Frank the Tank 35

Whoa, nevermind the last post. My internet just pulled some kinda crazy trick on me. It pulled up a non-refreshed page so it didn't show any of the new posts!

Wow, Bruce Levine reported several hours ago that the Sox bumped up their offer for KGJ. I'm surprised nobody's jumped on the rumor here. I guess everyone's kinda lulled into a sense that nothing's going to get done. They're offering to take on more of KGJ's contract. Bruce said that both sides have agreed on the players involved, and the only step necessary would be for Junior to publically ask for the trade so that the owner could say he gave Griffey want he wanted and doesn't look like the bad guy who traded him. Bruce said that as soon as that happens a trade could be consumated by tonight or tomorrow (obviously something would have to be done by Wednesday). I'm assuming everyone here will take a "believe it when I see it" approach, as will I.

QUOTE(Frank the Tank 35 @ Aug 26, 2005 -> 04:04 PM) ^^^^ sounds about right Sox vs. rookie pitchers = not good. If ever there was a time to let Brian Anderson start... anybody know if he's seen him before? I'm playing the lottery tomorrow.

The Tigers would definitely trade Young IMO. He's just your average 1B. Average #'s for a power spot like 1B. They have Shelton there now. They have Inge, Guillen, Polanco, and Irod as their other infielders. Monroe's having a good year for them. Maggs of course will be their RF. They have two outfielders for the other two positions... the speedy Logan and one of the highest rated prospects in all of baseball, Curtis Granderson. White's on the DL too, otherwise you'd have to factor him in as well. Young is very expendable. If they can get good prospects for him from anybody, they'd do it. He's not going to be THAT much of a help.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Aug 26, 2005 -> 03:48 PM) 7.2 IP 5H 1R 11K 1BB No extra-base hits. ^^^^ sounds about right Sox vs. rookie pitchers = not good. If ever there was a time to let Brian Anderson start... anybody know if he's seen him before?

Timo's hitting .216 over the past month. He's only hitting .270 (.278) over the past week. Two games ago he was still hitting .216 ON THE YEAR. He's batting .200 with no outs and nobody on. So, why has be been leading off again?? His highest situational batting statistic is with RISP w/2 outs... .267. Granted that's not spectacular, but, unfortunately, it's better than a lot of players on our team. Is he a good clutch player? I'd say no. He's BETTER in the clutch than he is normally, which doesn't say a whole lot. Uribe's hitting .272 with a man on first, does that make him clutch? Crede's hitting .261 with RISP, how about him? So Timo hits better with 2 outs, great, good for him. The fact of the matter is that MOST players hit better with runners on. Whether it distracts the pitcher that there are people on the bases or hitters just concentrate more, that's just how it is. Enough of the Timo love. Yeah he came up with a couple key hits lately... but had he been hitting better throughout, wouldn't the Sox have scored more runs thus negating the need for these so-called "clutch" hits? I realize you can't say that with certainty, but I certainly believe in the theory. Timo should be on the bench, plain and simple. He should only come in to pinch hit with runners on in late innings when Crede (although I heard he's going to the DL) or Uribe is facing a tough righty. Throughout this stretch with Pods on the DL, Timo should have batted in the bottom 3rd of the lineup. Of course, I'd rather Brian Anderson play anyway.

Politte actually has the stuff to dominate though. Hermanson is somebody I'd consider trading. He just throws sliders all the time. There's no way he duplicates his performance from this year next year. BJ Ryan (lefty fireball closer for Balt) will be a FA.... Chris Hammond is ancient, but he might be a good option as a change of pace as he throws slllllow. He's like almost 40 but is a crafty lefty and has been consistently good since coming back to the league in 2002 (converted starter). He'd be a cheap 1-year deal.

Griffey tonight, 3-5 with a homer. Average up to .298. A hitter hitting almost .300, who woulda thought that was possible?

