southsideirish71

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 11:07 PM) Free beer, peanuts and whores for the limo too? Come on now lets not be silly, whores cost a lot. They arrive when Tejada comes off the plane for his ride to the Cell.

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 11:05 PM) I like that trade-off but, I'd hate to lose Uribe. To get Tejada, I would rent the limo, and make sure Uribe had a window seat for the flight to lovely baltimore. We land Tejada, and I think we seriously are hitting 3 mill in attendance this year.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 06:50 PM) I agree. The Cubs wont give them Zambrano and Pie so a deal won't happen there unless one of the sides gets desperate. I say Tejada stays in Baltimore. Here we go for another round of Tejada talk.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 10:07 PM) Will you please stop your love affair with the word exponentially? Is Vazquez going to square his value? Perhaps even cube it? What if he decreases his value exponentially to the 1/2 power? Diction, use it. And you're actually keen to the idea of giving a three year contract worth somewhere in the vicinity of $12 million, wouldn't you give it to somehow who might be 38? Baseball isn't different from any other form of trading, you buy low and sell high. With six starting pitchers, Contreras has the highest value as of now and could be used to get bullpen help which the White Sox need. You dont know anything. Mid season we will get Zito for prospects, and then turn him around for more prospects. Either that or we can have 7 starters. In the offseason we can sign a few guys and have 8 starters, talk about redundancy. Our payroll wont be a tad over 140 mill. Reinsdorf can afford it. We are talking about a WS Dynasty here.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 08:15 PM) Does anyone doubt that when all the negotiating is over, that Jose Contreras will sign an extension with the Sox? After all the love he has felt here, and his rapport with Ozzie and Coop, I think there is no doubt that Jose will want to be back. I think as long as Jose's demands don't get ridiculous, that KW will find a way to make a deal. So where will that leave the Sox? With 6 strong starting pitchers, the envy of baseball. And, unless someone comes to the Sox with an offer KW can't refuse, I think that is where the Sox will be opening day. McCarthy will be in the bullpen and Contreras, Buehrle, Garcia, Garland, and Vazquez will be in the rotation. It makes a lot of sense. For example, what if Mark Buehrle's foot twinge last spring had been real, knocking him out for weeks? Freak injuries can happen, and having an extra starter ready to plug in can go from a luxury to a necessity whenever they do. Given how badly the Sox performed from 2001-2004 without a reliable 5th man, I think KW fully appreciates the value of starting depth. But this is not necessarily the same place the Sox should be mid-season. By then, they will have a much better assessment of the AL race, how Brandon McCarthy continues to perform against major league hitting, and the health of the team. They should also know whether Brian Anderson is overmatched in CF, whether Jim Thome is fully recovered and back to his old self, whether Joe Crede's back is holding up, etc. In other words, KW will have an even better sense of the club's mid-season needs. (Let's hope we don't have any.) But the biggest thing the Sox may know is how good Javier Vazquez really is. Is he the Vazquez who showed great promise in Montreal? Or the mediocre innings eater he was for the Diamondbacks last year. Under Coop's tutelage, it is highly unlikely he'll be any worse than he was in 2005, with his 4.32 ERA and 35-HR's surrendered, and more likely he'll be better. Yet better for Vazquez may still make him the weakest starter on our team, capable of being replaced by Brandon McCarthy mid-season. And at that point, still basically bound to any team that trades for him for 2-1/2 more years, Vazquez could be a huge trading chit. In fact, if he's shown a return to Montreal form, he'd have much more trade value mid-season than he does now. His value would also be enhanced because he could be a difference-maker for a contender in need of pitching (which every contender except the Sox will probably need). For example, depending on where the Phillies are, why not Bobby Abreu (and some cash to soften his contract) for a refurbished Vazquez at that point? Or perhaps some other player to give us an offensive boost? Or even a contender's best prospects? Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if KW isn't thinking very much along these lines. Of course, it depends on Jose inking an extension. But it would surprise me a great deal if he doesn't do that. So for the recap of the crazy talk..... So we traded our number 1 prospect that everyone thinks is going to be a star CF, so we can reaquire other prospects. Boy you paint KW to be a moron....

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 02:59 PM) Hopefully playing under Girardi may help him improve some of his weaknesses in calling games that we've heard so much about. Maybe he can talk to Cerrano and find out how he learned to hit the curved ball, straight ball he hit very straight, bats afraid of the curved ball.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 03:08 PM) I'll happily eat crow next year if he sucks, if everyone who ripped me about Garland and said he should be traded and/or was never going to sign here again steps up and eats the crow RIGHT NOW. Nothing like the refeshing feeling of watching people slap themselves on the back, while kicking people that they didnt agree with. I bet you feel good for yourself. You are quickly becoming a very popular guy around here. I have a funny feeling people will be directing you what to eat. And it isnt crow.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 02:42 PM) Well, who turned out to be right about Garland????? Congrats on your nut.

