Frank the Tank 35

"The Chicago White Sox, having acquired Javier Vazquez, have extra pitching to trade and the Rangers have already placed the call, knowing they have extra outfielders. The White Sox are willing to talk about Jon Garland, who can become a free agent after next season, but right now they want too much in return." I like the last line... at least Kenny knows he's in a position of power to make whatever demands he sees fit. While I want a trade to happen asap as always, he's got most of the offseason to consummate something and get top dollar. Just for the record, I do NOT want Wilkerson. I was merely pointing out the fact that there was that extra player included in some of the speculated trade talk... then suddenly he just vanished and it became Blalock + prospect. How about Garland/Crede for Blalock/Benoit/Danks (or your pitcher of choice)? I think the best possible situation (besides Tejada), would be Garland for Blalock and one of Danks/Diamond (less than Beckett's final asking price of BOTH) and Crede for Torres and possibly another RP. We'd fill all of our needs that way. 3B, relief pitching, and a semi-insurance policy for an injured starter, albeit not a great one.

I'm not too hot about this idea. Garland and Crede for Blalock and a "top" pitcher who, if called up midseason for an injury replacement, will get shelled just doesn't seem quite worth it. If we were getting 2003 version of Blalock, then yes this would be a great deal... but there are no assurances of this. Granted there are no assurances Garland doesn't revert, but I'd bet on Garland continuing to improve before Blalock. What happened to the inclusion of Wilkerson? I don't really care for the guy, but at least it was something. I think KW should squeeze one of Benoit, Kinsler, or Arias out of this supposed deal. They have 2 top SS prospects, so unless they're gonna move Young somewhere, they don't need both. Benoit had a great year out of the pen. I don't think he'd be included unless the top SP gets removed from the trade, but he should still be pushed for especially if the Rangers fail to sign any of the remaining FA SPs. At this point, both the Tejada trade and the floated Dodgers trade are more appealing to me.

Uribe's 2006 salary: $3.15 mil Garland's estimated 06 salary: $8 mil Total: $11.15 Tejada's 2006 salary: $12 mil I don't think that extra $1-2 million is going to matter that much when getting a player like Tejada. Money is not the issue here, it's whether the O's are going to trade him or not.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 15, 2005 -> 09:59 PM) we're already good without him, though. we did win the world series! he'd be nice, but he costs too much, in my opinion. Furcal is getting paid more than him next year. He will make as much as PK next year. For a guy who hit like 150 rbis two seasons ago, I have to disagree with your opinion.

Meh, not a fan of many Texas players... I would jump in an instant on Michael Young though. Don't they have some prospect coming up at ss? or is that a 2bman? Garland and Crede for Blalock and one of their top sp prospects? Pass. Gotta give me more than that.

Baltimore has the financial wherewithal to sign Garland to a huge, fat contract. Any deal with them I'm sure would include a 72 hour-ish window to try to negotiate a long term (6 year?) contract. With Leo Mazzone over there, I'm sure they would bank on Garland repeating his '05 season or better.

I voted for the second option. We should definitely get something of value while we still can for Garland/Contreras. However, if no team comes up with something decent, I say hold on to them till at least the trading deadline. Might as well take advantage of Garcia's splits. With a 6 man rotation, you could guarantee most of his starts to be on the road where he pitches better. I also get a feeling Vazquez will pitch noticeably better away from the Cell. I don't think we make a trade just for prospects, unless it's an Andy Marte type, that just doesn't fit with Kenny's "win now" attitude. I'm thinking we get a major league piece, as in a great reliever, and a great prospect. Of course, I'm still holding out some asinine hope about Tejada...

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Dec 14, 2005 -> 09:18 PM) Yeah, I want a Thome jersey too. On the other hand, you can pull and Sox version of an Ichiro and just put "TIMO". Damn you smartasses... damn you...

I want a reason to buy a Sox jersey with a name other than "Thomas" on the back... maybe some other name that starts with a "T", you know, for continuity sake...

Has anybody read the mlbtraderumors thread about Tejada? It's some seriously funny stuff, the trade proposals that the Cubs' fans are churning out. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2005/12/miguel_tejada_w.html Nearly all of the Cubs' fans, save a select few, truly believe a package of prospects only (Pie/Hill/Cedeno at best) or a package centering around Williams, Walker (um, they have Brian Roberts!), and low level minor leaguers would be well worth Tejada. I know I've concocted my fair share of ridiculous trade ideas, but this is nuts. They all assume that the O's would definitely take prospects only because they are rebuilding... ummm, right. I feel bad for the couple of Cubs' fans who were realistic about it. (FWIW one of them suggested Garland or Buerhle would be a good center for a deal citing the large salaries they will command in the future.) A great one from a Mets' fan was Matsui, Benson, and a throw in prospect. Those combined players nearly have NEGATIVE value. Anyway, here's the latest blurb from rotoworld: Orioles executive VP Mike Flanagan spoke to Miguel Tejada tonight for the first time since the shortstop demanded a trade, but he wouldn't get into the specifics of what was discussed. Before getting in touch with Tejada, Flanagan and other high-ranking club officials spent most of the day talking with his representatives, Diego Bentz and Fernando Cuza. The Orioles are hoping to get Tejada to back off his trade request, but it doesn't appear they're having much success yet. "The only way we can categorize it at this time, is that Miguel wants to win," Flanagan said. It's believed at least eight teams, including the Red Sox, Cubs and Angels, have already contacted the Orioles about Tejada. As for the idea of a Manny Ramirez swap, one high-ranking Orioles official said, "It's not going to happen." Dec. 10 - 11:28 pm et Source: Baltimore Sun

