gosox41

QUOTE(Lillian @ Oct 31, 2007 -> 07:15 AM) Even though K.W. publicly dismissed any notion of trying to sign A-Rod, I wouldn't necessarily assume that he isn't interested. It may not take $30 million a year to get him here. If the Yankees and Red Sox aren't players, then that only leaves the two L.A. teams as other realistically potential suitors. Perhaps it wouldn't require quite that much to get it done. Isn't it likely that A-Rod opting out of his contract had more to do with some factors other than the dollar amount? Maybe he is more concerned about extending the contract out several years beyond the expiration date of the old contract. His desire to leave N.Y. and the fan abuse, may also be involved. Then there was always the issue of the tension between him and Jeter. Whenever Boras is involved it's about the all mighty dollar. No matter how manysmoke and mirrors games they play, Boras is out for one thing and that is money. Any player who hires Boras is the same way. I'm not criticizing it, but just stating a fact. Bob

QUOTE(WHITESOXRANDY @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 09:21 AM) I'd put my money on LA or LAA. I'd love to see him go the Dodgers. Does Torre and Mattinlgly being there make a diference to ARod ? Is this part of the Dodgers big plan ? I thought the Dodgers were pissed @ Boras about the JD Drew fiasco. I'm surprised they'd want to deal with him again for such a big player. Bob

QUOTE(rockren @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 12:28 PM) As much as I hate Boras...he's right when he says that ARod will make whatever club he goes to more money than anyone can comprehend even at $30 mil/year. How do you figure this? I don't belive the writer (I forget who it was) that signing A-Rod would bring in $1.5 billion extra in revenue. Under his plan, that would be $150mill a year. so the Sox would be making 5 times their investment. How many jersies do you think they'll sell. Even if the Sox signed A-Rod and sold out every game and hiked ticket prices up $10 for every seat, at most that would come to $40 mill or so. Then add extra advertising revenue for in stadium and TV and that may be an extra $15 mil if ratings jumped higher then they did after 2005. Radio contract is set in stone and the Score makes the extra money from the A Rod bonanza. I don't see it happening. And if an A-Rod led team loses 90 games because corners were cut elsewhere in player personnel, the pipe dream numbes above go bye bye quickly. Bob

QUOTE(rockren @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 06:26 AM) It's comments like these that make me hate KW. He's just too candid for his own good sometimes and ends up sounding like an ass-bag. Would you rather he lead you on and then we hear how the Sox unofficially finished in second place for A-Rod and now the whole organization is too cheap. Tell it like it is. Why give Boras more negoitating power. There will be some sucker that signs him, and hopefully he won't be the complete sucker Hicks was when Boras used the Braves to drive up the price. The fact is, the more money A-Rod gets from any team, the worse it is for the Sox and most other teams. Ultimately it raises the bar on the sucky players. Last, if you believe in conspiracies (I don't in this case) then KW is posturing and flying under the radar. Bob

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 06:22 PM) And then when you continue to read, his own agent says the Sox told discussed it with his agent, and his agent discussed it with him. Sorry, after a season like ours, our officials are focused on more than a struggling minor leaguer that may or may not be healthy enough for winter ball in the first place. As far as getting at bats early in the season, did he earn any? Did he blow everyone away in ST or something? Focus on playing some ball, getting healthy, and proving you're worth a damn before you whine about being talked to like a man. Being sent down was a shot at your ego? Try batting below the Mendoza line for the first half of 06, and see what KW's ego was feeling like. I used to like this kid, and thought he'd be a good player. Maybe he still will be, but his attitude in unjustified to how he's played to date. He needs to stay quiet and carry a big stick. Maybe then he's make some contact... How did Erstad's numbers compare to BA's in spring training. Now consider who has upside and who is in the decline. Lastly, Erstad is still living off of 2000. Bob

quote name='WhiteSoxfan1986' date='Oct 30, 2007 -> 08:03 PM' post='1525198'] Well everyone feared we would pick up Erstad's option, good think we didn't. Still a good chance he's brought back. I can't belive the Sox are letting go of the second greatest CFer ever, right behind Aaron Rowand Bob

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 28, 2007 -> 03:19 PM) So if you are Borass do you let ARod say yes to 3 years at 27 million, plus 5 years at 30 million each? Or does he try to hit the 10 year 300 million dollar grand slam. There is little doubt that Boras won't have to 'try' for the $300 mill. He already knows if he can get it or not. He's blowing a lot of smoke right now which is whwat he does best. There's no doubt there is tampering involved, just like the JD Drew negotiations last year. If A-Rod accepts 'only' a 5 year $250 mill extention with the Yanks it's because he knows he wasn't going to get more then that elsewhere. If he opts out, there's no doubt that the team that signs him has already expressed interest to Boras. It will be hard to prove tampering, unless a team can somehow set him up and let MLB know ahead of time of the plan. It won't happen. Odds are A-Rod is staying with the Yanks. There's a very limited number of teams that would actually realistically give out the contract Boras wants. Bob

