Kalapse

Not only is Rowand 4 months younger than Jones but he also has considerably less ware and tare on his body and he is not represented by Reinsdorf/KW's nemesis (Boras). Andruw Jones has the body of a 34 year old and it's starting to show. IMO the Sox won't even make an attempt to sign Jones this offseason, he's off their radar. You really don't think he'll get a long term deal? Boras has already set the price at $20M per over 7 seasons. When was he last time Boras got considerably less than what he demanded for one of his clients? And Boras clients do not believe in good faith, that's why they hired him in the first place, to get as much money as possible.

Colon is as good as gone, he's a free agent. Don't forget Escobar who was their 2nd best starter this year. I WOULD NOT however accept Santana as a major piece in any deal, he just has way too many negatives.

If the Sox could somehow bring in Rivera on a 3 year deal (incredibly unlikely, I know) I'd be in favor of turning around and dealing away Jenks for a package centered around 2-3 top prospects. It would never happen but IMO it would be a great move.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 09:09 AM) You might want to check that out... dude pitched a lot in 2005 (and was called up July 5)... if 2005 didn't count then I'd think the MLBPA would have something to say about that... teams would do it all the time. 'Dems the rules. He will only have 2 years of service time after this season just as this year will not count towards Fields' service time. The MLBPA did have something to say about it, they negotiated the definition of a full season in the latest CBA.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 12:24 AM) Actually, I think Jenks might be the Sox most valuable trading chip. He's cheap and has 3 years before FA. And had an excellent season. He probably couldn't fetch 3 top prospects, but 2 top prospects wouldn't be out of the question. He's 4 years away from free agency. 2005 didn't count as a full season so 2007 is only his second year of service time.

2 quick Arod factoids I heard from Olney today. Boras is looking for an 11 year deal for his 32 year old client and according to Buster the Yankees are prepared to offer Alex a contract that averages $31M a year. Now tell me, how and why would the Sox compete with that?

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 06:48 PM) Sure he has -- Konerko's slugging percentage was all of 20 points higher than Kotchman's (their OPS' were identical, with Kotchman's being more valuable do to a higher OBP). One played half his games in a spacious stadium while the other played half of his in a bandbox. One is 24, the other is 31. I think I've said this before... if Stoneman offered Kotchman straight up for Konerko I'd probably take that deal. Also -- when JO puts up an OBP above .340 in a season's worth of at-bats, maybe then we can talk of him as our future leadoff man. The only reason JO put up such good numbers in September because his BAPIP was ridiculously -- and unsustainably -- high. Also... when a great month constitutes a .767 OPS, you're not a very good player. Then I have a question. If Kotchman has shown enough power potential at the major league level to lead you to believe that he's already an equal/better offensive player than Konerko then why the hell would Stoneman be willing to do a Kotchman + substantial piece for Konerko deal? The reason he'd want Konerko would be to provide power at a position they're currently not getting it from (1B, Kotchman) but if Konerko isn't really an upgrade then why would a deal like this even be talked about? Throw in Stoneman's track record of refusing to trade youth/potential for experience/proven commodities and the discussion of a potential deal should halt immediately. So to put simply, if Kotchman is really as good as you believe he is then why would the Angels even think about making a deal like this? I also agree 100% with the second part of your post, well put.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 06:08 PM) Umm, that didn't really happen. He didn't give up much to stay here. According to some (halfway down the page) Konerko didn't come at a discount at all.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 06:13 PM) 2. I don't buy it. I think it's B&B throwing something out that makes some sense, and seeing if it sticks. Until it gets picked up by someone else, it really isn't even a rumor. It sounded like Boers just put it together in his head right then and there. I didn't think much of it when he mentioned the deal. This is not a rumor, it's a made up deal with as much validity as anything you'd read on here.

Scot Shields (32 yo) 3 years, $14.6M remaining on his deal. 2007: JULY: 11 IP, 5 ER, 1.73 WHIP AUG: 11 IP, 11 ER, 2.09 WHIP SEPT: 11.2 IP, 8 ER, 1.29 WHIP Final 28.1 IP of '07: 7.62 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, .302/.397/.448/.845 Against

It's pretty easy to make a player look bad when you use imaginary stats. That OPS against is just plain sexy.

QUOTE(Chombi and the Fungi @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 12:30 AM) Hmm...If that is true then thanks for the update. I do remember hearing news about him last season and going into this season that he would be available this offseason for teams. During the season I heard less and less so maybe this would be why. The only reason I don't know how accurate that is is because I thought he signed a deal with the Cubs. Maybe it was to just avoid arbitration but usually doesn't a contract void your upcoming arbitration years? If so, it was a one year deal and I don't know about an option for 08'. Also, I thought Prior was called up in like May or June before he had that surgery? Does the 60 day DL not count against you for those things? Anyone know? Mark Prior was not on a major league roster this year. He was optioned to AAA Iowa in late March then placed on the DL, much like the situation in Florida with Sanchez. They optioned him to AAA then put him on the DL for the remainder of the season in order to save a year of service time instead of moving up to 2 years of service he's still stuck at 1 so he has 5 years until he's eligible for free agency rather than 4. Also, nothing in the "red" section is true.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 12:14 AM) I'm pretty sure Prior did not accrue major league service time this season. He had options remaining, and he was optioned to AAA to open the season. The result is that he didn't put in his 6th year of major league service and he doesn't reach free agency this year. I could be mistaken, but I believe that to be the case as I understood it in April. He's still Cubs property for another season. You're right which is why any scenario in which Mark Prior becomes a free agent would have to be a direct result of the Cubs saying "enough is enough" and non-tendering him. Which I believe to be a plausible scenario.