On ESPN News they said that the Rangers also plan on keeping him for next year as well.

SWEET! I love speculation threads. WARNING: If you don't like speculation, STOP READING NOW, for you will surely hate this. Read at your own risk, so don't b**** about it if you're not for speculation. Durham: Check his stats the past few years...not so good. He's rebounded nicely the past couple months from a horrid start. He's been oft injured lately, so I wouldn't want him. B Giles: He's starting to get up there in age. His power numbers have gone down the past couple years (yes, he's at Petco, but still...). He has a great BB/SO ratio, but you'd rather have him than bring back Frank at DH? Frank's only a couple years older anyway. If you're gonna oust Frank for somebody, at least make it worthwhile. Our outfield is set for next year, so there's no room for him at the inn there. Overbay: He'd be an awesome pickup if only because his contract is so much less than Konerko's will be. However, the Brewers were reluctant to trade him at the deadline, so why would they trade him after the season? At his price they can afford to keep him and ease Fielder into 1B. He may be available at the trade deadline next year though... Chipper: Yeah, he's getting old too. He's had considerable injuries recently which would definitely worry me. He'll probably be a Brave till he retires anyway. I like the idea of trading Contreras for Tracy, signing Burnett, trading away Duque and Hermanson, and letting BMac take the 5th spot. Here's a thought: BJ Ryan, the flamethrowing lefty closer for the O's, will be a FA this offseason. Sign him first off. Then trade Hermanson and Duque to Baltimore, a team in need of SP and recently relieved of their closer, hehe. Mora would be a free agent after the 2006 season, maybe they'd be willing to part with him early with the knowledge that he'd be in for a big payday after the season. We could even do a sign and trade with Crede in arbitration (that's allowed, right?). Ryan + Cotts would make Marte expendable, plus there are a plethora of good righty RP's (Timlin, Gordon, Howry, Tavarez, Eldred, Seanez, T Jones, Dempster, etc) but only a couple lefty relievers (Eyre, Hammond). Gordon, Eldred, Seanez, Jones, and Hammond are gettin old. Timlin will cost too much. Tavarez has a temper. That makes Howry, Dempster, or Eyre good matches. Most don't want a former Cub, so the former Sock Howry would be the best righty fit. Eyre would be good too but that would be 3 lefties in the pen... necessary? That makes the pen: Viz (maybe he can regain his form of 2004) - $1.3? (correct?) Howry - $1 mil ($900 thousand this year) Cotts - near minimum Politte - $1.2 Jenks - minimum Ryan - $7 mil (unfortunately, yes that much... Wags made $9 this year, BJ is a young Wags) That's a pretty imposing pen that can throw some heat with two guys at the end who throw in the upper 90's. Total cost: $11 mil The D'backs are starting to have a decent starting rotation with Vazquez, Webb, emergence of Halsey and the surprise Vargas. SO, why would they take on Contreras... how about instead we trade Marte to them since their bullpen still sucks? Maybe include a prospect or two. Mmm... Chad Tracy. Here's where we take a turn and get even MORE far-fetched (excited yet?). Remember the rumors of Texas trading Michael Young? Why would they even think about trading him? He's under contract for the next two years for $3-4 mil per year with a team option for a 3rd year at $4 mil. VERY affordable. Well, did you know that the Rangers have 2 hot SS prospects (Ian Kinsler and Joaquin Arias) coming through their ranks? As everybody knows, they have a dire need for SP. Jose Contreras + our highest pitching prospect(s) outside of BMac for Young, ooo I love speculation. But you say, why wouldn't Hart just sign Burnett? Well, as evidenced by the Rangers trying to dump Soriano's salary, their owner has realized he can't spend willy-nilly, so Contreras at $7 mil (incl. the $$ from the Yanks) instead of Burnett at $11-12 mil leaves an extra $4-5 mil plus the $3+ mil from Young to sign another SP such as Millwood, Washburn, Weaver, Rogers, or Lilly. But again you say, wouldn't they rather get rid of the more expensive (due to arbitration) Soriano and move Young to 2B? Yes, they probably would, however, he's cleared waivers and probably won't be traded... not much of a market for him seemingly. Even if he were traded, the Rangers have Jason Bourgeois coming up. Like I said, it's a BIG stretch here. Another (much more likely) option at SS: Julio Lugo. Yes the D-rays are ridiculous when it comes to trades. However, they've tried unsuccessfully to sign Lugo to a long term contract, and he will be a FA after 2006 season. They also have someone named BJ Upton coming up! Cantu's at 3rd, Nick Green is a good option for them at 2nd. It would probably be that Marte (+ prospects) would have to go to them since they wouldn't take on Contreras' contract. The Count would have to go to the D'backs in this scenario (they could always use a 5th starter anyway). So here's the readjusted starting lineup and starting rotation: Buehrle - $7.75 Garland - (arb) ~ $5 or (resign) ~ $7 Burnett - $11-12 Garcia - $9 BMac - minimum Cost: $35 mil LF- Pods - $1.9 2B- Gooch - $2.4 or SS- Lugo - $5 SS- Young - $3 or 2B- Gooch - $2.4 3B- Mora - $4 DH - Thomas (yes, Thomas... my fantasy) - $5 1B - Tracy - minimum RF- Dye - $5 CF- Rowand - $3.25 C- AJ - $3.5ish Cost: $28 mil (Young) or $30 mil (Lugo) Total cost - bench players: $74-76 mil... that would leave $10 mil if the Sox were to raise their payroll to $85 mil. That $$ would be for bench players. Maybe we'd have to take on a bad contract (Nevin or Sosa, ugh, with them paying some of that) in the whole process, which would give us some leverage. As you can see I don't even know how to arrange that lineup, it's just soo good and soo cheap. Obviously this is all ridiculous and would never fall into place like so... but it's a sweet dream.

