daa84

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 27, 2006 -> 04:58 PM) AJ and Iguchi were both signed in a totally different market. KW made his biggest moves pre-2005, when the market was still depressed because of the giant contracts handed out a few years beforehand to guys like ARod, Manny, Kaz Matsui, etc. Right now, demand seems so high that it's hard to believe there are real bargains to be found on the FA Market. i realize it was a different market, but the fact remains that 10 million dollars is still very useful on the free agent market, even if its not as useful as it was 2 years ago.....even if all you can get with it is a gil meche type, tehre still some value in that....maybe the sox could spend only 5 before the trade, and after they could spend 15.......

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 27, 2006 -> 04:52 PM) This offseason? That $10 million buys you, oh, Gil Meche or so. the 10 million doesnt have to be used via free agency...it can be used towards another trade...ie arod or michael young or manny just to throw out some names....but dont discount under the radar FA signings like AJ and iguchi both were.....i know the market is high right now, but there are alot of players who can still be signed "on the cheap" relative to the market that can make an impact

if this were to go down...i wouldnt blast it one bit yet.....you have to remember....santana at 350,000 + figgins at 3.5 mil is about 11 mil less than garcias 10 + credes arb (which id think would be roughly 5 mil)....so it all depends on what KW does with that remaining 10 mil......remember KW used 10 million saved from the podsednik/lee trade to sign AJ and iguchi

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 27, 2006 -> 02:34 PM) UH OH. Looks like we'll no longer have the argument of, "well, Williams trades prospects, but how often do any of them turn into quality players? I can only assume whichever starter delt will give us a prospect comparable to Chris Young.........right? It would have made perfect sense, once Vazquez was on our ballclub, to insert McCarthy then trade a starting pitcher for a collection of bullpen arms/SP prospects. This would have solved our bulpen woes, but again, who knows if it would have made a difference? Perhaps Thornton is never saught. I didn't have forsight into the future, obviously, but I knew full well it wasn't smart placing a starting pitcher such as McCarthy into the bullpen. This deal hurts even more when you look at flailing Brian Anderson adjust to major league pitching. It's embarrassing. And there isn't exactly any OF prospects aside from Sweeney, whose hardly on Young's level, available to contribute. We're going to have Vazquez for, what, two more seasons? Young would have been a welcomed addition in CF for the next 6+ years. Lesson learned for Williams. You give up quality prospects, you better damn well hope they player obtained is more reliable than Javier Vazquez. And, preferably, around for more than three seasons. this is one time williams has been burned...people forget how great of a prospect jeremy reed was when we traded him, the fact is williams has dealt dozens of prospects and fielded a team that won the world series. yes, chris young may bite us in the butt, but for every one trade that bites us like that, there have been many that the prospects havent panned out

i'm not sure how many of you are stat guys or not...and whether or not you believe in looking at a pitchers peripherals to predict how good he will be....but vazquez was 4th in the league in Ks with a comparable walk rate to the rest of the top 5 in Ks (with the exception of santana....who is a freak) and his HRs allowed were way down from previous years...even his hits (which most sabermetric guys say the pitcher doesnt control) were not overly high....essentially what i am saying is that javier vazquez was way better than his ERA suggested last year, and if he duplicates those peripherals this year, id be willing to bet his ERA is no higher than 4.10.... that said i understand alot of people arent stats guys and simply think that vazquez is mentally not up to par...while i agree he may not have the makeup of some of our other pitchers...i for one am still a vazquez supporter based on his stats and how i think he ought to fair next year

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 02:47 PM) I guess people forget that Pods can't hit, steal, throw, or catch. Besides that, he's a pretty toolsy player. I hate the injury excuse for Pods also. If anything, he seems like a player struggling to get his body back to the level it used to be. i agree that pods stinks...but personally id rather not trade something from our team/farm for any marginal upgrade that we will get from figgins, a guy who cant hit, throw, or catch, and only barely steals better than podsednik....same goes for dave roberts who will get a ton of money probably in the wake of the pierre deal...now if the sox want to try to get a guy like jose guillen or jay payton cheap...those are much better options...but i dont wanna do something stupid like trade for a podsednik type player when we can resign pods cheap

ive said this over and over....the way stewart hit last year at AAA, he was closer to deserving a demotion than a promotion

One day before the big game...this is a shame

i know the sox tried to get cabrera last season and turn him into a late inning reliever.....with his kind of stuff, and KWs propensity for flame throwers outa the pen this makes sense to me

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 11:48 AM) neh, cotts had fallen out of favor anyway. he couldnt get lefties out. so now we've got Thornton for the 7th, MacDougal for the 8th and Jenks for the 9th. Not too shabby. we also had taht before this trade...but yeah

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 11:34 AM) I may be wrong here, but from reading the scouting report, I'm guessing that Coop feels like Aardsma has the tools that can make him a "Matt Thornton" type project. Hard throwing lefty with iffy mechanics and control problems. Sounds familiar. hes a righty, but i kinda thought the same thing...maybe they think they can straighten his mechanics out...btw he was good at times last year at the big league level with the cubs

