Rex Hudler

I think Alomar was an excellent pickup for the Sox this year. I think he brought a professionalism to the club that it needed. Alomar does the little things, he makes others around him better. That said, I am not sure if I would bring him back for another year. A lot of that would depend on $$. I certainly wouldn't bring him back for more than $3 million. I know a lot of you guys are stats guys, but some players can bring more to a team than just their numbers. I feel Alomar is one of those guys. I also however, question whether that positive influence would continue if the sox find them selves 10 games under .500 at the All-Star break and sinking fast, hence my reluctance to bring him back for a full season, especially at anything close to the $6 mil he made last year.

How do you figure Frank will "test the free agent waters"? If he and the Sox decline the options, he is a free agent free and clear. His contract at that point is null and void. I think the Sox would be stupid to allow him to become a free agent and then offer him the same contract or the same amount of money. The reason I do think Frank will exercise his option is that the current contract is for more than just this year. So he is in effect turning down much more than $6 million if he walks. Will he be able to get a long term deal elsewhere? I would doubt he can get more than 2 years.

To anwesr #1: Frank wants to win, he sold the house to make sure he's financially secure. If the Sox's put out a good team Frank isn't going anywhere, but if he thinks he can get a fair deal (probably no more than 6 mil) with a better team i think Frank will leave. Unfortunately for Frank, his decision on his option is due before most if any offseason moves are made, so he will not know whether the Sox will bring back a "good team".

Feel free to add more if you like.... Hell, start a thread with a few.

You're certainly correct. The BB/IP ratio is most important. The K/BB is somewhat irrelevant, because if a guy strikes out a lot of guys but is wild, he's not going to be very effective. To expand on your thought...... If a guy walks a lot and strikes out a lot at the Major League level, then he certainly can be effective (see Kerry Wood). Would he be better if he walked less? Yes if he could maintain his high strikeout level, but that may not be the case. The key is, Cotts hasn't shown he can strike out 1.22 batters per 9 innings in the Big Leagues. More walks give a pitcher less margin for error. Conversely, more strikeouts give a pitcher more margin for error. But when evaluating a young pitcher, you certainly don't want to bank on a high strikeout rate in the Majors. If it happens, great, but it is not likely to be as high as in the Minors.

Frank has the first choice at $6 million. If he declines, then he is gambling that either the Sox will pick up their option at $8 million or he can get better money on the open market. The common thought now is that if Frank declines, so will the Sox, allowing him to be a free agent. But that is just conjecture.

That ratio can be deceiving and doesn't tell all. His K:BB ratio in Birmimingham was 2.37:1. A better ratio to check would be BB/IP.

Not to nitpick, but I don't think calling McKeon a retread is accurate. He did pretty well in Cincinnati and had success as the GM in San Diego. He was not a WS winner as a manager, so if that is your criteria then I guess you are right. But I think it is fair to say that Trader Jack has had a pretty damned good career.

Thomas would be a fool not to exercise his option.....

Get a life??? LOL Just a thought

I think the "leader" or "odds-on candidate" changes daily at this point. That is why it is called a hiring process. I don't think they really know who their best chi=oice is right now and as interviews occur, things can change daily.

If the Off Topic board was the cause of most of the problems, why not just kill that board? This board is about baseball first and foremost. If people want to talk about other crap they can do it elsewhere. Could that not solve most of the problems? I know keeping a baseball message board about baseball may be a novel idea, but it seems like it would work to me.

Another of Jessica

Jessica Biel is one of my favs.........

No joke....... i post on Pale Hose Talk and never go to the Off-Topic Boards or any others....... Where is this Testing Board?

Pacheco was throwing consistently in the 93-95 mph range in the second half of the season this year.

Color me stupid, I had no idea there were any problems........ Never heard of the Testing Board.. ??? I would be inerested to know what caused Jason to quit. Jason if you read this and feel like emailing me, I would appreciate it. An abbreviated explanation would suffice.

