elrockinMT

Freddie Garcia is a battler and also is a pitchr now and not simply a thrower. Obviously health is the issue, but a non-guaranteed contract is a pretty safe thing IMO

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 11, 2009 -> 01:54 AM) I was so desperate for any new White Sox information I had to go to the Evil Empire of WSI. There were so many annoying posts that I wanted to make a comment, then I finally realized I banned myself for life, lol...I didn't realize how suffocating and ridiculous that site could be until I started reading threads there again. The "pack" mentality of jumping on posters there who question anything (the infamous Dark Clouds, I think fathom might be our closest!) about KW or the Sox is so irritating. I thought about that WSI, but my conscience and computer would not let me go there

Amen!

QUOTE (Steff @ Jan 6, 2009 -> 09:53 PM) It's a nice PR story and all... but how about rewarding the existing season ticket holders who, in these financially challenging times, support the White Sox passionately and unconditionally. It is anice organizational move, but I wish there was something for us fans from the sticks. But, it's true the Chicago area fans get to go to games and thus support the Sox financially. I do what I can by buying a T-shirt or hat off Chisox.com

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 6, 2009 -> 07:11 PM) That's a 44% pay cut for Pat Burrell and for Giambi, get this... 77.6% pay cut $23,428,571 to $5.25 million Talk about cost of living decrease/deflation. It just goes to show you how the New York Yankees have completely destroyed the free agent market and driven costs and expectations of players and agents totally over the edge. The yankees should be banned from baseball in my opinion.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 07:39 AM) If we had jettisoned Uribe when we did Ozuna, there is no way in hell we'd have won the division. A lot of people were wishing for Uribe to get the ax at that time. I couldn't agree more. We won the division in large part because Uribe stepped up to play thirdbase. I for one would have liked to see him come back as the super sub

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 10:17 PM) I still think Jon Garland would be the perfect pick up for this team but maybe that's just me. It ain't just you. I feel the same way

QUOTE (scenario @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 10:51 PM) I'd be willing to bet someone offers Garland 3 years - $36M. And I can't see him getting less than $10M per year. I'm not suggesting that he's worth $12M per year, or that we should pay that. But I think somewhere along the line before the season starts some pitching hungry team will pony up the money. He's healthy. He's still relatively young. He doesn't walk alot of people. He's had success in the relatively recent past. He's had successful playoff experience. Yeah... somebody will pony up. And I doubt it will be us. $8-$10M a year tops. I think the big money is gone and reality sets in. Gareland will get what he has been getting alhtough incentives might be an option. I have always liked Jon Garland, but whether signing with the Sox is an option is a different story

Word is the Gooch is headed back to Japan. I knew this before Caulfield, but I just let him post first

Could he get a job if he knows the Governor or Mayor? And has the right amount of money?

I agree with Allsox on the MLB report. Nothing new at all. I was hoping to hear some rumors on the Sox looking for pitching, or the B Roberts rumor, but there wasn't a thing there on it

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 07:56 PM) Pedro? I'd pass. Would be nice to occasionally get a big name guy at least remotely close to his prime and not 5 years afterward. As far as passing on Pedro I tend to agree. Unless there is something we don't know I would just be really worried about the arm injury thing. There are still options out there on the FA market like Garland and Oliver Perez. Perez seesm to have a reputation like JV does, but he is younger and a lefty. Lots of talent though no matter

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 07:05 PM) Lyon would make our bullpen nasty. I'd take him in a second. Pedro, eh. If it is an incentive type deal, cool. If we don't sign him, no biggie to me. Nasty in what way? I could probably see him as set up guy for Jenks, but Bobby is the best closer hands down.

QUOTE (R.J. @ Jan 3, 2009 -> 03:58 AM) Oh my god get Broadway out of here now, I don't care if Jones hits .120 And from seeing him swing the bat last year that's a very real possibility. Broadway may be a very underrated prospect. Jones shouldn't command a prospect who has/or might have a good chace of making it. The guy was a complete utter bust in LA and we are the target destimation? I don't think we are in that dire of need to be taking on Andruw Jomes who isn't even hitting his weight in the winter leagues right now. He could very well be washed up and done

I just don't think Josh Fields can be our everyday 3Bman and play at a defensive level that we need to be winner.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 3, 2009 -> 01:13 AM) I like the idea of selling high on Gavin, but we are already short on starting pitching. Pitching is a premium and we say we are selling "high" when getting Roberts? Mistake!

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 01:08 PM) Rowand has one of those contracts that will be next to impossible to unload. Free agent signings and money involved are out of control. Teams now sould be seeing the futility of building winners this way and committing money to a system that is totaly absurd. Possibly there will come a time when sanity rules again and the Yankmees are the only team left building their line up through free agency.Either that or we have some go bankrupt.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jan 1, 2009 -> 03:35 PM) Another good example of why I take everything Law writes with a grain of salt. Javy may have had 'problems', but lack of movement on his pitches was not one of them. He has absolutely nasty movement on his pitches. I am sure a lot of teams recognize the upside to Vazquez and that's a 200 inning/200 K a year guy. He has the talent it's just that he can't step up and be more than a .500 pitcher. It must be totally freustrating to his pitching coaches and managers.

