BrandoFan

Why is Rogowski still in A-ball?

He's having a semi- break-through offensive season (away from Comerica especially) and has very good defensive tools. Makes about 350 K, give or take a few pennies. As a converted SS, he has deceptive athleticism and average speed - faster than most catchers. He is stuck behind Pudge, JR on the Detroid depth chart.

I like DJ, but I get a feeling he is getting seriosuly emasculated by Hawk's increasingly weirder less-friendly personality/ego. He phones it in more often than not, and you could tell he is nervous in front of the camera - he stutters and makes silly mistakes.

SP Randy Johnson CF Andruw Jones (as long as it's for Konerko and prospects, not Maggs) C Brandon Inge (not a big priority) Sox take on at least 5-6 mill of Unit's money (not counting deferred here) Jones makes 4 Mill more than Konerko Inge is cheap That's at least another 10 Mill that JR would have to add to 65+ Mill payroll. 75 Mill is more than than anyone ever expected he would spend. And most likely he won't unless we literally sell-out the stadium in every game in July and he wisely decides to capitalize on the momentum. Of course.....even if JR is willing to add so much salary........Unit might not wanna go anywhere, Atlanta might laugh at Konerko and Detroit might not want to deal with us.

I happen to like and enjoy my opinions and beliefs. I am sorry that you don't. Perhaps you prefer reading faux-insiders like Rex and JimH. Oh well.

Yeah, let's all pretend Buerhle is good enough to face either Shilling or Vasquez. Unit Garcia Buerhle I have no idea why the prospect of getting Unit scares people so. So, the Sox don't want to pay. Fine. So there is a good chance he won't want to go anywhere. Ok. I figured since the Sox are "going for it" and are 1 big player away.....Is it really out of the realm of possibility? It's not as if Arizona is going anywhere.

I hope my comments weren't cosntrued as saying Andruw is over the hill. I wasn't saying THAT at all. He still has excellent (if somewhat overrated since 2003) defensive skills. Last 3+ years, he hasn't been the power- and clutch-hitter that he's being paid upward of 13 Mill to be and he is grounding into an insane amount of DP right now.........BUT when you have his quickness, power and plate coverage, at just 27yo he can still put it all together BIG-TIME under the right guidance. His baserunning is no longer a big asset, but it's not liability either. He sells jerseys. My problem is that considerng his big contract and unspectacular play this year, I really don't want to give up Maggs for him. I'd rather it be Paul Konerko, with Sox swallowing the 4 Mill difference in salary this year. Could it go something like Konerko + OF prospect + SP prospect = Andruw?

With all due respect, Detroit is.....Detroit. Then again, he is almost 33yo, so who knows how much life is left in those knees and back. Brandon Inge I like. How about it, Detroit?

It may not be happening alright (no-trade clause and all), but why I should I forget about it? If we're going for it, if we're giving up prospects left and right.......then let's go for it for real. With deferred money, Unit's contract is not as bad as it may seem.

Don't bother with that trash, W&O.

32-yo Jaimme Burke is a below-average defensive catcher who had a 600 OPS in a Charlotte park against AAA pitching this year. How anybody could think this guy is a viable catching option I have no idea. Pure insanity. So it's basically Sandy and Ben Davis. Sandy is a below average defensive catcher and a mediocre hitter. Davis is a mediocre hitter but a very good (not great) defensive catcher. Still in his prime. That he is 2 for 4 in CS in 14 games tells me that teams aren't running on him or his pitching staff.

You can't be serious. 2003 was our shot. A really special year in many respects. What does JR do? Imposes a hard payroll of 53 Mill, one that would not get broken even when the team "went for it" in July. Couple of extra Mill spent on the 5th starter in May would have put us over the top in the division and given the team a chance to win the Series - that was the year when Boston didn't have Foulke and Shilling, and Yankees -- didn't have A-Rod, Sheffield, Gordon, Brown and Vasquez. 2004 is another shot. What does our management do? Insists on playing Koch and the 5th starter garbage. THAT was the reason why this team could never get on a real winning streak (ask Giants, D-Rays, Rangers, Cardinals, Yankees as to what exactly that means) and pull away, even after winning some emotional-ass games earlier in the year. That was the reason why after losing the game on Wed to the Indians, Sox dropped to 4 games over .500 and were facing a real possiblity of falling apart 2002-style heading into the Cubs-Twin-Cub series.

