fathom

I apologize to any overweight, teenage girl that is in this thread. Now put down the Krispy Kreme, and go run on the treadmill. You have a full season ahead of screaming for every Podsednik grounder to the first baseman. Time to get in shape! QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:46 PM) Its a Soxtalk tradition. I expect nothing more out of this results now crowd. It's more about the current market and the trends than it is what has actually happened. If you listen to KW, he even seems shocked about what is happening. I don't think we'll only get a minor league reliever if we trade a starter though. I'll give KW more credit than that. QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:47 PM) I'm not even going to get into why it's crude to make fun of fat teenage girls. Come on, it's a joke.

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:42 PM) The pitching being absolutely brutal is the reason we didn't make the playoffs last year. The pitching being excellent in 2005 is why we even got into the playoffs, and then why we dominated in the playoffs. If the pitching had only been substantially worse last year than in 05 we would have made the playoffs, but instead it was drastically worse. Great pitching carries subpar offensive team into the playoffs. Really bad pitching causes an excellent offensive team to not be able to make the playoffs. That's the thing....our offense wasn't excellent during the 2nd half of the season. I'm pretty sure it was in the bottom 50 pct of the offenses in MLB during the second half. QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:42 PM) I just think it's crude to say, "Christmas has come early for teenage fat girls" after Podsednik re-signs. We've been joking about this for almost a year now. Have you ever been to a wrestling event where every single female that is slighty overweight has a Matt Hardy sign? That's how it feels to go to a Sox game.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:37 PM) Who do the Sox take off the 40-man roster then? I don't know...is the great Edwin Sierra still on the 40-man?

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:33 PM) My fearless prediction is that the 2007 team will feature Pods in LF, Alomar as backup catcher, Sweeney/Owens in CF, and either Vazquez or Garland traded to Texas for minor league closer Nick Masset. And a 4th place finish. I'll be happy to be proved wrong on any of this. Yep, it seems like we're going to have Sandy as our back-up catcher. I said this a week ago, but I had the way this offseason is going so far. I still hold out hope that something good will happen at the winter meetings, but everything seems to be going against the Sox in terms of the moves they'd like to make. QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:34 PM) He's the baseball equivalent of the Hardy Boyz.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:28 PM) lets just say we keep pods in lf and dont trade uribe because it seems like kw likes him...its going to be the same crap all over again.... 8)uribe 9)anderson 1)pods 2) gooch.... Yep....and that 8/9/1 is one of the main reasons that we didn't make the playoffs last year. Their contribution during the 2nd half of the season was just pathetic. I could care less about the speed on the team. I want good MLB players that are tough outs and play smart.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:24 PM) than we would have no speed at all on this team...iguchi,dye,anderson, theyre about avg. you have to have atleast one player that can be a threat on the bases. When Pods is getting caught stealing or picked off 35 pct of the time, I'd rather have no speed and just let our money players do their job instead of giving up outs.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:18 PM) Gload can hardly throw the ball, why in the hell would we put him in LF. That'd be worse than Pods defensively. Sweeney needs more AAA seasoning (he's what, 22 now?) and Mack isn't an everyday player. And Jose Guillen is a cancer. In no way am I defending Pods but your suggested moves don't make us any better off than we are with Podsednik. Pods can't throw the ball either. The problem is that at least Gload and Mackowiak can give you some offensive production. Either way, I was really hoping we would bring in a legit, every day LF this offseason. No more of this platoon bulls*** with two guys who can't catch the ball and combine to hit 5 homers on the season.

QUOTE(Hatchetman @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:14 PM) yay. we signed the white figgins and didn't have to give anything up for him. Except Figgins knows how to steal, can actually throw the ball, and can hit triples while being versatile.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:12 PM) Hope that he improves next year and stop b****ing. That's my advice. Who's that, Podsednik or Ozzie?

BTW, Christmas has come early for the fat teenage girls at The Cell.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:03 PM) KW and JR must be in the holiday spirit giving out a nearly $3 million gift. Worst case if they couldn't acquire anyone, I'd rather non-tender him and put Sweeney in LF. This is a waste of $3 million. Too bad they couldn't spend $3 million on the bullpen. Or Mackowiak....or Gload QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:05 PM) Wow. A zero-tool player who was one of the very worst players in MLB last year. This is an indefensible signing. It is a complete waste of $2.9 million. Podsednik isn't even a decent 5th OFer. There are many AAA players who are better than Podsednik, including some in the Sox organization. In my opinion Ryan Sweeney is not yet ready for the majors and he's still better than Podsednik. Pods skills have continued to diminish since the end of 2004. Not only did he lose his power right away, but he's lost about 2 steps on the bases. I can't wait for people to say he's still injured this season.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:03 PM) KW and JR must be in the holiday spirit giving out a nearly $3 million gift. Worst case if they could acquire anyone, I'd rather non-tender him and put Sweeney in LF. This is a waste of $3 million. Too bad they couldn't spend $3 million on the bullpen. Yep...I can't believe they brought him back after making it known how much they disliked him last season. I'm still a believer that KW has been caught with his pants down this offseason, and never expected to see the contracts/money that have been given out. I recall hearing him say he wanted to upgrade our speed and relief this offseason, and there's been no improvements at all. I'm now a believer in Jason's desire to see the Sox sign Jose Guillen.

