R.J.

I don't know, I think you probably want to go year to year with a closer with some injuries in his past. If we sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal I think he might lose some value on the trade market.

Then the dream is over. I think OC is looking at the Royals or A's.

Doesn't Kemp lead off? I want this to happen right now. That 17th pick would be so, so nice.

I've been extremely pleased with how we have handled the payroll the past 5-6 years.

There hasn't been so much as a peep hinting that the White Sox have any interest in Furcal. Oh well. I think we're going to get Taveras, and then the speedy, bunty, grindy rhetoric can officially begin.

Wigginton, it should be noted, is an absolutely brutal defender at both 2B and 3B. Just all kinds of awful.

and if Bedard is healthy, we'll be outbid anyway.

Man, if Cabrera, Taveras, and Chris Burke all get non-tendered Kenny is going to have a field day.

I have no problem signing a non-tendered Willy Taveras to a deal. I have a huge problem counting on him to be our starting CF and leadoff man, but I digress.

Jerry Owens is already 28 years old. He's not getting any better (or FASTER). He's spent the past 3 seasons in AAA and his numbers have dropped. He's nothing special.

QUOTE (Sox It To Em @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 05:54 PM) Peavy deal dead. The CUBS pulled out? WHY? Because they didn't want to lose KEVIN HART!?!?!? I'd still expect Peavy to be dealt. He's not going to want to play on that team for long. After seeing the pile of waste the Cubs almos got him for, maybe some other team like the Astros will figure something out.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 05:51 PM) If you add a backup catcher then that is 40. Still, Jerry Owens and Lance Broadway are both unnecessarily on this roster and it makes my skin crawl. They could have added someone with those spots. Or, if they didn't think anyone in the draft was worthy of a roster spot, then they could have called a press conference to announce that Owens and Broadway aren't either and have been traded to Japan. but Jerry Owens is our leadoff hitter - he's FAST! he's a GRINDER! he has THEFIRE&THEPASSION! If we plan to compete this year then Broadway won't last the season on the 40 man. The kid's just not a major leaguer.

Doesn't really bother me passing on this draft - the intriguing options were few and far between this year compared to the past. I did think Veal could be a great Boone Logan replacement but he wasn't making it to 22.

I wouldn't say I'm pissed off about the offseason - I didn't expect to be in on guys like Sabathia or trading for Jake Peavy or even signing Frucal. But I would say that I'm worried by a lot of the news stories floating around. Maybe we look back in two months and say "man, those were some crazy news stories, haha!" Who knows. I think that the only thing we've learned in the last 2 weeks is a small peek at "the plan," and from what we know the plan doesn't include: - Spending money. - Acquiring top talent. - Free Agents. - Maintaining our payroll. Ok. Hmm. You can do that and still put out a competitive team. Hell, if you're really great at your job, you can do that and still win. But handing jobs to Jeff Marquez, Jerry Owens, and a revolving door of second basemen with no track records is just not a good sign when you want to defend a division.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 08:28 PM) And every year at this point, about a quarter of the board goes stark raving mad, insisting the team is going cheap, won't compete, and we'll be a last place team, blah blah blah. Yet, we've only finished below 3rd place once in KW'd 8 season tenure. Patience. You make a great point and I completely agree with you, I really do, but I'm not looking to finish in third place. Not saying that's what you meant, just saying that that's not the bar we should look to set each year.

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 07:12 AM) wtf is up with your avatar? Some very strange things.

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 9, 2008 -> 07:03 PM) So, who sent the e-mail to them? I sent that one in - I couldn't resist. Glad they picked it up!

We can either dream, or we can reasonably assess what players could be moved in a trade based on their relative value and our needs. Heyward & Hanson stay put.

I'm assuming that Hanson, Heyward, and Jurrjens are off limits as none were available for a Peavy trade.

You're right, if this little rumor snippet can get the Reds to pony up another player then let's go.

A three way swap with Dye/Greinke/Fancoueur would make me absolutely giddy.

If we asked for Bailey from the Reds, we'll look for pitching, I'm assuming. Hanson isn't moving, so this is where you get your Jo-Jo Reyes and those other two guys whose names escape me and then I vomit.

Hot off the rumor mill: the discussions have now turned to the Braves and are getting "serious."

I think Bradley is a good hitter but will probably be overvalued. He's coming off a great season ($) playing in the bandbox in Texas ($), but he can't play the field and stay healthy and we're set at DH. He's also a jerk, and look at how quickly everyone turned on Cabrera's act.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 9, 2008 -> 05:00 PM) You could root for the Cubs? I personally think the moves KW has made thus far were something the organization desperately needed if they wanted to avoid a 55-win season in 3 years. Oh no, I don't find that to be a reasonable reaction. But it would seriously make me reconsider the future of this franchise in the grand scheme of this baseball economy. The Cubs' owners are going through bankruptcy and they still have the flexibility to raise payroll by $30M (Peavy + a corner outfielder)? The White Sox cut nearly $40M and have no dollars to spend on any acquisitions? The Cubs' farm system has proven itself to be a wasteland, but Felix Pie (and others yeah I see that) is still enough to be the cornerstone prospect in a deal for one of the premier pitchers in the National League? Meanwhile we trade two players who were thought to be difference makers and in return receive NO prospects in the consensus top 75, one of whom is JEFF. MARQUEZ. So yeah, it's a trend which could cause me to go a little nuts. But hey, it's still early December. Let's make things happen.