It all starts and ends with JR. 2004 is just a continuation of the Penny-Pinching of 2002 & 2003 (although he is just a little more magnanimous this year). That's why they stuck Wrights and Kochs down our throats when it was obvious they were done, and saw it as more feasible to head into the season with Schow as #4 instead of #5. By mid-May Seattle was done. Bavasi knew that. Kenny knew that. Freddy has a very good ERA, but after 2002-2003 struggles and his 2004 Safeco ERA, why should they get the farm for him in May again? What the hell is wrong with Reed (.400 OBP in AAA back then) + Rauch (very good ERA in that park) + another position prospect?

For the Nth time..... I am very happy with the Garcia part of the deal. I am not very happy with the Olivo part of the deal. I think after Diaz bombed in Cleveland 3 days before Sox were to go into the huge series in the Metrodome, Garcia should have been acquired. That was before Rauch got exposed against Anaheim and lost his (then) solid trade value. That was before Cotts was demoralized in the Twins series and couldn't get anybody out for next 3 weeks........I believe Reed + Rauch + Morse or some variation thereon would have gotten it done at that time. Two former 'Players of the Year' plus a power-hitting SS or maybe a guy like Spidale in his place, etc? Not a great package but very solid - WAS solid at that time anyway. Sure, Sox don't get any cash in that deal and are into Garcia for another 1.4 Mill (5 extra weeks of service) but the point is that Big Mo STAYS and continues to learn until Sandy's tutelage and is ready for his 2005 break-out, both offensively and defensively. And those say speed doesn't matter in a catcher.....Do you think Ramirez hurries and makes that error if Sandy is running and not Miguel? And on Ramirez's even bigger second error, Miguel took second, something that a slower catcher couldn't have done. That's 1 out/3 bases that Miguel gave you in 3 innings of one game. And he definately was safe on his SB attempt as replay showed. 4 bases. Of the "available" pitchers, Randy Johnson is the only one I would have given up Big Mo for because Unit has the potential to shut down over-swinging teams like the Yankees and Red Sox (it's the D-Rays that would give him problems) and single-handedly raise our chances to win the Series. Unlike Freddy, Unit is unhittable on the road - and Sox could always clubber teams at home when Maggs comes back, whereas the ROAD is where our weaknesses are exposed wholesale. Randy Johnson is also a MUCH bigger draw, both attedance, merchandising and media attention, than Freddy is - that's how you steal some of the Cub sunshine. You'd have him for next year as well - not sure how the deferred moneys situation is handled, though.

Hey I also loved Andruw going 1 for 17 in last year's NLDS.......Clutch, yo. So are Braves, like, gonna do Paulie + prospects for Andruw or what?

Well, now that we're giving up Reeds and Olivos left and right.....I guess Sox kinda, sorta DO want to "win" afterall. How about Randy Johnson, say, a month from now? You want to beat Yankes/Red Sox? Unit Garcia Buerhle Unit Garcia in a 5 game ALDS series? Me likey.

It's not so much Kenny as it is Jerry. I am sure Garcia was discussed back in May and Kenny was given a red light. Now you overpay. Duh.

No way. If the game is on the line, I will cheer for him to fail. But once Sox build a big lead, then I want Miguel to smack a couple of homers to oppostie field and pick some slack-jawed yockel off a base for good measure........... Sox HAVE to be shown that it's NOT alright to give up the future for a player who could have been had earlier for less if only they were willing to spend a Mill more. Maybe once Olivo puts up I-Rod numbers (not talking about 2000 season), but with much better speed and pitcher-handling, and Sox fans are stil super-PO'd about him not being in the Black and White, maybe then our management will think twice before trading another highly talented if raw young player just to save a couple of Mill.