37 Year old man who needs a beating

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 10:32 AM) Jose Contreras - S - White Sox Jose Contreras is believed to want three guaranteed seasons at between $11 million and $12 million per year in a contract extension with the White Sox, so he may be trade bait now. "We have talked; we have not gotten too far," agent Jaime Torres said. "Jose is interested in staying in Chicago, but the market has been set [this winter]. Jose wants to stay, but it's a business, and we have to make sure his next contract is a good one." The White Sox are content to keep all six of their starters and put Brandon McCarthy into the pen to start the season, but it is a possibility that Contreras will go, perhaps for a reliever and a pitching prospect or two. Dec. 29 - 5:01 am et Source: Chicago Tribune What do you think will happen with Jose? And so it begins, like Chaveztalk, and Griffeytalk, and as recently as Garlandtalk, we are now offically Counttalk.

For the 10 cents its worth. BRUUUUUUUUUCE Levine stated that there is a lot of interest in Contreras, and that he thought the Phillies had Abreau on the table for Contreras at one point. Now conjecture and bulls*** aside, Contreras pitched like a number 1 for the second half of the season and into the playoffs. A team would give up a lot of this type of pitcher. If we do dump Contreras and people believe he has finally turned the corner, man if Abreau is on the table, what else is on the table.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 03:36 PM) If by long term you mean 3 yrs then yes I think Kenny is trying to lock up Contreras for another 3 yrs. The guy is at the top of his game right now & if he continues to pitch the way he did for the 2nd 1/2 of 2005 there are few that can measure up to him. BMac wasn't traded up til now because the rotation was not solidified for 2 yrs like it is now. If Jose signs an extension then applying your logic that both Freddy & Mark are near locks to be re-signed then only Javier drops out of the equation in 2008. By 2008 you don't believe the White Sox will have another young pitcher ready to crack the rotation? I think it makes more sense that Conteras will be the one to go. Vasquez is a stuff type pitcher like Conteras. However Vasquez is under control for a few years. Conteras's value has never been so high. He can be a number 1 type pitcher. The Dodgers would love a guy like this that can immediately go to the front of their rotation. If they can trade Conteras who is a bit older, they will have a nice young core locked up for a long time in the rotation. KW keeps pulling the wool over our eyes so who knows. Everyone pretty much had Garland gone after this year. Who knows whats next. Bmac is ready to be our 5th starter. He is cheap, his arbitration clock is now ticking, and gives us financial flexibility to resign a Buerhle

If you want to ask if there is a difference, ask Thomas Jones who isnt looking at 9 in the box anymore because Grossman can actually throw a nice deep ball with touch.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 23, 2005 -> 05:09 PM) And yet it's somehow ok to direct the U.S. surveillance apparatus specifically at Islamic populations? Give me a break, they were sweeping for radiation levels. They werent kicking in the doors of their houses and frisking them. In post 9/11 I hope they are checking this.

This is why that 4 way rumor came up. If we get Bedard, that would be 2 relatively cheap pitchers in the rotation, and we could say goodbye to the Count also. Its a good fiscal move. You trade Garland and get a real good pitcher in return, and then you can spin off the Count for prospects if he says he wants silly money. This is how teams like the Braves win year in and year out. Everyone loves Garland, everyone loves the Count. But if you can save 20+ million a year and get real good pitchers to take over you are set for a long time.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 07:50 PM) This schmuck might have a case for V For Vendetta if he did his homework. Then he'd realize that it was originally written in the late 1980s and was made waaaaaaaay before Gitmo et al. (I know, I've read it) Munich -- the Wrath of God operation actually did kill an innocent guy in July 1973 when the Mossad were trying to get revenge against Black September for their terrible deeds at the Munich Olympics. The assassination team mistakenly took him for a guy they were tailing and offed him. Oops. The fact that this guy can't do basic historical background checks before writing his diatribe proves that he may very well not be knowing what it is that he is talking about. So much for the GOP only thread....

We are over budget. If your company was overbudget, you might be seeing some of your coworkers also being given their release papers or traded to the unemployment line. X is the amount of money we have available for the 2006 salary. With the addition of Vasquez The Salary(S) is now greater than X. S > X We need to balance the equation. So we need to remove someone from the team. So lets look at who should go. Should it be a the pitcher who has told KW he wants to become a FA and has broke off contract talks. That person shall be known as G To balance the equation we need some prospects to come back. P is a variable that can be 2 or 3 based on value of G. S - G + P = X

