Punch and Judy Garland

Yeah I went to HS with Todd so it's prety disappointing. I will also have to pick up another adopt-a-prospect now.

It's fun to get excited about high picks but the success rate of first-rounders is too low to depend on them. I do think though that the Sox need to consider stepping it up more or stepping off. Finishing with the 15th best record kind of stinks.

I could see Cleveland struggling. Cliff Lee was awful after that big start. I think their lineup is good but they really could use a veteran bat in the middle of the order. Ironically, they had this with Thome. Their bats could easily go quiet in a playoff series without that experienced presence.

Kenny Williams and John Paxson, as well as Ozzie Guillen are guys who are young and inexperienced and become too candid for their own good. I like all of those guys but to be honest they are choices that were sometimes done to please fans. Were any of these guys qualified fully when they got the jobs from JR? They have worked out to varying degrees of success but their shooting from the hip results from inexperience.

I'll take this (not a real batting order, just position order) 2b-HARRIS ss-URIBE 3b-CREDE 1b-KONERKO dh-HURT lf-LEE cf-ROW rf-JURASSIC ca-GREG ZAUN SP GARCIA BUEHRLE PEREZ CONTRERAS GARLAND PEN STAYS MORE OR LESS AS IS. This is not the most elctrifying makeover for our team but it would give us a good staff and the flexibility to find out what we need in June. We try out Harris and Uribe and the back end of the Pen and if there are any glaring holes we fill them when we know more. I think this would be a decent combination of realism, being proactive, and yet not being married to the team thru september.

I'm as antsy as anyone but it's only 11/26. If we get to Soxfest and we haven't done anything, then we all have the right to be angry. Let's try to practice a little more patience. The market is really only in the preliminary stages so there is plenty of time left. On a side note, I'm curious why there was no announced push to court Randy Johnson last weekend when he was in chicago at a card show.

aren't all shortstops aging?

He struggled defensively no doubt. But I think he's a better defender than he showed and would look better on another team this year. His arm is good enough.

someone will give him a major league deal I think. I just don't believe he will ever pitch again even though the upside is terrific. If he'd be willing to come with no guarantees, I'd applaud the pickup.

They want to move Jose Reyes back to SS this year and Kaz over to 2nd. Kaz I think will have a MUCH better year this year, kind of relative to the increase Hideki had. He'd be an outstanding fit over here and the Mets are down on him. My gut tells me that the Mets will give it a go with him this year but nobody ever really knows what the Mets might do. He'd be able to hit 1st or 2nd here which is why I want him.

You're exactly right. He's unproven/proven the way that Adrian Beltre is. I don't know that he's worth $10 million. If he goes 18-8 he might be. I just think that ONE of the 30 teams (or however many there are right now) will find him worthy of that price. I would rather go 3/21 at Odalis but that remains to be seen.

I could see the Mets being interested in Konerko. They want a first-baseman. I'm not sure how we match up outside of the Kazuo Matsui matchup I came up with a few weeks ago. They won't deal a starting pitcher for him in my opinion.

I wouldn't have offered that deal, but I'm not surprised someone did. I had Matheny pegged as returning to the Crew, so it will be interesting how the rest of the catcher market flows as one of the cheaper alternatives for varitek has left the market.

I'm not sure that he's an unproven pitcher. He won 18 games and has pitched on a world series champion. His track record isn't long enough for my taste but unproven is a false label. He will beat $9 a year over 3 on the market in my opinion.

I wouln't necessarily count us out on Pavano yet. He claims he won't sign anywhere for one month. If some of our trade proposals fall through and the Sox don't target Odalis as they should, I could see Kenny making a bid on Pavano. I think he would offer around 3/36. I'm sure it would have our usual arrays of deferrments and it would be backloaded to a certian extent so i don't think he'll sing here but I bet we become players. If the Sox grabbed either Polanco or an outfielder and grabbed Perez I would find that an acceptable offseason. I know we're all hoping for more but a really good starter would leave us in a position to fill other needs in June.

I agree that with the consensus that I'd be down with him for the right price. I also agree that you should ignore the stats and just trust your scouts. I also think we should look into the foreign market for another reliever. I'm sure that we will at least look into it if we feel he warrants interest. Good thread though.

One would have to say that this trade happened because of a relationship between Jim Bowden and Guillen starting when they were with the Reds together. I think Bowden is a terrific GM (I don't blame him for the Junior Griffey deal at all). Excellent move and Guillen can be a middle-of-the order hitter as well as a great trading chip come July.

neither KW or Sabean is. Take a look at Omar Minaya. His trades have been MUCH worse thatn KW on a team that has less room for error. Jason Bay, Brandon Phillips, Sizemore, Cliff Lee and others for monthly rentals like Colon and Floyd. I don't know how he got the Mets job.

Well I would argue that David Wells and Roberto Alomar have played at the major league level a little bit. It is very fair to look make that list. But, you also have to look at guys like Shingo, Loaiza, Marte, Uribe, and Freddy Garcia as quality guys he got ut. The moral of the story is that being a GM is a hit and miss business, much like the game of baseball itself. Did he let emotions get in the way with Jose? You may be right about that. I think a lot of it had to do with him being a leader on a team that has had a lack of leadership. I think that is one area that KEnny should be willing to overspend in the market for. Bring in a great player who will be the catptain of the ship (besides Ozzie). Miguel Tejada is that type of guy (obviously that train sailed last year).

Well that is your opinion as far as him not doing much. He is a hard-nosed player and never dogs it. Should he have been back in 04? Hindsight tells us it probably wasn't for the best but what were the other options? We had no idea how Uribe would play (he still doesn't have the job). Jose lost us some games with his errors and getting lost at the plate but he also took us on his back and won us games aw well. I just don't know why people can't have a little bit more class and not just throw him under the bus. This town is not only negative but it's vindictive. I am by no means saying he should be back in 05 though.

Why wouldn't a team offer MO Vaughn a workout or a non-roster invitation to srping training? The upside is too good and the risk is nil.

It's en vogue to rip Jose right now but he did a lot for us over the years and seems like a terrific person so I hope he ends up in a good situation for him and I think he has a lot to offer. Even with the Twins, I hope Sox fans give him a standing O when he returns

6-7 miller lites? That sounds like a hot stove recipe!

If we got Nomar, Unit, and Pavano we would sell more tickets for sue. However, we wouldn't sell anough tickets in all likelihood to offset the costs of adding those guys. Look at AZ, they have a new franchise with a great park and they bring in terrifiec players and they sell a ton of tickets, and yet they bleed money.

We signed some closer named Shingo Takatsu last year. I think he might end up being decent for us.