Frank the Tank 35

Huff is hitting close to .300 in the past month with 8 homers. He's just starting to heat up as usual. He's signed through next year for anyone who wants to make Konerko expendable. Burnett is a groundball pitcher as I made the argument to acquire him in the offseason when he was supposedly available then. Therefore I don't think his era would jump THAT much except what is to be expected from an NL to AL switch. Basically I'd be happy acquiring Huff or Overbay and Burnett or Schmidt. I see Huff and Overbay as very similar hitters. Huff has more power, Overbay has slightly better BA (career wise here). We're gonna have to overpay for either one IMO. Burnett, right now, has better stuff than Schmidt and may not have filled out all his potential. Schmidt's still not pitching as well as he has the past couple years. Schmidt is signed next year and has playoff experience which Burnett does not. Both will cost a similar amount in terms of talent, but we'd probably be able to keep Contreras in the deal with the Marlins. Either way, I think these moves would benefit the Sox this year. At the end of the year if we don't go all the way, you don't wanna have to say, "what if...?"

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jul 26, 2005 -> 10:25 PM) Wow, that would suck IMO. We'd be getting my 2nd choice in each position. I'd rather have Schmidt, Overbay, and Wagner before any of the 3 mentioned. In fact I don't want any of the 3 mentioned there. I'd rather keep what we have. Seriously? Would you be that disappointed in that? Huff is going to produce big in the second half as he always does. I'm not too hot on Baez, but he can't be worse than Viz. Burnett, from what everyone says about him, would be a big upgrade and a power pitcher in the playoffs. Overbay would be good, Schmidt would be good... but is this BAD?

Whew! Add Ron Villone to that list, and I think I just lost control of my sphincter.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 26, 2005 -> 09:32 PM) It will be even a better thing if Ozzie realizes he needs to stop with these f***ing B squad lineups. My sentiments exactly. If you need to rotate a player or two, fine, but the bottom of our lineup is a black hole tonight not to mention the horrid infield defense. Harris is a joke and shouldn't even be on the major league roster, hopefully Kenny will find another backup infielder for us. Yet another outing by Buehrle spoiled by bad defense.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Jul 26, 2005 -> 07:37 PM) I hope he is okay. That is very scary. Does anyone remember that game in the 90's when the Sox were playing aginst Cleveland, and Thomas hit a line drive off the Cleveland pitcher? I remember that as looking EXTREMELY painful...especially since Frank hits line drive homeruns, I can't imagine how much force was behind that one. Sorry, off topic...

Overbay just hit another home run.... so did Huff....

Look for the BoSox to heat up their pursuit of Burnett after Clement got hit in the head today and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

If he's on tomorrow I wonder how he thinks the precious BoSox will do without their ace Matt Clement... he was carried out on a stretcher after being hit by a line drive today.

The list of free agents for next year is very unappealing. The Sox would be better served keeping what they have or trading to improve rather than signing free agents.

Earlier in the year he had some published comments that he was getting sick and tired of the losing in Tampa Bay and that he doesn't see it turning around (with their current roster and owner's position of spending under $40 mil annually).

...or is it the prunes...?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 12:15 PM) WTF? I thought Arizona wanted him? Until they made a deal with the Phillies for Tim Worrell. The D'backs gave up Matt Kata (util inf) who could have helped the Sox... too bad.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Jul 23, 2005 -> 09:49 PM) Jeebus, those are just awful. I can't believe how quick these armchair GMs are to absolutely destroy the major league leading club. Not only is it completely unrealistic, it's simply laughable. And where are your great ideas? You think just because we can dominate our own division we can take on any and all comers? Reality check, we're not that good. What happens if Oakland gets the wildcard? If the BoSox get in, we're already showing that they can take us. We're even playing on OUR field. What if we actually make it to the Series? Can we match up against the Cards? Yeah our pitching maybe, but our hitting would be WAY overmatched. Get serious, at least some of us are trying to think of possible ways to improve the team. YES, amazingly enough, this team can be improved! IF we play against teams like the Red Sox, A's, Yanks, Cards, they WILL score runs. We don't have Roger Clemens or a RJ or Schilling of the past few years that can COMPLETELY shut down GOOD teams. They will score several runs, and we can't just squeak by like we have been doing all year to lesser teams. Hey, so a lot of these "trades" won't happen, but at least we're showing our passion and enthusiasm for our team. Unless people seriously come in and think we can trade Timo Perez for Miguel Cabrera, give it a chance. If you think it's a dumb idea, argue your point, don't just call it retarded. Maybe the idea is retarded... at least help out a fellow Sox fan and "educate" him as to why it is so.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 23, 2005 -> 08:45 PM) Vernon Wells isn't being traded. Yeah, you're right... I just rechecked, their GM said last week he's not going anywhere. I had just read that a lot of GMs have checked into his availability and hadn't been told that he was untouchable before, just that he wasn't available YET. I guess that puts the screws on that. In any event, I hope we still get something done with the Jays.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 23, 2005 -> 10:33 PM) I have a bad feeling that KW will offer him his contract after the season. Captain popup, master of the GIDP, Commander of the solo homer will be with us for at least 4 more years. LOL! That's some of the funniest stuff I've read on this board. And it's sooo sad that it's funny because it's true...

