elrockinMT

Steff, oh Steff, Oh Steff! Remember we have a new Sheriff in town/manager and a new attitude. He won't let this type of thing happen to young players like Willie Harris. I also believe his long time side kick Hopalong Cora has taken care of Rowand and his attitude. I have to agree though Willie is still a big if, but I really don't think he will play like D Jimenez.

I think the player that might surprise us the most is Willie Harris. I just watched a tape of the last Sox game televised by WGN last year when they played KC at KC. Willie Harris had a walk, SB and two hits when I quit watching. I liked Willie's approach to the plate the last couple of weeks or so of last season. If he quits swinging for the fences and uses his speed this year I think he can be very good. I think Crede will continue to improve and is a .275, 25 HR, 80+ RBI kind of guy and very good with the glove. Konerko is a solid player, who was struggling maybe still recovering from injuries during the 1st half of last year. I see him back at .285+ 30 HR, 100 RBI's. Rowand might be another one ready to prove himself this year, at least I think from the reports we can count on his being ready. I see .275, 15+ HR's and 60+ RBI's depending on where he hits in the line up. Miguel Olivo is still learning with the bat and to some extent glove, but will develop into a real dependable player with both. I hope for at least a .250 average with 10+ HR,s and 50 + RBI's. I don't think we are as bad off as it may seem with losing all our free agents. I think we will miss Bartolo Colon and Carl Everett the most.

I am ready to start the season with the team we have now. Of course I am always ready for baseball to start up. Really though, I think we need a starter like Maddux rather than another relief pitcher.

What's the matter with cheeseburgers? I like cheeseburgers. It's what America eats for dinner-beef with a milk product. Great nutrition and protein build up naturally all in one package.

Maybe Donald Trump will actually want to buy a baseball franchise and it is the Sox. There is a dude with business sense.

It does seem that the media has forgotten their role in society. Ther are there to inform and not harass. I guess baseball writers have nothing to do in the off season except hassle baseball players. During the season they do a lot of hassling also.

I don't see Frank's contract as being bad for the Sox. He gets paid around $6M- and had agreed to a lower contract to stay with the Sox- and he hits 40 plus homers and drives in over a 100 runs. Downey is just showing how biased he is against the Sox. The comment that Perez is better than Buerhle really sticks in my craw too.

Maybe they can hit 42 homers? It is to easy for these guys to rip on one guy. Winning and losing is a team thing with an individual stepping up to keep the momentum going or top off the great efforts of the team. Over the course of a season there are plenty of chances to praise and criticize all 25 individuals. If they work as a team chances are they will suceede more than fail.

Thanks anyway Steff. Good night.

Does KW think that Ozzie was correct in how he handled the issue with Frank Thomas? Or does he think it was Ozzie's enthusiasm (another big word for his big mouth) getting in the way?

Thanks you guys for posting the interview with KW. Not much new there, but we are all starved for info. Guess what we have thought all along is right: no trades, try and sign a low cost rotation guy (to bad they won't kick lose and outbid for maddux), Hope KW is right about competing and going after some more talent mid-year. However, I don't know what we have left to give up? Hope Frank isn't to pissed off with Ozzie that he snaps the little guy in half. Interesting about Backman. I wonder what the real story is?

Hope you guys will keep us "out-of-towners" updated on KW and ESPN 1000, if he has anything interesting to say? Thanks!

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jan 23 2004, 10:55 AM) She has a rich vocabulary and a wealth of knowledge of the language... Yeah, Steff, I'm CRACKIN' YOUR EGGS!!!! OMG.. It's funnier than it was the first time!! I am glad we got that straightened out. For a minute I thought she had a wierd intestinal disease or something...

I am sure we will win the pennant now! Now that we got this here Japanese guy the stands will be full and the saki will be flowing. I just read the story in the Sun-Times about this being a one club town and it ain't the Sox he talks about. Really I say let's give it a chance to work out.

That's a can of Japanese.

QUOTE (WSFAN35 @ Jan 22 2004, 04:55 PM) Didn't Otis report about the Nomar-Maggs trade before anyone knew about it? Steff Said: Yep. Almost 2 months early So what you are saying is this guy might actually be a living person with connections?

That's What I Want to Know About It! Who the heck are they talking about?

I still want to know who this Dude OTIS is. The rumors he throws out there just keep getting more farfetched each time. I believe KW, the Bosox and Texas when they say the deals dead.

Darn it! Now that's a guy I wish the Sox had gone after. Wait a minute we already did that once...

Let's keep Billy Koch, who is a competitor and has something to prove in '04. We can hope that our bullpen may not be as bad as we think. Last year when we had Tom Gordon signed there were quite a few posts saying he was going to break down. Koch, Mr. Zero and Marte by themselves gives us a pretty good nucleus in the pen. Danny Wright as long relief and one or two more that may surface and we have a championship.

The other issue here is that every time a team, Cubs or anyone, signs a free agent player we have tons of complaints posted about the Sox not doing anything, we should have signed that guy, curse the stagecoach KW rode in on, etc, etc, but we can't sign everybody and we don't need everybody. When a team does sign someone you want to make sure there is a need for that guy, it's a good solid move and you can afford the player. Dempster will be of no use to the Cubs in '04 and if they want to waste $500K then let them. We have plenty of good, young and healthy arms ready to compete this Spring. It's no loss to the Sox.

Most likely Ryan Dempster will be of no value to the Cubs this season. If they want someone for '05 then I guess $500k was a good move for them. Dempster could very well rebound in a year or so and at the age of 26 might be of use.

I can see us winning the division and maybe more. It looks as if Rogers picks KC and the Twinkies above the Sox, but at least it looks like we can compete. Might be a fun year.

Well now! I had to look at some Sox pics of Mr Rowand and you're right Steff he does have a nice fanny.

If we have 25 players on the final roster at the end of Spring Training like Aaron Rowand then we will have a winning club. Some players are in situations where they don't get a chance to show what they can do a a regular and A-Row certainly has been there. He has been touted by KW as the starting CF at least twice that I can remember and then KW turned around and got Lofton and A-Row was hurt. I think 2004 can be the year for him to shine. I also think that Big Frank will be just fine too.