sircaffey

Here's to hoping some of the reportedly $11 million is in performance bonuses. I would very much like not to guarantee near $6 million to Dotel in '09.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 01:41 PM) 5 years ago, no team was interested in Estaban Loaisa. Not the Mets, not the Royals, no one. KW gave him a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. He very easily could have won 25 games in 2003. 3 years ago, several teams passed on making a waiver claim for Bobby Jenks, we know how that turned out. I'm not saying Colon will do that, but explain to me why, if they can get him cheap, it makes this team worse? If he can't pitch, he won't pitch. Agree. Depth, especially pitching, never hurt anyone. Now, if Colon is used in the wrong way, then yes, he'll hurt the team. If he's thrust into the rotation right off the bat without showing that he's 100% then he'll hurt the team. Nothing wrong with bringing him in to win a rotation spot in ST like Loaiza did. A little competition for Floyd and Danks if nothing else.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 11:52 AM) which seems like never. Selective memory...Oh and, what percent of your total posts contain a moving icon? 95%?

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 11:30 AM) like I said, potential and these guys are cheap It's not always about getting the cheap prospects. It's about not being able to afford that player.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 11:26 AM) As soon as they are close to signing their next contract, the comments come flying out. Which is in what, 3-5 years? So I guess no one is saying "trade them for prospects" now.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 11:10 AM) And hopefully Fields can develop well enough so we can trade him for more prospects. Which is the goal. Yeah, in 5 seasons when he's about to be vastly overpaid via the free agent market.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 08:35 AM) My comments are not specific to Crede. But look around the boards, all to often it's let's trade anyone with any value for a cheaper prospect. To make it easier for y'all just cut and paste. Like who? I see people hoping for aging expensive veterans like Contreras to improve so we can wisely get rid of them. I don't see anyone saying they hope Danks, Floyd, Jenks, Fields, Richar, Quentin, or Swisher have good seasons so we can trade them for prospects.

Thank god for teams like the Phillies they kept the veterans and didn't trade them to make room for players like Ryan Howard. They were so smart to keep spending $16 million on that veteran player and not $400k on similar production. I change my mind. f*** those young stud prospects with nothing more to prove in the minors.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 20, 2008 -> 10:27 PM) Like I said Cheap! Yippee! Give us the cheapest team with the most potential. There are cheaper alternatives for Buerhle, Konerko, Thome, Jenks, etc. Get rid of them all. And all those alternatives have potential. We could fill a team on potential. Around here no one wants the guy that signs his second contract. So promote the entire AAA roster. I am certain everyone here would just be crushed if they thought the 2005 team didn't make a bunch of money for the owners. Who's cheaper than Jenks? Who in our system is even close to the level Konerko, Thome, and Buehrle? Fields is already close enough to Joe where Joe becomes expendable. There aren't any players like that for Thome, Konerko, and Buehrle. Oh and PS...Joe Crede had major back surgery this past off season. Super Joe!!! Spend spend spend! Spending is how you win!!! Get real. And the point of going with Fields is not to go with the "cheaper" option. It's all about allocating your resources in the best way. $10 million to Joe is $10 million less to someone else.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 20, 2008 -> 04:31 PM) Prospects and Potential, The New MLB! Actually, it's called smart business. $100 million doesn't buy much these days. If you have to spend a tenth of your operating budget on incredibly mediocre talent, you better have some sort of influx of cheap talent. 10% of your budget for Joe Crede or 0.4% of your budget for Josh Fields. Not a tough decision.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2008 -> 06:42 PM) Quentin hit 9 home runs in his first stint in the big leagues in about 160 ABs. If he's healthy, he's not only hitting "13". Fields hit 23 in 373 ABs. 28 I could buy, but that pretty much assumes he doesn't improve at all next year and hits some major sophomore struggles. Considering Josh never put up more than 20 HR in any full season in the minor leagues, it looks as if those 23 in 373 ABs are not the norm. And I hope we aren't judging Josh's progress by his HR totals. You can in fact improve as a hitter without improving your HR numbers.

QUOTE(rowand's rowdies @ Jan 20, 2008 -> 06:52 PM) Patterson was 4th in the AL in stolen bases. I know Owens is fast as well, but, he can't steal if he's not on base. Patterson might like to come back to CHI to stick it to the Cubs and make them sorry. He seems like that type of guy. Weaver, if less than 3 million and 1 year, why not? He can pitch at times, and might be ok with a full offseason to fix that tired arm. Not real excited about him, but Colon is not the answer. I'd rather give Weaver a try. Well, I'd rather not give him a try, but we may need it. What other options are there? Livan? Matt O'Connor? Rodrigo Lopez? Not too good. Neither can Patterson. OBP of .304, .314, .254 the past 3 seasons. Yuck.

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Jan 20, 2008 -> 11:34 AM) I'm so pissed that they've painted themselves into a corner where they're going to be straight up giving away a fan favorite, gold glove caliber, clutch-hitting homegrown talent (not to mention my favorite player). I know it's a combination of management, injury, the emergence of Fields, and Crede's representation that it's gotten to this point, but it just sickens me that another team is going to get this for giving up a small pile of crap. Since they gave up on the Fields in LF experiment last year, they're pretty limited with options. What I'd like to see happen is Joe proves himself healthy in spring training, then you TRY to work out a longer term extension. If he bites, see what you can get for Fields which is hopefully some young pitching. Giving Joe Crede a long term contract extension in Spring Training would be a very very risky move. One I think would be a big mistake.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 07:08 PM) Between specialists like the O's and some of the better set up men in the game? Yes. And GM's put a pretty big distinction between the two as well. Some of the better setup men? By what standards are Linebrink and Dotel some of the better setup men in the game?

