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QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:36 AM) You would think Maggs would want like a 2 year deal to prove himself fully healthy and then hit the FA market running. Or you would think he would just want a one year deal. That makes the most sense.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:55 AM) I disagree. When I do the 04 vs 05 comparison I do with a bias to 04. What that means is that for new players I take their 3 yr avg's. That gives you a better picture of what to expect in 05. Of course their are no guarantees. Dye might wind up hating AJP & that could affect 1 or both of their numbers but it makes no sense to think negative like that. The 05 Sox have a deficit of 21r, & 18rbi based on a conservative estimation of what the new & old player mix will do in 05. Not an optimistic one & not a pessimistic one but somewhere in the middle. Optimistically with the adding team speed & a team potential of 150+ SB's (it boggles the mind) this team could break the Sox all-time record for runs. Do I think the Sox are the fastest team in the majors? 4 of the 10 guys have great/good speed (Pods, Iggy, Rowand, Uribe) 2 of the 10 guys have above avg speed (Dye, Everett) 2 of the 10 guys have avg speed (Crede, Thomas) 2 of the 10 guys are slow (Koney, AJP) I don't think any team compares with that. Great/good guys can score from 3B on an IF hit or a shallow OF fly. They can advance to 3B on a solid SF, a wild pitch, a stolen base, or a sac hit. They can score from 2B on any non fly hit in the OF. Above avg guys can score from 2B on a weak OF hit. They can advance to 3B on SF, or SH. They need a solid OF fly to score from 3B. But you can't do anything unless you get on so that's why we all remain cautiously optimistic. We need to first be convinced this team will be one of the highest in OBP. I would sure like to know who you are comparing them to speed wise. Devil rays blow the sox out of the water when it comes to speed.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:30 AM) Quoting the Sun-Times, the Sox are probably the fastest team in the majors now. With power nearly equal to that of last year's team. Do you think they are the fastest team in the majors?

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:11 AM) I love the quote about being the fastest team in the majors... It's wrong on so many levels. '27 Yankees -- I hear they were a bunch of speedsters. :rolly Replacing the fastest returning player with a player who's not slow, but one who I doubt is any faster than Willie makes us faster than say the D-Rays with Baldelli, Crawford, Gathright, Lugo, and Cruz??? How does that work? I don't know, it was sure a dumb thing to say. I do know that it will be pretty fun to watch the devil rays this year though. Just if they were not in the division they are in. They will never have a chance of beating both the yankee$ and red sox.

QUOTE(quickman @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:10 AM) didn't you cover this in other threads, in fact this whole subject has been covered 4 times over in the 24 hours. Yes, i have said it several times. I guess every still thinks he is a free agent because of the espn tracker.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:04 AM) I just don't think it's worth b****ing about. After April 15th, it won't matter. There is so much emphasis on who's number 2 .. or 3 .. or 4 .... and it really doesn't amount to a hill of beans. I agree, i was just wondering their reasoning for order of the rotation.

QUOTE(TheDybber @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:03 AM) when? I can't find it anywhere. He is on the 40 man roster...but according to ESPN's free agent tracker...he is still a free agent.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 11:00 AM) Who cares what they think? Line-up looks correct why not do the same with the rotation?

QUOTE(JoshPR @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:49 AM) Ohhh Goodie, Another Poll May i ask, what do you have against polls? Every time one is put up you say something about them.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:58 AM) What does the order matter? Way i take it is they think contreras will start the second game of the year. That is why it matters.

What is with the rotation?

QUOTE(TheDybber @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:55 AM) Deivi Cruz is available and could probably be had for under $1 mil. Went 7/55/.271 last year. not too bad. Giants resigned him.

QUOTE(AstralSox @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:51 AM) Barry Larkin 100%...if not him we might as well take our chances with Valdez and Ozuna Larkin will not get the starts he is looking for so he is not an option.

QUOTE(Man Of Steel @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:45 AM) Lakers or Clippers? because if its Lakers i will be hella pissed Not the clippers. Lakers also already have serious interest in amare once he becomes a free agent and are willing to give him a max contract more or less.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:17 AM) I thought I heard somewhere that Orlando could have enough cap - room to make him an offer when he's a free agent, but unless Hill's contract comes off the books which I don't think it does, than we can't make a bid for him. But I've heard he doesn't want to go to a major market team, and Orlando would be a good market for him, plus he'd be re-united with his good buddy Stevie Franchise. Ya, las angeles is isn't a major market or anything. But you are right about the rumors of him possibly going to either orlando or las angeles when his contract is up.

QUOTE(ISF @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 09:59 AM) Willie will be where Willie should be: Tearing up AAA Charlotte hoping that Iguchi stumbles, so he can come up and be God awful against LH pitching. ...and have very respectable numbers against righties.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:08 AM) We shall see. I agree with a lot of the previous posts. If they don't get up early, it may be over fast with the Wiscy home crowd being all over them. It will be interesting to see how they fare after the shooting night they had against Iowa at home. That'll provide some inspiration to not have something like that happen again. However, no matter how ugly/great the game is, it's an impressive win for either side. Wiscy could extend their winning streak at home to 40 and knockdown the #1. Illinois could basically solidify the unanimous vote with a win here, and snap the Wiscy home streak. If wisconsin wins it will be their 39th straight home win. Also, i agree with cheat's thinking of the outcome.

http://newyorkpost.com/sports/mets/38777.htm http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/10725850.htm?1c Four year for 50 million is way too much but that is not our problem. Everyone originally thought he was crazy after the world series for saying he wanted 16 million per year. Well, sure looks like her is gonna get near that amount no matter who he signs with.

QUOTE(LDF @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 04:44 AM) i couldn't have said it better. grade = A ..... for effort and unlike others i am still questioning some holes that i am not too sure we have covered and last i question the value of the return of a trade he made with lee (what happens if spod doesn't regain his form and lee has a great yr). holes = sp, rp, 3b ( is crede ever going to get his act together). i hope that rowand and shingo are not 1 yr wonders. i love the pickup of aj and the new asian 2b. gutsy move. I agree with everything else you said instead of a reliever. I mean sure we could always upgrade but we will be fine with who we have. At this point in time that is far from a hole. I would say that is one of our strong points. Not gonna be as good as some people think but definitely solid.

QUOTE(LDF @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 04:58 AM) you may be right, i read as much as the next guy and i don't remember reading such a thing. i will give way to you on this.

QUOTE(LDF @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 04:46 AM) by whom??????????? Magazine's and various articles. They say the talent is above triple a and below major league talent for the most part. Which makes sense i think.

QUOTE(gotoh00 @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 02:27 AM) Hey, do you watch Japanese baseball at all? Many major league players, while some don't like to admit it, say its a higher level of baseball than AAA. Maybe its not quite up to the major's standards, but I'd say about 40% of its players could easily get starting jobs in the U.S. Most of them pitchers. I have heard japanese baseball considered ''4a''.

Front page on the nba section on espn. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=250124001

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 12:02 AM) I'd say a 2.5 or 3 star player easily. Seems fair since both takatsu and otsuka had sick ratings before they even pitched a game in the major leagues.

QUOTE(gotoh00 @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 12:18 AM) No one here has even considered lefty Igawa. He's the youngest of the three with the most nasty stuff. Very hard fastball with an unhitable circle change. Great control and poise too. Will probably be auctioned off in 2006 too. Daisuke matsuzaka is younger, but not by much. He was also in the list of players i have in the last page.