BrandoFan

How can you make this guarantee? Afterall, we're talking about one of the lamest organizations ever here, one that has short-sightedly penny-pinched and cut corners every chance it got, and thus had cheated itself out of many a divisional title, including as recently as 2002 and 2003. Big-time damage done to the ballclub and its fanbase right there, in the span of just a decade or two. So don't put anything past them. A healthy Randy Johnson is just what this team needs right now, in more respect than one. Red Sox and Yankees and even Angels - they could fail to make the playoffs or get swept out of ALDS, and still come out swinging with a freshly-minted 100+ Mill payroll in 2005. Sox? We better win the division and make it past ALDS - especially as the Cubs are threatening to win it all as early as THIS year. Somehow I doubt Sox would even ENTERTAIN the possibility of paying for Randy Jonnson even IF he were to reluctantly agree to wave the no-trade clause. Call me crazy. Come on, Kenny, prove me wrong on this one.

Once again, for the N'th time...... If we're willing to take on what's remaining of Nomar's 12.5 Mill salary, then we should make one better and do everything in our power to take on whatever is remaining of Randy Johnson's 15 (less with deferred) Mill. No-trade clause aside.....Unit is JUST what this team needs. Someone to take the ball in Games 1 and 4 of ALDS. Garciaparra and Andruw Jones, on the other hand, are sexy-sounding LUXURIES that Sox cannot afford - neither of the two players are what they used to be in 2000 and Sox don't have a burning need for a CF and SS at this point. Pri-f***in-orities people.

There are just too many IF's at this point and NONE of you know who projects to be what player (and when!) in the bigs. -Reed's wrist problem may be chronic or it might not be. -Borchard may stop being a headcase one day, or more likely he won't. -Reed could become a poor man's Podsednik on the pads, Mark Kotsay in the field and Will Clark at the plate. Realistically? Prolly neither. -Borchard might put up Adam Dunn's numbers - or Russell Branyon's....At AAA. I'll say this: Sox need a .400 OBP contact hitter with speed in the 2-hole more than they do a .500-slugging free swinger with average (baserunning) speed in the 7-hole. I guess we'll see.

Cubs should sign Magglio - who knows, he might be a late bloomer ( ) like Sosa and they'll strike gold - getting a an All-Star AND sticking it to the Sox big-time.

Do you know why that was an out? Because Hawkins threw a good belt-high pitch on 2-0 and Paulie wanted to KILL IT. Longer stride, longer swing....he ended up being tardy and flew out to RF. Had he tried to just hit a liner hard somewhere, I wouldn't be surprised if a line-drive homer to CF resulted. Paulie went for too much and it had the opposite effect.

I hope he meant "Torii Hunter of 2002" and NOT "Torri Hunter of the rest of his career". 860 OPS in a moderate pitcher's park (translates to 880-890 OPS at USCF) with 23 steals, only 7 CS? I'll take that from a good defensive CF'er ANY day, especially in any ROOKIE season day With our future LF Reed gone, it makes Lee less expendable. Sox can't keep BOTH Maggs and Lee. That means Borchard or Anderson are gonna have to learn REEEEAAAL quick in 2005 and replace Maggs or Carlos withiout a significant offensive drop-off.

It all depends how Freddy pitches down the stretch. If he has a 4.00+ ERA and loses his playoff game(s), then he can go f*** himself and I'll take the draft picks instead. There is always a chance Garcia pulls off a Colon/Ponson Special after signing a fat contract, so let's just watch and see what he does

There is absolutely NO way Harvey should have been picked over Konerko. OPS Konerko - 914 Harvey - 863 OPS w. Runners on Base: Konerko - 803 Harvey - 774 OPS w. Runners in Scoring Position. Konerko - 1001 Harvey - 792 GIDP Konerko - 7 Harvey - 8 Defense: Konerko - 822 ZR, 3 errors Harvey - 766 ZR, 2 errors Team's place in division: Konerko - tied for 1st Harvey - 5th (about to lose 100-105 games this year) All-Star Game legacy: Konerko - Yes Harvey - No

I don't like the Olivo part, but we had to go after Freddy. This team was not gonna hold with Garland-Show-Diaz as 3-4-5. Failure to make postseason AGAIN, esp as the Cubs are trying to win the Series, would be another huge blow to the Sox fandom. If he helps take this club past ALDS, and then demands 10+ Mill a year, then we get a couple of compensation picks and all is well with the world - I assume the playoff run means the beginning of the revitalization of our old alienated fanbase. Now we just need for players to become less greedy and to execute. Think June of 2000 but with better pitching. And Randy Johnson would be welcome as well.