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 03:15 PM) I dont get all the hate for Illinois and Weber. Indiana? Are you kidding me. If it wasnt for that whole Eric Gordon situation, the roles would be entirely reversed. Gordon and Pruitt is just the same as Gordon and White. Not to mention you actually talk about Bruce Weber?? How many recruiting violations does Bruce Weber have? Any team can make noise when they hire guys like Huggins, Sampson, etc who are willing to do anything to get players, willing to break any rule to win. But dont expect to get any respect for it. As for KU, come on, when is the last time the great KU was in the NCAA finals? Its easy to be a big fish in a little pond. Except that White is much better than Pruitt.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 04:15 PM) K, that still doesn't explain why these are bad signings. And the point still remains that both Linebrink and Dotel are movable if the Sox feel inclined to trade them. Sure, if you are going to constantly do it, or if you are building a bullpen that way, which is what the Orioles tried to do. However, the Sox are adding two relievers, one of whom is a stud when he's healthy. Why do some people assume Dotel is a stud when healthy? Because of what he did 4 seasons ago? He's 34 now and there are no indications he can be a "stud" over a full season. He's worth taking a gamble on, but what has he done recently that you want to guarantee 2 years and $11 million on?

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 02:47 PM) The Bradford, Walker and Baez signings are different from Linebrink and possibly Dotel because the aforementioned O's signings consist of a LOOGY a ROOGY and a guy that everyone knew sucked. I sincerely doubt Linebrink will put up an ERA of 3, but I'd suppose something along the lines of 4-4.5 is definitely plausible. With Dotel, assuming he's healthy, he's a top-notch setup man. I don't see the parallels between the two sets of players. That's at least what Baez put up in every year of his career, in the AL in all but 1 season. Dotel hasn't been healthy for 3 seasons. Guaranteeing him $11 million over 2 years is not smart.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 02:47 PM) The Bradford, Walker and Baez signings are different from Linebrink and possibly Dotel because the aforementioned O's signings consist of a LOOGY a ROOGY and a guy that everyone knew sucked. I sincerely doubt Linebrink will put up an ERA of 3, but I'd suppose something along the lines of 4-4.5 is definitely plausible. With Dotel, assuming he's healthy, he's a top-notch setup man. I don't see the parallels between the two sets of players. I'm not comparing the players. I'm comparing the philosophy. Overpaying for aging middle relievers.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 02:26 PM) But we actually have an offense and "some" pitching. The 07' Orioles had absolutely nothing... It wasn't the length of the contracts or the guaranteed money that made the O's signings bad, it was because they didn't have much of an offense? So, had the Indians been the ones handing Baez, Bradford, and Walker near $40 million guaranteed, it would have been a smart thing?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 01:35 PM) So are you going to answer the question? Our pen with Dotel blows away the O's pen from last season, still waiting to hear the comparison from you. You really don't get the comparison? A lot of people laughed at Baltimore for giving out the multi-year deals that they did for Bradford, Walker, and Baez. Now we appear to be doing the same thing, and people on here are saying it's a good thing.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 12:39 PM) hahaha, hows that? If this "rumor" is correct, near $30 million guaranteed to 2 aging middle relievers, one with serious health concerns. Yuck.

Baltimore Orioles Part 2.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 10:55 AM) We already have a top 25 recruiting class for next year (it's been ranked as high as 10th nationally), including some stud big men in Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson. Plus, the top recruit out of Canada in Devoe Joseph and other solid recruits (Paul Carter and Devron Bostick). All things considered, getting a recruiting class this good with a 9-22 record last year, I think the Big 10 has something to be worried about down the line. Minnesota talent isn't going to be heading over to Wisconsin or Iowa as easy as it did in the past. I can't imagine he'll have trouble recruiting in the future when this team is already on an upward swing, and is likely to be competing for the Big 10 title in a few years (not next year, the year after though). Sampson is the best (Rivals-#74, ESPN-#133) Joseph (Rivals-#82, ESPN-nost listed) Iverson (Rivals-#136, ESPN-#137) A couple other unranked guys. Solid class indeed. Not a top 10 class, but definitely top 20. I'd say 3rd in the Big Ten behind Michigan State and Indiana because of Roe and Ebanks which says a lot about Tubby already. It's exactly the type of class I think Tubby needed. Not a lot of immediate impact talent in the class, but it's 5 organizational guys that will be there all 4 years. Definitely a very good start to building a solid program. Tubby's name is already strong enough to recruit nationally, and like you said, he should be able to scoop up talent around Minnesota with ease.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 11:26 AM) 670 says that though the Sox are interested in Dotel, these reports are not true. Thank you. Very relieved. 1 year + an option would be fine. Please do not guarantee 2 years to Dotel.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 11:21 AM) Kenny may be figuring that Konerko or Thome will be gone next year, so $5.5 million isn't too bad when you figure that in. Also know that Crede and Uribe will definitely be gone next year. Nothing like taking the money of all-star players and giving it to an injury riddled 34 year old middle reliever. The way this money is being spent is baffling me.