main reason why a (complete) rebuilding is essentially impossible. The real reason is attendance. People came out in droves this past year, and "rewarding" them the following season with a team full of mediocrity and inconsistency would be a swift kick in the groin to the entire fan base. We trade Neal Cotts, Freddy Garcia, Brandon McCarthy and Ross Gload and we are rebuilding? Two relievers, a starter and bench warmer? Give me break.

I wouldn't mind seeing one of Contreras, Garland, Buerhle or Vazquez traded for some top prospects from the Mets. Like everyone else said though we would have to walk away with at least 2 top prospects. I'm not worried about having 2 rookies in our rotation in '07 and I don't think we would be throwing away the division. Our starting pitching SUCKED last year and we won 90 games. If the rookies end the season with an ERA from 4.50-5.00 then they are just as good as any of our starters last year. I have a feeling they can do better than that. I would really like to see Vazquez traded and Buerhle's contract extended with the money freed up. I would also rather not trade Anderson (give him one more year) then get Rocco. Rocco is good but he is injury prone. I really want to see what Anderson can make out of a second chance. If the Whitesox trade another starter (Garland, Contreras or Vazquez) and extend Buehrle's contract, they walk away heroes and everyone forgets about the other trades. I also wonder if Kenny traded low for Garcia to the Phillies to put pressure on the Mets and drive up his other pitchers price.

Buehrle will get at least $15mil/year but not from the Whitesox. The Whitesox will say goodbye to him just like other franchise starters Jack McDowell, Alex Fernandez and Wilson Alvarez. And we all know what they did after they left the Whitesox, NOTHING. I would love to see a 3 or 4 year extension for Buehrle, allowing him to hit the free agent marget again when he is 30, but it is highly unlikely. I doubt the Cardinals offer him more years than 3 or 4 either though.

I don't know about other Sox fans, but I would have to compare McCarthy's pitching style to Greg Maddux or Jack McDowell. Neither one of them had dominating stuff but they had good stuff and great pitching instincts. The fact that the Sox did a 2 for 1 trade, I have to give them the advantage of this trade.

Despite trading Garcia and McCarthy, our 1-4 starters are 4 of the most talented pitchers in the majors. I hope the Sox hang onto Buehrle and let him play out his contract. Look for him to have a HUGE year (contract year). I may seem very optimistic, but look for Podsednik and Anderson to have alot better years than last year. I think this team is going to be better than everyone thinks. If we get just a little bit better years from our starting rotation, bullpen, Anderson and Podsednik then we are back to a World Series contender. I like the youth movement because it makes our team look ALOT better in '08, '09 and beyond which was looking old and expensive after '06.

I LOVE this trade. Two good pitchers for one? How can you pass that up??!! I really like what Williams has done with pitching this offseason. He's acquired ALOT of good arms. The battle for the 5th spot is going to be interesting: Danks Masset Floyd Haeger Broadway I'm sure there are more deals in the future. Crawford or Badelli?? Kudos to Kenny To all those naysayers: Kenny just decreased his risk 2 for 1 and opened the door for more trade possibilities to improve over Anderson and/or Podsednik. He and his scouts know what they are doing. Stick to your job and just WATCH.

I wonder if the Royals plan on moving Sweeney.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 12, 2006 -> 11:40 PM) I really believe that KW is waiting for Toronto to get desperate. Trade for Wells, extend his contract, let Dye walk after 2007, move Anderson/Sweeney to right?