QUOTE(DaGame2584 @ Oct 8, 2007 -> 11:05 PM) I would try to trade Logan or McDougal, Crede(To replace Lowell if he leaves), and McCulloch. If that wasn't possible then I would keep Crede, plug Fields in @ LF, and Fukudome @ CF for a season. 2 years @ 11 Mil isn't bad considering today's contract being handed out. I mean what has Aaron Rowand done in the last few seasons to justify the numbers he might get this offseason. Coco plays good D, gets on base, and handles the bat enough for we need him for. Plus if they really want to help their BFF White Sox they should hand us over Manny & Ortiz & pay their contracts for Mr. Grinder Darin Erstad. Another all of this talk about what could happen this offseason I wouldn't doubt that our OF looks like this in 2008 Fields, 90% Erstad/10% Owens, and Dye. Coco Crisp hasn't gotten on base in 3 years and his defense is pretty average. And why oh why would you trade a 23 year old reliever who's already proven to be an incredibly effective LOOGY?

People tend to forget that Arod also walked twice in this series. I haven't heard anyone in the media mention these walks so I'll just assume that they didn't count.

And in your scenario what becomes of the best left handed specialist on the team (Logan)? And what major league player are you trading for Covelli Crisp? Or are you getting him for free because the Red Sox need to cut payroll, open a spot for Ellsbury and help their BFF White Sox? Also Crisp has 2 years and $11M remaining on his current deal what has he done recently to make you believe he's worth that sort of money?

They have by far the best on screen graphics and studio of any sports broadcast (I know I'm pretty much the only person who focuses on these things). It's a shame I hate Cal Ripken Jr as much as I do because Ernie, Frank and Granderson/Smoltz has been tolerable. The Stockton/Darling team was just plain horrendous and Chip Carey's hyperbolic bulls*** gets real old, real quick but aside from them the broadcast teams have been pretty good. Stone and Gwynn are 2 of the best in the business.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 7, 2007 -> 11:36 PM) Saito has done a good job for a couple years now for the Dodgers (he's really old too). The Mariners old closer also had a number of quality years in the majors. Takatsu was probably more an exception (one year wonder, but he was also very old when he came over). I like the idea of this guy and would definitely be all about picking him up as a reliever. Shingo was 36 in his second year over here, Saito will be 38 in February.

The search function for the site has been down for what seems like a few years, whenever someone performs a search it tends to have a large adverse effect on the speed and stability of the site so it has been shutdown until a better search engine can be employed or at least that's how I've interpreted it. This is the best way to perform a search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=s...G=Google+Search Just replace "showtime" with whatever you want to find and it should work like a charm every time.

QUOTE(DaGame2584 @ Oct 7, 2007 -> 11:55 AM) Looks like he doesn't steal alot of bases though. I believe we need a base stealer to help us. In 05 Scotty would make the pitcher worry about him stealing than the man at bat sometimes. Which is a great item to have. One of the reason I think we should sign him is because of the Japanese market needs to be tapped into by us. I believe if we don't tap into it soon we'll be hurting in 10-20 years from now. I think the Japanese league will produce good major leaguers in the future. And yet Podsednik only scored 80 runs and the 3 hole hitter put up a .746 OPS. How much of an effect did his threat to steal really have? This team just needs someone at the top who can get on base about 36% of the time, get himself to second with some XBH, steal the occasional base and perhaps knock himself every once and awhile. Going out of the way to find someone who can also steal bases isn't necessary in my mind. Besides are you certain Furcal will steal any more than say 25 bases next year? His SB were way down this past season along with his XBH where has his speed gone?

QUOTE(Markbilliards @ Oct 7, 2007 -> 02:17 PM) Japanese pitchers seem to work for about a year, but after that they usually loose their effectiveness. At least that's what I've always observed. The more the pitcher is seen, the easier he is to handle, for example Okajima was dominate in the first half of this year but after the AS break he wasn't very good. I guess I don't want a long term contract, or maybe if we did sign a Japanese pitcher we could trade him after next year. Unless of course we're talking about Takashi Saito, Kaz Sasaki, Shigitoshi Hasagawa or Akinori Otsuka and that's just off the top of my head there's probably more.

I think the Red Sox have more than enough outfielders with Manny, Crisp, Ellsbury and Drew. The fact that the Sox have been actively scouting him is quite encouraging, his career 80+ ISOd would look awful good at the top of the order and having a strong arm in LF/CF would be a very nice change of pace from what we've grown accustomed to.

Yes, very much so.

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ Oct 6, 2007 -> 11:26 PM) The more and more I see those FrankTV commercials on TBS I want to see that show, Caliendo is hilarious although Im not too sure how he will transition to a sitcom. That's funny because they're having the exact opposite effect on me and most everyone else in the known Universe. That s*** is beyond annoying.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 5, 2007 -> 05:54 PM) Why does everyone want Furcal so much? Doesn't he only have one year left on his deal, and he's also a Boras client? We'd likely have to give up Garland to get him, and I'd rather get someone that can help out the organization a lot longer than one season (a season in which we're not likely to compete for the pennant). Rafael Furcal is not a Boras client and will only be 30 years of age for the majority of the 2008 season.