SkokieSox

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Oct 16, 2005 -> 07:28 PM) Don't blame me for reading the Times today. I am collecting the papers both here & in Bos, Ana, & Hou/Stl for my World Series keepsakes this year. So I did read Kotex Boy today. As I expected he slides a compliment in with a lot of crap in his first paragraph. From there you pretty much know what to expect so I won't bother with the rest. But then he does what I have yet to see any reporter do: start the bid price for Kong. He starts it at $70M/5yr. Basically what he stated repeatedly last year as the price the White Sox owed Magglio. If Maggs stays healthy the Tiger deal could be $105M. Of course any team fielding a payroll north of $60M is likely to want to be at that auction so I don't think it's unreasonable. But I do think it's classless for him to be the one to start the bidding. We don't need a popular Chicago columnist being our #1 nemesis in the sports writing world. We have plenty of qualified candidates at ESPN for that job (notice the lack of the White Sox being the lead MLB story on their site .. the only site to NOT have them as the lead). Well now that Kotex Boy has thrown it out there I doubt very much if it's going to be the ceiling. Which brings us to the bigger question. Which would be of more value to the 2006 White Sox: a cut-rate price for Manny or an over-priced Kong? The price to get Manny is going to be no less than a starter. If I had to guess it will be Garland because his price vs performance is at an all-time high. So Manny at $13M a year (with the cash BOS throws in) for the price of Garland & minor leaguers doesn't look all that bad. I don't think any other team will be able to offer a package that match's Garland as the centerpiece. But where would he play? DH, RF, or 1B. I mention 1B because Manny has proven adept in Bos at playing hard hit grounders & balls hit off the wall. He has shown better IF instincts than OF ones & his arm is certainly adequate for 1B. If not at 1B then you could slot him in at RF. Again with Pods speed, Rowand can cheat to his right to reduce the coverage area for Manny. Dye then would take over 1B. DH is obvious but when you consider the potential of Thomas-Manny-Dye as a 3-4-5 well it should give you goose bumps. There's a potential of over 100HR's a year in that middle. Of course with the $13M a year Boston would save in the deal they could then turn around & sign Kong. So it works out for both teams. Kotex Boy is selling Kong at Thome-like prices. I hope he's wrong. I hope Kong will stay for no more than $60M/5. But I fear he's correct. I fear that Kong is boosting his price by $1M a year with every HR he hits in Oct. I fear that his next contract will be in the neighborhood of $90M/6. Even with a WS win we can't afford that. I will greatly miss Kong's defense at 1B. I think he's well-deserving of a GG this year. I'll continue to pray that Kong's love for the White Sox is greater than Giles love was for the Pirates or Griffey's love is for the Reds. It's not out of the question he might choose to remain with us than to seek greater riches elsewhere. One thing we have in our favor: if he's not the #1 sports personality in Chicago now he soon will be. He can talk to MJ directly to see what that's worth a year PK. I like the guy. Really good player. 90 million @ 6 years = see you later. No regrets at that price.

QUOTE(wherehaveyougoneharold @ Oct 15, 2005 -> 10:52 AM) Definately, I don't think its any coincidence that all of a sudden this year, the pitching staff is loaded with near-aces. Agreed - even Lou last night said he couldn't remember when he saw so many broken bats. We have been seeing it all year. AJ definitely calls a great game, and I think he has helped get these guys (particularly Garland) to attack inside and throwing strikes early and often.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Oct 15, 2005 -> 03:17 AM) I can remember when it was vogue to post that we should trade Garland. I always knew he could be this good, the reality is, he can be better. Should of been a shut out, and I hope that the Garland realizes that he was 1 pitch away from that. SB It was a good pitch, right where they wanted it. It was simply a great hit - he kept his hands in and was able to turn on it. Nothing to be upset about with that pitch.

Ya that's right Papi! You want to DH for us next year....

Steve Stone on the way?

