BrandoFan

No. He makes 6 Million and Montreal will fleece KW on prospects. His OPS is 628. We already have 2 SS - could rotate them I guess

I love short-sighted S-metricians. Lessee..... 2002-2003 Twins were: -Faster/Hustlier -Smarter -Much better defensively -Much better fundamentally prepared (read: more efficient with their OPS) -More clutch (in "close games" and not in pad-a-stat blow-outs) -Beat the Sox head-to-head, each win counting as 2 -Had a better on-field manager and an even better motivator/teacher. -Also got a few more lucky bounces Now you understand, Rob?

Yeah, that 1060 OPS (and that after a mini-slump) is not spectacular at all.

With the way Carlos Guillen is playing? I don't think so. Michael Young and Tajada are slightly less deservant -- inferior to Jose in OPS, in 'Close and Late' as well as defense and baserunning -- but they're more high profile, so they'll go first. Nomar will be voted in.

What the f*** is wrong with that primadonna! NY I can understand. But Chicago, the best city in the US? Where he'll be worshipped? Would he rather rot in the lizard land instead?

John Rooney is 3 times worse than Carey. Blind as a f***ing bat. On RADIO!!!

I still can't get over the fact that this huge cop guy got beat up by two uncoordinated drunks in front of his family. Where did the training go?

Uribe has power to RCF-RF. I hope he continues to go with the pitch to all fields, because when he doesn't, he is not that hard to get out.

Yep, never a big fan of Ponson's or Colon's for the money they ended up taking. But my mini-crusade (which started around Soxfest) against the two is over - both are such a forgone conclusion at this point. Glad we dodged those swine bullets.

Shinto will be 37 at the end of next year. Let's all bow our heads and pray his arm is healthy enough to get us through 2005 two-year span. After that, Boras will take over and he'll be GONE.

I meant from the end-result standpoint, not the heart/effort. Remember, Seattle offense was pretty average in 2000 - no match for the Yankee and Red Sox juggernaut. Buerhle must step the f*** up and put up Mark Mulder numbers.

They have to out-produce their counterparts, Lee and Alou - not just in OPS, but also in clutch categories like RO OPS and 'Close and Late'. They're not doing it unfortunately. Berkman is outplaying Sammy, true. But Einsberg can't touch Ramirez. Ausmus - Barret. Walker and Kent are a wash. Beltran over Patterson. Martinez and Everett are a wash. Without Dotel, bullpens are a wash, and Cubs have more talent in starting rotation when Wood is back and replaces Rusch. Hell, when Rusch handily beat Oswalt in Houston a week ago, you should have known Astros weren't ready to challenge the Cubs, mentally nor physically. Let's hope Cubs find a way to sink themselves, and Atros and Cards shut them out of the playoffs.

Again, the amount of damage done by Koch and White in 2003 can't be underestimated. Getting rid of Koch and hopefully Mike "The New White" Jackson has and will produce immediate results. It's an unexplainable phenomenon.

Always knew the Baggiodome was just a boogie man, a pathetic excuse for our choke-happy, heart-less failures of 2001-2003. Now let's make like the D-Rays and win the next 5 games.

Judge by the results. With all the losses Cubs suffered, this Astros squad should have been 10 games up on them and pulling away as we speak. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case - it's as though the Cubs are the Twins and Astros are the Sox - the former "own" the latter. Bagwell? Like Giambi and Boone, got off the roids, lost that little "something" on the batspeed. Today he hit two balls that 2 years ago would have been an opposite field HR and an a missile single to LF respectively - instead, it was a fly-out to the wall and a soft line-out to SS. He ain;t NEARLY as scary as you think. Biggio? Can't hit, run or field like he used to. The impact of his dropped FO today can't be overstated. Berkman is good but so is Ramirez. Kent pulled a hamsting today, too. I hope Wood doesn't come back. I hope Prior is back on DL and so is Sosa. I hope Clement follows Maddox into land of Medicority. I hope 1-pitch pitcher Hawkins gets bombed Koch-style. I hope Corey Patterson continues to swing at pitches over his head. Michael Barrret is already settling down. Hopefully Alou feels the effects of age and Derek Lee tanks. Then Houston has a chance.

