BrandoFan

Urine is a better bunter, baserunner, RH hitter and would be MUCH better defensively if moved to 2B. And, yes, liek Jimi he is not much of a "lifer".

Two years. He was fine (which is to say he was one of 10 best players in all of MLB for 3 straight years between 1999 and 2001) until he turned 33 and moved to NY..... This is not a sign of someone declining naturally over 4-5 year period; this was floor dropping underneath Robbie in one swoop motion during the 2001-2002 offseason. Injury, lack of confidence, workout laziness, a little of all three perhaps-- I don't know what caused it, but I am not sure age played as big a role as most imply. Which is not to say he wasn't mediocre as a Sock cuz he was. If Kenny Lofton, Galarraga, Palmeiro, Edgar, Sheffield, Bonds, Sosa, Thomas, Gonzo, Julio Franco, Burks, Bagwell, Walker, Boone and a few other older old-timers could still hack it, I think (a healthy) Robbie might pleasantly suprise a LOT of people next year. Again, it would be foolish to expect 920 OPS/35 steals/GG defense (and I don't)---hell that kind of production is worth at least 8-9 Mill per........but a near 800 OPS/15 steals/reliable D and awesome bunting is something I think Robbie still has in him. Hell, ss unlikely as this scenario may seem, it's STILL MORE likely than gawdawful Harris becoming an every day impact player. That is called reality. Offering Robbie 1 Mill base was a complete joke-- no, an insult very much in step with what this sorry organization is known for throughout baseball. I am not saying lets give him 2 year/8 Mill sweetheart of a deal, let alone take him to arbitration, but at least 2 Mill of UP FRONT dough should have been offered.......If Sox are THAT cheap or THAT desperate to overpay for Colon and/or Sullivan (3.5 Mill a year for a 33yo reliver with a ton of innings in his arm and career ERA of near 4.00 in offense-light NL ? WTF?!), then we are in some deep s*** this season. Well, that just breaks my heart, 'rio. I guess I am way out of line in my holding a PROFESSIONAL EXECUTIVE WHO GETS PAID MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO MAKE FAIRLY OBVIOUS DECISIONS to a higher standard of excellence (at this point I'll take "competence"). Spare me.

Hear-hear, I second Jason's candidature.

Ooops, wrong DJ. Got my hopes up. :fyou

Hopefully, the hungry Colon goes 22-7 with 2.50 ERA with us in 2004 and smokes people in the playoffs, which would help both parties. The he can get overpaid in the offseason and we can use new revenue and fan interest to go after Mulder.

You're gonna see him throw absolute bullets, but accuracy and decision making is something that is going to drive fans MMMMAAAAADDDDD. Of course in their usual fashion, Bears will win the next 3 games, finishing a game out of wild card, prompting the management to issue vote of confidence in Jauron who as nice a man as he is can't evalute talent to save his life. And so the deadbeat Bears go on.

Anything more than 8 Mill for Colon and 2 for Sully is highway robbery.

Bears playoff-caliber team.....People can be so f***ing dumb sometimes. And, yes, RWM's inability to guard anybody and that failure to catch batted ball in the endzone, brought the Packers RIGHT BACK into the game. If he gets the ball, it's Bears 14-0 and having the possession....But, whatever, Nears still would have found the way to lose to the superior Packers. In spite of Brett Farve, Heather? That's rich. Even comatose Frave can still wipe the Bears all over the floor. He beat the Bears with short p[asses, converting a lot of important downs, prolonging the drive and taking the pressure of Ahmad Green..........Kordel may have had more yardage, but Frave was better.