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 11:35 PM) Says who? Who are we going to replace him with? If Fields is the 3rd baseman of the future, why sign someone to a multi-year deal to play 3b? If Fields is our third baseman of the future. With third base being an offensive hole, and the injury concerns with Crede, it's very possible they sign someone to a mulity year deal. Maybe Mueller? Teams often sign free agents and deal the prospect they have lined up for the spot. In the near future, we may have some young guys taking over the outfield spots, which may make KW decide to have a more veteran infield presence. Who knows man, it's not like anything is set in stone. KW will work his magic, just every other year. If we got a guy like Erstad, other moves would follow.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 10:09 PM) He would fit in well with last in the AL in OPS at SS and 3B in Uribe and Crede Chances are Crede will be replaced.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 10:07 PM) Where would we add the power then? Good luck finding a 3b with power that won't cost over 10 million. Erstad is also very injury prone. If you have an infield of Erstad, Iguchi, Uribe, and Crede....you're going to have a crappy offense. Konerko is going to cost 10 million, so that's a moot point. Erstad has had injuries, but his move to first has kept him fresh. Besides, saving money on Konerko could also provide money for a power DH which we are missing for next year. We could resign Everett, but there may be some better options. I guess I just don't agree with Erstad being a deterent on our team.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 09:53 PM) The Angels have been wanting to get rid of him for a while. He would be a huge downgrade from PK. His price tag will be much lower than PK's, with a higher average from the left side. The money saved could still be put to use for the power you're looking for.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 07:21 PM) Erstad would be a disaster for this team. The last thing we need is a defensive specialist at a power position. We have enough of those guys on our roster already. A disaster is quite an overstatement.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 06:24 PM) Frank is gone, I don't think there's any other way to say it. I hope the only way they'll re-sign Konerko is if they win the WS, or at least get there. He's not worth the money he'll get, but we'll have the money to throw around if we get that far. I like Konerko, but I see us going a different direction next year. I certainly could be wrong, but I think adding Erstad as our first baseman has a lot of advantages.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 04:02 PM) For Boston, yes. For LA, yes. For NY. yes. This is a lineup that has a hard time scoring runs. You can same the same thing about Joe. You can't have two automatic outs in a lineup that at times is starving for runs. An upgrade in the off-season is a must on the left side of the infield. Which is fine, but I think this will most likely happen at third. Crede has his back issues. Although his defense is great, a defensive SS is more valuable. We'll see a change at third next season. It's probably unlikely, but even Uribe at third wouldn't a bad idea if we added a SS.

What's the matter with Uribe at SS? He flashes the leather and has a rocket for an arm. His bat is fine for what he brings to the field.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Aug 7, 2005 -> 06:04 PM) why do people think ESPN Insider somehow has some breaking news that no one else knows? :headshake I just want to know what they have to say, what's the difference.

ESPN has said the ChiSox still have interest in Griffey. Does anyone have the ability to summarize what they have to say? Your help is appreciated, thanks.

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Aug 5, 2005 -> 08:39 PM) I don't think we'll make it to 2.5 this year. Back in April or May I looked at last year's monthly averages and made some guesses as to what they would be this year. I came up with a total of just over 2.3 million. So far all my monthly guesses have been just a little on the high side. I'm thinking they'll end up with somewhere between 2.1 and 2.3 for the year. They'd have to average 36,000+ a night for the remaining home games to hit 2.5 for the year. When considering the yearly attendance mark, do the playoffs come into play?

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Jul 31, 2005 -> 05:26 PM) I wouldn't be so quick to punch Willie's ticket... It's common knowledge that Ozzie dislikes Gload... If he can play 1B then Gload needs to watch his back... I don't think Ozzie dislikes Gload.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 23, 2005 -> 04:43 PM) I'd do Marte and Bmac for Burnett. Especially if they could relock him. I'd feel better about getting rid of Marte if we had Wagner on our radar as well.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 05:47 AM) Let's be Honest here. Gooch has been sucking it up since april. We have not really given Willie Harris a shot at the starting spot at 2b. Reminds me of 2003 when we kept pushing Rowand a side in favor of Carl Everett. Anyone think it's not willie's turn now? Harris has better D, he has more speed, and Im sure he can hit .267. Remember what he was hitting last year before he got hurt? If I re-call willie had a very successful April and May in 2004 before crashing into Maggs. He was hitting around .300 consistently and was stealing more bags. Why won't Harris start? The thread title speaks for itself. Before I get bashed. I want everyone to have at least an open mind with this. Back up your argument with facts. I think this is a very debatable subject. Do you not see Iguchi put a grounder to the right side almost every time Pods is on to get him over. You don't get batting average points for doing the right thing sometimes.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 17, 2005 -> 03:01 PM) If Anderson comes up here he should be the CF, but thats ok... Rowand is a natural RF so thats cool anyways and believe it or not Dye has played 1B b4 that game way back when. And if we want him at 1B he can always play in a winter league or whatevr and get some time at 1B there. Its not like its impossible to learn 1B..... example being Scott Hatteburg of the A's and Dye is way ahead of Hatteburg when he was trying to learn 1st. He certainly has the build of a first baseman.

Cardinals

Philadelphia Phillies Updated:07/15/2005 The Phillies are ready to dump 1B Jim Thome and other players as well, says USA Today. Just about everyone on the team is available, the newspaper said, which could lead to a massive bidding war for closer Billy Wagner. I know it is far-fetched, but Thome absolutley rakes at the Cell.

Brad Radke - S - Twins Brad Radke was the victim of a Torii Hunter practical joke prior to the All-Star game. Hunter put an official looking letter on Dodgers' letterhead in Radke's locker, signed by Hee-Seop Choi requesting that Radke be his pitcher in the home run derby on Monday. A pretty good joke by Hunter, considering Radke gave up three homers to Choi in June. Jul. 13 - 8:46 am et

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 10, 2005 -> 04:03 PM) How much did you have to throw down if you don't mind my asking? And for how many people? It was a birthday present from my parents, but they actually got them at our church auction from a lawyer for the White Sox who donated them. As a result, I don't know how much they cost, but I believe they were considerably less than face value, as most of the church goers are Cubs fans. Lucky me, lol.

I'm going to that Saturday game too. My first experience in the Scout Seats, and I'm pretty excited.