WHITESOXRANDY

I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't believe that Vazquez makes this team better than adding any other player. A rotation with him in it instead of Garcia would probably make it the best in the history of baseball. Seriously. But, I still might pick Andy Gonzalez just to make things interesting. How funny would it be if the Sox were forced to carry him on the roster this year? Kind of funny like a pain that keeps making you laugh but it hurts so much you can't move at the same time that you are laughing.

I think it's 100% as long as the Sox offer him more money than any other team. Otherwise, it's 0 %.

I truly have to believe that if money wasn't number 1 to Damon and he just wanted to play where he would be happiest then he would be a Yankee right now. I think, now, in order to save face they have to go with the best offer - which will be Detroit's. I think the only way that he ends up in Chicago is if Detroit gets pissed at Boras's shopping their offer around and they pull it. Maybe, that's what the Sox are hoping for.

+ 1

Our rotation could be Pedro, Big Unit, Clemens, Maddux and Halladay in their primes and you could say: Clemens - PEDS user, could breakdown or get suspended RJ, Pedro and Doc - all injury prone Maddux- doesn't throw hard enough. The league will eventually catch up to him.

Can't be. It's a known fact that he's afraid to pitch in the AL.

Boston Red Sox rotation: 1. John Lackey - 2009 on DL made only 27 starts for only 176 inniings. 2008 on DL made only 24 starts for 163 inniings. 2. Josh Becket - 2008 on DL had ERA of 4.03. 2006 on DL had ERA over 5. 3. Dice K - on DL most of the yeas last year. Had ERA of 5.76 4. Jon Lester - had cancer a few years ago. 5. Tim Wakefield - older than dirt, nade only 21 starts last year with an ERA in the high 4's. 6. Clay Bucholz or Michael Bowden - neither has ever pitched a full season and both had ERA's in the 4's last year. Now that I use your reasoning I realize that Boston will probably finish in last place this year.

Completely agree. Plus, this team batting average will probably be between .275 an d.280. That will score plenty of runs.

I think that the Sox are going to wait before they spend more money. I think they will wait till atleast the spring to take a look at the players they have first. They're going to see, most importantly, how Andruw Jones, Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, Mark Teahen and Gordon Beckham look and play. Don't forget that Juan Pierre and Omar Vizquel are also new to this team. If there are no injuries I think they will likely start the season with this team. If all goes well KW probably won't make a major move until July. But, I think that it could be a big move then. And, this is where Reinsdorf is saying that they'll spend the money. And, I think that the people clamoring for a big move so as to "not waste this pitching staff" will be pleased.

From reading what most Sox fans have been saying all winter I would guess that they wanted either Thome or Vlad to be the pinch runner.

1. It's 1972 and I'm 10 years old. The White Sox are battling the Oakland A's for the division all year. The Mustache Gang is on their way to becoming famous. My parents didn't care about baseball but my best friend's dad loved the Sox and he took us to the game one night against Oakland. Before the game, I saw Vida Blue coming over to the stands to sign autographs. I almost s*** my pants! I couldn't believe that I was looking at the guy that had won the Cy Young the year before going 24-8 with an ERA below 2! I ran down there so fast with nothing to sign but the baseball glove on my hand. And, he signed it. I played with that mitt for years after until I was the only one that could still read his signature on it. Oh yeah, and I got to see the 1972 A.L. MVP hit a home run that game. His name was Dick Allen. 2. It's August 1991 and the first year of the new stadium. I'll be turning 30 in January of 1992 but my wife is telling me to meet her in front of this hotel to pick her up before this August game because she just got tickets. I pull in front of the hotel and there's this full size bus there with my wife standing in front of it. I look into the bus and it's full of all of our friends and it's my surprise birthday party 5 months early! My friends had made t-shirts for everyone proclaiming "Randy's 30th Birthday celebrated August 22, 1991 because they don't have baseball in January!" My wife remembered me telling her that I always wanted my birthday party at the game when I was a kid but, ofcourse, I never could. We drank jello shots all the way down to the stadium and by the time we got there I didn't even care how high we had to go in the upper deck to accomodate seats for 50 people. We brought the birthday cake to the game and ate it in the stands. It was an awesome night that I'll never forget! And, yes, I'm old. 48 on Saturday.

There's no chance Dye is coming back. I'd take Thome back but I really do prefer the idea of not having a DH that can't play the field for this team unless he was a real stud.

