BrandoFan

Holladay had two of the best hitting team of 2000s- Red Sox and Yankees-- in his division. E-Lo had....Royals? WTF? And please, for the love of God, don't give me the "Loaiza beat the Yankees" crap. When you face Detroit, Indians and Twins so much, you need to be THAT much better in terms of ERA. Wins? They are as much a function of hitting, fielding and bullpen as anything else....

Better that than Koch-for-Garret Anderson foolishness.

I know it's hard to grasp, but it's totally possible to both ENJOY the electricity it brings and kind of comraderie it promotes....AND pay attention to the actual game pitch-by-pitch at the same time. In fact, the best game I saw in person in 2003 was the 8-6 EI win against Twinckies when the crowd was absolutely crazy; I don't recall missing anything remotely important- and I always participate. So, instead of knee-jerk hating-hating-hating, why don't y'all intractable fun-haters address the real problem: your OWN inflexible, traditionalist, low-energy cranky selves; 'baseball' doesn't have to rhyme with 'comatose'-- it's too glorious a game for that.......Just deal with it and don't spoil it for everyone else, especially for us, YOUNG people. If anything, the WAVE == casual fans == stadium sell-outs == revenues == cash flow == higher payroll we've been asking for for so long. I find it to be truly pathetic that a lot of people would rather see a half-empty park than to have "that commie soccer wave from hell contaminating our precious fluids" :fyou Julie Sweica

Other than Bonds and Pedro (mainly because he can start up to 3 times in 7-game series in the playoffs), there is not a player in baseball who deserves a fifth of the entire payroll, let alone a THIRD. A-Rod is robbing his team of AT LEAST 1 front-line pitcher. Baseball is not basketball, where Duncan and M-Jeff could almost singlehandedly win games. ETA: Isn't Maggs currently making up 27% of the entire payroll. Ouch.

*sneeze*Mike Cameron *cough* Bulls will be lucky to win 35 games this year, and with all the dynasty wannabes in the West, they won't be winning ANYTHING for at least another 5-10 years. That money should've gone to the Sox since 2001. It was a real window and it will be closed when the league re-aligns in a few years.

While Sox fans are FAR from paragons of loyalty and spending, JR's remarkably consistent IDIOCY of trying to save on EVERYTHING has led to 10 years of mediocrity, leading to a large number of fans getting frustrated with the franchise and taking their business elsewhere. Sox are a non-existent franchize nationally as welll as internationally. Before Thomas came along, the only player worth talking about was Shoeless Joe.....Even players don't want to come here. The result? 22,000 attendance in a historic, all-star year when the team was in first place and some renovations already done. JR got exactly what his financial approach deserves. (no profit) Until I see New USCF and the attendant fanbase and media boom, I remain sceptical to say the least.

What blows me away is the incredible lack of loyalty Sox fans have shown in the last 10 years. They've seemingly used every excuse in the book for not going and invented more. Considering JR's cheapness, Sox should be drawing 3,000,000 fans to warrant a 75 mill+ payroll, without which we can't seriously compete. Get your asses out in the park, watch FOXNet and WGN, buy overpriced merchandise...and stop yer whining. If I have given up pleading for a higher payroll, so can you

They have a chance to make USCF the second best retro park in the majors. A.D.D-addled casual fans aside, minimalism is conducive to game-watching. I just hope the cheap bastards don't try to do anything crazy like hiring a second-rate architect. This thing HAS to be done RIGHT in all respects. No matter the (reasonable extra) cost.

I don't even know if that's truue because Rowand has a limited amount of at-bats, most of his starts came during periods of time when Sox were out of contention. If 100% of pitchers were LH, then for sure, but it remains to be seen how he does under high pressure, against mostly RHP Cedeno meanwhile has shown ability to steal 50-60 bases, so you know the speed is there as he just turned 29. He also could take a walk in the past. If anything, if Willie Harris can't hit lefties and Jeremy Reed ia not ready, we can use Cedeno. Perhaps lack of work ethic/desire has to do with his last 2 years beng bad; playing in a pitcher's park didn't help. Who knows. Lets save 3+ mill on the deal. Saving more would require actual cunning and negotiation prowess the like of which Kenny doesn't possess.

They need Graffanino back to hit against lefties, whether it's Vina or Alomar or Willie or Miles.

I wouldn't pay more than 6 mill for Ponson and he won't sign for that. Get Bastista/Livan and Anderson/Pavano/Alvarez combined for that kind of money. Well, maybe for a mill more.

Getting Vina to hit against righties in case Willie Harris still stinks? For about a mill or two OK. The guy can still play good 2B and has solid speed. Pennant race experience.

Because it's not always true. Pedro was spanked both times in ALCS. Wood and Zambrano were smoked in NLCS. Prior looked very human. Key relievers Ugueth Urbina and Jose Contreras and Looper had difficulty getting out of innings without giving up runs/getting in a jam. Clemens hardly "beat" Florida's unspectacular hitting. Neither did Wells. And Redman as crushed. Beckett and Rivera were the exceptions. ON TOPIC: Koch is done. The reason why his normally mediocre control was terrible in 2003 and velocity dropped by a whopping 5-7 MPH is because he simply didn't have his range of motion and arm speed circa Toronto days. He is injured and mentally cooked. Rolaids? He was the most overrated reliever in baseball in 2002. Mets are the ONLY team who wants him. Get real. Cedeno is deeply mediocre, but if Sox save 2-3 Mill on a deal, do it.