I'm just as frustrated with Konerko and Uribe as everyone else, but Griffey? Too injury prone... how about we expand on that proposed deal with Toronto and see if they're now willing to give up Wells? Replace Konerko with Hillenbrand... who cares if he has half the homers... he's got just as many rbis and is hitting 50 points higher. He can spell Crede at third too and let Gload play 1B. Wells is just heating up right now and is primed for a monster second half. Trade Uribe for Vizquel... I don't even care if Schmidt is in the deal. We've seen our pitching can keep up... maybe add another reliever... but our offense is horrible. I'd prefer Lugo for the longterm, but this year... anybody but Uribe should be the motto. Rollins if we could pry him, A Gonzalez from the Marlins would be better than Uribe. Anybody else notice that Uribe is hitting nearly exactly what he was hitting in Colorado the year before he came to the Sox? How unfortunately coincidental... Everett's been looking pathetic against breaking balls as he has all year... I think opposing pitchers have figured that out. Ship him out in a trade if we could get Wells and let Pods, Aaron, Dye, and Wells share the OF/DH duties. One more relief pitcher would be great. Seattle has said that they will be willing to deal some of their veteran relief pitchers closer to the deadline, and I say go for the lefty Villone. Maybe even get Batista from the Jays and make it a jumbo deal. Finally, fire Greg Walker, it NEEDS to be done. Sox hitters need a shakeup. Opposing pitchers know how to approach the Sox, therefore they need someone to guide them in a new direction. Now here's a decent balanced offense: Pods Gooch/Arow/Vizquel Wells Dye Hillenbrand AJ Gooch/Arow Crede Gooch/Vizquel Would that be so hard to do? Let the Jays raid the farm.

I wouldn't say Cora is the worst 3rd base coach, but I wouldn't call him the best. There have been numerous times in my memory where he's sent someone home, and he was throw out. Sorry I don't have a log of the events, but I've watched or listened to about 90% of the games this year. Despite some of his shortcomings, Cora isn't going anywhere because Ozzie likes his aggressive style. I like him since he was a former hardworking player for the Sox and has a likeable personality, but I'm not letting that cloud my judgement. He should pay more attention to who is coming around 3rd and how fast that person is. Anyway, if any of the coaches should have a fire lit under him, it should be Walker.

Wow... after all that speculation about the bidding war for him. Prospects any good?

I scored some awesome tickets for tonight's game a month ago. I'll be sitting front row along the 3rd base line a few sections from the dugout. I am a little unsure about a rule concerning fan interference/flyballs. Take this for example: Say there's a foul popup along the 3rd base line. If I reach over, catch the ball, and gently place it in Joe Crede's hand, will it count as an out?

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 10:57 AM) If you check out the Giants rumor pages it sure seems like they are waiting for the Rangers to make them an offer. They seem to be locking in on Soriano to replace Durham at 2B. They look at the potential of Soriano - Bonds - Alou in 2006 & feel that $10.5M on Schmidt is not a bad deal. Of course that's only if they can get Soriano. IF they get Soriano, they'd have to trade Schmidt to get him. The Rangers want quality pitching help THIS year for a playoff run. Throwing out Chan Ho Park every fifth day has to be disconcerting. Would you accept Tomko + prospects for Soriano? Soriano is a stud and the only way the Giants could get him is Schmidt. Giants' fans are being a little far-fetched if they think they can nab Soriano w/o giving up Schmidt.