I'll say this much..... I'd rather have Beltran for the play-off run than Jones. True, Beltran doesn't have Andruw's batspeed/power potential, but his hand-eye coordination and SZ judgement are better, he's more polished and play-off ready. He is also a hellava runner and plays defense harder. I still won't forget how silly Overswinging Andruw looked in 2003 NLDS against quality RHP. Thanks, but no thanks. Then again, I'd rather have Randy Johnson than either of them.

The difference between Seattle and Arizona: 1. Seattle is making money. Arizona is losing big-time. 2. Garcia was making 6.9. Unit - 30 over the next 2 3. Garcia just entered his prime. Unit is 40. 4. Garcia is healthy as a bull. Unit - knee cartilage. 5. Seattle will compete next year. Arizona won't. Crede stays. Give them a few of our overrated Minor Leaguers and Arizona should STFU and be grateful.

I think as long as Sox keep Unit fresh with 5-day rests, he can still give them one hell of a run in 2004 and 2005. Get Unit. Maybe a RHP Jose Mesa to challenge Politte's job. And you're set for the playoffs - let the chips fall where they may. And you're right about attendance - it's 20+ % from where it was last year. And that WITH raised ticket prices. I just wish stupederinos running this org would have done this kind of a thing earlier so we would have been spared the 2003 "winning on a tight budget" debacle.

Is it Kenny or JR, though? Hopefully Freddy goes on a streak of a lifetime in the next 3-4 weeks, and Sox experience an attendance boom and try to get Randy Johnson as a final piece of the World Series puzzle?

Why? Nobody is suggesting Sox send Freddy back - I am personally happy with Garcia. However, it is important to know why Garcia wasn't pursued (read: made a good prospect offer for, not just "inquired about availability" crap) back, say, around Cleveland series in mid-May. Was it because Bavasi notified the league that he won't deal until almost July? Was it because Sox arrogantly thought both Judy and Schoenweiss would continue to sizzle and therefore there was no "immediate need" Freddy? Or that Sox simply didn't want to pay an extra 1.5 Mill worth of salary? I sure as hell hope it wasn't the latter 2. Despite all the newspaper articles and rumors in the world, noone can answer these questions with any kind of certainty. I wish Olivo didn't have to be a part of it - IMO around mid-May, Rauch-Reed-Morse offer was more than fair - given that our former talent guy who now works for the Mariners was fairly high on at least 2 of them. When did the Dodgers and Yankees formulate their respective catcher-happy offers?

Oh oh, turns out Seattle DID try to get him.

Told you Twins aren't close to being better than us. Me =

There were two positives, though: Beltran looked VERY sharp. Hawkins is a ONE-pitch pitcher now. If godforbid his impecable control slips just a little bit, he is gonna get TAGGED Cliff Politte-style.

See this stupid, low-expectations logic is exactly what I was talking about. You're almost preparing yourself that Mark can't keep the Cubs, the biggest foe the Sox will ever have, down to 2 runs or less. I guess you're one of those who thinks Esteban's outing on Sunday was actually good. Afterall, he won.....Who cares that he had mediocre velocity and was hanging the s*** out of that breaking ball, right? No, Mark Buerhle is getting paid big bucks to keep his ERA under 3.50, which with good run support will translate to 20+ wins. You want to hang wit da big boys like Boston and NY, you better demand more of Buerhle and Loaiza - they're gonna have to face some scary-ass line-ups and to outduel pitchers like Shilling, Pedro, Vasquez and Brown - maybe Randy Johnson, too - come October. They pitch like Parque and Sirotka pitched in 2000 ALDS, and Sox get swept. Simple as that.

Take it easy on Aboz, will ya? He is higher than you in the handsome hierarchy, so I am not sure your criticism is valid -- or allowed.