Din'cha momma teach you the majority is always wrong? USCF is simply a better place to watch and play the actual baseball GAME. Better field, better view, better seats, better food, better facilities, better urinals and, yes, better people. Dogging coeds and soaking up the "history" has its appeal, no doubt. Wriggley wins that I do admit.

Baseball is the only sport where we can even debate/speculate on whether it has improved a lot or not. We can talk about the live ball, stadium dimensions, bat weight, mound height, mitt size, strike-zone size, steroids, salaries, strategy, cheating, etc. In every other sport, it would silly to suggest that today's players aren't much more athletic and skilled. Think about football, basketball, track&field, etc. SNL jokingly illustrated it by matching up Andy Roddick and Billie Jean King, lol. Me, while I love the stories about Ruth, Mantle, Cobb, DiMaggio. Splinter and Co and their feats, the simplicity and true-ness with which the game is said to have been played......I tend to agree more and more with LaRussa, Bill James, George Will, Greg Maddux and those who think today's game is better in every respect and that because of it, it's harder to dominate and amaze consistently. But who knows, really.

The 550 AB's was just a random number to show their numbers evenly projected over a full season. The fact is that Rowand has over 550 AB's over his career and has posted a respectible .743 OPS in those AB's, which is quite a bit higher then Cedeno's .717. IMO 582 AB's is a big enough sample size to start analysis on Rowand's stats. Furthermore, I believe the fact that he has put up those numbers in spartic playing time is even more encouraging. What is to lead you to believe that he is going to put up numbers that are worse then his career .743 OPS? At the very worst it is worth giving him a chance. The major reason I don't like Cedeno is his defense. IMO defense should be the #1 priority for your CF, and having the worst CF in the majors defensively makes me want to puke. Mark my words he is down right terrible defensively. Here is ESPN's profile analysis of Cedeno's defense. "Cedeno's difficulties with the bat carried over onto the field, which served as a major reason that the Mets had one of baseball's worst defensive outfields. He's an awful glove man who has more errors than assists in his career. He overruns balls to both his left and right, and the accuracy of his throws ranks among the worst in the game." This analysis is being generous. I have subscriptions to far more indepth analysis and it is even worse then the above. Cedeno makes Rowand look like Torii Hunter in CF defensively. The fact is that Cedeno is the following: a .260-.270 hitter no power(30 extra base hits is a great season for him) poor plate disipline terrible defensively great speed Is that not a description of a 4th outfielder? When you take of the rosy glasses you will see what every one else sees. Rowand has given the Sox a mid-.700 OPS and solid D in CF albeit in a small sample size(which is a lot more then Cedeno has shown), and deserves to start in CF over a career 4th outfielder like Cedeno. Mark my words, Rowand is a much better option in CF. Damn, you're right, Sox should definately hold out for Garret Anderson.

30 year nr lease, no? I embraced the uniqueness of NC, concerete ballmall and all. Sure, it's ugly but it's MY ugly, which is more preferrable to anyone ELSE's pretty. Not that most of the newly-built stadiums tickle my fancy, mind you. They don't. Plus watching, you know, the actual GAME from a comfortable lower deck, behind the plate seat for which I didn't pay (last year it wasn't as easy to move up), I didn''t have much time nor inclination to judge the park's archetectural and aesthetic merits. However, we DO live in a fairly superficial society, so I undestand why a fan-challenged organization would want to pretty it up a bit. For the casuals and tourists and such.

I forgot about his exceptional range at 2B, very good range in CF and underrated arm- because of his quick release, Willie like, threw runners out and stuff....which is more than I could say for a certain super-armed former QB.

If the mofo could only get on base 34% or more, he'd do a lot of damage as he appears to be the type of instinctive/dedicated baserunner (Corey Patterson, Beltran) who is very hard to throw out. He'd drive pitchers crazy and will affect defensive alignment.

What about numbing apathy? Political correctness? Islamic terrorism? And about a dozen of other things.

If we're talking about 2002 Koch and Konerko, then it's unhappenable, but at least it doesn't insult Yankee intelligence. NJ is not a FA until 2007, people.

The idea of trading both maggs and Cotts for Johnson and Soriano is bad enough, but when you consider throwing in Rausch besides then it is simply the Sox getting ripped again. It seems that every time a trade rumor or idea surfaces here the Sox are giving up a ton of talent and getting little more than even steven out of it if they are lucky. Now if you said Billy Koch or Paul Konerko for Johnson I might think that was ok, but not two great pitching prospects and a super star for Soriano and Johnson. I don't see the Maggs thing happening anyway. Yeah, what a ripoff: Sox get an All Star and IMO a future HOFer (wait until he fills out and gets SZ wise) 25yo Soriano who made nothing in 2003. Sox also get an OBP machine NJ who can actually play good defense, is also cheap and young. All Star in 2 years. Yankees get an overpriced 30yo coming off his worst defensive and baserunning year (Maggs gave up on plays more than he did in previous seasons combined), one who couldn't even drive in 100 runs in a hitter's park with Frank and Robbie hitting in front of him....for the price Valdimir Guerrero will be available for. Cotts is at least a year away from ML, looked overmatched in his big league stint. Rauch's value is significantly lower than it was 3 years ago, face it. Their (questionable) potential means MUCH more to cash flow-challenged Sox than it does to a team like the Yankees.

Few days ago. God spoke to me.

Throw in Rauch and NY brass might not die from laughing at this proposal.

Will is a Cub fan-turned-Oriole. What does he know? (jus kidding)