GreatScott82

Wow the Trib is sooo biased it makes me sick. How can Barrett be ahead of AJ? AJ had the best offensive #'s for a catcher in the national league in '04. Wasn't Barrett in the National League last year? Of course he was. The Cubune just can't admit that the Sox have a better outfield, better bullpen, better defense, AND a better catcher. I admit the Cubs have a better starting rotation and infield, but that is it. How come this doosh didn't mention the bench? If he would have mentioned the bench we would have won 5-2 in those categories.

The Twins should be the favorites every year until they are finally de-throaned from the top of the AL Central. Twins keys to 4-peating: Johan continues his dominance, continue the stellar defense, stay healthy, Joe Nathan continues to shut down the opposition. Biggest strength: Defense and Scrappy Baserunning Biggest weakness: Other than Joe Nathan their bullpen is weak. Indians keys to succuess: They are definitely on the rise, last season they had 5 young all-stars, and surprised many teams. They made some pitching improvements and supplied some depth this offseason. If they stay healthy, and the starting pitching can hold their own ground then maybe they can compete for the central division title. Biggest Strength: Solid Offensive Line-up Biggest weakness: Relief pitching. I'm happy nobody is picking our White Sox to win the division. I think all the critics and sports reporters are focusing waaaayy tooo much on the loses of Maggs and C. Lee. This team is now offesnively balanced for the first time since the mid-90's. They clearly now have the best bullpen in the Central with the aquistions of Vizciano and Hermanson. You can also argue that the Sox have the best rotation in the Central with the aquistion of El-Duque. They improved their defense with the aquistions of Podsednick and Dye. They improved on the basepaths with aquisition of Podsednick and Iguchi. It's amazing how people are not focusing on the fact this team is balanced. Well the one good thing about not being picked to win the division is that they will surprise a lot of teams. Biggest strength: starting rotation and bullpen Biggest weakness: possible lack of offensive power

I say get rid of him. I understand he is frusterated, but it takes a real perfesional to keep your mouth shut.. *cough-*cough Rowand! Rowand got shafted waaayyyy more than Willie ever did. And Rowand kept his mouth shut and gave his all every oppurtunity that arised for him. Patience has payed off for him. Rowand is a true team player. Willie on the other hand had to open up his mouth and start whining. I hope KW read that article and is busy as we speak working on a plan to get rid of him.

who knows why they would make a trade with a rival. i heard on the dan patrick show, when they were going over the hot stove stuff. I know Ozzie is tight with Urbina. I doubt it will happen, but who knows what to expect until the season starts.

I was flipping through the radio today and heard on ESPN Radio w/ Dan Patrick that the Sox are interested in Ugueth Urbina. And he said something about trading Willie Harris for him.. Can this happen? Whats with Urbina's status..is he still on Detroit? Did I hear something wrong?

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 02:22 AM) I don't think the Cubs would do that deal I was going to say, the Cubs dont have Sullivan. I would love that trade. I think everyone would love to get Tony G! As far as the Cubs, I hope they enjoy their injured new players (aka Scott Williamson). LOL the Cubs sign 1 injured free agent miner leaguer while the Sox totally change the face of their team in a good way. I'm lovin it!

How about KW trades Willie Harris & a pitching prospect to Kansas City for Tony Graffinino & Scott Sullivan?

my buddy just said the Cubs have signed Magglio. Is this true, or is he bulls***ting?

Nelson would be okay. But whats the latest with Urbina?

QUOTE(ISF @ Jan 21, 2005 -> 08:14 PM) If El Duque is healthy, we pick up at least 10 wins compared to last year's #5 black hole. If he's not, it's "wait 'til '06!" If El-duque isn't healthy this year than KW better go out and pursue a trade for another SP. The black hole pisses me off! As far as the biggest impact, I went with AJ. The way this team is now structured he can have a career year.

Even when Frank comes back, its important to have a guy like Everett come off the bench and pinch hit during the late innings. Also it takes Frank a long time to get back in the swing of things. Remember 2002? Frank missed most of 2001 due to an injury and sucked ass in 2002. Well Frank missed half of 2004 and what makes us believe that he will come back strong in 2005 and not repeat 2002? Keeping Carl around is important, i expect a solid year out of Crazy 'Jurassic' Carl. Just having him in our lineup makes us that much better.