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 26, 2007 -> 04:14 PM) I agree with the entire post but that line, because quite frankly, I'll suffer a $20 mill salary for a 1.000+ OPS and ridiculous marketing. Funny you should say that seeing as how the Red Sox have been willing to give Ramirez away in previous seasons and the White Sox need a LFer. The way this team is currently built (ie slow power hitters) I don't think Manny would be a good fit here regardless of his OPS. But get some guys with some speed who can get on base.... Bob

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 24, 2007 -> 08:07 PM) If Matsuzaka comes out and for 3 of the next 4 years is lights out, puts up a sub 3.25 ERA in the AL East and pushes 20 wins, then no one will care if he struggled a bit his first year, the overall evaluation will be "He was worth it". If he gives you the same performance every year, then it's gonna be a lot more disappointing for the Red Sox. But here's the 2 other issues; pitchers his age usually don't get that much better, and pitchers usually have an advantage over batters the first time they see them, which for DK was this year. Those would be outstanding numbers if he reaches them 3 of the next 4 years, but it's a hell of a lot of money to pay a guy to be a stud pitcher 60% of his contract. And while I'm not adjusting for ballparks, a 3.25 ERA is great but not dominant. As long as Boston has a great offense, he has a good chance at 20 wins. Bob

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Oct 25, 2007 -> 10:10 AM) What a great hitter he has been. I believe his contract expires after this year and although he's talked about playing a few more years, I wonder if 2008 will be it for him. And I would agree he knows exactly where he stands in relation to those numbers. And just a guess on my part, the .300 career average is extremely important to him. Not a criticism but he has always been in tune with his numbers. There's an option on his contract for a 3rd year. Don't know if it becomes guaranteed based on # of at bats (I think it is) or if it's something the Jays or Frank can exercise. Bob

QUOTE(quickman @ Oct 25, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) Actually what hahn brings to the front office is a stable smart figure, unlike Guillen or Williams. I do believe they(oz and KW) should be the draw to get players interested but hahn brings some intelligence to the equation. I believe he will be missed if he leaves. Exactly. From what I've heard, Hahn is more the brains behind the operation. He is a key role is establishing a plan and helping KW execute it. I wouldn't underestimate his value. Bob

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Oct 24, 2007 -> 03:57 PM) Agree with that list. Cubs will depend on their ownership, IMO if they get it sold quickly and owner wants to make a splash, they jump up to the top. However, if it drags on, I think they might have problems adding a contract like that on. Steve Stone was saying that the team may not sell until mid 2008. Heck the Tribune deal may not even go through to Zell. So any negotiations with Zell will be a moot point as they may now have to negotiate with the Trib. Bob

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 24, 2007 -> 08:09 AM) Is it fair to judge Matsuzaka after one year though? Maybe the estimates of revenue are grossly overestimated, but I think Dice-K should be given the benefit of the doubt in terms of learning the league and what it takes to get through an entire MLB season. We can all see he has hit some sort of a wall similar to rookies coming up from the minors. IMO, next year will be much better in determining Dice-K's actual worth as a pitcher in the MLB. In this case, it's more then fair. They essentially shelled out $20 mill for him this year so you can't help but rate him. Bob

We've all seen the numbers Boras thinks A-Rod is worth---$$300-400 mill over 10 years. But lately there have been some questions as to who is going to be the sucker to give him the money. Even if it's "only" $30 mill per year for 5 years, what team do you think will bow down to Boras? There are rumors that Boras was hyping this money up assuming the Yankees were going to be negotiating if A-Rod opted out. The Yanks say they won't but will negotiate before he declares free agency. If that is true, the market Boras is expecting for A-Rod just burst wide open as Boras is probably banking on the Yanks to at least be a floor for negotiations. If the Yanks are smart, they'd either renegotiate a more reasonable contract with A-Rod or let him walk and get good starting pitching. All that being said, it will be interesting to see what happens. Personally, I think he's staying in NY. Boras is going to realize that no team is in a position to give him the money he wants. All this crap he's been spewing the last few days about salaries not being high enough based on revenue is drivel. There's a point where even the dumbest of owners won't by into the Broas hype and give A-Rod whatever he wants. What do you think? Bob

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Oct 23, 2007 -> 10:58 AM) That is because Dice-K was not the second coming of what they thought he was. The Japanese hype is tappering off as these players are not all Ichiro, they are showing themselves as solid major leaguers that have some success and some failure. Remember in April when ESPN grossly over-hyped him. Ichiro is a superstar. Dice-K cost $105M, that is a a-lot of money, and he is not a superstar. I do not think he will be the be all end all that Boston expected and they were stupid to buy into the Scott Boras hype machine. Scott Boras hype for A-Rod is entrenched in the home run chase to overthrough Bonds and soolidify the record as "clean" that is assuming A-Rod is clean. A-Rod catching Bonds could be more important to the record book and more watched and rooted for than if A-Rod was chasing Aaron. Aren't most Boras clients over hyped? Boras is the king of hot air. Bob