:headshake It's the MANNER in which Sox lost. Very 2002-2003-esque. I don't care, one of the games had to be won. Period.

As it should be. Lee is due 9 Mill in 2005 and Konerko - 8.75. Lee's D is average, he is going to slow down every year now and his bat was only worth that money in 2003 - IF that. Unless he has a Manny Remirez Lite 2nd half this year, he should be very expendable. Paulie is a GIDP meister with average at best defense at the easiest fielding position; he clogs bases and his offense has barely been enough to justify that kind of money. Neither player is a liability - in fact Paulie is producing very well now, but in the long run, Sox cannot afford these two. Why? Because we know that you need a very strong 1-2-3 in the playoffs. Loaiza obvisouly can no longer be counted on as a premiere pitcher and will likely leave after 2004. Sox have a #2 in Garcia and a #3 in Buerhle. A true #1 is missing, however. THAT's where the money should go. And since those are expensive as hell, money has to be freed up. Thomas is getting a raise. Buerhle is getting a raise. Shingo is getting a raise. Uribe might be too. Unless Magglio leaves for sure, Sox can't have both Lee and Konerko even IF the payroll is at 70+ Mill. Of course if these two ever learn to drive the ball to RF-RCF-CF consistently, then it's a different story.

Sox lost because they couldn't drive a middle-away pitch and tried to pull-n-elevate pitcher's pitches. And because Loaiza decided he doesn't want to pitch like a front-line pitcher anymore. They should have won 2 out of 3. Look at Firday's game. Zambrano wasn't nearly as sharp as he is being credit for. He had Valentin at 3-1 in the 1st and Jose wanted to kill a good pitch 450 feet to RF instead of concentrating on spraying a hard liner somewhere, and instead chased two ball-4's above the belt........There were many other at bats where Zambrano had Sox at at 1-0, 2-1, 2-0, 3-1 and threw a get-me-over-pitch which our overanxious/greedy hitters jammed themselves on.....................Contrast it with the way Lee, Barret, Sosa, Alou all effortlessly lined outside pitches to CF and RF. Maddux said he got away with quite a few mistakes on Saturday. So true. The kind of pitches on the outer portion of the plate Sox hitters either took or foul off, they should have hit hard somewhere. I could live with an out if it's a hard-hit one, but when our hitters are constantly off-balance and seemingly without a plan, and the pitcher is a washed-up Maddux, that's unacceptable. Rusch game was an abomination. He had nothing and Sox couldn't touch him. No runs in 8 innings! My god, how embarassing.

Ah another one..... Shingo has pitched in a tied ballgame quite a few times as his 4-0 record in less than 30 innings as a set-up man would attest. He did a spectacular job, too - often retiring batters when the other team had GW run on base or even in scoring position. He also made Cubs look quite foolish a week ago. Ozzie liked his chances against RH like Alou, Lee, Barret, Martinez and Ordonez - Shingo handled Patterson and Sosa with ease the inning before, afterall. He also had 2 and a half days of REST prior to entering in the 8th. Stamina wasn't an issue. What did you want Marte to pitch 2 innings again, especially in the inning loaded with RH? Or maybe you're a Politte fan - nothing says "I want to win a very important game" like sending your 4th best option out of the pen. Screw all that....... Sox lost because: 1. Hitters choked on national TV for the N-th time. Their greed caught up with them. 2. Crede. 3. Shingo picked the wrong time to lose his control in the 2nd inning of work. 4. Marte had LH Walker at 0-2 and for some reason his release point went to hell.

