WHITESOXRANDY

I'm definiely no scout but I always felt that Young had the potential o be great and I would have been surprised if Anderson turned out o be anything special. That was just my gut feeling. I would have been much happier at the time if the Sox kept Young instead. But, let's face it, the first stupid move KW made was trading Rowand and Gio for Thome. I love Thome but he could have signed Frank Thomas for less money and not given up ANY players. Thomas produced about the same as Thome the last 2 years. Did KW trade Frank for personal reasons ? I hope KW learns from his mistakes. The Sox can't afford to let their stars leave for no return. What would have happend the last 2 seasons if KW re-signed Frank and kept Rowand, Young and Gio. Instead of paying Javy, signed a FA pitcher before 2006. And, then traded Garcia for bullpen help before 2007. I know that's all hindsight but I definitely would have re-signed Frank and kept Rowand Gio. Heck, you're talking about a DH ! If Frank hadn't have been healthy like he urned out to be in 2006 it's still not hard to find a DH somewhere. They could have used Gload even.

DITTO ! IF this turns out to actually be true then I no longer have any confidence in KW to get the Sox back to the playoffs and I'm now officially in the KW got lucky in 2005 camp and I want a new GM for the Sox !

I'm just wondering what you guys think of this. How many of the other 29 teams would you esimate would be willing to trade their minor league system for the Sox ? I'm guessing maybe 1 or 2.

Umm, because I have been following the White Sox closely since 1970. I get tired of people bringing up scenarios over and over again that have less than a 1% chance of taking place. The Sox are not going to get ARod, sign Bonds, Jones, Hunter or trade for Tejada. If anyone wants o bet on any of those things happening, I'll give them 20-1 odds. If you're not willing to bet $ 100 on that then you must realize that it's not going to happen so why don't why don' we talk about something that may actually happen ?

Did I read the wrong link ? What's the cause for optimism ? The Sox might have 3 or 4 minor leaguers that might develop into decent big leaguers in a few years ? Take a look at some other organizations and the Sox will look baren by comparison. Sorry to bring realism into the discussion.

Right now 29 teams should be very grateful they don't have this jackass on their team. If the Sox ever signed him, and I'm sure they wouldn't, I would stop watching them for sure.

Let me clear something up for some people: The White Sox WILL NOT sign Jones or Hunter. Get it ? NOT. Thankfully. Sign Rowand, hopefully.

I wanted Bonds before this season started when it looked like we would have Pods and Erstad in our outfield. Everyone gave me hell for suggesting it. Looking back it wouold have been a heckuva good idea ! But, I don't want him now that he's a year older and has hit # 756 plus Fields has to play there.

Uribe might get better. Eckstein is going straight down hill. He's too old. He can't steal bases anymore, is getting injury prone and his defense has gone down.

Felipe Lopez is a switch hitter that just turned 27 and he coud still get better. After eliminating the unreasonable ...i.e. Tejada, ARod etc. and the older/overthehill....i.e. Eckstein, Vizquel etc. the Sox can afford to take a chance on a guy like this that won't cost much right now but could develop into something really special.

While I agree that he is inferior defensively to Uribe he is a major upgrade offensively. He's always been a very good offensive player and additionally he would become the Sox leadoff man and can easily steal 40 bases. If that were the case, then Jerry Owens would not be a starting outfielder and leadoff hitter nor would Richar be the leadoff hitter - 2 things that would seriously impinge upon the Sox playoff chances. Although with Lopez at SS they would probably want to sign a veteran 2B like Loretta or Iguchi. Perhaps Ozzie could help Lopez where he couldn't help Uribe due to his unique style. Anyway, I would be for giving that a shot. I think overall the Sox would be better off with Lopez than Uribe. Offensively, he's far better for this team than any of the other options. The question would be could they live with his defense ?

I read an article by Aaron Gleeman in which he predicted that the Sox would trade Mike MacDougal to the Nationals for Lopez. I'm thinking that if the Sox could pull that off I would carry Mac on my back all the way to Washington. But, Washington could really use pitching so the Sox could offer 2 or 3 of Mac, Sisco, Masset, Day etc. Would they take that ? Do they have a replacement for Lopez ? I think he would be perfect for the Sox.

The grading thread got me to thinking, since I give KW an "F" for this season, how many of us would be clamoring for his firing if the Sox hadn't won the WS in 2005 ? I know that's why I give him a pass. I like KW and think he's a pretty good GM but certainly not in the top ten - maybe in the top half. I think that he's still learning on the job and I'm surprised at some of the lessons he hadn't learned before this season. So, would you want him fired if the Sox had missed the playoffs in 2005 ? What if they lost in the playoffs that year ? What if they lost in the WS ? Do you still want him replaced ? Do you think that he's one of the best GM's ?