I may have missed the exlplanation, but why would a doctor need to perscrive HGH to patient. And please don't go the direction of dirty doctors trying to make a quick buck. I'm just wondering why a legit doctor would perscrive it to a legit patient. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. Bob

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Oct 18, 2007 -> 05:36 AM) Williams has had a philosophy of trading prospects for proven players. The anti Schueler if you will. If prospects only count for you if they are drafted by the Sox and come up through the system and play for the Sox, well, you are only looking at a portion of the equation. Now you can evaluate which prospects he traded and make judgements there on another level, no question. However, a fairer way to evaluate is seeing if any players they drafted make the big leagues, or were they at least turned into an asset. Anthony Webster, Royce Ring, Jeremy Reed, Josh Rupe, Chris Young, Tyler Lumsden, Aaron Cunningham, Gio Gonzalez were all moved for big leaguers. Is that part of your evaluation process, or no? Does that count? Guys like Brandon McCarthy and Boone Logan fit somewhere in here too. Since 2003, a few of the Sox top brass have been unhappy with the drafting, in retrospect. That's why they launched the head scouting guy. If after a 90 loss season they were sitting around saying "all is well", there is a problem with that. They are making changes behind the scenes, a few of which I pointed out. Philosophically, their approach has been to trade prospects for major league help. Arguably, that approach worked. But that approach doesn't work forever, hence some of the changes we are seeing. I'm fine with trading prospects for major league help. In the Sox case, I hope that they do taht more often. Because of the guys you mentioned above, only Chris Young has amounted to anything. It's early for Cunningham and Gonzalez, but what has Webster, Ring, & Reed done to be excited about? Don't even get me on the Ring fiasco in the 2002 draft I've hear various stories of how that got screwed up. And it's about time the Sox make some changes in the farm system. I'm surprised they waited since 2003 if as you say that's when they were first unhappy. So I do realize what the Sox have traded away. Who knows how McCarthy will be versus Danks. OR will people ever get over losing Chris Young. Hopefully KW has a few more of these deals of trading minor leaguers for major leaguers. The way our farm system is right now, I'm all for it. Bob

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Oct 17, 2007 -> 09:58 AM) On the Carlos Vasquez acquisition, where did you hear it was to keep Ozzie happy? Please tell me you didn't hear that from message board posters from WSI who infer Guillen is a racist or prejudiced (there is a great thread now in the roadhouse over there where a guy raises the issue based on his own opinions and gets smacked down with facts). If you really believe Ken Williams and Rick Hahn would go out and acquire a player based on his nationality just to keep Guillen happy, then you don't know those two men's motives at all. Is Ozzie familiar with what's going on in the organization? It's too broad brushed of a question to answer. Just like any big league manager, I'm sure he's more familiar with some things than others. Do they need to do a better job sourcing and signing talent? Of course they do. Every team needs to do better, no team is perfect. Some are better than others, and it is a constant cycle of examing what's being done and doing the right things to improve. I remember references made about it in one of the newspapers. I will try to do more research in teh Sox farm system and apprecaite your insight. It's more useful that santo=dorf's. But the minor league system needed to be addressed years ago. Santo-dorf even said I've been talking about this for years, and he's right. And it's because the Sox farm system has been npt very good as of late. Bob

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Oct 17, 2007 -> 11:30 AM) Great stuff as usual 29, but you're wasting your time with Bob. Notice how many questions he is asking AFTER you posted all the information, and that was AFTER he made a solid, concrete viewpoint of how KW and co. run their farm. He, along with others, have had this veiwpoint for years and apparently he won't be satisfied until one of KW's teams win the world series with nothing but homegrown Sox players, have one of the smallest payrolls in the league, and sweep the A's in the ALCS (a 3 game sweep won't impress him.) Not true. But what will satisfy me is not seeing a team with a $100 million payroll (the highest in their division by a lot) finish a whopping 72-90. Sure the ML team had some injuries, but it's not like they were going to win 95 games this year with everyone healthy. But what the season showed are the glaring weaknesses in the farm system. Outside of Fields, who of the young players that KW drafted and developed (ie not traded for like Richar) that you see that are going to help this team get to the playoffs in 2008? Maybe Ehren Wassermann, but he wasn't even on KW's radar until things went really south. Unless you're an avid follower of the minor league system you probably never heard of this guy. The Sox thought so highly of him they didn't even conisder him a candidate for the bullpen in spring training. It wasn't until the bull pen blew up and yet more minor leaguers sucked, that they brought him up. I hope he continues his success, so now we're up to 2 players. Say whatever you want about me, but the Sox farm system is a major problem. And for a GM who preaches speed, defense, and \ grinderball and also hopes to emulate the Atlanta Braves, I would say so far he's done the exact oppsoite. maybe the changes KW is making now will help. He can't get much worse when it comes to the Farm System. Bob