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 11:28 AM) Not really sure I get it. This mean Riske is gone? Boone going to be up? i dont really get it either.....aardsma seems like another sean tracey to me, and i have no idea on vasquez..

going into the 06 season here is what jim callis said about aardsma.... Q: Bill from Austin asks: What is the short-term and long-term outlook for David Aardsma? Can we expect to see him in Chicago in April next year? A: Jim Callis: Aardsma's stuff has regressed since he began 2004 in the big leagues with the Giants. His fastball is now down to 89-92 mph, his slider is rarely a quality pitch and he hasn't been throwing as many strikes as he needs. I don't think he's close to being ready to help the Cubs. He needs to get himself straightened out first. going into 05 here was his scouting report (ranked #9 by baseball america for the giants top 10) 9. DAVID AARDSMA, rhp Age: 23 B-T: R-R Ht: 6-5 Wt: 200 Drafted: Rice, 2003 (1st round) Signed by: Tom Koronek Background: The closer on Rice's 2003 national championship team, Aardsma made his major league debut 10 months after signing for $1.425 million. He won the game in Houston in front of family and friends, though it proved to be the highlight of his season. He spent most of his time in Triple-A. Strengths: When Aardsma is mechanically sound, he pitches at 93-95 mph and reaches 97 with late life and carry on his explosive fastball. He can sink a two-seamer or throw a four-seamer by hitters up in the strike zone. His changeup, which has become average, was his second-best pitch in 2004. Weaknesses: Aardsma's elbow gets floppy in his delivery, and it hurt his velocity and his slider last year. He mostly pitched in the low 90s with his fastball, and he lost both the movement and command with his slider. The Giants were encouraged that his slider came around in the fall, when he kept his delivery more compact. The Future: San Francisco had few other options in its depleted bullpen, so Aardsma was rushed. The return of his slider would make him a candidate to set up Armando Benitez in San Francisco this season.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Nov 16, 2006 -> 11:21 AM) not another god forsaken Vasquez, i hate that last name. vasquez had some good #s at west tenn. the cubs AA affiliate 3-5 3.55 ERa 50.2 IP 41 H, 60 K....alot of walks though with 32 he was also 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA at hi A ....so he sounds like a fairly good prospect to me.....just judging on his high K rate and high walk rate im guessing hes got stuff, but needs to harness control

whered you hear about this? nvm, i found it on chicagosports

Williams is in a fantastic position....early rumors are that 1/2 of the teams are seriously interested in Gil meche, and that vincente padilla is asking for 4 years 40 million....this means alot of teams are going to be looking for a starter, but not mediocre guys at a huge price, and if williams waits for guys like suppan meche and padilla to clear from teh market, alot of teams are going to be desperate for pitching. The power is in KWs corner, and i hope he waits to drive the price up and lands a huge score

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 12, 2006 -> 02:00 PM) I'd be giddy if we got Clemens for a year. I love Roger and he would guarantee sellouts every 5 games. not me.... hes gonna cost 15+ million, will probably only make 25-ish starts, only go 5-6 per start....yeah, hell draw attendance, but i dont think in the end its worth it for the kind of money the sox will have to pay

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Nov 12, 2006 -> 01:40 PM) Source? http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6163558 http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines

cubs just resigned ramirez at 5 years 70 million....resigned wood too

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 9, 2006 -> 12:13 PM) If history is any guide we should see something around the $120 million mark. i think thats too much....id say 110 is about right

just an fyi....this is from teh baseball america/espn chat with jim callis....who is excellent IMO

QUOTE(forrestg @ Nov 1, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) I was playing cards and just caught his name on the screen.. Pierzinski named to all Kruk team.. I thought it was pretty awesome that someone had enough savvy to pick him as the best mlb catcher. .... batting 7th all-kruk team isnt the best players....its players that ebody all that is john kruk

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 09:06 PM) I wouldn't love the needless extra 2 million dollars he'd cost over Stewart for a team that already will have a tightening budget to work on. Blanco might be the best backup in the league, but we can't be spending a couple million extra at that spot when you have a cheap, young backup in Stewie. Yeah, it's called the "we've got all our money tied up in the rotation and on Konerko, Dye, Thome, Iguchi, and soon to be Crede" rule. offensively stewart deserved a demotion based on his stats at AAA last year, not a promotion

honestly.....none of that story bothered me........i dont care that he went to the cards WS game, reinsdorf was also there, mackowiak was at the cell for the sox in 05 when he was still a pirate and i cant blame him for the contract....if they decline the option, he hits free agency a year younger, and he can probably sign a long term deal for more money....i dont think this is an issue of mark hating chicago and not fitting in with the guys in teh clubhouse or soemthing

cool....got any tips for the royals?