nitetrain8601

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 09:52 PM) Yeah, and he looks white too. So that will help. Well he is half white.

He officially has the hottest gf/soon to be wife in the NBA. Amy Williams is just amazingly hot. Anyway, about DeRon, you won't be dissapointed if you are a Utah fan. I'll try to give a simple breakdown. He's a big point guard who excels in the half court. Really knows how to control and slow down his team. He's a pace setter. If there's a fastbreak to be had, he'll make sure you'll score. He's great at setting up his own teammates and weaving in and out of traffic. He's a team leader. He's not given enough respect for his athleticism. He recently lost 15 pounds and he's faster than ever. He'll be something special and will make a great tandem with Andrei Kirilenko. In simple terms, think Jason Kidd with a better jumper.

That's seriously f'd up. I say someone gets outfield seats, sneak some chemicals to kill that ivy in. Poor it in their beer and drop their beef so it doesn't look that suspicious. Then slowly, we could kill their ivy. It's the least we could do to those bastages.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 08:57 PM) What reliever is available that is better than we already have? Not one reliever that is available will make a difference to our march to the World Series like Schmidt would. We have Jenks available to call up at anytime. KW has already said that there is nothing available in terms of relievers that are better than what he has in house either in the majors or minors. I agree with him. It makes no sense to not want to give up these so called prospects who have not made one contribution to our team in order to get someone that can and most likely will make a major contribution. How can you be so sure about Garland being this good for an entire year? Count is so erratic he is aggravating to watch. El Duque has already pissed off KW and Ozzie. And stop comparing us to the Angels, Orioles, Red Sox, and Indians. Our offense is so much worse than any of those teams that we have to pitch lights out in order to win. As much as their offense is better than ours that is how much out pitching has to be better than theirs. That is why we need that other ace starter. Why are you so concerned about our farm system or spending the White Sox money? Let them worry about that. Your posts are so contradictory to each other. You say that why are we so hell bent on keeping prospects who are just that and we don't know how they'll perform on the major league level, and then you say, Baj and Jenks will help out our bullpen??? Then you say we can't even count on Garland, El Duque and Contreras(the last two who won't even be significant impacts on this team come playoff time) who are veterans, but say we could count on minor league prospects relieving? I don't get you at all. And again, you don't seem to get the concept that we don't need another ace pitcher. Why? Because that will minimize probably Garland or Garcia's effectiveness which essentially would be benching an ace. So basically you're trading for a guy who is going to be benched(Ozzie is extremely loyal to his guys and will ride his guys over a guy who was traded for who has similar #'s to Duque and Count). I rather get proven major league relieving like Wagner or Lidge or a 3B or SS who are upgrades at those positions for this team. That is much more needed than starting pitching, especially when 2 of the starters are going to be thrown into the pen.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 07:46 PM) Yeah, let's assume an injury is going to happen to someone out of three of the most durable starting pitchers in the league and overpay for a starting pitcher. That sounds smart. My thoughts exactly. Let's worry about priorities before luxuries.

