R.J.

Well, they can't just write "He's bad." (But they should.)

I agree. I'd rather have $4.5 million and nobody than pay Jay Payton $5 million to be just as bad as Uribe will be.

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 20, 2007 -> 06:50 AM) Buehrle should not be traded to an also-ran for mediocre prospects. I truly believe this rumor is completely made up by someone who didn't know that Buehrle has a NTC for '08, but I want to kindly disagree with this notion in that Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto are two quality prospects. Cueto is a top 10 pitching prospect and Votto is a valuable 1B prospect. In a world where young, cheap, talented players are treated like gold, these guys fit the bill as "top prospects." Still, this deal is inconceivable and, on paper, doesn't quite coincide with what either team appears to be doing. If we were going to trade Buehrle, it would have been last year. He gave us a hell of a discount and will be effective and affordable for the duration of his contract. If we're going to have a fire sale we have plenty of guys to move.

Where were the reds 6 months ago when we needed them? This team is in a desperate need of rebuilding, but Buehrle has a no-trade and is probably our most valuable asset at the cheap price he signed for. The guys we should move are Vazquez and Contreras. (And Dye and Thome and Konerko...)

QUOTE(GreenSox @ Dec 17, 2007 -> 02:14 PM) Actually 7 of his last 10 appearances were excellent. Too bad he didn't pitch more - but Ozzie was still wheeling his crappy veteran middle relievers out there in late September Ok, I was a bit harsh, but I think you're being generous to the guy. I'll modify my statement: 2 of Gavin Floyd's (10) starts were "top of the rotation quality" - or what you would expect to see from your #1 or #2 starter. Sept. 5 vs, DET: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 6K, 2BB Sept. 29 @ DET: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2K, 0BB, W So give him credit for those. A dozen of those a year and you can start talking him up as a "front of the rotation" type pitcher. But that isn't what we saw. He had a few more quality starts, but he pitched more than 6 innings once on the season, he recorded one win in 10 starts, he gave up 17 HRs in 70 innings, had a WHIP of 1.48, and had an ERA of 7.00 until the month of September. If you want to make the argument that he showed some talent and has deserved a chance to crack the starting rotation in 2008, then OK, I'm with you. But what I'm trying to point out is for our general manager to try and sell this guy as a "top of the rotation guy" is absolutely insulting to White Sox fans and it makes me sick. To imply that we might not be aggressively looking for valuable arms to put in our rotation because we have Gavin Floyd on our side is a bad excuse. Williams said: "Most people in the industry view them as top-of-the-rotation guys." That's crap. That's crap that he has to put in the papers to try and get people not to become livid over the lack of improvement of this team. That's the same as talking up Brian Anderson as a quality starting center fielder after BURYING HIM for an entire year. It's just working the media. If Gavin Floyd wins 10 games next year, be thrilled and hope we can trade him for something valuable.

We have nothing from Gavin Floyd to show us that he's even a capable 5th starter. Outside of two encouraging starts last year, he looked downright ugly.

Mench has been pretty unremarkable outside of Texas. He'll get an offer from some club but we should hope to do better. I suppose you could do worse if it comes down to a bench spot.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

That's the most ridiculous trade proposal I've ever seen. That's what they're ASKING FOR???

I've been playing MVP 2005 for years (uh, almost 3 I guess) but I am absolutely terrible at stealing bases. I can't do it. What's the secret to a 255 SB season?

Basically, teams weren't willing to give him the kind of contract he wanted without at least getting a look at him, and his number in the dominican league have been, as some have mentioned, very poor. He'll probably have to settle for much less than he wants.

"Under the cover of night, sneak into Florida and pull an Indiana Jones-esque switcheroo by swapping Joe Crede for third-baseman Miguel Cabrera." I loved this. Imagine the headlines for the Miami Herald in March. "Cabrera reports to camp 30 lbs. lighter, white."

I would actually love to take a chance on Prior but I don't think that this move is the right one for the Sox right now. If we could get him on a one year contract with an option, I wouldn't turn it down though.

Fields is valuable. Danks is valuable. Gio is valuable. DLS is valuable. I think if you offer those four, then you may get a deal done. If the Marlins would really prefer Ryan Sweeney over someone else given their need for outfielders, then by all means. The other guys mentioned (Broadway, Phillips, Anderson et al) are really not trading chips anymore. Each one could turn out to be a valid major league baseball player but that's not the kind of endorsement that will make other teams go out and get them. Of our valuable prospects, it's questionable whether or not there is a future "star" in there. Some feel Fields could be. The problem is guys like Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick (bad year? he hit .322), and the Yankee's three headed monster, are much hotter properties now and would qualify in that department. I agree that our best chance of making noise here is if these teams decide it's smarter to keep their prospects as opposed to paying Cabrera $12 million and risk him leaving via free agency when he's eligible.

Our four best prospects would not stand a chance against three top prospects from either Los Angeles team.

After all of this talk from Kenny about going out and getting the BIG NAMES and puffing out his chest, this really does seem to make him look like a jerk. The only other BIG NAME out there that would fit on this team is Andruw Jones, and I don't see us breaking the Boras Code to negotiate with him. It is such a thin, thin free agent market that spending top dollar on most of the guys who are left would be foolish. I think this move gives the Angels the freedom to move Vlad to DH, if not now, soon. With all of the talk of trying to get Miguel Cabrera swirling around, I think the Angels are actually looking to make a move for Miguel Tejada, who would probably be cheaper.

So with Hunter going to Los Angeles, do we now embrace the cries for "THE FIRE AND THE PASSION" and spend big money on Rowand? Or do we invest the money more sensibly and maybe start looking to trade candidates? I think we dodged a bad bad contract by missing out on Hunter. Hunter is a hell of a player but is dangerous in terms of the money he costs, his age, and his health.

The only way this is bad news is if it means we give Rowand $65 million instead.

Uribe is going to be three things next year: 1. Expensive 2. Bad 3. On the White Sox Unless we concede significant cash in a deal, we made a $4.5 million mistake.

I'm sorry, but I don't have cable, and when there was a baseball game on at 1 in the morning, it made my night.

Even if it's 4/$60M it's a great deal. Hence the skepticism.

This is certainly good news, but if the actual numbers are 4yrs/$50m I'll eat my hat. This simply can not be. It's a very optimistic scenario from a radio station that's filled with premature reports, just last week reporting that Scott Linebrink was involved in that Barrett trade. I'd expect $6-8M would have to be tacked on to this to even make it realistic.

This show is absolutely excellent. The Bret vs. Tape checklist had me dying.

I don't get it.

They can afford a tough sign. Kinda hurts we didn't jump on him.