chunk23

Yeah, Beckham was removed from the roster at the beginning of the week.

And in the AL East. I'd say he should go.

Varitek is a type A FA. Would you really want to lose a draft pick for a crappy backup catcher?

A rumor that is gaining strength is Teix to Boston. This would mean Ortiz, Youk, Lowell, and Teix to fit in 1b, 3b and DH. No way they hold onto that. Considering Lowell is coming off hip surgery, I would imagine he would be their preferred trade candidate. He plays good defense and has gap power. Lots of doubles. Would the Sox be interested in going after him for 3b if Boston signs Teix? What would it take to get him?

Well, in that case we traded a soon to be FA type B pitcher who could be replaced from within the system for a soon to be FA type A shortstop whose position could not be filled from within the system.

If Cabrera is signed before the arbitration deadline it doesn't matter if they offer it. Considering that you can't judge a trade immediately after it's made, I don't think saying it's hindsight is a valid criticism. KW felt that Danks and Floyd were ready to step into the rotation and he was right.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 07:21 PM) That's true on Marquez. He's no where near the talent of those 3. People look at this trade and expect Marquez to be the "reclamation project" and the key to the deal in KW eyes. I don't think that's the case. I believe Betemit is. Marquez might turn out to be a back end SP, but I think KW is gambling for Betemit and not Marquez. Betemit really did turn things around when he got glasses and started wearing them full time instead of just at night.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 08:08 PM) You do realize that none of the deals you just mentioned had any negative effect on us, right? You’re talking in terms of future potential, Kenny deals with the here and now. We will probably regret dealing Cunningham. Just a hunch. However, because we draft so late and often poorly it makes sense to use the prospects as trade chips because they most likely won't become contributors (McCullough I'm looking at you).

Garland for Cabrera was not a mistake trade at all. We traded a type B (Garland) for a type A (Cabrera). Moreover it opened up the rotation for Floyd and Danks, one of whom would not be in the rotation otherwise. This trade may be a mistake, but KW does seem to have a great eye for pitching prospects. It seems above all that this trade was motivated by personality. Swish pissed everyone off and even more so seemed to just be really really annoying in the clubhouse. Sending him to the Yankees is like sending a punk kid to boot camp. Honestly I think it's hilarious. He's not going to get along with them well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 07:53 PM) And assuming we don't sign a type A guy this offseason and we offer arbitration to Uribe and Cabrera, we're at least looking at a late first rounder this year, 2 sandwich picks, a 2nd rounder, and a pick that's either a late first or early 2nd rounder also. I'm pretty sure KW is going to push hard for Hudson. However, losing OC would balance that out.

I would say the Garland-Cabrera trade worked for us pretty well. We get 2 draft picks compared to the Angels 1. Not to mention Danks and Floyd, one of whom wouldn't have been in the rotation with Garland here, pitched better than he did.

I've started to calm down about this trade. What I'm seeing it as is very similar to the Carlos Lee trade. We may have gotten some useful parts out of it, which I think we did, but more importantly with Crede, Uribe and Swish gone KW has a lot more room for FA. I think you can expect the Cuban kid, another INF and an SP through FA. We'll probably still trade for Tavares though.

Hopefully this is similar to the Carlos Lee deal. Sign Viciendo or Hudson or someone. Hopefully A lot of our pitching staff is due to KW's eye for diamonds in the rough. Jenks, Floyd, Thornton come to mind immediately. All considered busts when KW got them.

I see Swisher for Street + Tavares as very likely. Maybe us tossing in an extra prospect. It's not something I want, but it's possible. I also beat you guys to this scenario.

Street is probably going to be flipped quickly. http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270335/11618874 Both Street and Tavares are players KW has gone after in the past. I'm not liking the chances of the Sox going after them. Sure Tavares can steal bases but his OBP is way too low.

I think Gonzalez going to the Rockies will hasten Tavares' departure. I really hope we don't trade for him.

I think you can expect him to sign for 3 mil per year between 3-4 years. I really hope they pick this guy up. A signing like this really dampens the blow from potentially signing a type A player, which I think the sox will.

He's most definitely a republican, but most likely absolutely only based on tax policy. His status before that was "is moving to Mexico".

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 01:55 AM) I read the article. I also watched the entire season. When Javy was needed, he faded. And I am not interested in dumping salary, I just want to dump Vazquez. I have full confidence that KW can replace his spot in the rotation effectively. And Javy was far from awesome in the regular season stretch Who would replace him? We need a 4 and 5 if we trade him.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 01:44 AM) Its like everyone who makes the 5th starter argument conveniently blocks out the end of the season. Did you not see what I saw? You want to see that again, for two more years? Everyone in the rotation steps it up only to have one of the higher paid pitchers step back and drag the team back and you want to see that again? Not me. Not ever again. Im also sick of hearing about how great his stuff is. Mike MacDougal has great stuff too, but both him and Vazquez lack the intestinal fortitude that a competing team demands of its pitchers. Did you read the article? He countered the "pressure game"" cherry picking by showing how awesome he was in the regular season stretch. He also gets paid very little considering how expensive it is to sign even crappier pitchers. The Sox don't need to dump salary and Vazquez is good enough that it wouldn't warrant a salary dump. It would cost just as much or more to get an equivalent pitcher.

Can Aubrey Huff still play 3B? He'd be a great pickup.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 8, 2008 -> 05:47 AM) AJ Pierzynski was pretty mediocre his first and third years in Chicago...why didn't you want to dump him then? It''s really hard to replace even a mediocre catcher.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 03:43 PM) that^^^ As much as I would love for him to go, I don't think it's going to happen. Right now we're probably going to need a 3b and a SS unless Ramirez shifts to SS at which point we need a 2b. Crede isn't coming back and it looks like OC isn't. If we get a decent player for one of those positions, it should offset Uribe's weak bat. Blake would be ok, close to meh. Right now we just don't have a replacement especially with how poor Fields looked.

Looking through the game log, wasn't Huff ejected?

Really, I don't see how the Cy would go to anyone but Cliff Lee. Besides closers are vastly overrated and a number of K-rods saves are crappy little one out saves, not to mention that he allows way too many baserunners to be considered lights out. Fact of the matter is, the Angels run differential is so low that he has something like 30% more save opportunities than any other closer in baseball, and converts saves at a worse rate than many others. While he will probably break the record, it's a matter of circumstances and not just skills. Any other closer in baseball would be on the same pace if they were in the Angels bullpen.