I agree with most but..... Contreras had one bad month from his last June start thru the end of July. Take that away and his ERA is right at 4. I give him a D. I can't see how Vazquez wouldn't get an A and I've been one of his detractors. Who cares about Andy Gonzalez grade ? Fields might deserve an A. Bring him up in the middle of the season. He plays third base just fine. He plays left field adequately and they move him back and forth as a rookie. At times he was the team's best hitter. I'm just saying that I am very impressed with him. Plus, he has an injury that prevents him from running full speed. Now, I get the hyperbole about this kid. KENNY WILLIAMS deserves an F for this season ! Abso****ingtutely ! Before the start of the season 2 things were extremely obvious about this team. # 1 the bullpen sucked. By the time KW was done.....it sucked worse. # 2 The Sox needed atleast one more legitimate outfielder to contend. KW got no one. A blind man could see that Pods and Erstad would not be healthy and he counted on them. These 2 issues doomed this team from April and both were not hidden and preventable.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that the Sox will finish behind the Twins each of the next 3 years.

Yeah, I like Sweeney too but let me know when he starts "owning" so I can get excited.

Agree. But - if the Sox TRULY intend to win this division next year, they really need to sign BOTH Rowand and Hunter and keep Garland and Contreras. How else can they possibly think of winning anything next year when they would still have a weak bullpen, a huge whole at SS, rookies at 2b and 3b AND aging / slow Thome, Konerko and A.J. ? I'm sorry to say this but I really don't see any way that this team could finish ahead of Detroit and Cleveland next year - short of taking the payroll to about $ 140 mil.

Will the game be played ? I'm hoping to go but worried about the weather.

This just shows why we need more platoon lineups. In 2008 we could platoon Erstad / BA in CF, Pods / Ozuna in LF, Sweeney / Terrero in RF and Dye / Thome at DH, Richar / Gonzalez at 2B, A.J. / Hall at C, Uribe / Cintron at SS and Konerko / Rogowski at 1B. Our only real problem for next year is needing a lefthanded hitting thirdbaseman to platoon with Fields. Ozzie clearly needs to use more platoons but any way you look at it we can't afford to lose a valuable platoon player like Podsednik.

Two years ago, in the White Sox championship season, the Sox called on Garland to pitch 2 games in the playoffs. He responded thusly: League Championship Series vs. L.A. Angels 9 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K and THE WIN. World Series vs. Houston Astros 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K and THE WIN. He's the same pitcher NOW that he was THEN. If you want to replace that with Nick Masset - good luck.

Trading Garland is a bad idea. Ofcourse, it depends what you get for him. But, most likely they would be better off extending him. They could always trade him later. If they trade him now then they must sign a veteran FA starting pitcher or next year's rotation will put this team in the cellar again. Mark, Javy, Contreras, Danks and Floyd/rookie will be awful. Let's face it no one in the Sox system is really ready to be successful as a 5th starter come April. Floyd has the experience but he probably wouldn't be very good. Jose and Danks will still be ? for next year. No way they can win the division with that especially without a lights-out bullpen.

They got him just in time. His new movie comes out August 31st. The Sox will clean up.

I love what Kenny said about OBP ! But, why has he never assembled a team with many of these type of players ? Is he just learning now what the rest of us have known for years ? I wouold love for the Sox to put a team on the field with a .355 OBP. We could keep Thome, Konerko, Dye and Fields. Richar might get there in a couple of years. We could bring Rowand back. Owens maybe eventually. I can't see a reason to keep Pods over Owens. Owens is younger, heathier and cheaper and might still have upside. We'd have to get rid of A.J., Crede, Uribe, Erstad, Cintron, Ozuna, Hall - all low OBP. I've always said that the base doesn't know how you got there, The more base runners , the more runs scored. It's pretty much that simple.

Sisco has the ability but he's still raw. Last night it took him 100 pitches to get thru 6 innings against a weak AAA lineup. And, he had 5 ground outs to 6 fly outs - not a good ratio. And, in those 7 starts he's 2-1, hasn't worked past the 6th inning in any of them and has walked 18 in 37 innings. He still needs work but I think he's worth holding onto.

Well, you said it yourself, Rowand clearly wants to play for the Sox. Therfore, the Sox won't have to pay as much as other teams. I didn't say how much he would take. I don't know. I'm sure he wouldn't accept half of other offers. My guess is that they would have to give 3 or 4 years and atleast $ 8 mil. per. since Byrnes signed for 3/30. I don't think Rowand is a great player but certainly a good one and certainly big upgrade over what the Sox put out this year. To me, it's a no-brainer. A good solid relativley young and healthy player that wants to play here for a little less than market value. And, the Sox are in dire need of players - especially outfielders. And, he's grindy, too ! As far as Dye goes, I think that you have overestimated his market value. I don't believe anyone will give him $ 15 mil. a year. He has stated publicly that he would give the Sox a discount. Now, due to his age and injury history this is riskier for the Sox. I wouoldn't want to commit to more than 2 years plus an option. He could always DH or play 1B if he can still hit but not run. Anyway, it's not like the Sox have better options. Right ? Atleast you get experienced quality pros that want to be White Sox. I say go for it.