Here's the link: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=fanb...nball&type=lgns The article says that it's probably just a move to block other teams, but with the Twins' recent surge coupled with their need for a 2B (and SS and 3B) I think it could mean more. Soriano could really give them a boost. Oh for a week ago when I had no worries...

That final series in Cleveland is looming larger and larger.

I just turned it off. Most pathetic display of a team I can remember seeing. Even years past, anything was better than what I've seen lately. I never turn games off, never. And don't even kid yourselves. It's not like the Sox can reel off an 8 game winning streak at this point... a 3 game winning streak would be impossible. Think about it. There's no way ANY team could win 3 games in a row with Timo Perez leading off let alone a team that can't hit for squat right now. I can't remember when I've been this pissed off at a baseball game. Early in the year I'd get flustered when we'd lose 2 in a row because we had been doing so well. Naturally I was angered when we lost 3 in a row...then I became kinda blank and emotionless around the 4th and 5th losses. Now I'm just flat out pissed. I'll blame anybody and everybody. KW can't get the deals done. Maybe they deals were unbalanced... who would care now in hindsight? Take on all of KGJ's contract. Ozzie should start yelling and throwing things. At least that's what I'd do at this point, and I'm normally a very calm person. He was all firey when we were winning, but it seems like he's toned it down now that we're losing. Stop being the players' friend, they're sucking ass and you should be pointing it out. Fire Greg Walker already, almost everybody is hitting below their career averages. There are only 3 players hitting above their career averages and it's not by much... Widger, Ozuna, and Pods... wow our backup catcher, util infielder, and a guy who hits infield singles, BIG DEAL. Walker's washed up here. Bring back Walt!

I don't know what's keeping Duque going, I'd just start serving up gopher balls at this point and have Ozzie take me out of the game. He has no chance of picking up a victory. If ever I was embarassed to be a Sox fan...

