Kalapse

If the Dodgers miss out on Cabrera they'll just make a deal for Tejada and put him at 3B. Why in the hell would they give up a stud like Kemp for a mediocre chronically injured player in Crede when Tejada can be had for a reasonable price? IMO Andy LaRoche will be a better player next year than Joe Crede.

He can be signed at any time, he's looking for a pretty lucrative major league deal however and his DWL numbers are very disappointing so far.

He's Cuban, he defected to the DR and is now playing in the Dominican Winter League.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Dec 1, 2007 -> 10:59 PM) Another guy I think KW should maybe look at from the Orioles..Brian Roberts. No idea what they would want for him but he could certainly answer that leadoff spot...and is a decent 2b. And Chris Ray and Nick Markakis. They all have something in common: they're all young, inexpensive in their own way and will not be traded anytime soon.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Dec 1, 2007 -> 08:05 PM) if I recall correctly, he'll be out for a good portion of the 08 season as well. Bradley is hoping to be ready for Opening Day 2008 FWIW.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 05:05 PM) yea that article cant be true. no way they pass on 2 good young lefties and a guy that stole 30 plus bases last year and fields. Unless of course they think they can get a great middle infield prospect with major offensive potential who in 2006 was rated the 12th best prospect in baseball by BA, a CF who stole 28 bases last year to go along with a .391 OBP, a catching prospect and one of the best pitching prospects in baseball from Anaheim. The Sox's offer was a good one, very respectable but the Marlins have to be aiming higher at this point. It's still early and who knows maybe the Dodgers and Angels won't sweeten the pot and the Sox's offer will end up being the best one on the table it's just way too early for the Marlins to be jumping at an offer that's less than spectacular.

From Rotoworld via The Tampa Tribune: Hilarious

They were in need of a defensive minded, quality, major league catcher since the Yorvit Torrealba deal fell through. The Sox do not have ANYONE that matches that description. They dealt away a good trading chip to fill a need, they didn't want to hand over the full time catching job to Ramon Castro.

You type 318 characters per minute You have 64 correct words and you have 1 wrong words I've always been a pretty slow typer.

Every offseason there's a few deals that you know, without a doubt, will be colossal failures. This is one of those signings.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 11:35 AM) You want to evaluate him on that stretch of 2006, and ignore 2005 and 2007, go right ahead. I'm not doing any of that, I'm just saying that a guy with a reputation for being a terrible high pressure pitcher can find success in high pressure situations on a contending team during the stretch run of a season.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 11:29 AM) Hunter's on Rome right now and said that the lesser divisional competition in the AL West (vs. what he would've faced in Chicago) was a part of his decision to sign with the Angels. Perhaps that's a nice way of saying that he expects the Sox to suck again next year? Well he was also just on with Waddle and Silvy saying the same thing and he's absolutely right the only competition the Angels will have in the West next year is the Mariners and they don't really scare anybody. Anaheim has the easiest path to the playoffs of any team in baseball. Torii did say that KW's plan is brilliant and that Sox fans are going to love it but who the hell knows if he truly believes what he says. He did say that 2 things in KW's plan have already come to fruition with the Cabrera trade and the Linebrink signing so if he is telling the truth that's a good sign.

He gave up 1 XBH in those high pressure situations, it was a double. His OPS against w/ men on in 2006 was .594.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 10:50 AM) Not so much, no. I put these stats in a thread a few weeks ago, and they bear repeating... Splits from 3 years, 2005-2007 for average against/OBP against... Low pressure... None on: .227/.297 Leading off an inning: .243/.317 None on with outs: .211/.277 High pressure... Runners on: .287/.377 Scoring Pos: .293/.401 See a trend? You can look at other pitchers in the current Sox pen (like Thornton for example, who I was citing previously as a comparison), and they don't have that kind of differential. He doesn't do well under pressure. But really, this isn't the point I was making. I was responding 406's post that labeled everyone who disagrees with him as armchair psychologists. Some of us look at the actual results when making these assessments. I didn't say anything about 2005 or 2007 just 2006. How did he do in high pressure situations during the stretch run of '06 and just '06?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 10:32 AM) Some of us used these things called "statistics", showing how certain pitchers did better or worse in certain high-pressure "situations" on the field. Not all of us who point out that certain pitchers don't do well under pressure are just pulling that out of our asses. MacDougal, for example, does poorly in those situations. Its not just a hunch or something. Except in 2006 when he was dominant in a setup role with the contending White Sox.

Xavier can not hit righties at all. His numbers evened out last year but for every other year of his career he's been an .850+ OPS guy against LHP and a low .700 OPS hitter against RHP. So if you're picking up Nady you're going to need a platoon. As for his contract status, he has 2 years of arbitration remaining but is a Boras client. There have been rumblings that the Pirates will non-tender him in Decemeber but I don't see why they would just give away a pretty productive OF bat for nothing.

QUOTE(RudyLawRules @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 08:43 AM) I wonder what we'd have to give up for Bay. He had an off season last year by all accounts as he was on the verge of becoming a stud based on 2004-2006. Only makes $3.5M for now. He made $3.25M last year but that goes up to $5.75M in 2008 and $7.5M in 2009. A very small price to pay for an incredibly talented offensive player though the real price will come in the talent to get him, they will want a loaded package of young players.

Wow, KW getting aggressive as hell. I love LOVE LOVE the fact that he supposedly offered up Owens as I much like others am afraid he's already been penciled in for LF/CF and the leadoff spot.

QUOTE(bigruss22 @ Nov 29, 2007 -> 06:56 PM) And its been seen in the players that we have traded for from bad organizations, Mac, Masset, Sisco, etc., they dont perform as well as players who are more familiar with the pressure atmosphere and therefore can deal with it better. Then you can probably explain why MacDougal -- a reliever who is very familiar with a culture of losing -- was the White Sox's best reliever in 2006, right?

MtTW

That's the part I don't get, why the hell are they rushing into this? We haven't even hit the Winter Meetings yet.

So the Red Sox (AKA: The 2007 World Series Champions) are about to acquire the best starting pitcher in baseball without relinquishing either of their top 2 prospects? That's just unfair.

I wouldn't hate an all Orlando middle infield. It would be the best defensive SS/2B combination since Vizquel/Alomar IMO.

Next snarky comment in this thread will earn said poster an internet castration and keep in mind I don't play around when it comes to the removal of internet testicles.