I was surprised when the Sox let him go the first time

I wanted to wake up in the New Year with a new positive attitude and a feeling of can do, but then I thought why bother? No really I agree with you. Let's go Sox

My own feeling on this trade is that Javy Vazquez was going to be traded this off season no matter what. I would like to think he was worth some solid return-maybe we got the best trade maybe not-only time will tell I guess. I think we may have gotten some major talent that we will see in 2010. The issue with catching is pretty big in our organization so getting a top minor league prospect at that posiiton is a plus. Now we can have something to discuss next off season an that's: what will happen with AJ?

I am not ceratin this was ever posted, but if so please delete. I just came across the ESPN Hot Stove Report and their analysis of the Vazquez trade to Atlanta. What do you think? Young catcher could be key to Vazquez trade Thursday, December 4, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry Posted by Keith Law Javier Vazquez comes to Atlanta for one good prospect, a wild-card arm, and some filler. "Big Game Javy" is a durable mid-rotation starter, good for 200 innings a year, still young at 31, and maddening in his inability to meet expectations based on his peripheral stats. He sits 90-93 mph, bumping 94, without much movement. He tends to miss in the upper-middle part of the zone two or three times a game, and because he defaults to his fastball when he's behind in the count, it results in some very hard-hit balls. He works with three off-speed pitches -- slider, curve and changeup -- none plus, both breaking balls around average, the change slightly below, and has better control than command; his 59 unintentional walks this year actually his made up his highest total since his rookie year in 1998. Vazquez actually ranks ninth among active starters in strikeouts, 14th in innings pitched, 13th in fewest walks per nine innings … and 11th in home runs allowed, behind eight pitchers aged 40 and up. He holds the patent on the Really Bad Pitch and is currently litigating for trademark rights to the term "One Bad Inning," all of which seems small beans now that his former manager, Ozzie Guillen, has tagged Vazquez as unable to pitch in big games. In the six-player trade, Atlanta also gets Boone Logan, a low-slot lefty specialist who almost shot-puts the ball to the plate. He tops out at 91 mph and his slider doesn't have great tilt, so he's limited to platoon duty and is going to be prone to the long ball. But he could have a good run as a one-out lefty, and he's cheap for 2009 and under control for three years after that. Logan is interesting if for no other reason than the fact that he has thrown only 5 1/3 innings between short-season ball and Triple-A. The package going back to the White Sox relies heavily on one prospect, breakout slugger Tyler Flowers, to make it a solid return. Brent Lillibridge is a nice utility player who can handle playing shortstop, second or center field but who is little more than a slap-hitter without good secondary skills, limiting his upside to a bench role. Third baseman Jon Gilmore is a moderate-tools prospect with very limited feel, below-average speed, and a limited power ceiling; he reminds me of Ryan Sweeney, another player from Iowa who was hyped as an amateur beyond what his actual tools merited. The wild card for Chicago is left-hander Santos Rodriguez, a Gulf Coast League repeater with an outstanding arm. He's a long, lanky kid whose fastball sits 95-96 mph, and he shows some feel for a breaking ball. The delivery isn't pretty, and his command is still well below average, so he probably projects as a reliever. But his upside, even in the pen, is substantial, although his probability of reaching it right now given his inexperience and delivery is not that high. Flowers, on the other hand, is going to produce offensively at the big-league level, possibly as soon as 2010. It's not quite the way you'd draw it up -- he bars his front arm slightly with his hands all the way back and takes an all-out swing -- but he has a very good eye and raw power, particularly to left and left-center. (His 17 home runs may not look impressive, but Myrtle Beach -- high Class A -- is a horrible place to hit.) He may not hit for a high average -- I'd like to see him prove he can catch up to better fastballs, as his bat speed isn't great on top of where he starts his hands -- but he'll post a high OBP and should be a 25-plus home run guy when he's established in the majors, perhaps more in a homer-friendly park like Chicago's. Flowers' drawback is behind the plate, where he's slow and blocky and has a fringe-average arm; he'll never be a defensive asset, but the White Sox have lived with A.J. Pierzynski back there for years and won a World Series with him, so they don't seem likely to overvalue defense at catcher. If Flowers reaches or comes near his ceiling, he alone is a good return on two years of Vazquez at a slightly below-market $11 million per year. But if Flowers can't catch or has too much trouble making contact at higher levels, the rest of the package isn't likely to make up for it.

I wonder if the President-elect would get me some free tickets to the Sox games?

I likey that AJP... but not in that way---not that there is anything wrong with that

They just need a MLB team based in Havana and all this will end