Kalapse

In the last update Offman never used the word "close" he said they were in trade discussions that would involve those players but the word "close" was never used.

~$8M per over ~3 years

Why would anyone have a problem with Carlos Vasquez? The guy was a throw-in, it's a little early to be second guessing a trade that was made only a few weeks ago.

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Nov 25, 2006 -> 03:42 PM) Podsednik was 27th in MLB in pitches seen per plate appearance. Only Thome and Dye had higher P/PA. As you could have guessed, A.J. saw the fewest pitches/PA on the team, followed by Uribe. Think this has anything to do with the fact that he struck out looking around 80 times last year? Sure he was taking pitches but a large portion of the time he was watching 3 pitches over the heart of the plate. I don't think anyone is really blaming him for the s***ty season last year or even considering him a top 5 reason for why they underachieve. I think it's just people getting sick of watching a bad baseball player day in and day out.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 25, 2006 -> 03:06 PM) I'm sure he can hit .260. I'm also sure he won't hit for any power and he still won't be able to hit a breaking pitch. Sounds like a certain former White Sox centerfielder who's still remembered as an iconic figure despite posting a .736 OPS in his final year with the team.

Durham is going to get a multi year deal in the range of $7.5M-$9.5M per. This for a 34 year old oft-injured secondbaseman whom you'd be asking to switch positions.

QUOTE(Brian @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 01:20 PM) And Ryan Howard made only $350,000 this year Yes but that's a second year player, we could go on all day listing the Morneau's, Howard's and Cabrera's of the league but once a guy like Carlos Lee is making more loot than a living legend in Albert Pujols well then there's a problem.

It's appearantly worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $100M over 6 years. So anywhere between $16.5M-$17.5M per or in other words more than Albert Pujols.

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 01:21 AM) And everyone was saying we should have took him instead of Benson If Mike Williams gets his head out of his ass and bulks up a bit he could be a pretty damn good TE, Benson on the other hand is looking like a classic bust. The Bears organization is giving his ass the Brian Anderson treatment it seems.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Nov 23, 2006 -> 06:30 PM) look upwards

As of right now it appears he's their starting 3B despite his s***ty defense at the hotcorner.

QUOTE(Leonard Zelig @ Nov 22, 2006 -> 03:51 PM) I think you are being a tad bit dramatic. If Freel were literally insane, I seriously doubt he would have lasted 10 years in professional baseball. Also KW gave Jenks a chance and he had some substance issues. Kevin Mitchell was pretty f***ed up in the head but still managed to stick around for 13 years in the bigs. If you're a decent ballplayer you'll likely find work in major league baseball no matter what kind of issues you have. Considering how much it would cost to acquire a player like Freel, I'd say his off the field issues are enough to keep most teams away, he's been arrested for numerous DUI's, has a history of drug use (coke) and comes with a reputation for being incredibly dificult to deal with in the clubhouse. Freel would not come cheaply (unlike Jenks) making him an incredible risk to any team who attempts to trade for him. QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Nov 22, 2006 -> 04:00 PM) Because Wayne Krivsky is the GM? There's always hope.... Alright, if Freel can get on base at a .360+ clip and be a little speedy, why does it matter how much he strikes out? And, I don't understand why he would strike out more in the AL. Hell Grady Sizemore struck out 153 times last year. I'd say he's a pretty damn good leadoff hitter regardless.vx

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 22, 2006 -> 03:18 PM) Farney is the little voice that lives in Freel's head that tells him what to do. Farney likes to drink and drive, and generally cause trouble. Why would Cinci want to get rid of a cheap, versitile, excellent defender, with a high OBP? Exactly, you have remember Kenny Williams generally goes after high character guys and will not hesitate to get rid of a troublemaker. Freel has some serious issues mainly having to do with booze and mental problems making him seemingly off limits to the Sox. Cincinnati on the otherhand does not seem to mind his insanity/legal problems so there's really no reason for them to trade away a very good, youngish, cheap player.

Farney and The Cincinatti Police Department say high.