Cantu's playing 3rd. He lead the team in RBIs last year, I think he's got that spot in hand. As the team stands currently, Huff would play 1st. Lugo, Upton, and Green share ss and 2b. They would still have one extra OFer. Gomes (ROY candidate), Gathright (one of, if not the fastest guy in MLB), Baldelli (just got signed to a long term deal), Delmon Young (one of, if not the most highly touted prospect in all of baseball), and Crawford (disgruntled with Baldelli's contract) have to share 3 OF spots and 1 DH spot. Somebody's the odd man out when your team has one of the worst pitching staffs.

^^^ They have Crawford, Huff, Baldelli, Gathright, and Gomes for 3 OF spots plus DH. Throw in a Delmon Young who should be ready mid-season, and they are stacked. They're pretty stacked in the infield too, so I dunno why they inquired about Fields. They have Cantu, Lugo, and soon Upton. They could use a 1B, but Huff can play there. As I see it, their biggest weaknesses are pitching, obviously, and catcher where the disappointing Toby Hall lingers.

I'd rather NOT see Tejada going to the Cubs. Tejada is no Nomar, he would put up scary, ridiculous stats batting between DLee and Aram. That said, the Cubs don't have the ML talent, at least that they'd be willing to trade, to get a deal done. I think a trade that makes a lot of sense would be for some team to make a 3-way with Arizona. Baltimore SHOULD want a great pitcher like Vazquez and could fill their hole at 1B with Glaus. They at least would get back the power numbers from the loss of Tejada. I just can't recall if Vazquez' no-trade clause includes Baltimore, but it would be a lot closer to his native land. Arizona doesn't have a lot of immediate needs for their ML roster, so some top prospects plus a good ML SP would be grounds for a trade. So what would that mean for the Cubs? The best ML pitcher they'd be willing to part with would be Jerome Williams, definitely not a great replacement for Vazquez. They'd have to include a couple of their best prospects to even it out like Pie or Hill + other(s). The D'backs saw a lot of Williams from his days as a Giant, so they'd probably be hesitant knowing of his up and down struggles. They'd probably have to flip Cedeno to the O's as well. It seems to me the Sox, if they wanted, could make an equally, if not better, offer if they decided they'd let Garland go a year early. Flip Uribe to the O's as well. Either way I think a package of Vazquez, Glaus, and Cedeno/Uribe would be a fair offer that O's would accept in the event that they have to move Tejada.

Just in case anyone on the Sox brass pays any attention to this board... yes, I DEFINITELY would buy a Tejada jersey should the opportunity to purchase one in black and white become available...

Yeah I don't see the Sox moving on this, but that doesn't change the fact that I would want them to. We'll see what the O's get for him... then I'll start b****ing about how we could have offered something better.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Dec 8, 2005 -> 08:57 PM) If all I wanted was 1 ice cream cone, I'd take it. But what if someone offered me 3 ice cream cones for the same price? Yeah yeah wiseass... that was in response to the poster who wouldn't want to give up Garland and/or Uribe.

Tejada is the best offensive ss in baseball (Arod is a 3bman now) and is definitely no slouch with the glove. If all they wanted was Garland and Uribe, I'd jump at it in a second. Garland will likely be gone after next season. Tejada is signed to an incredibly affordable contract for the next 4 seasons! For that, you give up Garland who, if he puts up similar numbers next year, will be making MORE than Tejada. Uribe COULD be good next year... or he could have another flop year. Either way he won't be nearly as good as Tejada. We'd definitely have to include something else as well... some top OF prospect.

Just to put it in perspective... PK is getting paid $12 mill next year... Tejada has a $10 mill salary with $2 mill bonus (usually paid by the original team I think). Yeah, Tejada is vastly underpaid in today's market.

