BrandoFan

SoxTalk has enough clueless homers, I figured why not be a little more critical for a change.....It annoys you? Guess I am doing something right. Btw....I predicted 92 wins going into this year.....How many did you predict? Yeah, I thought so.

Now I hope you guys understand that 2 K on total 14 pitches are better (or rather, not nearly as bad) as 2 GIDPs on 4 pitches? On the positive note, Cotts looked good and Thomas/Maggs put some really good sewing on Mussina's pitches. Sox are playing a much better ball than same time last year, but dammit I WANTED this game -- it so close....

:finger

Make that 3 for Minnesota in just 6 games. Wow.

Jesus, this "nice guy" doesn't let up. Twice on Ordonez drives and twice on Thomas's, he allowed the listeneer to believe those balls were crushed and would at least be doubles if not homers. Is he blind? The game is on the line and he jerks people's emotions.

Jason.....as a future GM, you can't afford low expectations. I too will be happy with a split (I predicted Sox take 3 of 4, but I was clearly smoking crack pipe) --- but not with the MANNER in which such split was achieved. Both Garland and Show would have been ROCKED Neal Cotts 2003-style if Yankees were in mid-season form. And you know what? Sox lost a game to KC they should have won. This game we should lose -- I hope we pull out a dramatic comeback because we NEED it badly.

1. To the Sox? No way. Even in 2002 he wasn't worth it. 2. 5/70 is what the market will give him. My problem? Sox could barely pay that kind of money to Barry Bonds and Magglio will never be Bonds. That's why I was so pissed in 2002 and 2003 when we played s***ty ball and owndership refused to spend more than 50 Mill. THEN, while Maggs, Lee, Burhle and Co. were underrpaid, coming on the heels of 2000 triumph.....THEN, Reindorf should have been spending 75-80 Mill and building a Championship caliber teams......NOW, its's become that much harder -- very little payroll room and people want to get paid big-time. Now, we cannot afford Magglio. Not even close. The only way Sox could keep him if the following occurs: --Magglio breaks out for a Sammy Sosa 1998-type season --Sox blow everybody away, win the division and make noise in the playoffs Cubs-style --At least 2.4-2.5 Mill fans go through the gates to show Reinford fans WILL come out fi the team is winning.

Both of them were lucky to get out of 2nd inning, given how many Yankees they walked/fell behind/threw meatballs to. Do you honestly think this Murderer's Row was gonna roll over and die when basically each of them gets a nice 2-0 count courtesy of Danny Wrong before even stepping up to the plate? Yep, that's exactly the kind of ineptitude that allowed them to win 4 Championships in 7 years. When Crede hit into 1/3rd DP and when Rowand failed to get the bunt down.....Sox basically lost at least 2 runs. Then Valentin costs them another. That's a 3 run swing -- instead of the score being 5-0, it was only 3-1. Given how poorly Wright is pitching, 3-1 was obviously not enough. Yankees aren't over-anxious anymore because they knew it was a matter of time before Danny fell behind 3-0 and floated a change-up in their wheel house. Let's see what the Sox are made of -- both KC and Twins have 2 late inning comebacks each. Sox have none. 4 more innings to go. f***ing Crede with another GIDP.

Grow up, kid. I am just stating the facts here. Nothing more nothing less. My favorite player is Jose Valentin, whom I consider to be underrated in the 4 years I've watching him play. But even I would NEVER suggest he is worth more than 2 Mill a year. And yet here we have people who suggest that Magglio is worth 5/75 and even 4/68, which might be as high as 30% of the entire Sox payroll in the future.

How do you spell 'BULLs***' in Bengalese?

HR Told you.

So far Sox pitchers are cheating death. Matsui alone missed out on RBI doubles TWICE by lining HARD. Falling behind 3-0 on every hitter and giving up hard outs = matter of time before Yankee crush him.

What success? Sox fans do NOT support a winning team. Check 2000 attendance, ratings, merch sales., etc

Unless something drastically changes, Danny is going to get pounded.

If by the "best", you mean "not understanding the point of the post, which is supported by facts and independent analyst opinions"....then yeah.

