WHITESOXRANDY

The bottom line is that with Anderson the Sox have a seriously good young talent. They are not getting what they should out of him but another organization will and that's a shame and a black mark against the White Sox. Look at all the teams that have somehow managed to work with much more difficult personalities or have stuck with young players for a few years until they got it right. As someone said, the Sox have a tendency to suddenly completely count on a young player just because he had success in the minors. These guys often need more time and they need to be prepared for that with a reasonable fall back plan. Note to White Sox: Andy Gonzalez is not a reasonable fall back plan.

I'm in agreement with you but I wouldn't worry much about it. After Kenny is astonished to hear that Hunter won't sign with the Sox for less money than other teams will offer him, the discusion will be over and Kenny will be on to lowballing Rowand. Rowand gets signed.

I wouldn't take Damon for a box of baseballs - not if you have to pay him $ 13 mil. a year ! Are you kidding ? He's not even worth half that anymore. Sure, the Yankees want to move him- guess why ? Forget Damon. The Sox have Owens.

Any bets on whether KW tries to re-sign Erstad at a reduced rate ?

1. I'd really like the Sox to hold onto Uribe. I'm hoping they can get him at a reduced price. He's still young and can improve offensively. If they can't make a deal for a SS then he'll suffice. But, if they do make a deal, I'd still want him as insurance or 2B or utility. The guy has value. 2. I don't think Tejada is coming to the Sox. Firstly, Baltimore is hell to deal with and why Tejada is still there. A good organization would have moved him already. Also, he's ageing, declining and slowing and was probably a juicer. I wouldn't give up that much for him or expect much from him for the rest of his career. 3. Furcal would be a nice fit but he's only signed for 2008. Then, he'll likely be gone. So, how much do you want to give up for him ? Are the Sox going for it all this year ? I don't think so. If the Sox give up Garland for him to go for it this year, then they need to make a dominant bullpen to stand a chance. They could easily end up with nothing for Garland after 2008. I think that's bad General Managing.

The Sox would be STUPID to give away Anderson. He's going to be a good player in this league. His failures have been just as much the Sox fault as his. In a better organization, such as Minnesota, he would be fine.

I don't think he's any better than Jerry Owens at this stage. His defense is worse. He's not as good a base stealer. His average is about the same. His OBP is slightly higher and the only real difference is some more power. But Owens is free and Damon is VERY expensive.

And, why would he come here even if the Sox offered $ 300 mil. for 10 years but the Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox or Tigers offered $ 290 mil. ?

I think the other teams ownerships and GM's are well aware that the Sox will not outbid every other team for ARod.

Crede for Joba.

I'd put my money on LA or LAA. I'd love to see him go the Dodgers. Does Torre and Mattinlgly being there make a diference to ARod ? Is this part of the Dodgers big plan ?

Atlanta did not get raped. They got, basically, the Sox equivalent of Ryan Sweeney and Gio Gonzalez for a SS they can easily replace. Sure Renteria is good and I'd like to have him on the Sox but he's only signed for this year and an $ 11 mil. option next year plus he's not quite as good as he once was. He doesn't run much anymore like he used to. I think Atlanta did very well in this deal. And, the Tigers did well also. What does this say about the available FA SS's out there ? Why didn't the Tigers go after Eckstein ? I guess they figured there isn't much and a trade is necessary. Hello....White Sox ....???

I don't believe there is any chance that he ends up with the Yankees. I say it's LA, LAA or Red Sox.

Really, that's all that needed to be said.

No, I wasn't serious. I thought it was funny atleast.

This is exactly what this organization needs to be doing. If you don't play the free agent market and you don't draft well, then it's imperative that you concentrate on international signings and player development. Keep going throughout Latin America !

Thanks for sharing this. I have to believe that the Sox won't be close to ponying up enough dough to get Hunter. Therfore, I think and hope that they end up with Rowand. There's little doubt in my mind that he would accept a reasonable deal to return to the Sox. I am very glad to hear that the Sox are willing to keep Garland and Contreras next year as I feel that their only chance to win the division is by keeping a very strong rotation and solidifying the pen and the lineup. MacDougal I really can't figure out and don't have a feel for how he might do next year so I guess it would be worth it to hold onto him and see how he does but they need to add another late inning stopper so they don't have to count on him.

I heard that the Sox expect to lose Hahn but aren't worried because they have Harold Baines set to accept the position.

I'm still not convinced that ARod would even sign with the White Sox if they were the highest bidder (which ofcourse they would never be). Why would he want to play for a team that is unlikely to make the playoffs ? Why wouldn't he take less money to play for the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Cubs, Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Cardinals, Astros etc. ?

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=60316 I'll bet 5 bucks against my house right now that the Sox don't even come close to signing him. But, even if they brought the same team back with ARod instead of Uribe they wouldn't come close to winning the divison with an outfield of Fields, Owens and Dye and Crede's questionable performance level and the bullpen such as it is. I know this topic has been beaten to death so I'm stunned Rozner came out with it yet again. Is he serious or just filling space ? I would love to see the Sox sign ARod even for 10 / $ 300 because that would make them a lot of money and a huge story as long as he's with the team. But, I owuldn't want them to finish 3rd or 4th with him. They would need to add some more pieces which, right now, would mean increasing the payroll even more than $ 30 mil. I can't see how the Sox would do that. Thoughts ?

I'm sure this must be a stupid question but why can't the Sox have both Cooper and Mazzone ? They make almost nothing. It's like a player minimum and it seemed like Cooper was just overworked and overmatched getting all of these young pitchers and older (Contreras) on track. Why wouldn't it be better to have 2 coaches so they wouldn't be spread so thin ?

I got so fed up with WSI last year that one day I typed in a thread " please permanently ban me so that I may never be tempted to post here again". They granted my wish. This site is much better as far as freedom of speech. And, it really is true what some say over there. You're lucky if you can find anyone to agree that the Todd Ritchie trade wasn't exactly a good one. Sox and the City is a pretty loose and fun group of guys too but there's more posters with greater baseball acumen on this site, imo.

Why don't they sign about 30 more guys like this ?

Can anyone get this on any baseball sites like MLBTR or John Sickels' site ?

I still disagree. Giving up Rowand and Gio to get a player that cost more money and gives you the same production as a player you already have is a bad move. And, getting nothing for that player is a worse move. This is killing the Sox - got nothing for Ordonez, nothing for Thomas and will probably get nothing for Crede. They can't keep letting their best players go for no return and they also need to sign more free agents. They need to trade some of these guys for good young talent while they can. They have so few quality young guys that can step in and produce. You can't win consistently producing nothing from the farm system and not signing free agents. The talent has to come from somewhere.