Punch and Judy Garland

I didn't say he wasn't above average in anything, I said he's not exceptional in anything and there is a difference. I think that you'll never get more for him than right now, which is why I'd trade him. This guy has so much heart and desire for baseball that he was willing to throw it away riding dirtbikes. I forgot as a member of this board that you aren't allowed to not like rowand.

I hope we don't sign Rowand to a long-term deal. I don't think you build your offense around a guy who doesn't do any one hting exceptionally well. He does most things fairly well, but he just doesn't have enough power or enough speed for my liking. I wanted Rowand traded this offseason while at peak value, we'll see how this works out for the Sox.

I love this move. Even if he can't make 30 starts, it could still work out given the money. Would you have any problem throwing this guy out there in a playoff game, or a big road game in Fenway or Yankee Stadium? I think not. This guy answers what I and several of you have been asking for, a guy who can help us win playoff games-not just get us there.

Count me in on Miller too. Even if he wouldn't be ready until May or June I'd want him.

What would go up more his era or the number of chicagoans with herpes? Sorry for the off-clor joke if it offends.

I would assume the Heredia for Stanton swap negated their need for Kline. Plus Kline is probably too young to be in the back of the Yankee bullpen.

I think gm's outside of chicago don't realize that he isn't that well loved. THey think he will be a major draw, and I'm not sure they are completely wrong on that. Evidence of otehr cities being oblivious to Sammy's deterioration with the fans is when ESPN asks why things fell apart for Sosa in chicago so rapidly. We all know that this has been years int he making.

I've never seen Fields so take this with a grain of salt but prospects will oftne hit one major skid that will slow them down a bit. Look at a guy like Rickie Weeks for example. I would imagine that Fields won't get a chance to play everyday until the opening day of 07, meaning the next 2 years in the minors or as a callup. I think that Crede's overall numbers could be better this year but I anticipate him falling into the dreaded Willie/Uribe trap of having relaly good months while disappearing in others. I say Joe is here beyond this year.

nice job by Kenny Williams and co.

I''m getting an idea of where that six million is going. Kenny finally knows what he's ben looking for on the free agent market.....ourselves! Anyways, I would take Lowe over Clement for the same price in a NY minute. I would take the best area prep pitcher over Grilli for the 5th spot too.

Yeah let's not bring in RJ so that we can try to win the division with about 88 wins and be swept out of the playoffs.

Judy is a bit inconsistent for sure but I think he bothers people more for his whining than for his pitching. Sometimes you have to look at a guy with all of the potential in the world (Kerry Wood or Aaron Brooks) and realize that yhou may only get what you see in front of you. That possibility certainly exists with garland. I think if you took a poll around here that people would vote to keep Judy by a landslide. I never favor fans booing pitchers for pitching poorly. I just think it is completely counterproductive. If I got to a Sox game and Buehrle gives up 8 runs in 2/3 of an inning I say them's the breaks and its just part of the deal. BUT, Judy handled the booing really poorly and turned out to not just be an isolated incident. Take the berating of Konerko over an error. Garland needs to really grow up this season, and I really think he might.

According to Phil Rogers and BA, Anderson is a better prospect thatn Sweeney. That said, Anderson has had some minor injury troubles over the last few years and he really was struggaling (namath emphasis) during the AFL. In addition, Ozzie and KW seem to just love Sweeney. So while Anderson is our top prospect by outsiders, I bet the organization has Ryan as our #1 guy. Luckliy for us, others have Anderson as our #1 so we could trade the guy we don't feel is our best guy. It seldon works out that nicely. On a previous note, I may have been wrong about Clemens. Maybe it was just Pettite or both. It's sorta hazy because it all happened so fast.

Bruce was the first to report Clemens signing with the stros' last eyar so he certainly has contacts.

I really don't want Matt clement. I could cite his bad finish and his sub-500 record or hsi maddening inconsistency, BUT it'd all be a lie because I htink the real reason is that I look at him as a flub!

Well I would argue that Miggy Tejada numbers are a stretch, but I'll send you a nice bottle of wine when Juan rakes in 150 ribbies. I like the contract but it feels like nay time you do an extension with a Boras client that you are putting an expiration date on his tenure here. Does this eat into our budget surplus that we have come into? Just curious.

Yeah, let me know if you can fully understand football contracts and the salary cap because there is a 500 K job waiting for you if you can. Football teams are never really cash poor due to tv, etc. I think it's really dumb and shortsighted for the Mariners to backload the deal because he's virtually unmoveable now. It's not like they are targeting any one-year deal guys either. THey want Delgado who is going to get years. Read a Gammons article in 2007 about the top ten most unmoveable contracts and Richie may be on it.

I really hope that money doesn't come between Frank leaving or staying. I think that if we buy him out that it would be a slap in the face to him and he'd leave. I fear that KW's unprofessiionalism will get in the way of bringing Frank back, unless JR steps in like many of you have suggested. We DESERVE to have Frank finish his HOF career here like he wants to. We don't need another Carlton Fisk situation. It always seems like Sox management drops the ball in these delicate situations, but maybe this time they will do it right. I look for Frank to be back in a big way in 05. He showed a good attitude this year and is still slighted by local and national media. Perception is that he is an injury prone malcontent. I don't think that is the truth, just the spin.

I think even those of us in favor of traidng Aaron agree that it is too high. I think what we, or at least I, am saying is that by including Rowand perhaps the overall price goes down. That means that maybe we get to hang on to Judy or Marte. One last point for me on this topic as I've pretty much already expressed my views, the position argument for Rowand's value is now nullified as he will be playing the same position as Bonds, Alou, and Carlos Lee. LF defense is overrated in my opinion, unless you are completely inept out there.

well you got me on sweeney. But that's sort of like saying you don't want to give up a 38th round pick because you might get Mark Buehrle

I was ready to take the big unit, but you know-if you're offering oliver perez I won't turn it down

Telling someone who disagree with you that they should watch more baseball is a cop-out. Is that what we do when people disagree with us? Condescend to people?

yeah we'd lose a #2 for perez. #2's aren't worth sweating

Rowand does evrything solid. BUT, he's not a 40 sb guy and he's not a 40 homer guy. I'm not sure his offense profiles as a star left-fielder. I speak from the minority on this boasrd as most love rowand, but I don't want the history books to reveal that we let Aaron Rownad stop us from going afte the Big Unit. Right now, this team is nowhere close to being better than a first-pround exit fromt he playoffs. If we can add Johnson without traidng Garland out of the 5 spot, we are then a team that is heavily built for a championship, just like the 03 team with a top-heavy rotation/

I'm not sure when Aaron Rowand turned into Miguel Cabrera. Untouchable is a strong word. I don't think we have one player I would classify as untouchable. the closest things are Buehrle and Garcia. I would lose no sleep over a Rowand/Anderson based package with a few mid-level guys. Aaron Rowand is a nice player but he's not going to be a superstar for this team. I think if we included Rowand, we could take Judy off the table. And then, we have a World Series contender based on the strength of our pitching.