fathom

One of my biggest concerns is that our pitchers aren't pitching over the mistakes made by the rest of the team like they were early in the year. Lately, if we make an error, it leads to all hell breaking loose.

Twins win, lead is 11 games. I seriously can't understand the belief here that the Sox have locked up a spot in the division.

One thing about Huff is that he hits good pitchers hard. He's had some big hits against J. Santana in the past, and he had a monsterous homer against the stud young pitcher McCarthy on the White Socks.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jul 28, 2005 -> 02:24 AM) Gordon was overworked last year, and just isn't the same. I loved him with the Sox back in 2003, but I don't think he's worth giving up a guy who we are depending on onfe the postseason starts. Who says we have to depend on Duque to start in the postseason? IF we make it, I'd have no problem with him not starting. Ozzie better not start him above the big 3. Gordon could help you out a lot more than Duque could in the postseason. Gordon and his 2.72 ERA sure sucks.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jul 28, 2005 -> 02:18 AM) El Duque for Gordon? f*** that. Are you kidding? I would do that trade in a heartbeat! Hell, I'd even throw in a mid-level prospect for Gordon.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 28, 2005 -> 02:14 AM) I'm actually thinking that Lowell will bust out of this horrible year long slump of his and become a good offensive player once again, hell he's been playing a whole hell of a lot better lately. Has he been playing better? I haven't been following him.

I actually have hope for Lowell. Maybe I've seen just so much of our offense lately, and I'm willing to give anyone a chance.

Cantu would be one of the best hitters on our team if we got him. The guy has a chance to have a very good offensive career.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jul 28, 2005 -> 02:05 AM) These past couple of games really made me think of how important defense is in baseball. And that's why we'd be getting Huff to DH primarily, and he could possibly back-up Crede at 3b. He's definitely no worse than Ozuna is.

The article didn't say Cantu would be in this deal. Just said "a deal". I'd would love to have Huff. He seems to be swinging the bat great these days.

My opinion (as if anyone gives a damn) is that the only starting pitcher who I'd like to see prospects traded for is Schmidt. We definitely need hitting help though, and any addition would be a plus for me. DH is a HUGE hole for us right now.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jul 28, 2005 -> 01:46 AM) It looks as if, at the moment, there are going to be NO SIGNIFICANT TRADES before Sunday's deadline. 1. Florida informed Boston that Arroyo and Sanchez won't get AJ Burnett. Since they haven't accepted whatever the Sox may have offered already... 2. Lyle Overbay is definitely not on the market. 3. Jason Schmidt? No way. Ditto for Omar Vizquel. 4. Eddie Guardado? Jamie Moyer? Nothing going on. 5. Billy Wagner. f**edaboudit. 6. Aubrey Huff? Danys Baez? Too pricey. 7. Fill in the rest. Does that mean there really won't be any trades? I DOUBT IT. A very interesting thing may happen between now and Sunday. The selling teams that have been asking the moon may finally decide to sell, and sellers market may turn a bit into a buyer's market, or at least balance out. I expect tomorrow to remain quiet, but Saturday may be the day. I just hope that KW doesn't do anything stupid in the hopes of doing something "great." I'll be more than happy if after Sunday at 4 pm we still have BMac, Young, Jenks, Politte, Cotts, Sweeney, Fields, etc. I wouldn't oppose injecting some new energy through another pitcher and a lefty bat, but if it doesn't happen, I think these Sox will just figure out how to play better and beat all comers. GO SOX! There will be a lot of pissed off fans if KW doesn't make a move. It's too early to tell if they're right or wrong....but with all the rumors that have been around lately, there will be a meltdown if we don't acquire anyone.

Does anyone know what our run per game average is with Thomas in the lineup, compared to out of it? It's so painfully obvious that our biggest need is a offensive weapon.

I thought I heard that Selig already denied the protest.

Cotts shouldn't be used as a situational lefty. Considering how much better he is against righties, it's foolish to use him for one batter. Also, Cotts is one of the few pitchers we have who doesn't look all his stuff if he has to go out to the mound for a 2nd inning.

Just got home from work, and thought I'd chime in with these thoughts: - Cotts shouldn't be used as a situational lefty. Especially considering that he's better vs righties than lefties, if you bring him in....keep him in! - Enough with the frequent benching of Iguchi. He's on the record as saying that it throws him out of a rhythm. - We need a difference maker on offense. Especially considering that it seems we're relying on the long ball so often now, that philosophy isn't going to work with all the punching judy hitters we have in the lineup currently. - This was the best time for the Sox to struggle if they were going to go into a slump. It would have been much worse if this slump took place when we were facing divisional challengers. Also, hopefully this might make KW and Ozzie feel a little uneasy about the rest of the season. I'm not saying they were overconfident....but I think this series was a nice little slap in the face. BTW, it's much nicer to be freaking out about losing 2 in a row when you have an 11.5 game lead than it is to be freaking out about 5 losses in a row when you trail by 10 games.

I'll root for the Twins and Indians to lose the rest of their games this season. In no way is the division locked up yet.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 27, 2005 -> 06:38 AM) Yeah can't see a Anderson and Tracey deal for Overbay myself. The Brewers may not even want Anderson, they already have 3 good OF's in Lee, Jenkins and Clark and Nelson Cruz in AAA. I'm thinking Gonzalez, Bajenaru and Fields for Overbay. A couple of thoughts: - the Brewers can't wait to get G. Jenkins off of their team. He's one of the most overrated, high-priced players in baseball. - the Brewers just drafted Ryan Braun, a stud 3b from Miami. Why would they want Josh Fields? - to me, if a team makes a blockbuster trade with the Sox, they're going to get either Anderson, Sweeney, or Young in the trade. - one name who I don't see mentioned as a trading chip much, but I think will likely be gone if we make a big trade, is B. Jenks. You could argue that he's our best trading chip right now, even more than McCarthy.

The Brewers would be stupid to trade Overbay now. They'd be better off trading him in the offseason. With the very weak FA 1b crop coming up, there will be a lot of teams looking to upgrade at the position via trade.

Wow, Huff just owns Randy. We need to give up the farm in order to get someone, especially a lefty, who has been so dominant against RJ in his career.

At first, just from watching Iguchi this season, you wouldn't think of him as the MVP. However, the more you see Willie play, the more you appreciate what Iguchi has done this season. We sure take for granted his contributions.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 27, 2005 -> 04:52 AM) Even assuming Baldelli gets dealt and Gomes doesn't play in the outfield, that still leaves them with Crawford, Young, and Gathright. They won't need prospects to get starters because they'd be likely to get at least one in our deal (probably McCarthy, maybe Tracey), and that would most likely be what they'd seek in your proposed trade of Baldelli. If we were to get Huff and Baez, we'd have to give up McCarthy, Sweeney, and another top prospect (Fields).

Eyre's facing the Cubs right now.

QUOTE(JDsDirtySox @ Jul 27, 2005 -> 04:37 AM) The Devil Rays don't need OFs. They have Young, Crawford, Gomes, Gathright, Baldelli. You might see one of Anderson or Sweeney end up in Tampa Bay. but I would think a more likely scenario would see McCarthy, or other good pitching prospects heading that way. I guarantee you that if Damon doesn't resign with the Red Sox, they'll trade for Baldelli. Young and Crawford are the only guaranteed members of their offense. Gomes is more of a DH. Tampa doesn't have the money to go out and sign a FA starting pitcher. They need to have prospects to trade in order to get the starter, and they'll have no problem bringing in more outfielders.

If we did all these moves, you could say bye to McCarthy, Anderson, and Sweeney or Young, and likely a few more players. Basically, all these moves aren't happening.