QUOTE(Balance @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 04:22 PM) And if it's illegal, don't we have to at least consider impeachment? After all, if what Dubya did was illegal, it would seem that it violated his oath to uphold the Constitution, right? Or that it's a "high crime [or] misdemeanor?" The liberal witch hunt continues for another day. I guess if you cant vote him out, you can hope for this. I would suggest that if a president irritates you so much, organize a bit better and actually get out a vote. If half the MTV Rock the Vote crap was true you would of had enough of the vote. But I guess talk is cheap, so you need to work on option B. Maybe Michael Moore can do another documentary, or maybe when Ramsey Clark is done with the enemy he can come back and start this crap up. And its also good that Conyers has been practicing for option B now for a few years. Talk about obsessed. Antiwar group starts a impeach bush now "Started by Terrorist defender Ramsey Clark" Conyers so hung up on this, holds mock Impeachment Hearings since 2003 And now this. Give it up.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 03:55 PM) The issue here isn't attendance. It's competiting in a league dominated by large market clubs with moderate to high payrolls. You'll never see a talented player travel through Tampa or Kansas City unless the person is at the beginning, or end, of their career. These clubs are already receiving large amounts from the Yankees alone. Where are these funds going? If neither team can't afford to field a 50 million dollar payroll, they don't deserve to exist. Well we are getting to the point were we are the devil also. Our payroll this year is going to be anywhere from 85-90 million(approximately). Dont get me wrong we are not the yanks, but do you think that Minny would like to have Thome vs White. We are a big market, and finally with some revenue changes are becoming a big market type club. So before we all get upset, remember how happy you were looking at the WS Championship DVD and what we had last year, and our possible monster team we have this year. My personal belief is that its how the team is managed. Some teams compete with prospects like Minny, the Indians, and the A's. Other teams use prospects to obtain talent like the Sox. Others just pay through the noise to get what they want the BoSox and the Yanks. But make no mistake, we are now in the upper bracket of overall salary. I am sure that the Indians/Twins/KC fans think we are the NY of the midwest.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 03:43 PM) I'd imagine a salary floor would be more likely to pass within the union than a cap. Force Tampa, Kansas City, whichever other teams hold low payrolls to spend atleast 50 million. Tampa, Kansas City would not solve their attendance issues just by jacking up there payroll. So they would incur large losses and eventually would need to be contracted or move.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 03:33 PM) Let me quote this, but instead of only quoting this, I want to emphasize the point more. Kiss baseball away for at least 2 years if a Salary cap is thought of. Let me emphasize this even more. THE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION WOULD STRIKE. SO JUST LIKE IN 94. SEE YOU IN 2008 OR 2009 FOR BASEBALL. Are we still the same type of team, or are we at 17k a game again. I hate the money they are making, but be careful what you ask for.

For a little levity .... After Jon is traded we will need to locate the teams fan webboards and show them a picture of what helped Jon become the pitcher he is today.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 01:12 PM) The problem last year was that there was still alot of teams in contention for their division/playoff spot. That's why a lack of moves were made. The only exception was Cincy with Ken Griffey Jr. because they were in the middle of selling the team. Again, look at the Villone deal. Look at the Farnsworth deal. Florida and Atlanta overpaid for those guys. Your prospects are usually not worth much to a team in the middle of a season which is why you could ripoff a team completely at the deadline. KW probably wants to get some young cheap talent that will help with our budget for not only this year but for the next few. We have a lot of players that are coming into their payday years, and this will get ugly soon unless some cheaper players come in to the fold. Outside of VAfan everyone pretty much agrees on this principle. Now from a competition standpoint who do you want to trade with. Do you want to make the Angels better or the Yankees or the Red Sox you know one of these teams you wish to rip off. No you probably want to target a team that is in the NL so the risk of facing a good pitcher like Garland is limited. So that limits you to the NL. Now who has the prospects or the talent to give up. Some teams dont have what we want, some teams are not a good match. The minute you start to limit your tradling partners is the minute you pretty much limit your return. We make a deal now we can get some young talent. Yes you could bluff the entire baseball group and maybe somehow land the big score at the deadline for a desperate team. However that is too risky, and the "backup plan" of well we will get picks is laughable. People are crapping all over se they havent performed well in their september callup or their rookie season, but they are ready to take chances on completely unknown talent that may require a singing bonus. How is Joe Borchard doing everyone, was he worth our signing bonus or the first round pick. Because that is a possibliity when you go to draft picks. Take more mature proven talent that at least has their feet wet in some levels of the minors. At least most of the lemons have been taken out by this point.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 01:04 PM) 1)It doesn't matter where Garland wants to play. He's going to play there. I'm sure he would like to play in Seattle simply because the chances of him keeping his current market value or have it go up jumps up greatly since that's a huge pitcher's park. Seattle would want him because they have a frontline starter for at least 1 year and might be able to actually compete for the division next year. I don't know who Seattle would give up though. And I was saying yesterday that we probably and should hang onto Garland til around the trading deadline because that's when you could rip off teams. Waiting to the trade deadline only limits your trading partners. Remember last year, no one made big trades, pretty much everyone stood pat. Right now everyone outside of a few teams feel that they are x amount of moves away. The Dodgers have to feel that they are close, if we can get the relievers that are being talked about, you get them. Our bullpen would be good to go for a long time not just this year.

Now the update from the original link from Rosenthal is that its a possible three way deal. Tejada to the cubs/manny to baltimore/Prior, shortstop Ronny Cedeno and center fielder Corey Patterson to the Red Sox.