That pitcher has career ERA of a gazzillion, has no stuff, a mediocre control and is a LHP - Sox are one of the best if not the best LHP-killing teams in the majors. The problem? Whoever said "Sox tried to play HR Derby in front of the national audience again" is absolutely right - same thing happened on Saturday against Maddux, who himself admitted that he made a ton of mistakes - more than he did in his shelling against the Sox last week, but for some reason he got away with almost all of them this time. Glendon Rusch is the kind of a pitcher who will be crushed if your hitters are smart and unselfish. Teams that are in trouble against him are teams that look at his career ERA and think "batting practice time". That happened to the Cardinals (Matt Morris start, no less) with Pujols and Co getting 2-0 fastballs chest high and, much like Joe Crede, harmlessly popping them up. Same thing happened to the Astros (Oswalt), with Bagwell and Co trying to pull a pitch 3 inches outside and meekly grounding out to 1B/2B. And Rowand? So he bunted for a strike. Ooh, it's 0-1 - must be the end of the world. If you're hitting 350 against LHP, you should be able to handle a crappy southpaw like Rusch down a strike. Instead, he struck out on a mediocre curve IN the strize-zone because he so badly wanted to kill the fastball and ended up literally falling out of his shoes as he K'd.

And Harvey is better than Paul Konerko how again....? Uribe has noone to blame but himself. 2 weeks ago he had an OPS some 80 points higher than Soriano, and his defense was superior as well. He "deserved" to go to the ASG more than Soriano did. But now after his big slump? They're neck in neck, so Soriano's history should give him an edge. Shingo not making it is KW's fault - should have cut the losses with Koch long time ago. Buerhle lost his chance when he bombed against Montreal and Cleveland. Frank got robbed by Giambi.

Rowand hit a weak bloop to 2B in his 1st AB and then K'd in his 2nd. Ozzie should have been fired if he didn't bunt in that situation in the 7th. The entire blame is on Crede. The end. Fly ball hitter? Give me a break. Lefties are something like 5 for 40 against Marte. Shingo was tired, erratic and very hittable. It was a good move, especially when Walker fell behind 0-2 and was swinging at everything in sight - THAT's when Marte had to uncork a beautifil slurve of his and Walker would have missed it by a foot. But then Marte decided to fall apart instead.

It was not a bad line-up given the options and the weak pitcher they were to face. After what Gload did against the Cubs on both Fridays (read: cost games with atrocious defense), he should be on the bench. Him batting .500 against lefties is a fluke - not enough atbats to draw conclusion. Jose needed a day-off. The entire task of beating Rusch's brain in fell on Uribe, Lee, Konerko, Rowand, Crede and Burke - they're supposed to be good against LHP, right? Well, outside of Konerko, Lee and maybe Burke, they failed....which means that Perez and Harris were put in a situation where they had to save the team - and they can't do it against LHP anymore than Jose and Gload would have been able to. Sox played like losers, so they found a way to lose to Glendon f***in' Rusch. It had very little to do with Ozzie - the team would have lost with Gload, Alomar and Jose as well, trust me. Blame the players for choking. Blame the Cubs for being too good. Blame the NL batting format. Ozzie did what he could with what he had. Which admittedly not a lot.

Again, it's not as simple as throwing inside. ML hitters will kill you if you come in their wheelhouse on hitter's counts - and E-Lo is falling behind like crazy. E-Lo knows that since he can't reach 92-94 anymore, he can't blow it by people. Hitters know it too, so they work off his breaking stuff more. E-Lo doesn't have the stuff or the pin-point control this season to do what he did in 2003. His fastball is not as intimidating, his cutter isn't as quick as it used to be, and subsequently his change and slider are less effective as well. I am very disappointed in him. Had he pitched like E-Lo in 2003, he would have won on Friday. Sox take a 3-1 lead in the series, which means Diaz comes out firing because there is NO pressure on him anymore. He probably wins. Or even if he doesn't, Glendon Rusch takes the mound tonight in a do-or-die situation and most likely chokes. Sox win the series at least 4-2 - maybe even 5-1 and go on a huge inspired winning streak and never look back on the Twins. My god, E-Lo....what could have been.