He gave up in the second half on purpose as I read it... at least that's what they said on rotoworld. If there was ever a situation that I'd trade Garland, this would be it. The O's should have no worries about Garland regressing as they have Leo Mazzone as their pitching coach... heck maybe they think he can be a solid #1 for them with Mazzone's help. They'd have the money to resign him longterm. We'd have to give up Garland and Uribe for starters. At best we'd have to include a good minor leaguer, at worst JD. There are going to be A LOT of teams gunning for him if he wants out. The Cubs don't have enough major league players they'd be willing to part with IMO. They have to trade them ALL of their top minor leaguers... Pie, Hill, etc. and then some. O's want to contend now... they have Mora, Roberts, Lopez, now Hernandez. They need, want, and will get major league talent in return. The BoSox would be an obvious place for him to land unfortunately.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 8, 2005 -> 07:04 PM) I posted this in ATH because there is no real "Trade Rumor" yet.... Good point. My bad, got a little excited.

Miguel Tejada said Thursday he's unhappy with the Orioles' direction and wants to be traded. "I've been with the Orioles for two years and things haven't gone in the direction that we were expecting, so I think the best thing will be a change of scenery," he said in a phone interview. Tejada basically quit on the Orioles late in the season, and now he wants out just two years into a six-year deal. Saying he doesn't like the direction is ridiculous. The Orioles are willing to spend money -- they had the high offer to Paul Konerko on the table -- it's just that no one is as eager to take it as Tejada was when he made his way to the high bidder. Plus, they now have the game's best pitching coach. Anyone who would turn on his team like Tejada has looks like a bad risk to us, even if his $72 million contract seems pretty reasonable right now. Of course, he'll probably be linked to the Red Sox right away. Dec. 8 - 7:37 pm et Source: The Associated Press His contract: Miguel Tejada: 6-Year worth 72M- + 12M signing bonus: 4 million paid in 2004 and then 2M each year in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011- will make 3M in 2004, 9M in 2005, 10M in 2006, 12M in 2007, 13M in 2008 and 13M in 2009- + Bonuses he has received: 50K bonus for 2004 All-Star, received 100K bonus for Silver Slugger in 2004, 300K for 5th place in 2004 MVP voting, 50K for 2005 All-Star selection, 100K for 2005 Silver Slugger Agency: SFX (Fernando Cuza, Diego Bentz, Pat Rooney) Service Time: 7.033 Compared to what Furcal just got, this is a steal... oh man do I wish the Sox had a need for him. It would be a great idea to capitalize on this now very affordable contract. Anybody want to come up with some wild trade ideas? Garland+Uribe+...

I'm in the same boat, I no longer have one favorite Sox player. All I have are Thomas jerseys. Honestly there's not one single player that I would want to invest a jersey in now that Frank's gone. There isn't one single person who I will go to the park to root for anymore. Although obviously I was always rooting for the Sox to win, when Frank came to bat it was something special for me. We have great SPs and PK and Thome (hopefully) will be great next year, but there isn't that one game-changing, feared hitter in our lineup... somebody who can tear the cover off the ball but still hit for a high average and high OBP. A player that makes opposing pitchers think, "Oh s***, I can't get this guy out." Not only did Frank make pitchers think that but also, "If he hits a line-drive at my head, I may be going to the hospital... for a looong time." There just aren't that many players like that in baseball period. Pujols above all, then Arod, soon Miggy Cabrera, and Vlad (sans playoffs). I guess we've all been spoiled. I mean, how many times in the history of the game could the White Sox say, yes we have THE best, most feared hitter in the game? Looking back at our history, I'd have to say outside of Frank, it may have NEVER happened. Literally, we could have witnessed THE greatest Sox hitter in our lifetimes, past, present, and future. Griffey was always the prettyboy, but Frank was the one pitchers and opposing managers dreaded. So I guess I may have to eventually lower my standards and buy someone else's jersey. I'm just holding out hope that when the time comes for one of these special players to get a new contract, the Sox will be an interested party like with the Arod dealings.

The Marlins could use a starting 2B for next year. Throw in Borchard too, they need a couple mlb ready OFers. If things with Mike Myers don't turn out, maybe Ron Villone? He crashed and burned during the second half last year but had a stellar first half. I don't really care for Villone at this point, but getting something out of Willie and Joe would be better than nothing. Either that or maybe we could pry a LOW level pitching prospect? Edit: They could use the speed of Willie after losing both their speedsters at the top of their order. Willie and Joe are both on the very cheap as well with perceived upside.

Jeez... isn't this guy around 40 years old? He pretty much fell off the ledge during the second half last year if my memory serves me right. Wow, way way way too much in dollars and years.

I mentioned his name a few weeks ago in the Free Agent thread. From an average standpoint, he's just what we need in the 2 hole, and he has a high RISP BA. He doesn't strike out much either, good bat control and a player that the Sox have been linked with before. However, he doesn't really have much speed or power. Along the lines of realistic #2 hitters, I think Brady Clark from the Brewers would be a better fit.