Punch and Judy Garland

I think the Sox made changes for changes sake. Renteria for Cabrera. While Pedro and Lowe may have wanted too much money for too many years, a reclamation project (miller), a soft-tossing 41 year old (Wells), and a guy coming off dangerous ankle issues just shouldn't have been expected to succeed at the same level. I am for being proactive to an extent, but we are in better shape than those Angels. We could use another bat, but the rotation and pen can pretty much remain the same and still be elite.

Because we won and are in the consciousness, we will be mentioned in SO many deals that we have nothing to do with.

Depodesta was in over his head. The Dodgers are a mess right now. The JD Drew acquisition was brutal and trading for Milton Bradley showed that he placed little value on chemistry. Even Gagne wants out of there now. With Weaver ready to bolt, this team has a bleak outlook for 06. They ran a very good manager out of town, that is pretty common with Saber-gm's too. Depodesta needs to go.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 10:56 AM) Damon has got one hell of a puss-arm. HAHA! Damon in right on a team that prides itself on defense? Maybe we can have Jeff Bagwell play center and Mo Vaughn play left too

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 01:04 AM) See this is where I disagree, if that's true then everyone uses the moneyball theory. GM's are always looking for players who are undervalued in the market, diamonds in the rough if you will. Anyways, f*** this argument, it's been beaten to death. WORLD CHAMPS!!!!!!!! Well I would disagree that pitching is undervalued. Its expensive and important (for the most part). You are on to something with defense though.

Maybe you guys should choose a wait and see method towards this rather than disparage players who have, as far as we know, never done anything whatsoever in terms of cheating. This is not a healthy culture at all

I appreciate what Paulie did for this team, I really do. That said, if you can get Delgado at 12-13 over the next three vs. Paulie at 14 over the next 5-6, I think that is no longer a slam dunk. What will we have to hypothetically give up for Delgado? Good question. The Red Sox and Angels team that didn't end up with Konerko would be in. The Mets would be in but Florida would like to go out of the division if possible. Thome being out there impacts the scenario as well. I think Damaso Marte would be part of a package but it wouldn't cost AS much as one would think because Florida has to move him

THe problem with this offseason, as opposed to the last few offseasons with your Beltrans, Vlads, and Tejadas as that there isn't really an exceptional replacement in the market for Paulie. In the past you could have easily just signed another guy for around the same money but maybe younger and faster. THis year, that really isn't so. 1B is such an important position that you have to have a real bat there. If we don't land Paulie, book it that Carlos Delgado will be a member of this team next year as Florida is forced to slash payroll.

I don't think anyone is saying not to have him back next year, not now anyways. Comparing him to the AL Central thirdsackers proves little though.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 09:33 PM) The update stole my thunder, I was going to say Steve Finley because of his injury prone past and his late-career resurgence. My second guess would be Sheffield because of him originally being associated with the Balco thing. Next would be Damon because of previous mentions. I'd also buy Garrett Anderson for the purpose of speeding his recovery from injury. I personally would seriously doubt Pods or Rowand. I can't really explain why, other than to say neither would seem to benefit that strongly from steroid use. If it were any of our guys, I'd guess Dye, because he's more of a power hitter. However, all are pretty damn thin, and none seem to have the bulging head effect. That is incorrect. Finley has had fewer than 400 bats just once since the age of 25.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 08:39 PM) Going into the final year without a new contract, KW basically said to Konerko, "prove it to me." Prove you deserve a big contract. He did. I was one of those guys who always thought PK was expendable. I don't anymore. He became the "face" of the orginization this postseason. The Sox need to sign him for market value immediately. If that pushes them over whatever dollar amount they have budgeted for the team for 2006, so be it. They can figure out, after PK has signed, how to reduce salaries in other areas to meet that budget. It might mean losing Marte or Everett. It might mean losing Frank or El Duque. It might be time. Have a young guy like Anderson fill a roster spot. I am in the camp now of wanting him back and I wasn't before. That said, I am not in favor of them doing something unreasonable to get him back. He is not the face of the franchise, Ozzie Guillen is. To treat Konerko as the team superstar would go in the face of what just worked. If signing Konerko to 5 years, 70 million now prevents us from being able to keep Mark, Jose, Freddy, and Jon over the next few years then that will be a shame.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 08:45 PM) Similarly, it would do Pods some good to really focus on bunting for hits next season. Brett Butler is available - the Sox should consider bringing him in as a spring training instructor next year. Good suggestion.

a poll to vote on who MAY have juiced? Jesus Christ

Yeah but who would Anderson take over for in the outfield. Obviously not in right or center and I don't think that Pods is your DH.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 07:40 PM) Crede needs to learn that he can't pull every pitch. Until he learns that, there will be a frustrating amount of pop-ups. Hopefully that bomb off Oswalt to Right is a good sign of a new approach

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 06:54 PM) JR gave Kenny a little more money and Kenny spent it very well. THAT is Moneyball. When.....sorry, IF.....Beane ever fields a World Championship team, this debate can be resumed. Until that day, Kenny Williams > Billy Beane. "this debate" ? Didn't realize we were in one

Its too hard to say. He played great. Did Carlos Beltran's Magical October turn over to 2005 success? No. There were relocation and injury issues there but its hard to base future success on a few weeks. Great postseason though

Isn't it possible that the appeal was successful? Is it a given that the appeal failed?

It appeared on tv, and it might not have come through properly, that the crowd wasn't sure about the rendition they heard today. They came across like they didn't know what to do, maybe they didn't know the words.

QUOTE(sox-r-us @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 05:50 PM) Kenny taking a dig at the sabermetric guru Billy Beane? "People who think they have all of the answers in this game, those are the people I try to stay away as far away from as I can," Williams said. "If you ever think you know it all, it's probably time to go and do something else." I don't think so. I think you are overreading. That said, KW can't be happy with the portrayal of him in Moneyball. While Beane obviously didn't write the book, you must assume that a characterization of Williams would have come from things Beane said about him.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 03:54 PM) I was about to say the same. WE WON THE WORLD FRIGGIN SERIES just a couple of days ago. Celebrate damnit. Not if you are writing the GM of Scores

Its hard to say. We have never had problems with attendance on weekends or division games int he summer. Our issues are while college kids are away and when its really cold out. There will certainly be a bump but it will take someone smarter than me to figure out how much

Colon's had deferred money as well. Its a good business strategy because there is no interest on that money but its also a way for an organization to save face by claiming they offered the same or better deal as another team but with less money over the life of the deal. Griffey's deal had so much deferred that I knew the organization would love him.

The Bears issues are more philosophical than financial. They do a wonderful job of rewarding players with extensions. They take care of their own. Do they place enough emphasis on the Quarterback position or the offense in general? Not enough

I think people were so happy to see our guys that we didn't want to hear a corporate guy