fathom

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 06:10 PM) It is, but to play devil's advocate, doesn't this make Garland more attractive to potential trading partners? Does this mean Contreras is on the hot seat? Are the Sox done negotiating with Contreras? It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Sign-and-trades are not very common in baseball. As a matter of fact, I thought there's a rule about how long you have to wait before you can trade a guy after signing them.

This is very interesting, but very exciting also. Now, let the speculation for a Contreras trade begin!

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 05:05 PM) Hasn't Prior already said he won't re sign with them in '07? No, that seems to be a myth that's developing in order for the Cubs to justify trading him. I've heard nothing to suggest he wouldn't come back to the team.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 04:45 PM) I cant even believe this nonsense has gone on this long. Hendry will regret the day he traded prior if that ever happens. Cubs fans think they can trade Rich hill for Abreu for god sake, their prospects arent worth s*** at this point. Even Pie is overrated. I hope they enjoy another 4th place finish. I hate the Cubs (have to use that disclaimer whenever I praise any Cubs player), but Hill and Pie have a TON of value. Even though I've never been impressed by Hill, he's considered one of the best lefty pitching prospects in baseball.

QUOTE(rudylaw @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 04:39 PM) Last year we were reported as having the worst offseason by several publications and look how that turned out. Anyone who thought the Sox had a bad offseason last year was nuts (at the time). Besides the Lee/Pods trade, the White Sox made very smart moves by filling the holes they had (RF, catcher, 2b, 5th starter). In a sport where there seems to be a million rumors about what players a team is looking at, KW did a great job of making the smart choice of getting the best available catcher and 2nd baseman at the positions where he didn't have high caliber players at.

Tejada and Zito can join Furcal, Beltran, and others on the Cubs wet dream team.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Dec 27, 2005 -> 06:58 PM) How do you figure that they'd be the division winner? Their rotation gets considerably weaker without Prior and you obviously don't think that Bedard a viable replacement. I don't see how you could think they're a division winner with that pitching staff that I mentioned in my previous post. Houston, Milwaukee, and St. Louis will all have better pitching staffs, and St. Louis has a pretty strong offense to go with it. I could possibly see them finishing second if Houston doesn't bolster their lineup and Roger retires, or Milwaukee doesn't have enough of a bullpen or offense if Fielder doesn't produce right away, but I can't see them getting by St. Louis when they still have the deepest rotation in the division and the trio of Pujols-Rolen (yeah, health is an issue)-Edmonds. The Cubs bullpen is going to be much better than it was last season. As much as I dislike Pierre, he's still a much better leadoff hitter than anything they had last season. Tejada will absolutely destroy the ball at Wrigley, and it wouldn't shock me to see their 3-4-5 all hit between 35 and 40 homers. As much as I think Bedard's overrated, I've long thought that Prior's hype doesn't match his productivity. The Cubs pitching would keep them in games, but their offense would be extremely good next year.

If the Cubs do make this trade, I think they're in the driver's seat in the division (and no one hates the Cubs more than I do). However, I don't think this trade is going to happen. BTW, Bedard is very overrated on this site.

Manny's a better player than Prior, but to say Manny has more value than him right now is false.

In a few years, he'd be a great addition if we needed a 4th outfielder.

QUOTE(GreenSox @ Dec 24, 2005 -> 03:53 PM) He's a lot better than Eaton - and Eaton brought in some decent talent. I have yet to see a trade proposal that nets the Sox what the Padres got for Eaton. Well said. Also, there are rumors of the Dodgers trading some of the same prospects we've talked about for David Wells.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 11:50 PM) Supposedly, the Cubs have two offers on the table for Miguel Tejada: Offer A: Jerome Williams, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, and Brian Dopirak for Miguel Tejada Offer B: Mark Prior and Felix Pie for Miguel Tejada, Erik Bedard, and Nick Markakis Orioles will laugh at offer A, and offer B would be a terrible trade for the Cubs.

With Gagne out for the Dodgers, I can't see them giving up Braz.

-The Astros won't trade Lidge unless they get a marquee bat in the deal. - Jenks is our closer for 2006. - Relievers are so inconsistent, I really would rather get starting pitching prospects are stud position player prospects than guys who are just as likely to put up a 4.5 ERA as they are a 2.5 ERA. - The only young reliever that would excite me as a possibility is H. Street, but there's no chance the A's deal for Garland.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 06:11 PM) Exactly, I'd be in no hurry to move him. I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. Plus, if were going to pick up a reliever, I'd probably rather deal our own mionr leaguers for one and than let Garland get us some stud prospects because thats better value on the most part. Thats unless were talking about a big time closer that we'd have the rights to for more years. Like if the nats were crazy enough to deal us Cordero. I agree with it, but you're a smart enough fan to be able to read KW's actions/words. There's a reason so many of us will be shocked if Garland's on the 2006 roster. I would definitely rather just get value for Garland, and worry about filling the relief spots after that. When KW sets his mind on something, he usually puts in a ton of effort to get the move done.

All this McDonald's talk is making me hungry. Can we get back to talking about Garland please?

Redding isn't very good at all. It will take a couple of injuries for him to ever get an actual chance to be a contributor with the Sox.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 05:48 PM) We better get two damn good relievers. Cause if I read that right...a major league one, and one on the cusp I think of Brazoban and Broxton and I'd throw up at the idea of that. Its not getting enough. We have something EVERYONE wants and we better not get talent for it. I'm sorry, we gave up Chris Young for Vazquez (there were financial reasons as well) but nothing tells me we shouldn't get a little more for Jon Garland. I know that the biggest fear I have, as well as RockRaines, is that KW is so set on trading Garland, that he might take a lesser offer just to get rid of him. If KW is just set on getting relievers, then we're not going to get full value for Garland.

Can we avoid trashing the loyalty of these guys though? We have no clue what the contract offers were, and why they might not want to stay. We could question the loyalty of all players, but I would much rather this thread stick to what type of relievers we could try and trade for Garland.

I like Garland, and think he's matured a lot in the last year. However, there's no comparison between the character of PK and the character of Garland.

I could care less if we get another lefty reliever. I'd rather just get quality arms for our bullpen, righty or lefty.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 07:20 PM) Bingo. The pool of players should consist of LaRoche, Guzman, Billingsley, Jackson, Miller and Broxton. If LA doesn't at least offer two of them, KW would be wise to hang up. Here's my overstated philosophy: KW depleted our farm system to get some highly skilled players who are question marks. If we're going to trade a highly skilled player with probably fewer question marks, then he needs to replenish our system with great prospects, not 2 or 3 average prospects.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 06:02 PM) Nomar, kind of. True, but don't you think that was a unique situation? Good job though Rowand!

One of the reasons so many teams do make trades with KW is that they know he's not afraid to give up big time players/prospects. This is one time where he needs to find another General Manager that's willing to take the chances he is.

When's the last time a team traded a major contributor at the deadline when they were still in contention?