From everything that I've read he seems like a Randy Johnson type. He'll eventually be great but due to control issues and makeup (read immaturity) it will be a few years before he has it together. He may not make a significant impact on anyone's rotation until 2012 or later. If you're going to sign him then you probably need to get a 6 year deal for about $ 25 mil. I like the idea of the Sox signing Maya better. He's not as good but a lot cheaper and could help the team this year.

Guerrero is a much better hitter at this point than Dye is. If the Sox are going to sign RH hitter - which they won't, it would have to be Vlad. I don't believe that the Sox have enough left to sign Vlad and I think they would go for a lefty instead anyway. I also don't believe that they are going to sign a DH before S.T. at the earliest. I really feel that they want to see what they have so far before they determine if they need anyone else. They want to take another look at Flowers, Teahen, Jones, Viciedo, Rios and Quentin.

I agree with you. However, I have to believe that Guerrero is out of the Sox price range. He can probably still hit a ton and would be great in the Sox lineup but I don't think they can afford him. I would love to see that happen though.

This list makes me wonder if they've really researched people's heritages or they've just picked every player whose name ended in a vowel? And, Don Mossi always was a handsome man.

Personally, I'm ok with Thome coming back. But, it won't happen. The Sox are not going to add a pure DH that can't play the field. I think they've made that pretty clear. They want to optimize flexibility and athleticism as much as they can. I'd be very surprised if Thome returned. Although, I like him.

The trade route is a different scenario. Like you said, that could be anyone. I would rather than give up any talent to add a lefty bat. I don't think it's that crucial with Andruw Jones on the bench. I think the Sox will win the division with whht they have now. And, I'm not denying that Huff played poorly with Detroit but he did not start everyday and I would completely discount that since he's never had a season resembling that and the first 4 1/2 months of last year were nothing like that.

Right. That's why I don't want Thome back - his slugging pct. with the Dodgers was only .235 with an OPS of .471. So, he has no more power. Obviously, he wasn't comfortable with something over the last 6 weeks of the season with Detroit. Before that, he drove in 72 runs in 110 games with Baltimore. He's a career .282 hitter with a .340 OBP. I'm not saying Huff is Albert Pujols but I think he'd be a pretty good fit, of those left available, to help the White Sox win some games. He's more the type that Ozzie wants where he gives the team some flexibility and he can still move a little bit. We need a lefty hitter. Kenny has said that's what he wants. What's nice about Huff is that if Konerko went down early in the season for the year, he could play first rather than Kotsay being the regular there. And, if Teahen were to go down he could play 3B instead of making Vizquel a regular. He's not perfect but Delgado is injured. Thome they don't want because he offers no flexibilty. Vlad is right handed and health and mobility are questionable. Branyan might be ok but he's been a very inconsistent player over his career. Blaylock is always injured and his rep is borass. Who's left?

Aubrey Huff makes the most sense to me: 1. Left Handed 2. Won't cost a lot. Probably one year deal for $ 4-5 mil. 3. Still young compared to other guys - just turned 33 last week. Could be part of future as well as this year. 4. Can play 1B, 3B, RF and LF 5. Is a really good hitter and a true upgrade for the Sox. 6. Doesn't strike out a lot. Has never struck 100 times in a season. 7. No Scott Borass to deal with. 8. Still has some mobility. 9. Had a down year last year but a monster year in 2008.

I'll bet he comes close to doubling that in homers and stolen bases and that his BA is higher than .275.

Really accurate article IMO. I think the "battle" here is really between Ozzie and Kenny. I don't mean to imply that there is fighting going on but Ozzie has been wanting a team with lots of speed and defense all along and Kenny has generally been providing him with a softball team. It's just not easy to put together a team with complete balance unless you have unlimited money. I think that this position on the roster could be a big factor in determining where this team ends up. If they add a "Thome type" for DH instead of keeping a guy like a "Nix type" Ozzie will really not have the type of team that he's been wanting. KW has always been more about adding power and this is where he and Ozzie have always differed. I have to say that I really enjoyed watching the 2005 season and I wouldn't be opposed to watching another one. I like World Championships.

Before last season every Sox fan on here would've have been thrilled at a Rios acquisition. He was considered a star already and likely to get better. But, even with that his contract was large. So, he would never be a steal but if he continued at that level then this Sox would have a great player at market price. However, he had a bad year last year. That's what all of this hand wringing is all about. If he plays next year like he always had prior to 2009 then all will be good. The Sox will have a great player that costs a lot of money. Oh, well. They've been paying Dye, Konerko and Thome $ 10-13 mil. per season and he could be more valuable than any of them. We'll have to wait and see. It could still turn out very well for the Sox.

I hope it's Nick Johnson.

I think the last spot in the pen should go to either Jon Link or John Ely.