Kalapse

meh

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jun 30, 2007 -> 12:30 AM) I think it's the most likely projection I've seen. Although I think Pods will be gone and Sweeney or Fields will be in LF. And I wouldn't be shocked to see Crede non-tendered. So I assume in that scenario Richar takes over leadoff duties? Also, I highly doubt Crede is non-tendered. With World Series Gods Buehrle, Contreras, Dye and Iguchi all being pushed out the door and only 1 being brought back in Rowand, the Sox are going to have to make up for it by handing Crede the 3B job out of ST. I also doubt they want to let him walk without receiving some sort of compensation.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jun 30, 2007 -> 12:26 AM) Nope -- I think Kalapse had him getting hit by a comet, making the Sox' 2007-2008 offseason (losing Buehrle, signing Eckstein and Rowand, retaining Erstad and Podsednik) the worst in the history of baseball. If Buehrle is dealt, my #1 wish is that KW get an MLB ready leadoff man in return so I never have to see Podsednik play again. You can't tell me that the plan I drew up right there doesn't seem incredibly plausible.

QUOTE(dasox24 @ Jun 30, 2007 -> 12:24 AM) I assume leaving Danks out of the rotation was an oversight. God damn it, That's like 6 corrections I've had to make due to oversights.

Most likely offseason: Podsednik - Erstad - Rowand: ~$3.25M, $3.25M, ~$6M = $12.5M Crede - Eckstein - Richar - Konerko - Thome - Pierzynksi: ~$5M, $5M, $400K, $12M, ~$7.6M, $5.5M= $35.5M Garland - Vazquez - Danks - Floyd - ?: $12M, $11.5M, $400K, $400K, ? = $24.7M - $30M - $38.7M = $72.7M - $78M - $86.7M + ~$4M Bench + ~$4M Bullpen = $80.7M - $86M - $94.7M ? = $400K (Gio/other rookie), $5.7M (mediocre FA), $14M (Buehrle)

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jun 30, 2007 -> 12:00 AM) Why would payroll go down, though? Isn't most of the money already in from this year's season tickets? I know they're going to lose a little bit of money because walk-up sales will be down a bit down the stretch, but enough to shave $5 million off of the payroll? I don't think Buehrle will re-sign, I believe Contreras will be dealt, I'm starting to think Uribe will be replaced (with who? I do not know) and I don't think Mackowiak or Cintron will be retained. I don't see the Sox going after any high priced free agents and with over $20M saved from departed starters alone I just don't see where all that extra money will go. I think the total payroll will decrease from ~$96M to about $90M with some money available if KW wants to make a move at the break (as the Sox tend to do.) It's still far to early to be speculating on next year's payroll anyway, anything could happen over the next month or so. If 3-4 new near minimum players are brought in for next season through deadline deals this year, we could see an even lower '08 payroll.

The payroll will not go up next season unless the investors decide to dip into their own pockets. Based on an estimate of this year's attendance (which will determine next year's payroll, just as '06 attendance lead to the '07 payroll) I'd say the team payroll for '08 will be in the $85-$90M range with $90M being very likely. That's about a $6M decrease from this season.

Kuo just gave up a 3 run blast to Kevin Kuz. Making it a 5-2 Padres lead in the 4th. Kuo has some serious control problems and isn't going to make it through 5. The Dodgers Starting Pitching woes continue . . . And a Brian Giles infield single ends Kuo's night after only 3.1 IP. 6 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K and 89 pitches over a very short outing. What an absolutely terrible performance by the lefty. With Billingsley going on Sunday, a bad outing could send the Dodgers into desperation mode.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 10:55 PM) Boone Logan is untouchable. Best LOOGY in the game and he's 6 years away from free agency. That being said, he's hardly untouchable.

The Dodgers have already stolen 4 bases off Chris Young/Michael Barrett through 3 innings.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 10:21 PM) The Mets sweeping the DH today probably lessens their need for Buehrle just a little bit. I'm hoping that Kuo pitches poorly for the Dodgers tonight. If this makes you feel better, there's very little any GM could do over the next few years to get us back into the playoffs. Kuo is already having problems. Through 2 innings he's thrown 43 pitches. 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 09:35 PM) If we trade Buehrle, we should also trade Contreras and then use that money to upgrade so many of the holes that we do have. Let Floyd and Gio get some major league experience during the 2nd half of the season. I agree completely and I really think that's what will take place. KW is not an idiot, he knows Contreras has nothing left and he'll continue to look for a buyer just as he has been for the past few weeks.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 09:33 PM) Change "think" to "hope". We know our GM lusts for overpriced, past their prime veterans, but that may only include ones that don't play for him. Such as?