But we don't need a closer. Hermanson has it on lock down. He's great. A starting pitcher is much more needed ...my ass.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 07:09 PM) It's a matter of the sox gearing themselves to beat the other AL teams [LAA, Bos for sure so far]. Both have strong offenses [boston very tough, along with solid SP, weak pen but geared for a short series]. LAA has the solid SP and pen. The sox have very good SP, and having another SP in the pen for the playoffs makes it stronger right there. The sox have seen what very good SP will do for a team. SP's who can go 7, 8 innings a pop nearly every start are hard to come by. IMO, if one of the Sox big 3 fall off [due to injury, whatever] the sox can kiss a long postseason good bye. Getting a reliever to get 1, 2 or 3 outs is far easier than finding someone who can get 21 and only give up 3 runs or less. [that's my story and i'm sticking to it ] And the sox have in house options with Jenks and Baj [though I think a LHP like Scott Erye, Ron Villone or Ricardo Rincon could be possibilities to add] If a stud is available, and the sox don't acquire one by the deadline, AND someone goes down, KW will 2nd guess himself for a lifetime. In other words, you couldn't find a team. White Sox have solid pitching and a decent pen. I'll admit that the Angels have a better one so that's why we need relievers and not starters. You don't know how a starter will react in a pen minus Contreras since he's been there. We don't know how good El Duque will do out of the pen since there is not a big enough sample size. We don't know how Schmidt will do out of the pen. You said it yourself that we need a reliever that could get 3 outs and it's far easier to find one which means you don't have to mortgage your future and that you can get someone for cheaper than trading for a starter. You made my point for me.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:43 PM) Those are the two best defensive teams in the league, what are you talking about? That reminds me of what people were saying when the Pistons played the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Not enough excitement. Meanwhile, I was loving every minute of it like Doug E Fresh. Nope. At least not the first couple of games. Bruce Bowen was missing open jump shots(and I mean open) and airballing them. SA in games 3 and 4 couldn't run an offense. They had guys running into each other. Their spacing was horrendous.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 05:05 PM) Prior's an ace no doubt about that, Zambrano has more to prove last year he was fantastic this year he's been average and Wood isn't and never will be anywhere near an ace. Exactly, but I said it to help his argument. IMO, they don't even have 3 aces. But I'll give him time to come up with his list.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 05:04 PM) Uuuum, no. He is an All-Star. Everyday Eddie sounds good to Ozzie....reeeeeeal good. He has a half-torn rotator cuff injury. That does not scare you?? I know that would scare KW off.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 05:03 PM) The cubs 3 aces are who?? Most people say Prior, Nut-Grabber and Mr. IR. So I gave him that one just in case he wanted to mention that team. I would say, even they don't have 3 aces.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 05:02 PM) Who are we giving up for Guardado? Doesn't Guardado's rotator cuff injury on his throwing arm concern you? Hell yeah. It's just a matter of time of his arm completely falling off. Plus you have to give someone up to get him.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 04:49 PM) Do the Sox have 3 aces? Right now I count 2 guys having great years, Jon and MB. Freddy has pitched very well at times. The sox have gotten this far based on their pitching. In order to continue their success, adding to the staff [before an injury/ ineffectiveness comes after July 31st] now makes sense, IMO. Okay, name me teams with 3 aces(with realistic shots at the playoffs). I guess if you want to count the Cubs and that's pretty much it. Bullpens are what you need in the postseason and right now, ours isn't that strong at all. It's good, but not as good as everyone else's. We also don't have an as good 3B as the rest of the teams who have a chance at the playoffs. That's coming from someone who loves Crede.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 04:52 PM) The Yankees Not this season... Look, if we can can rip off the Giants, I'm all for getting Schmidt. I just don't think that's going to happen and I don't know if it's worth giving up current major league players. Exactly. He would be a luxury and if we could get him for cheap, then hell yeah, but there are other things I'm looking for before starting pitching on this team.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 04:37 PM) What I said is it is reasonable to expect a drop off from one if not more than one of the sox big three right now--MB, Jon and Freddy. Both Jon and MB are all stars. MB is the Sox ace. But it's a long season, SP's can get hurt, lose their effectiveness etc. If the sox can add another ace, w/o hurting the short term and future makeup of the club, I'd say yes, make a trade. I don't see a big name reliever being available [like a Lidge or Billy Wagner], or a bat. Why not use some resources for a SP who the sox can and will use? Name me 1 team that has 4 aces right now, or even after trades will have 4 aces on their staff in the American League or even the National League.