Here you go..... Keep in mind that once the free agency date arrives, as the Everetts, Colons, Alomars, etc. file for free agency, they will not be counted on the Sox 40-man roster unless they re-sign with the Sox. White Sox 40-man Roster Pitchers 37 Jon Adkins L/R 6-0 200 08/30/77 56 Mark Buehrle L/L 6-2 200 03/23/79 40 Bartolo Colon R/R 5-11 240 05/24/73 38 Neal Cotts L/L 6-2 200 03/25/80 * 54 Felix Diaz R/R 6-1 180 07/27/80 * 20 Jon Garland R/R 6-6 205 09/27/79 32 Matt Ginter R/R 6-1 220 12/24/77 * 36 Tom Gordon R/R 5-10 190 11/18/67 44 Billy Koch R/R 6-3 215 12/14/74 21 Esteban Loaiza R/R 6-3 215 12/31/71 29 Corwin Malone R/L 6-3 200 07/03/80 * 43 Damaso Marte L/L 6-2 200 02/14/75 49 Arnaldo Munoz L/L 5-9 170 06/21/82 * -- Enemencio Pacheco R/R 6-1 170 08/31/78 * 51 Jon Rauch R/R 6-11 260 09/27/78 * 52 David Sanders L/L 6-0 200 08/29/79 * 60 Scott Schoeneweis L/L 6-0 190 10/02/73 47 Scott Sullivan R/R 6-3 210 03/13/71 46 Dan Wright R/R 6-5 225 12/14/77 65 Kelly Wunsch L/L 6-5 225 07/12/72 Catchers 15 Sandy Alomar R/R 6-5 235 06/18/66 27 Jamie Burke R/R 6-0 190 09/24/71 8 Miguel Olivo R/R 6-0 220 07/15/78 -- Mike Rivera R/R 6-0 210 09/08/76 * Infielders 12 Roberto Alomar S/R 6-0 185 02/05/68 24 Joe Crede R/R 6-2 195 04/26/78 -- Ross Gload L/L 6-0 185 04/05/76 * 17 Tony Graffanino R/R 6-1 190 06/06/72 13 Willie Harris L/R 5-9 175 06/22/78 14 Paul Konerko R/R 6-2 215 03/05/76 39 Aaron Miles S/R 5-8 170 12/15/76 22 Jose Valentin S/R 5-10 185 10/12/69 Outfielders 25 Joe Borchard S/R 6-5 220 11/25/78 * 23 Brian Daubach L/R 6-1 230 02/11/72 5 Carl Everett S/R 6-0 215 06/03/71 45 Carlos Lee R/R 6-2 235 06/20/76 30 Magglio Ordonez R/R 6-0 210 01/28/74 33 Aaron Rowand R/R 6-1 210 08/29/77 Designated Hitters 35 Frank Thomas R/R 6-5 275 05/27/68 * Not on Active Roster

Jason, I gotta disagree with you on Weaver. The guy is nowhere near a stud pitcher. That would have been one of the dumbest trades ever.

I for one am sad to see Zim go. He is a great baseball man and has been very good for the game. I wish him well.

1. I don't. 2. Yes, certainly yes when the integrity of the game is on the line, certainly Backman possesses information on some of our players having managed them as well as being in the organization; and Backman knew he was a candidate for the job if/when Manuel was fired. That is when two professionals know it is time for the weekly chit chats, or any conversations, to stop, until the season is over. Sorry, cw, but the baseball world doesn't work that way. People from different teams remain friends and talk to each other all the time. The don't just stop calling each other because there is a pennant race going on. Like it or not, that is reality. They also have the professionalism not to "give away secrets" or other information. It would make no sense for someone to backstab the organization he is getting a paycheck from. All that could do is come back to haunt him down the road. I don't for one minute believe Wally said what was reported unless it was 100% in jest. Wally came back to Birmingham this year because he was loyal to the Sox organization. Sure he wanted the manager's job, but I guarantee you he wasn't wishing for the big club and Jerry to fail to get there. The way I look at it is this..... if Gardenhire and Backman are friends, then Gardenhire now has problems with his own coaching staff because Gardenhire wasn't the leak. If I am a manager and one of my coaches talks to the press about something someone supposedly said to me, I'd be firing someone, whether it was true or not. I have said all along that I don't think Wally will get the job and that hasn't changed. But I am not buying this story as it was reported. Wally denied it. Knowing Wally, that is good enough for me.

He played SS last year. He was moved to 3B before this season, so yes you are correct that he was the reason they were thinking of trading Mike Lowell.

I am not one to believe something I read based on unnamed sources. Wally has said the story was baseless. It makes no sense. I like to think I am smart enough not to jump to conclusions.

Benedict Arnold?? Give me a break......

How do you know he and Gardenhire don't talk weekly? Would you expect him to stop calling just because the Twins and Sox are fighting it out in a pennant race? We don't know what really happened, so why assume we do? Or that he was not "smart"?