Cry me a river, Jason. Next inning, Jose will turn a tough DP and will "save" a run. Look at the bigger picture. Jose still saves more runs/bases than he costs -- jhence the ABOVE average.

And other people simply do not know enough about baseball to know that in fact, Jose Valentin is NOT bad defensive SS.

How the hell is that an error on Mussina?! Another thing Val needs is to have a hit taken away.

Good-bye Maggs.

If Magglio could run, field and throw like Ichiro, then I could understand it, but Maggs has been overrated in those aspects of the game for 2 years now. And, of course, people forget that Gary Sheffield brings fans to the stadium, generates higher ratings and sells merchandise like few others. Finally....and this gets missed all the time in these emotional debates......YANKESS HAVE A 190 MILL PAYROLL. They could theoretically pay Sheffield 50 Mill a year and STILL field a good team. In 2003, Sox payroll barely cleared a 50 Mill mark -- and that was the year division was up for grabs and Sox hosted the All-Star Game......The only way Maggs is worth 15-17 Mill is if Reindorf goes insane and has a 100 Mill payroll. Plain and simple.

Yeah, but Sox will have a lot of option in 2005-2006. When you have 3-4 players vying for a single position AND you are smart enough to grab a bargain off the market.....Yoy'd be suprised how expendable "stars" like Magglio and Lee and Konerko (before 2003) can become. Giants could have replaced Jeff Kent with a cheap Robbie Alomar last year and they still would have won that division. If Maggs doesn't have a career year in 2004 and doesn't lead Sox into ALCS, there is not reason to bring him back. None.

10 times the player Ventura was in 1998-2002? I doubt he is twice the player Robin was. Maggs is not a supestar and most likely will never be one. 15-17 Mill a year figure that some of you are proposing is grotesque. Even the Great Barry Bonds is only making less than 25% of the entire Giants payroll -- and Bonds, unlike Ordonez, actually puts fannies in seats. Billy Beane was smart enough not to pay Tejada 75 Million and instead put a rookie Crosby at SS at league minimum. Right now, A's are in 1st place and with smarter dead-line acquisitions, might just win that division.

Wow...ok....you convinced me --- Cubs' Magical Cinderella Run is a very good thing. And Wood is terrible.

1. I have a feeling he will too. He already said he will test FA and he will get more from the Big Boys (NYY, LA, Bos) -- hell, the Big Girls (Cubs) will give him more than 11 Mill a year. 2. I dunno, why did Robbie take a cut from 8.5 Mill to only 1 Mill? Edgar Martinez from 9 to 4.5. Everett - from 9 to 3.5? Because they didn't have much say in how the market valued them. You DO realize that the only reason why Maggs is making 14 is because he made 6 Mill in 2002. 3. Are you for real?? Hitting prime is usually from mid-20s to early-30s. In fact, historical production peak is 28. Chances are, Maggs not only will not improve, but will probably start the natural decline in the next 2-3 years. Comparing him to Bonds makes NO sense. Bonds is more talented. He is also a steroid-ridden freak of nature. An exception. Maggs will be lucky if he doesn't have to be propped up with a sugar-kane in RF when he is 37. 4. CW tell me, when will the f***ing madness end? You're actually suggesting Magglio is worth what a baseball-saving, international superstar Sammy Sosa signed for during a 160 RBI (in a neutral park, without much line-up protection, no less) season back when the bull market was still paying guys like Kevin Appier 12+ Mill per? I can see it now: Sox don't draw in 2004, next year JR slashes payroll down to a more financially prudent 45 Mill -- 17 of which will be paid to a 920 OPS hitter whose name isn't even well known in some areas IN Chicago.....O-E-fricken-O

Actually, his value WAS high a week ago as he was coming off by far his best spring training, both defensively and at the plate. Now, it's been literally cut in half, so if you want to trade him, you might want to wait until the weather gets hot. Of course, it could help that many SS (Berroa, both Alex Gonzalezes, Jeter, Furcal, Vizquel, Renteria, etc) are playing like s*** right now......but I doubt you'll get Kata at this point. And for the last time....Sox will NOT get Amazenga. It will not happen. Not because he is good, but because Angel GM is not stupid. You'll get Edwin Jackson sooner.