I think that article pretty much dampers any chance of aquirering Castillo. It looks like they are going to go with Willie Harris after all. It just doesn't make sense to me that our utility infielder is going to be a young player like Valdez. If KW doesn't aquire a starting 2B, than he for sure needs to acquire a veteran utitlity man.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 20, 2005 -> 02:55 AM) Cheat, here's a story from ESPN.com when the trade was made. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1850088 Later in the article; So he had $17 million left on his deal at the time of the trade. $6 million per it is for the next 2 years. I hope Contreras has more dominant days than crappy ones. Honestly when he's on his game IMO he has the nastiest stuff in the rotation. I'm not sure if he is worth $6 mill per year though. Being consistant is key for Contreras in 2005.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 20, 2005 -> 02:13 AM) It's not the last year of his contract... we average paying him 7M the next two seasons. ouch 7 million for a guy who has yet to prove himself. Hmm it makes you wonder if they would've just kept Loaiza and signed him for a cheap contract like the Nationals did, they would have had more money to spend to sign Clement. What would you rather have Clement and Loaiza or the Cuban connection? I guess only time will tell.

What is going on with Contreras contract? I'm pretty sure this is the last year of his contract. If not how much and how long is it for? The reason I ask is because I believe Mulder is a free agent next winter. He grew up a Sox fan and he is by far one of the most dominant pitchers in the game. Any chances of landing him?

QUOTE(ChiSoxFan @ Jan 19, 2005 -> 08:41 PM) Anyone know what happened with Urbina's mother? Were they able to rescue her from those kidnappers? It hasn't been mentioned in awhile. I don't see the Sox picking up Urbina. Although I wouldn't mind it. But if they do it makes the bullpen even stronger! I guess they can move Hermanson and everyone else down one and bump Diaz or Adkins out. (That is if they go with a 7 man bullpen) Imagine this: Takatsu (Closer) Marte (Lefty set-up man) Urbina (Righty-set-up man) Hermanson (middle) Vizcaino (middle) Politte (middle) Cotts (long) That would be IMO the strongest bullpen in baseball.

I'm not sure if i like Aurilia, but he is an improvement over Valdez. I think you need a veteran to play utility man anyways. Valdez should get some more experience down in Triple-A. Its never good to have a young player like that coming off the bench. He'll need his at bats. Larkin or Aurilia seems like a KW type of move. My first preference is to sign Iguchi or make a trade for Castillo (if possible). I expect KW to make his finishing moves this week...

I'm not sure if Frank is the best all around player on the Sox but we should all appreciate him. He walks all the time (which means starting pitchers pitch counts increase faster) He is patient, and when 100% he is still one of the most dangerous hitters in the game. Yes 2005 should be Frank appreciation year. Lets hope he returns very soon, and doesn't miss too much of the season.

Lets face it, KW isn't done this offseason. He will either get a starting 2B or a utility infielder who can play 2B, 3B, and SS. I won't be surprised if KW tries to aquire Graffinino from KC. The Alex Gonzalez rumor sounds interesting as well. I wouldn't count out the Iguchi signing just yet... I sense something happening within the next week or so.

Konerko isn't going anywhere. The Sox do not have any 1B stud in their farm system and as you saw the free agent market is week next year. With Franks career coming to an end, that gives KW even more incentive to re-sign him to a deal. I can see a deal getting done either before the season or during the allstar break.

hmm i just might have been a slip by Ozzie. And then when the question arose to Kenny about Iguchi he said he will like to stay quiet and remain at a low profile. He wouldn't say that if he wasn't still interested. Iguchi would be an upgrade. But when i talked to Willie Harris he told me he would steal 65 bases. Willie seems pumped this year, I think Willie needs a lot of playing time to flourish, kind of like how Rowand did.

QUOTE(Winnin Ugly @ Jan 16, 2005 -> 07:30 PM) Was anyone at sox fest yesterday that heard Ozzie say we have 2 japanese players on the team yes i was there. i thought it was a bit strange. but he also could have meant we might have 2 japanese players, because then he said we have two cubans with Hernandez and Contreras exe.... (he's hard to understand at times)

ROSS GLOAD!

Well if Willie is going to be our starting 2B thats fine. But what about our utility infielder? I don't know why but I have a hunch KW will sign Barry Larkin to a cheap 1 year deal to fill that void. Doesn't it seem like a KWish type move?

The Iguchi thing has been quite for over a week. I think Kenny's interest in him has died out. It's either trade or nothing IMO. Good point Beck. The middle IF was KW's first priority when the offseason started. And now he just settles with what it is? I don't buy it, i smell trade..............