D'backs sent Matt Kata to the Phillies for Tim Worrell. Where's Shingo gonna land now? I don't really understand this move... Worrell sports a 7.41 era and already pitches in the NL. Shingo would have served them better. I have a feeling we're gonna get nothing for him... maybe 2 rolls of maki sushi from some team in Japan. Link: http://www.rotoworld.com/content/story.asp...B&storyid=14296

Hey, it's been awhile since we fired a coach... I'm thinking Greg Walker is in line for a little firing. Of course it's hard to fire a coach of a team with a record like the Sox, but the Sox' hitting is getting ridiculous. A majority of the time, if we even get SOMEONE on base, nobody has a high enough BA to drive the person in. If we get two hits in a row, it's only because I saw a pig flying outside of my house this afternoon. Check out our current batters' BA this year against their lifetime numbers (sorry I couldn't find lifetime #'s without this year's #s factored in): this year/ career/ difference/ best year BA (full season) AJ .243/ .288/ -.045/ .312 Paul .251/ .276/ -.025/ .304 Uribe .233/ .261/ -.028/ .283 Crede .248/ .254/ -.006/ .261 Dye .261/ .271/ -.010/ .321 Everett .265/ .276/ -.011/ .325 Aaron .289/ .290/ -.001/ .310 Timo .247/ .263/ -.016/ .295 Willie .213/ .237/ -.024/ .262 Ozuna .303/ .281/ +.022/ never played full season Widger .282/ .244/ +.038/ .264 (only 2 full seasons) Pods .293/ .278/ +.015/ .314 (I see this more as Pods understanding his role and not swinging for the fences like he did last year) Thomas (although it's not really fair to include him) .219/ .307/ -.088/ .353 People, keep in mind these career numbers factor in rookie seasons, etc, where these players might not have hit as well as they have in the immediate past. Look at the numbers though... this is frickin' insane! The only players that are hitting better than their career numbers are our backup catcher, our utility infielder, and a 3rd year guy who gets a ton of infield hits. This is sad my friends. REALLY SAD. How many championship teams can say that they got to the playoffs because their utility infielder and backup catcher had career years.(yeah I know Garland too) I can't imagine that everybody on our team this year was taking 'roids last year, so that's not a reasonable explanation. Walker needs to take the fall for this, you can't have nearly every starter having subpar offensive years AT THE SAME TIME. How is that even possible? Fact is, Walker is worn out his stay as so many coaches do. If these Sox players were even hitting their career averages (not their full potential), we'd have at least 100 more runs and be 40 games over .500 by now. Byebye Walk. There's your shakeup.

I thought about the possbilities of Soriano last night...but there just isn't any way it would work out. There's literally no where to put him unless we traded Gooch, but we won't do that. I don't think he's going back to the Yankees next year as I'm pretty sure they're sticking with their rookie Cano for along time (he's producing pretty well). Houston's rookie 2B Burke is starting to hit as well, so I dunno if they'd want to give up major league pitching to get him this year. However, the Giants DO need a 2B. Durham's on the DL again, and I think his career is winding down. If they traded Schmidt for him, they could resign him to a deal for next year giving them a Soriano-Bonds punch. The Giants are looking for pitching of course, but who knows...

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (registration required): "Soriano might not get his wish to stay, because the Rangers need to add pitching if they hope to make the playoffs. Since they want to cling to their top minor league prospects, Soriano is likely their best trade chip." If they're willing to trade Soriano, I'd think that would open them up to getting nearly any pitcher on the market in the right package. This is just speculation from a newspaper though.

WTF!?! Ken Rosenthal: "Penn, though, almost certainly could be flipped for a more established pitcher. The A's have shown past interest in Penn, and the Marlins could make him the centerpiece of a multi-player offer for left-hander Barry Zito. A's general manager Billy Beane has been adamant about his desire to keep Zito, but could be emboldened by the recent success of the A's younger starters, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton and Dan Haren. Penn would give the A's another young starter to build around." A package around Hayden Penn??? for ZITO?? This is ridiculous BS. If Zito were available I'm sure we could put together a competitive package for him. I don't care if KW gets ripped this time if it were for Zito. Jeez...