Huh? Pass some of that Molto liquer, lol. The numbers are always scapegoated when they don't tell what we want to hear. Sox had a below average offense in 2003 in terms of runs scored despite playing a hitter's park. Mediocre defense (if you get over the deceptive fielding % and start looking at our horrible OF as well as right side of the IF range, overrated catcher, runs-per-errors and other situational defense stats).....Did I mention mediocre bullpen and only solid (not great) starting pitching-- all that despite Detroit, KC, Minny and Cle having some s***ty hitting! Based on the "numbers", Sox finished EXACTLY where they should have and would have been SPANKED in the playoffs. (Please don't point to Marlins because they were the best team in baseball since late May, playing in the best division in baseball no less.) There are MANY, MANY people, even on this board, who would disagree with you. Not me necessarily since I AM pretty high on Harris, but I realize why to most people Harris is just a flashy utility guy. He probably is. See for most people the logic is different: in the last 2 years, 25yo Harris has done nothing to warrant comparison with Pierre or Castillo, and most of Willie's "damage" came when Sox were out of it late in the season's equivalent of garbage time. Besides, Jon Rauch has done nothing that proves he is not at Kevin Brown's level........ First of all, you're grossely overrating Wunsht and Konerko. The former allows too many inherited runners to scor and hardly ever pitches while the latter, well, I have explained just what I think of him in another thread. Secondly, for every Ordonez and Marte, there are TEN Leifers, Abbotts, Carusos, Eyers, Glovers, Ginters and Adkinses......Odds, remember? Exceptions do NOT the rule make. . Yes and that's why Spring Training and first couple weeks in April are PUT-UP-OR-SHUT-UP for Willie. If he can't muster 320 OBP or better, it's BENCH time for him. Why not first 6 to 8 weeks? Because it is ESSENTIAL that Sox get off to a HOT start for a change, against some tough competition no less, so that by the ASB, JR will give a go-ahead to spend on impact players at the deadline, while Minnesota and KC start thinking about dumping players instead of seeking Stewart-esque reinforcements........Another 15-25 start may kill the year off.

If Brett Farve releases the ball just a split second earlier on blitz play after RW missed an easy sack, it could have easily led to a TD. Seven points. Had RWM got that handging tipped pass in the endzone, Packers don't kick a FG to put them on the board. Three points. And Jerry Zumah wouldn't need to return the kick, meaning NO fumble and turnover, which Packers use to kick and FG--couldn't have been worse as they missed a 3rd down completion by a hair on the contested play. Three points. RWM's return could have resulted in a Bears FG. Plus 3 points. Without counting his defense against the pass, RWM is already MINUS 10 points in my book. f***er. If Bears lose, look to him. And Gage.

Still better than either Terrel or Wade and probably White. I don't care how agile, strong and fast you are, if you have no vision, have stone hands, take stupid penalties and can't excel under pressure on big downs......what good are you?

This is again the case of fans forgiving the negatives and concentrating only on the positives: Gage may occasionally make a spectacular catch, but he vision and hands suck, way too many mistakes. Last 3 possessions of the biggest game of the last 2 seasons: - Gage pass-interferes. - Gage drops a first down pass. - Gage drops a long and accurate TD pass. Turnover. Sorry, but this is unacceptable.

What else is new?

RW McQuarters is EVIL. First, he misses a blitz on Farve and only a great tackle by a Bears tackle forces Farve to make a last-second pass resulting in an interception by Briggs. And you know what? Bears got lucky, because back side was exposed, so when RW failed to bring BF down, the latter had the WHOLE field open and the extra split second could have easily resulted in a long TD.... But even worse, RW is too slow and hesitant to intercept a tipped (by someone else, naturally) pass in the endzone. The result? Not only do Packers kick a FG but it also leads to Azumah fumbling a return..... The Bears had great momentum, and now the lead is cut to 1, and Pack is BACK. In no small part thanks to RW.

. Some would say that the overwhelming majority of Willie Harris-eque utility players fail. ANYTHING can happen (and as Willie's biggest fan, I hope it does), but the ODDS (and in life it's all about odds) of a 35-year-old HOF Robbie re-dedicating himself and squeezing out another 800 OPS season or two are MUCH higher than Willie becoming a 330+ OBP starter. He has, what, 500 career OPS? That is NOT what people want to see in a starting lead-off hitter. I think both of them are overrated for a number of reasons, but I can see why people would salivate over Castillo's 2003 OBP (390)....Call me when Willie has 290........... And, no, just because Willie doesn't start and sucks DOESN'T mean when he does start he will undergo magical transformation. He might, but he probably won't. (I hope he does). . You say it like it's 30 atbats and he is 21yo.....it's 3 HUNDRED and he is 25. Perspective much? Yeah, he was good in AAA. But history is replete with minor leaguers hitting 340 with 50 homers and 120 RBIs and not even SNIFFING major league playing time. It's all a conspiracy, right? It it SUCH a simplistic comment.....considering that Sox were tied with Minnesota as late as September 20, and lost a number of exruciatingly close games to them throughout the season, even the SMALLEST improvement at just 1 or 2 positions (say, 2B and C) could have EASILY changed the complexion of the race. In reality, it may very well come right down to the wire AGAIN, and having a 550 OPS second baseman can EASILY seal our fate.............Using Harris might be a necessity and I do want to see what he can do, but make no mistake about it: this experiment is hardly consequence-free and may end up burning the Sox BIG-TIME.