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 09:29 PM) I don't think Count's is being traded anymore according to the latest Buehrle rumors. Even if you don't re-sign Buehrle you still need to deal away the $20M albatross. He's going to give you nothing over the next 2 years, keeping him will not help make up for the loss of Buehrle. Luckily I think KW knows this.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 09:16 PM) ORLY? I'm at the point where whatever conclusion is reached between Buehrle and Sox management, I just want it to occur quickly. Having this issue linger over the team for several weeks is another unwarranted distraction in an already abysmal season. If it were up to me, Buehrle would either be signed long term or traded by the end of this weekend. This issue shouldn't be mentioned before, during, and after everyone of his remaining starts, as we've seen several days ago. Trying to work out an extension with Buehrle right now is such a good move by KW and the front office as long as they utilize it properly. By at least making an attempt to re-sign him now and finding out that their best offer is not good enough they can give up any idea of trading him then trying to re-sign him in the offseason since now you know your best offer is not good enough, there's no point. So if KW makes a push to deal Mark away in the coming weeks he can allow a 72 hour window for the team dealing for him to throw a bunch of money at Mark and in turn get absolute max value in return.

Boone Logan is the best in the business. He's having an absolutely HUGE year.

WOW, Andy Gonzalez just made a complete ass of himself.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 04:30 PM) My understanding is that the player has to accept the bid before the MLB team has the right to negotiate with the player. If, say, the Reds won the bid to negotiate with Ichiro and he didn't want to play there, Ichiro could've said "no thanks." If he says "no thanks" then he has to go back to Japan for another year, he can't pick which bid he wants to accept.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 01:27 PM) I'm not sure I understand exactly where this assumption is coming from....based on what? First think of all the pitchers who have signed 4 or 5 year deals over the past 15 years or so. Now think of how many actually made it through the entire life of the contract without getting injured or becoming ineffective. The best comparison I have and I continue to use it is Mike Hampton. Through the 2000 season he was a better career pitcher than Buehrle, a year younger, with the same clean bill of health and similar throwing style/mechanics, he was considered by many to be one of the most athletic pitchers in the history of the game. In 2001 he signed an 8 year deal with the Rockies. That contract is now considered one of the worst in the history of the game since Hampton has had more injuries than any other pitcher in the game over the past few years. Every pitcher is a huge risk over a 4-5 year span.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 01:26 PM) I thought that Jon was only under contract through next year? That's the idea. If the Sox decide to lock up Garland to a long term deal it's going to take a similar contract to the one Buehrle signs to get Garland to stick around as well. So that's going to be somewhere around $28M between the both of them and another $12M for Konerko. The first year of any mult-year contract that Garland signs would be 2009, hence the way I worded it.

QUOTE(Beastly @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 01:11 PM) Yep. Unless you REALLY want draft picks... Or you REALLY don't want 30% of your payroll tied up in 2 players over the next 3 years, one of whom is a huge risk to be injured/ineffective some time over the life of the deal and leave you eating $14M+ for a few years. There's a pretty big downside to giving Mark 4+ years and ~$60M guaranteed. If Konerko, Buehrle and Garland are all still with the Sox in 2009, somewhere around $40M of probably an $85-$95M payroll will locked up in 3 players.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 11:56 AM) Also, apparently Yi is demanding a trade from the Bucks. I wonder if the Bulls liked him or not. Paxson was on the radio this morning and said when deciding who to take at #9 they had three guys in mind. Noah, Hawes and Yi. If Yi hits the trade block due to pressure from the Chinese government I could definitely see Paxson making a push for him.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 12:03 PM) Which is funny, because with the lack of income taxes in Texas, they have some of the highest property tax rates in the country. I thought that was at one PM today? Noah missed his fight out of New York (reason #1,546 to trade his ass) so Paxson announced they'll be pushing it back to Monday.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 29, 2007 -> 11:42 AM) If there's a deal, it won't be announced until Monday. Between the Bulls draft and the big Cubs series, Monday would be the perfect time to announce it prior to Buehrle taking the mound at the Cell. Noah, Gray and Curry are going to be introduced to the Chicago media on Monday.

The Union wouldn't block the deal, they'd lean on the agent since he's certified by the Union.