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 04:19 PM) I am not ignoring the fact that we are a much weaker hitting team than Boston. We need to be lights out pitching. It is great that Garland looks like he has turned the corner this year, but the fact is this is the first time it looks like he has figured things out. Schmidt is proven. Give me Buehrle, Schmidt, and Garcia against anyone else in the playoffs and I think we win. I feel very good with our chances with those top 3 than anything else we can throw out there today. Is it possible that Schmidt is not needed and Garland, Contreras, or El Duque can get the job done. Of course it is. However, I would rather take my chances with Jason Schimdt than any of those 3. What are we giving up anyway? Prospects? Prospects and a weak hitting third baseman for a chance at the WS? DO IT AND DO IT NOW!!!!!!!! We can always get more prospects. Schmidt's only had 2 starts in the playoffs. 1 game he gave up 4ER in 5.1IP and no runs in 9IP. So I wouldn't say he's that much more of a for sure thing than Buehrle, Garland or Garcia. Again, you are basically going to be paying for a pitcher to start no more than 2 games. You think Ozzie is going to start Schmidt over Garland, Garcia or Buehrle who have had 100X's the year Schmidt has had? Hell no. That's not happening. Schmidt would be a 10 million dollar bullpen arm in the playoffs. No need for that.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:49 PM) Of course the solution to our 4th playoff starter problem is: El Contreduque Any chance we could just split every 4th game between them?? The trouble would be figuring out which one to have start the game! I was actually thinking that earlier in the year if they needed to pitch a playoff game(as in start). Both go 4 and then you have Hermy in for the save.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:51 PM) Why even compare us to Boston. They have the best hitting lineup in the majors. There is not one easy out in the entire lineup. In order for us to beat them our pitching has to be head and shoulders abover theirs, not just a little bit better. At this time I would consider the Count just a little bit better than Miller or Wakefield. They also have David Wells and Bronson Arroyo. Either one of those guys could be as good or better than the Count. Boston can flat out hit. We are built around pitching, so we can't afford a bad game from the Count. Boston can afford one of thier pitchers to get lit up because they can score tons of runs. Again, you ignore the fact that Contreras probably won't be pitching in the games unless we are up 3-1 in any series(which there's only 2 possible scenarios of if someone is way too injured to play). Schmidt is not needed. I can't people are actually debating this.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:42 PM) What are you talking about? LAA has a very good staff, Bartolo Colon, Paul Byrd, John Lackey... Minnesota, and Cleveland also have very good staffs. Boston has Clement and Schilling. I would say all but Minnesota has a better hitting lineup than ours. All of those teams are possibilities to meet us in the playoffs. LAA is the only team with a better 4th starter than us. Minny doesn't have a good 4th starter. I believe that's Kyle Lohse or Joe Mays right now. They aren't better than Count and remember, Count dominates bad hitting clubs usually. Minny is a bad hitting club. Boston had Clement and Schilling, but Miller or Wakefield as their 4th. Miller isn't back to his form pre injury. And Minny does not have a better hitting club than us.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:29 PM) maybe Legion of Doom... Just bought their DVD. Pretty good. Anyway, I love the NBA. It's actually much stronger than it was in Jordan's 2nd Dynasty days. There's alot more athleticism and alot better Europeans. Some players have no idea of fundamentals though and that's what can make it unwatchable for some fans. I agree with SA/Detroit being a series of a lack of offense, not two great defensive teams.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 10:29 AM) Based on the way attendence is going up, we could see an $85 million payroll pretty easily next year. If we end up drawing somewhere around 30K a night by the end of the season along with a solid post season preformance, the payroll could concievably push $100 million, IMO. No way I see that. There's not enough players needed(position or pitching) to push 100 mil and if there was, I wouldn't see that next season. I'd think 100 mil is more realistic if we have another year like this year, next year.