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QUOTE(3E8 @ Jan 3, 2005 -> 12:22 PM) I don't buy the cancer for the clubhouse thing. I love players with attitude. When Jamie was blindsided by Hunter last year, I was sickened to see every member of our team just sit there and take it. Our season ended on that play. I wish the Sox had players who would do what Torii Hunter did. I hope we've acquired a couple this off-season, because we sure as hell need some.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jan 2, 2005 -> 12:13 AM) <!--QuoteBegin-SoxAce+Jan 2, 2005 -> 02:10 AM--> QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 2, 2005 -> 02:10 AM) <!--QuoteEBegin--> I think the sox will be a fun team to watch in the 2005 season. Fun as in different if you ask me. Is it possible to be sick of the longball? Chicks do dig it after all. It is when guys 1-9 swing for the fences every AB.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jan 2, 2005 -> 08:09 AM) BB not wanting a .500 pitcher with a whiny attitude and a soft tosser in JG is no shock to me, teams around the league loathe JG. LOL, no kidding. Why would the A's give up a stud starter for prospects and a mindless loser? Beane's no idiot.

In awe of them? Nah, but the way they perform in the playoffs is second to none. And they have players who know how to win. That's something that can't be underestimated. And don't kid yourself - Rivera's still the best closer in baseball. The Red Sox just seem to have his number for some reason.

Is that a good thing?

You're alright.

Yup, you're right about that. And unfortunately, those are the 3 things that the Sox have not done in recent years, and the Twins have done to perfection. We'll see if the Sox have learned some lessons from recent disappointments and do something about it. So far they've made some solid trades/signings to improve in the small ball/pitching/defense department. On paper, it looks good. But like Koch said before the 2003 season, paper doesn't win ball games. If it can all come together, this team could be dangerous. Just saying we shouldn't count on it or get our hopes up. Too many variables to do that.

OK, so Garland's not a question mark - we can expect him to underachieve yet again and crumble under pressure as per usual. Good deal. Well, moving onto El Duque. So every pitch he throws could be his last, I guess, since it's "just" injury that we have to worry about. That's reassuring. :rolly And I believe I pointed out that most teams have a ton of question marks. Did you skip over that disclaimer? All my question marks are very valid concerns, and that's why I'm not as overly excited as some of the people on here are. Someone was saying something about getting to the playoffs and challenging the Yankees. The Yanks would obliterate the Sox. Just want to give those blind fans a heads up so they don't get their hearts broken come October.

Nah, I'll be here with all you other marks rooting for the Sox to do well in 2005. We have a lot of new players, so I guess you never know for sure what could happen. It could turn out really well..or it could be complete disaster. Like someone said, the Angels and Marlins came out of nowhere to win it all - but at the same time, nobody (including their fans) were expecting it. We've got a ton of question marks (granted, most teams do, but still). 3 of our 5 starters are the biggest question marks of all. Garland's a mental midget, Contreras isn't much better, and El Duque is a walking injury. All 3 could be sub-.500 and have ERAs of 5+. At the same time, all 3 could win in the teens and have ERAs in the low 4's. Will Frank be healthy? Will Konerko come close to his 2004 numbers? How about Rowand? Will Jermaine Dye revert back to his Kansas City glory days, or will he be oft-injured and a flop? If one of our starters (like El Duque) goes down, who will be the sacrificial lamb trotted out for slaughter? Can Crede hit above .230? Lots of things could go horribly wrong. But, like I said, I'll be right here with you all cheering them on and supporting them.

Nah, not saying this season is going to be a waste. All I'm saying is anybody that has World Series aspirations is just setting themselves up for disappointment. If the Sox can win the Central I'd be happy, and like someone said, if they could actually win a playoff game, that would be an awesome improvement. I think this team is capable of both if they stay healthy and our pitching doesn't implode as per usual. Just because I'm being realistic about this team and our chances, that doesn't mean I'm less of a fan than anyone else here. I'm very much looking forward to seeing our new guys and how they can gel as a team, so I don't know where your "Why even call yourself a fan" comment stems from.

but just when I start to almost get excited about the Sox in 2005, I come back to reality..does anyone honestly think that if the Sox manage to make it to the playoffs, that things will be any different than they've been in the past? We choke every year at some point, and if we had to go into Yankee Stadium in October, it would be absolutely humiliating. I'm looking forward to the season and think this has the potential to be the best Sox team in years, BUT we are no where near capable of beating somebody in October, and I think we should all keep that in mind and not get our hopes up too much. Hopefully we can play well from the outset, have a good attendance, and build on it for next season. That's the only chance we've got IMO. Hopefully, by 2008 or 2009, we'll be able to field a team with players that aren't afraid of success. I'd say we're on the right track (finally), but it's going to be a slow process.

Fuzzy math.