That player was badly jammed/fooled in his previous 2 at bats against said pitcher. That player has some speed so there is a chance that a converted-3B Martinez hesitates while fielding a bunt and Aaron is safe at 1st, which loads the bases with no outs. The bunt worked like a charm. Crede had a 2-0 count and Rusch was beginning to fall apart - he threw Joe what would have been a ball 3. As in 3-0 count. As in close to walking the bases loaded with 1 out and Sox poised to blow the inning wide open. It was the right call. Ozzie played the circumstances right and had faith in Buerhle, Shingo and Marte to keep the Cubs from scoring........It didn't work out thanks to Crede - if he comes through and Sox take the 2-1 lead on Lee's homer, I doubt Shingo blows the game - Cubs would have been too anxious in a do-or-die 9th and Shingo would have eaten them alive like he did at USCF last week.

Everybody, lay the f*** off Ozzie. How was he supposed to know that Uribe, Crede, Rowand couldn't hit to save their lives off a deeeeeply mediocre LHP like Rusch? I mean my God, they got hangers and either fouled them off or popped them up. Horrid at bats - and they're supposed to be good against LHP. Jose needed to be sat against a lefty because he is overswinging again, and Gload/Timo is a losing proposition either way. Burke was actually 1 for 3 - how much better do you think Sandy would have done? Buerhle is a pitcher - Cubs had an automatic out as well in Rusch. His players failed him, plain and simple. And why the f*** is Magglio not playing? If he is indeed as "structurally" healthy as they claim he is, and if indeed the reason he is not running well is scar-tissue related, then his ass should have been in RF in all 3 games - Sox win at least 1 if not 2 if he plays.

That's because you're a biased moron, and there is not a goddamn thing you can do to change that. If I were you, I'd be super-happy that Cubs didn't sweep the Marlins (they were 2 great diving stops by Alex Gonzalez, both on Sosa's missiles in late innings with a GW run in scoring position, away from losing Game 1 - and with that the entire NLCS in only 4 games) last year, and that God himself intervened in the 8th inning of Game 6......and NOT expect another such miracle again. Cubs are a truly dominant team when healthy, and unless both Prior and Wood can't pitch in the postseason due to injuries (which is a remote possibility), I see Cubs doing some major damage therein. The only thing Sox can do is get Randy Johnson at any cost and hope Cubs are knocked off by a wild card team peaking at the right time. Then the South Side could have some glory to call its own.

So? Cubs are rolling in cash. Tribune is just beginning to realize that WINNING makes the bottomline even better For them to swallow 3 Mill on the Clement-Garciappara swap (one is owed 6 in the 2nd half, the other - 3) and then maybe 2 more on, say, Urbina.......is nothing. This Cub team will still win 95+ games - and that WITHOUT Prior, Wood, Sosa (and now Ramirez) in the line-up for a while in the 1st half. Hendry should continue adding because it's rare when you can assemble a team THAT playoff-ready when healthy.

No, I think you and others are f***ing idiots if you can't make the distinction between someone saying that a team is THE best and THE most playoff-ready team in the NL (which Cubs so clearly are poised to be in the 2nd half)............. and saying that that team is a "lock".

Look dope, if you can't see just why Cubs are the best team in NL when at full strenght, then you're beyond help. They'll only get better when Hendry acquires a set-up man and possibly even Garciappara. They could live with Prior-Wood-Zambrano-Maddux in the postseason. Do you honestly believe Woody Williams, Matt "lost velocity" Morris, Chris Carpenter and Jeff Suppan will stop them in the 2nd half?

In the long-run, Cubs are our biggest rival, not the Twins. Sox are still better than the Twins, and the 2nd half will bear it out. Losing 2 to them would change very little - Twins can't hit, have a weak bullpen and mediocre rotation. Damn, how badly did Sox swing their bats that they couldn't hit the many mistakes Maddux and Rusch made in this series.....f***.