fathom

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.

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 05:22 AM) Yah. Its not a great market for GMs who don't want to hand out s***ty contracts. I don't blame him one bit. And as much as I love Joe Crede, if the market stays the same, I certainly wouldn't give him the contract that he would most likely be looking for. He may be with us through 2007, but I certainly don't see him being our 3B in 2008. The market does absolutely suck, but it doesn't mean other AL teams aren't improving themselves. We have a very short window to legitimately compete for the world championship, and so many of the moves that are being proposed make us significantly worse for this upcoming season.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 05:18 AM) Ozuna can platoon, when facing lefties, adequately. And that kills our defense.

KW doesn't seem thrilled with how things are shaping up right now.

A big concern for me with Figgins is that he's terrible against LHP. In our division, that's a pretty big issue with any offensive player that we bring in.

If this deal is straight up 2 players for 2 players, then KW got his ass kicked in this deal. You have to be kidding if the best we can get for Garcia and Crede is this combination of players.

I guess people forget that Pods can't hit, steal, throw, or catch. Besides that, he's a pretty toolsy player. I hate the injury excuse for Pods also. If anything, he seems like a player struggling to get his body back to the level it used to be.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 06:11 PM) Because he drinks and drives and talks to imaginary figures? Drinking and driving is the least of his substance abuse issues.

QUOTE(WHITESOXRANDY @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 06:01 PM) I like Ryan Freel a lot - as a player. I would like to see us trade one of our starting pitchers to Cincy for Freel and Homer Bailey. Would Cincy do it ? Ha....Homer Bailey might be one of the ten most "untouchable" players in all of baseball. And I'll state this again: Freel is a pathetic human being.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 04:13 PM) First off, Pods has been an every other year producer. He's on track to have a decent season this year. Secondly, KW will not necessarily have failed if doesn't find a new leadoff hitter. There are very little options out there, and signing Matthews, Pierre, Soriano under the deals they received would have been dumb for us. There still may be some possibilities, but I'm hesistant to have KW force something that isn't ideal for our future as well. Come on, we're not talking about Saberhagen here. Pods has a very limited track record, and he showed absolutely nothing last season to make us think he'll be a force in the league again. As somone said earlier, KW is nuts if he thinks he can go to war with the same team from last season. Look around....the AL gets stronger every single day it seems like.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 05:17 AM) I'm just not thrilled with the thought of Dave Roberts patrolling LF beyond next season. For a 1yr solution, without quesiton; but not beyond 2007. I'd rather select Podsednik over Roberts if it means one extra season of conditioning a possible replacement (Fields/Sweeney), or perhaps understanding whether or not he's capable of recovering from injury. If Podsednik has a good season next year, they can sign him to a long term deal. If not, we'll let him go and persue other options. We have such a short window though with this current team, and like others have said, KW will have failed us if he didn't upgrade at the leadoff/LF spot. The Southtown reports that we're more likely now to bring Pods back. I can't believe that's even a consideration after his pathetic effort last season.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 04:37 AM) Yeah, I think so. What d'you think? Compared to some of the other contracts we're seeing, it's really not that awful. We have such a glaring hole in LF/leadoff, I don't think it's too much of a risk.