LOL. I suppose not, as long as you're an 11 year old kid who watches wrestling and plays video games all day long. Calling someone a god is just ridiculous and immature - especially when it's someone the likes of Orlando Cabrera. :puke Anyway, one of the funniest (and most immature) back-and-forths I've seen in a long time. And LMFAO, did someone at last year's SoxFest really say to KW ""Now that 2004 is over, Can we talk about 2005?"? If so, that's one of the funniest things ever.

That's almost too funny to laugh at. What a complete joke. A luxury tax..nice "solution" to the lack of parity in the Majors. :fyou

Don't hate the Yanks for having an owner who will pay what it costs to field the best team possible. Hate MLB for being to chickens*** to do anything to fix this situation. When a team is paying more in luxury taxes than a team spent on its payroll, there's a major problem. Who here wouldn't want Reinsdorf to open his purse and spend $150-$175M a year on payroll? I sure as hell know I would.

Am I the only one who doesn't want the Sox to get the HIGHLY overpaid Vazquez? The guy's a .500 career pitcher with an ERA of 4.26 - and yet he's making nearly $12M a year? :puke If the Sox get him, I think they'll end up regretting it big time.

Much like it didn't take a rocket scientist to write that post? :rolly

Wow. When you said the thing about hitting .260-.270 consistently, I raised my eyebrow and went to check his stats from 2004. He hit .262, which was a little higher than I remember, but the thing that impressed me is his OBP - .343 (he drew 51 walks). Last season was by FAR the most at bats Willie's had in a season (409 last season compared to 324 combined from 2001-2003), so hopefully he can continue on the improvement if he gets 450-500 this season. A .343 OBP is definitely acceptable IMO for a #9 hitter, and his defense was pretty good, too. 92 games played at 2B, and only 4 errors. That'll get the job done. And 19 steals is solid for a guy who wasn't quite a full-time player. What I wish the Sox would have done, though, is gone out and gotten SOMEBODY to come in and challenge Willie for the job. I think that would push him to be the best he could be. Hopefully he'll continue to progress and maybe get that average up to .270 and OBP over .350. But, if a reprint of last year were offered, I'd take it.

Sox pitching imploding in the 2nd half? That never happens. :rolly

... and the weed. Maybe if Jon would take that advice, he could actually become something in the majors instead of being an underachiever his whole career.

Yup. And as all of us recall, Sean Lowe was a key part of the Sox pitching staff when we had him. I actually think Dustin Hermanson has a good chance of being better for us than Lowe was - and if that happens, we'll be tough to beat.

I don't see how 12 wins is a worst case scenario when that's the most he's ever had and our offense figures to not score quite as many runs. That said, I'd gladly take 12 wins from Jon. I just hope he doesn't regress (if that's possible) and win 8 or 9. 25+? :rolly

I haven't read through the other posts, so I hope I'm not repeating stuff here, but I wanted to toss my two cents into the ring. I don't have a favorite move that the Sox have made - I've liked them all equally, and for different reasons. I think every move the Sox have made thus far have helped this team get better, and therefore as a Sox fan I've obviously liked them all. - The acquisition of Podsednik and Vizcaino got us our lead-off hitter and CF at the same time, and we got more help in our already solid bullpen. In the process, we got rid of a player that I feel is a mental midget who's being paid $8M a year. - The signing of Dustin Hermanson gives us a very versatile pitcher who can be used in long relief, middle relief, or as a starter should one of our 5 guys struggle or get injured. He's not going to put up great numbers, but his versaitility alone makes him a valuable asset - plus, he's got good stuff. - The signing of Jermaine Dye fills our hole in RF, and if he can stay healthy, he's not much of a step down from Magglio. He's better defensively than Magglio (like I said, if he's healthy), and offensively, take a look at what he did when he was with the Royals. Granted, that was a few seasons ago, but if he can return to similar form, we not only upgraded defensively, we also saved about $10M a season. True, we lose something offensively, but certainly not $10M worth of production. - The signing of Orlando Hernandez could turn out to be a bust, but it could just as easily turn out to be a steal. According to KW, he passed his physical with shining colors, so hopefully that is accurate and true. If El Duque can stay healthy for a majority of the season, he should win somewhere in the teens and have an ERA in probably the low 4's. If that comes to fruition, he will have earned every penny the Sox gave him. Plus, if we make it to the post season, his experience could prove to be invaluable. We all know how the Sox tend to choke in clutch games. Hopefully his experience with the Yankees will help him teach our guys how to perform under pressure. So I think all these moves, for the reasons I mentioned, are going to help us become a much better all-around team. We've added bullpen help, speed to our lineup, a proven winner (when healthy) to our starting rotation, and a recently injured OF who, if healthy, can put up .280/30/100 quite easily.

Because he doesn't have what it takes to be a winner.

But it's not just an "average" team. It's an average championship team. Winning it all is a whole different ballgame. And to person who asked "Who said defense wins championships?", well, nobody. It's pitching and defense. Take a look at the Red Sox. They led the world in runs scored in the season, but in the final 3 games of the WS, their pitching completely dominated the Cardinals' offense. Game, set, and match.