It's funny cuz it's true.

What makes you say that, fansy boy? Mathematical elimination is overrated,

See, I don't buy the above because, well, if true it would make Kenny look somewhat less caricaturishly stupid, and me-- like someone who would go out of his way to distort reality in order to make his feeble insight more pronounced. And we can't have that.

Thank you, finally someone got it right: 1. Everett is a mediocre baserunner. 2. Everett is a BAD defensive CF, and unlike an infield position where an error often results in an infield single, in out three a misjudged flyball can easily result in a triple or even inside-the-parker. 3. Only average #4-5 hitter. Yes, he had a torridfirst 6 weeks of the season in 2003. Yes, he was good in that one season with Boston 3 years ago. But the Everett I saw in our uniform was a solid if unspectacular GUESS hitter- throw him agood curve or a change, and he'll miss it by a foot. At 3-4 Mill, Evrett would be welcome to play LF on my team. At Alomst 10 Mill? No.thank.you.

What, no-likey the best goddamn thread on SoxTalk ever? For shame. Love it and cherish the memories of it....for when it's gone, it's GONE.

Better lock this b**** up as to avoid further ugliness and chaos. And Em? He would never want to hurt the President-- whether it be for money, political gain or just for kicks. He is simply not that type of person. Sorry Tex, it's the truth.

Well f*** me gently with a chainsaw, it makes all the diffrence in the world! My caustic take on Uncanny Conman Kenny is therefore no longer valid

If course it did, Hurt: Kenny gets rid of 3.40 ERA Osuna and replaces him with 6.60 ERA White Trash.

F Boog

You gotta be KIDDING me! 1. There is only so much you can blame J-Arrah for. If fans don't attend and don't consume, you're crazy to think there shouldn't be a severe cap on the spending. Sports is not just any ol' business, you're right, and owners are not entitled to make a killing at the expense of fans' hopes and mental well-being. BUT, by the same token, owners should NOT have to go near bankrupt in order to MAYBE (remember there are 30 teams and only 1 wins it all) win........If the payroll was 30 and Jerry pocketted 30 Mill, then I could understand the indignation. But the payroll is at tolerable levels and Jerry is only making a 5-10 Mill profit IF that. So lay off...and go to f***ing games and buy T-shirts if you want a 70+ mill payroll. Plain and simple. 2. Did JR force Kenny to pay 8 Mill to Konerko instead of 4? Did he force him to trade realiable Osuna for ghastly White? How about Foulke for Koch? Pay Valentin 5 Mill instead of 3? 3.2 to Shownweiss? Is it Robbie's fault that Kenny is conning him just so he can GREATLY OVERPAY for Bartolo? Robbie may not be worth 6 Mill he'll get in abit.....but let's all remember that only 2 short f***ing years ago he was on the absolute TOP (check out his 1999-2001 production...wow) of his game. The potential of 35yo Robbie's returning to being Robbie in the kind of Indian Summer that quite a few HOF'ers have experienced before ALONE is worth 2 Mill GUARANTEED-- none of that deferred at no interest bush league s***..............And Yankees will gladly oblige once they take care of Soriano. If only to stick it to the Mets. Robbie will never be a 920 OPS/35 steal/GG defense stud, but if he is healthy and confident (something I am not sure he was in NY) and totally dedicated in terms of working out.....I can totally see 800 OPS, good speed, bunting and defense. Willie? It's true that I like him. It's also true he is more physically gifted than even Robbie in his prime. BUT we DON'T know if he is capable of having a 275 OBP let alone 350......hit lefties......adjust to pitchers after they adjust to him.......or if he is able to go the entire season without getting into identity crisis and 5 errors in 5 games mental funks. And as you all know you can't steal first.