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Nov 21, 2006 -> 07:14 PM) We were world champs in 2005-changed 8 places on roster and finished third. We all believed the team last year was a repeat team. Wholesale changes AGAIN are not the answer-a few holes need to be filled-lets just fill them with quality players This would make sense if the Sox had totally revamped the rotation following the '05 season which they did not. What is the #1 reason the Sox won it all in '05? Pitching. What's the #1 reason the Sox finished 3rd in '06? Pitching. I Don't want to post a s***load of pitching stats here so I'm going to keep it simple and only use ERA+ for this breakdown. That's right, I'm lazy. '05 Rotation (Name - ERA+): Buehrle - 143 Contreras - 123 Garcia - 115 Garland - 127 Hernandez/McCarthy - 87 Average ERA+ = 119 '06 Rotation: Buehrle - 93 Contreras - 109 Garcia - 103 Garland - 103 Vazquez - 96 Average ERA+ = 101 Changes to the rotation from '05 to '06 = Hernandez 87 ERA+ to Vazquez 96 ERA+ = +9 difference CLOSER: The bullpen which was another strength over the '05 season went relatively unchanged from '05 to '06. Hermanson who got hurt after 57 appearanced in the '05 season and was replaced late last year by Bobby Jenks, Jenks kept his closing role for the '06 season. LEFTIES: The main lefty from the '05 team, Neal Cotts returned to his role in '06. However after posting a remarkable 229 ERA+ for the World champs, Cotts came crashing back down to earth posting a pathetic 90 ERA+ last season. The second lefty in '05 was Damaso Marte who basically blew ass for most of the '05 season and was nearly kicked off the team in September. His lousy 118 ERA+ was first replaced by Boone Logan (bad) but his role was quickly filled by Matt Thornton stepped up with a very nice 140 ERA+ RIGHTIES: I'm going to keep this one real simple. 2005 Cliff Politte = AWESOME (222 ERA+), 2006 Cliff Politte = TRAINWRECK (54 ERA+). So he was replaced at the All Star Break by the very very studly fireballer Mike MacDougal (259 ERA+). Vizcaino's 119 ERA+ was replaced by Riske's 118 so that's basically a wash. 2005 Pitching Staff ERA+ = 123 2006 Pitching Staff ERA+ = 101 So as for these wholesale changes that were made from '05 going into '06, the offense was exceptionally better so I'm not even going to bother with Everett, Rowand, Timo, Harris Widger, Anderson, Thome, Macowiak, Cintron and Alomar. 2005 offense = 4.57 Run/game, 2006 offense = 5.36 Runs/game. The pitching is where the Sox win or lose their games and it's fairly appearant that the '06 pitching staff paled in comparison to its '05 counterpart despite featuring many of the same key players. I know this is incredibly unscientific and very flawed since I only used 1 stat for all players but I do believe it got the point across, the 2006 White Sox did not underachieve because of some changes in the offseason, they underachieved because the pitchers who came up big in '05 decided to take a year off in '06.

Morneau really shouldn't have won it (even though I've been campaigning for him for about 3 months now) but as long as Jeter finishes his career without taking home the hardware I'll be happy.

I knew he'd land $9M per, the writing was on the wall back in August.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 19, 2006 -> 03:21 PM) I have a hard time believing that. If that really is the case, then it turns out to be a pretty solid deal, at least in my eyes. It all depends, if those are vesting options then this could be pretty damn brutal. You have to think that Soriano would only agree to such a deal if there was a clause in there that could make a few of those option years gauranteed.

Well this appears to be the first substantial report concerning Garland to the Rangers, it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 12:47 PM) If Atlanta is really shopping Andruw around and they want a young talented CF replacement would you consider trading BA or Sweeney for him?? He would be a rent-a-player for 2007... Okay if these recent rumors hold ground..we could have a lineup such as this... Figgins, Crawford, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Jones, Gooch, Crede, Uribe haha thats just unfair! and it just wont happen. it would happen if the Sox aqcuire Santana and Figgins for Garcia and prospects.... Sox acquire Crawford for Santana and Fields Sox acquire Jones for Brian Anderson of Ryan Sweeney haha wow the possibilities KW has with this team this offseason..... You're not getting Andruw Jones without including a young, cheap starter.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 12:05 PM) I never said that Figgins was a "significant upgrade." But he is an upgrade. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Pods a FA now? Nope Pods still has 2 Arb years remaining so he'll be eligible for free agency after the '08 season.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 11:40 AM) It's also entirely possible that the team the most desperate for pitching might put out an offer for a starter on the FA Market at the same time as putting up their biggest offer on the trade market. Which is why it seems KW is moving very quickly this offseason, from the way things are going we could see multiple deals pulled off by the Sox before Turkey day.

Let's see he's 29 years old (prime age), he'll make $13.5M in 2007, he is a free agent after the '07 season and he's represented by Boras. Yes this seems like a perfect fit. He's a big name player, playing in his prime, entering a contract year and he's represented by the most aggressive agent in sports. He's looking at a massive contract next offseason and there ain't a chance in hell he gets it from the Sox, in other words he'd be a 1 year $13.5M rental that's going to cost you a pretty penny talent wise to acquire.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 09:44 AM) Don't think I've seen that on Comedy Central yet. Premium Blend.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Nov 17, 2006 -> 09:35 AM) This is true. But the percentages around here aren't good. This place goes MAD sometimes...just look at the boards now. It's really no different from any other major fan site, especially during hot stove season.