Great, another season of no tools Podsednik out in LF. I can't believe KW failed to upgrade the LF/leadoff position. It almost seems like people forget just how awful he was last season. Does this mean we also don't acquire a back-up outfielder, and go with Mackowiak as our back-up in CF and Ozuna in LF?

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Nov 30, 2006 -> 08:43 PM) Really I am getting more convinced that Pods will be back in LF and we will use Anderson or Owens in CF with the other being the #4 OF'er along with guys like Ozuna and Gload once in awhile at LF. Yep, and we're going to really regret not upgrading our LF position. It's amazing to me that people would even consider bringing Pods back for around 3 million when he's an absolutely worthless player.

If we sign Gagne, does that include his syringe?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2006 -> 01:10 AM) I still say that no matter how good of a player an outfielder is, young pitching is just too valuable to sacrifice in a deal like that. And that is only magnified when you throw in what the D-Rays would actually ask for Crawford. I agree about the young pitching, but Crawford is a budding superstar with a good contract. We're not talking about someone like Vernon Wells. You know I wanted McCarthy in the rotation all year last season, but for the right package, I'd have no problem with the Sox trading him. His value will never be higher than it is after this season....he'll either be a focal point of our team for the next 5 years, or he'll be a disappointment. QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 30, 2006 -> 01:12 AM) Whats the downside of having both Santana and Mac in the rotation?? If we do that, we better trade one of our other starters for some MLB ready offensive players.

The only way I'm a fan of this deal is if we then turn around and trade McCarthy in a package for Carl Crawford.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 30, 2006 -> 01:03 AM) But you see I don't think its that much of a difference. More specifically I think people undervalue Figgins who is a far better player than he was last year. Heck, even Pods (as much as I hate him) is a better player than he was last year. I'm not a big Fields fan, but we'd also have Mack's production and obviously there is no guarantee we get the same production out of Joe. Defensively we definately lose at 3rd, gain in CF (Figgins is better than the two headed monster we saw last year) and probably gain a bit in LF (just cause I think with a bit less pressure he won't play quite as brutal and will instead be the 3rd or 4th worse left fielder in all of baseball, LOL). I know I said this earlier in this thread, but I hate the fact that Chone sucks against LHP.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 30, 2006 -> 12:57 AM) The more I think about it the more I make this deal even if we had to throw in someone and got nothing else in return. This deal just makes sense on so many levels. This would mean that our defense is worse than last year, and any offensive upgrade made from Anderson to Figgins is negated big time by going from Crede to Josh Fields.

I'd like to quickly add that if we go with Figgins in CF, Pods in LF, and Fields at 3B, we might as well reserve our 4th place finish in the division.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 29, 2006 -> 04:37 PM) I am surprised the Sox aren't being mentioned as a connection to VWells. That could be a great fit, with the Jays needing a pitcher to replace Lilly, and the Sox wanting a CF. He's going to cost a fortune after next season, and I can't see how we'd be able to fit him in our budget in the future.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 11:43 PM) Fact is we have him and if we don't get him a couple speed guys for him to play around with we'll be making a major mistake. You got to give your manager some personsell that matches his desire, imo. I agree...the worst thing is when Ozzie tries to make non-speed players change their game in order to try and be an "Ozzieball" type player. That's one of the main reasons that I actually would have been fine if we brought in Pierre. I love the idea of going all out to try and get a 1-2 of Figgins/Crawford.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 11:32 PM) 100% agree, and have been saying this all off-season. The Sox are build on power, it's really simple. Some don't like the mash offense, but O' well, find a new team. You know what Thome-Kong-Dye are going to do for you. Hit the ball out of the park, drive in runs. Because of that, get as many guys as you can on base. Don't think it gets much more simple than that. That's why many times I feel like Ozzie is the wrong manager for the personnel we have on the team now.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Levine said the Sox have been talking with Tampa. With the rumors regarding the Sox trying to get Ervin Santana, I think this means that KW is trying to see what he would have to acquire in order to trade for Crawford.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 05:31 AM) I've heard this line forever now and every year "on paper" we have ourselves a legit shot. As long as Kenny around, we're going to be contenders. Yes, but with the core guys on this team, I feel like the next two years is our shot. After that, there's going to have to be a overhaul/retooling of the core of this team. This offseason might seem dull, but the 2007 offseason is likely to be crazy. The crappy part is that Crede should be the core of the Sox for the next 7 years, but it seems like that might not happen.