My fantasy team is starting to fade. I think my new strategy will be to pick up and start whatever schmuck pitcher the Sox are facing that day. Even IF by some small chance the Sox were to win, it would have to be like 2-1, so it wouldn't hurt my era and whip.

If we don't win today, I will, for the first time all year, purposefully avoid listening to or watching the Sox game tomorrow.

Why can't we play Anderson in the outfield and sit Perez? He seemed to swing a fat stick in the Minnesota game. He couldn't possibly do worse than Timo.

Holy crap! Something GOOD happened!

3 runs in the fourth inning is much to great a deficit, even for the Sox' super power offense, to overcome. Game's over.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Aug 20, 2005 -> 12:19 PM) Can it get any worse? Your question has been answered

Ah... the latest installation of Pathetic Ball... it seems like I've already seen this one.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 15, 2005 -> 10:01 PM) Timo=lead off hitter: The KC Royal Organization You cannot put a already horrible bench player at the lead off spot. His BA and OBP are worse than most reserves in the AL. He does not belong EVER starting a game with that pathetic stroke of his. If we want to win a WS title, it will not be with a lineup made up of overpaid pathetic minor league throw-ins. Preach it brother! I went to the game tonight and was sorely disappointed with the product on the field. I'm seriously ready to start up a petition for KW to somehow get rid of Timo. If he's left on this team, Ozzie will keep playing him, night after pathetic night. I can't take watching him play anymore. 0-fer tonight grounding into 2 dp's, I think Brian Anderson would have had a tough time playing as poorly as Timo did. And it's not even hindsight... I said in the beginning of the game Anderson should be playing and NOT Timo. How can you bat a guy with a .221 (down to like .215 after this game) average in the leadoff position??? Stop screwing around Ozzie. Somebody mentioned that at least he's trying, so we should give him a break. Yeah? The Sox could pay me a million dollars a year, and I'd go trotting out on the field and give it my best shot too. That certainly doesn't mean that I should even be allowed to step on the field. Heart's great, but if you suck, you suck and that's all there is to it. Contreras pulled his usual lack of focus act in the 4th, walking 2 batters that eventually came around to score. Putting hitters in 0-2 and 1-2 counts and giving them cookies. Falling behind batters all night otherwise. Typical crap. The worst part is he'd be so good except for his lack of consistency/concentration. It's all mental and that's the most frustrating part. Crede committed another error tonight... in the beginning of the year, it seemed as if he was ready for that GG. Now it seems he's committing an error every week at least. Maybe it's his back... hopefully it is so at least he has an excuse although I would like to see his back get better. Eighth inning rolls on. Uribe gets on base. Here we go, rally time, right? Wrong, Everett and Konerko visibly swing for the fences and strike out. AJ, not much better. Ridiculous. Sox hitters, as usual, let first pitch fastball strikes go by. Hitter after hitter same stuff... a couple times Kyle "Cy" Lohse went 0-2 on hitters with 2 fastballs right there. The lone brightspot for me was the hitting of Geoff Blum. If the ball was over the plate, he swung at it almost every time. He may not have put it into play, but at least he swung... oh and hey, he got a couple hits out of it.

Hopefully they play him tonight!! I'm going to the game, I was hoping for KGJ to be in the lineup, but I guess Anderson will do, FOR NOW...

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Aug 9, 2005 -> 10:39 AM) Hawk went overboard b****ing about the Dye call. If it had been from an ump he liked, there is no way he'd react that way. Hawk's credibility just shrinks by the month Just so you get an even perspective, Rooney and Farmer harped about it longer than usual as well.

The Marlins and Pirates are discussing a trade that would send Mark Redman to Florida for pitching prospect Yorman Bazardo. That'd be a pretty good return for the Pirates. Bazardo has second- or third- starter potential if everything breaks right. Redman would slide right into Florida's rotation whether A.J. Burnett goes or not. Jul. 30 - 12:40 am et Source: Palm Beach Post Pre-Burnett trade accomodations?