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Oct 16, 2007 -> 09:56 AM) Somehow I just knew my post would elicit this type of response, laden with sarcasm. It seems to happen a fair amount on this site, I don't know why, but it seems to happen when someone points out the truth. If you'd read his post, you'd see he said the following: "The question is why did it take so long for this team to go after talent in Latin America". To which I responded, factually, they have been signing Latin American talent, particularly Dominican Republic talent, for years. As I have pointed out many times on this site, check the rosters of the Sox minor league teams and go back a few years and check the rosters of the same teams. There are, and were, lots of Latin American talent on those teams. Then, further on in my post, I said the following, which you may have missed, or glossed over in your haste to post a comeback: Now, if your beef or argument is the Sox have not had an influx of impact talent from their efforts in the Dominican, you have a point. But that isn't what you said. So you can interpret meanings all you want. I'll go with what the man said. What would be interesting would be to find out what % of players signed out of the Dominican have reached the majors, for all 30 teams, going back say 15 years. I don't think such information is available because many of the signings aren't listed/publicized/reported. But my point remains, the White Sox have been sourcing and signing prospects from the Dominican for years. They have to get better at getting 16 yr. olds who turn into impact players. That means better sourcing, better development, more money. Note I used the word "better", not the word "begin". Well if what you say is true, I didn't realize the Sox were so active in Latin America. What percentages of their minor leagues have players from Dominican countries versus the league average? Maybe the Sox sign a couple of players a year while some teams sign 5-10. What are we coparing it to? How come this past off season Ozzie was talking about the Sox lack of Latin American's in the minor league system? i remember some comments made when the Sox traded for Carlos Vazquez, how he was talented but it was more to keep Ozzie happy. Is Ozzie familiar with what's going on in the organization? So even if the Sox are as active as you say, under the KW regime they're signing sucky players. Who is our top Latin American prospect and where do you project him? And as for taking atin American players over drafting, all I can say is the Sox have done a crappy job at the draft under KW and I was giving them the benefit of the doubt about being slow to Latin America. But if they're signing as many players as you say, then you're right, it's not worth giving up a second or third round salary to a Latin American player because they're just blowing that money too. Bob

QUOTE(Chombi and the Fungi @ Oct 16, 2007 -> 02:10 PM) ** I haven't heard or seen the rumor anywhere else so I wouldn't be surprised if Boers made it up. Or instead of made it up, he probably suggested it. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/99698 Boers claims to have a source in the organization. I remember one time towards the end of the season he was talking about 8 players that wouldn't be wearing a MLB Sox uni in 2008 for various reasons. I didn't get the whole list but here are some of the names he mentioned: Garland Aardsma Cintron Hall One of the other sucky relievers KW just traded for last winter, I forget the name We'll see if any of these guys will be back. Bob

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Oct 13, 2007 -> 10:24 PM) Dude is back. The first ex-Cubs manager to manage again in quite a while. I have a question for Red management: How dumb is you???? What a joke Baker is. He's so overrated. I guess Cincy likes being a lower tier team in the worst division in baseball. Bob

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 15, 2007 -> 02:58 PM) As I recall, Silva and Jennings are the top two starters on the free agent market. They are better off not spending money on pitching and just trying to develop some. That's funny. It's funny (in a sad way) because this regime hasn't shown the ability to develop pitching. IN fact it's just the opposite. I'm just curious, who are the top 5 arms in the Sox farm system right now and where do you project them? Bob

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Oct 15, 2007 -> 04:07 PM) is this right??? One is 16-year-old shortstop Juan Silverio, who is playing in the Instructional League after receiving a $600,000 bonus. The question is why did it take this team so long to go after the talent in Latin America. For the last few years the Sox had a golden opportunity to go down and sign very talented players for less cost then signing some of their first round picks. Heck, consider some of the signing bonuses given to guys the last few years only to see them not live up to the hype should further convince Sox management to go after some jsut as talented players for less money. Now that spread narrows because the Yanks and Red Sox have stepped up their scouting in Latin America knowing that they can take advantage of this opporunity. It's a shame considering the Sox have Ozzie Gullen and a piss poor farm system that they're so late to the party. Bob

QUOTE(spiderman @ Oct 15, 2007 -> 09:19 PM) Considering that Stoneman made the decisions for the Angels, I would assume that this is the puts to rest that Terry Boers has any inside knowledge on this rumor he made up ? What rumor is that? Bob