No, no - you could always sign Freddy Garcia in the off-season WITHOUT giving up either Reed or Olivo. Garcia was the best pitcher available (well, Unit is also avaiable but there are all sort of complications such as his age, health, contract, no-trade clause, etc), I am loving the Seattle part of the deal. At the same time......Why in the world would Sox give up a very hard-working and popular 5-tool catcher Olivo who's only in his 2nd year of ML service? Makes no f***ing sense. Sandy could go at any moment; Davis can''t hit; Burke can't hit or field. None can run. All already in their prime or past it. Better question yet.....Why wasn't Freddy Garcia in the Sox uniform back in late May? Reed + Rauch + another prospect would have probably done it back when there wasn't a bidding war for Freddy's services and Sox weren't "desperate" to get him in the eyes of many GM's? Did Kenny/JR really think they could smoke-n-mirror their way through a pennant race with Garland-Show-Black Hole as 3-4-5 just because SS got off to a flukey start? I mean, that's where the owner's cheapness and GM's incompetence gets exposed big time.

Baseball happened, stupid. Duh.

Where does, I dunno, a f***ING WRIST INJURY FIGURE INTO YOUR LITTLE SUMMATION? I'll miss Reed a lot less than I will Olivo (knew we had to give up somebody obviously), but you're totally wrong about his "tools"" -Exceptional eye and hand-eye coordination -Above average speed (average? Huh?) -Average, accurate arm (no arm? the f***?) -projects excellent gap power (obvisouly wrist-related loss of batspeed doesn't help right now). He's the kind of a player who is nothing special on the outside (he ain't flashy Chris Young or powerful JoBo) but once you give him a few years of experience in the bigs, once he puts on a bit of muscle, around 25-26yo, he will quietly put up All-Star numbers in the bigs - and people are left scratching their heads wondering where they went wrong in writing him off. Granted, in 2004 Spring Training he was just a glorified Mike Caruso - a slap hitter -- but I will chalk it up to the naggin' wrist problem. I guess we'll see if his AA season was a fluke.

I am beyond pissed about Olivo.... but at the same time beyond psyched about being a Gload away from a Kub sweep and about finally getting Garcia so I don't have to type "Glavine/Garcia" anymore. I totally disagree about Ortiz; f*** him. Sox already (knock-knock-knock on finest wood) have enough to win the division once Maggs comes back. Now we're talking about World Series, which is a COMPLETELY different ball-game, literally. How about going after Randy Johnson before July 31st deadline? He makes 15 Mill? That's a lot, but with 2+ months to go it's only 5-6 Mill. AL hitters have forgot how to hit him. Unit Garcia Buerhle Loaiza has a great ring to it. As long as he passes the physical (his knee mostly) why the hell not - we ARE "going for it", aren't we? Might as well increase our chances, right? Should Reed's and Olivo's legacies go in vain? Since he is also due 15 Mill in 2005 when he'll be 41+, I don't believe Arizona will be asking for our best prospects - not all of them anyway. And if Sox fail to win the Series (which, with Yankees and Red Sox is very easy to do), then it's ok because this team will be so electric in the 2nd half of the season that it will make a pretty good profit for JR to say nothing of season-ticket increases going into 2005 that that "extra" 8-10 Mill JR is spending on Garcia and Unit in the 2nd half will be partly earned back - and you CANNOT MEASURE THE GOODWILL that will come form it going into 2005 and hopefully 2006 and beyond. That's how franchises get turned around and dynasties are built, one giant step at a time [/knows it's implausible but secretly holds out hope]

That's because some things go without saying. Everybody who is a true Sox fan loves Olivo, Willie, Valentin, Rowand, Shingo, Buerhle and Uribe.

I think most players dislike him because they know what a f***ing sham he (and Bonds and Giambi and Boone and possibly Sheffield) the Juiceman Cometh really is. If you're Shawn Green or Frank Thomas, how does it feel to know that your sunshine has been stolen by some uber-arrogant Roidhead? Plus that whole wife-beating thang....Albert didn't gain any popularity after slugging some woman upside the head with a phone, either.