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:09 PM) Let's be realistic here. I'm all for making a trade to win the World Series. But is AJ Burnett or Jason Schmidt going to be the guy? In a 5-game opening series we already have Buehrle, Garcia and Garland 1-3. If we are pressed into game 4, we then have either Contreras or El Duque. Contreras's "stuff" is as good as any pitcher we are talking about trading for, but he seems to be a head case, is easy to steal on, and can be prone to give up the long ball. El Duque, on the other hand, seems to rely entirely on guile, but if completely healthy would likely be a lot better than his opponent. If the first 4 games are split, then we have Buehrle again for game 5, unless we've added Roger Clemens to our team. So why mortgage the future for 1 ALDS start? The other cost of Burnett is that he's a free agent looking for a big contract. (Another reason not to give up the farm for a guy we could have for "free" next year.) But we are already on the hook for millions for Buehrle, Garcia, and Contreras next year, plus $4 million for El Duque and a big raise for Jon Garland. Given the Sox are a zero-sum outfit, if we spend a lot more for a new starter, someone else is going to have to go. Frank Thomas? Paul Konerko? AJ Pierzynski? Schmidt poses the same dilemma with his $10 million option. Now if another team would take Contreras's $8 million salary for next year off our hands, then we might be able to slot a Burnett or Schmidt into that hole. But who would do that? We aren't going to spend $40-50 million of a $70 million payroll on 5 starting pitchers, are we? I'm not sure the answer to this, but unless management is planning on increasing the payroll next year by at least $10 million (which is what it will cost for this new starting pitcher everyone is drooling over), this all strikes me as a fantasy exercise. I certainly don't want to surrender our top prospects on a 3-month rental. (Though Roger Clemens has tempted me.) The only reason the Garcia trade has worked for us (we could sure use Mike Morse at SS instead of Uribe, couldn't we?) is we signed Garcia for 3 years. To keep the Sox winning AL Central divisions and making the postseason we need to be smart. Brandon McCarthy is the only pitcher in our system who could possibly hold down the #5 hole for a bargain price. I would think hard before trading him. In the outfield, we're stuck with Jermaine Dye through 2006, but after that we need a home grown guy to take his place. SS is another position we could use talent from within. The point is that all of you drooling over the latest guy on the trade block need to see the bigger picture and evaluate whether it will force us to blow up the team next year. I suppose if I could be guaranteed a WS victory, maybe I could die and be happy and not care. But few trade acquisitions are going to guarantee that. You know, what really hamstrings us here is the Contreras trade and to a lesser extent the El Duque signing. Because we're on the hook for $12 million for the two of them this year and next, we really can't make a move to improve our starters without trying to unload one or both of them. But who would take either of them? Face it, we may be stuck trying to make the best with our Cuban starters, but I don't see that as all bad. Contreras really can have great outings. And El Duque, if he can be used sparingly until October, might turn in a gem or two. I guess, all in all, I'm on the fence. Exact point I've been trying to make all day. You're basically mortgaging a future for 2 starts max in the playoffs. Beck72, you don't consider Buehrle an ace?? I certainly do. El Duque is just needed for 2 starts against the Twins really and Contreras just needs to finish the season. I'm not willing to spend tons of money and future for us to have to bench one of our aces for the most part in the playoffs. Look at Houston. They made a damn good run with Rocket and Oswalt and Backe who is far from an ace. St. Louis had a worse off pitching staff than that. Burnett as much as I'd love to have him and Schmidt just aren't needed or even close to being a priority. I'd say bullpen(lights out closer because I think Hermy is coming back to earth) and hitting(3rd base in particular) are much more needed than another ace.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 02:06 PM) Oontreras against the Redsox? Good lord. He s***s himself everytime you mention Fenway. He's a different pitcher now. Despite 2 really bad starts, he's still a damn good 4th starter who matches up with almost anyone else's #4. I think too many people on this board have gotten spoiled by what they got from Buehrle, Garcia, and Garland thus far that they think a whole pitching staff should pitch the same. That's not the case and is very unrealistic. I'm not saying Contreras won't get rocked, but it's not safe to assume he will either. Ask the Yankees if they would trade back for Contreras, I guarentee you they would say yeah.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 28, 2005 -> 01:22 PM) I still think the road to the WS will go through Fenway. We will have the home field advantage. But game 3.4.5 would be at Fenway. The thought of having Conteras or El Duque pitch in Fenway scares the hell out of me. Schmidt or AJ would give us a better chance to win in those games. And in the playoffs there are no throwaway games. All of them count. The first one to 4 wins moves on. With the way the playoff is scheduled, you won't have to depend on them to start. It would go Buehrle, Garcia, Garland then Buehrle again. The only time El Duque or Contreras were to start is if we're about to win the series and we are up 3-1 at one point.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Dec 8, 2004 -> 11:22 AM) I've seriously had enough of these X-Box trade Dream Teams Not going to happen fellas. Then, when Kenny tries to do something to better the squad, we are going to hear..."This guy sucks. My idea was so much better. Typical Sox." Same old s***. That's not an Xbox trade. It would work on Xbox, but that's only because the computer is raping the actualy guy in this trade.