BrandoFan

A solid post. I have bashed the s*** out of the short-sighted Sox management for sometime, but I realize that when I am bashing KW (get Randy Johnson, get Finley, etc, et, etc), who I am REALLY bashing is JR and his frugal investors who, despite the "would gradly trade 6 Bulls titles for 1 WS title" transparent BS rhetoric, continually cheat the Sox out of a fairly bright future (and bigger profits!) all in the name of the now-now-now buck....... Kenny is an average GM at worst. Many mistakes, many successes. Unfortunately, the payroll was never high enough to paint over the mistakes, and successes, also unfortunately, have for the most part been NOT of "out-of-the-ballpark, Sammy Sosa for George Bell" type triumphs. Loaiza in 2003 excepted.

No. 2001. That was one of the freakiest blown saves I've ever seen. Twins basically blooped and dribbled Foulke to death - didn't help that Konerko had a range of a pea. That was THE definitive Sox loss (terrible baserunning/base-clogging, defense AND hitting a bunch of warning track shots when a simple single would have sufficed)............and THE definitive Twin Win (smart and aggressive running, awesome defense, a lot of contact resulting in "soft" but timely hits). :puke

Baggio is ok, but ozziebagjksgsb character IS a spectacular moron, you're right.

Tell it to somebody who gives a f***. Yeah, it's a shame. His age (will be 41!), knee, arguably dimished skills as compared to his best days AND a really big contract.....You're crazy if you think those factors have no (negative) bearing on a player's trade value. Carlos Guillen (average player for Seattle) and Freddy Garcia (1 really good year out of 5 in 1999-2003) is what a MUCH YOUNGER, MUCH HEALTHIER and MUCH CHEAPER Unit netted back when......You think Arizona should get MORE for him NOW?! You forgot about another prospect as well as the TON of money Arizona is saving. But let's look closer at the players: 1. Garland: mediocre now, but still very talented and cheap. Could be signed long-term at a relatively cheap price. Change of scenery could do him a world of good. 2. Rauch: Talented pitcher, maybe their pitching coach could do something with him - if he stays healthy, he could amount to something down the line - not an ace or even a #2, but maybe a good #3, who knows. Solid prospect. 3. Anderson. I don't think he will be great, but I don't have a time machine and could very well end up being wrong. 4. Another prospect. Couldn't Arizona find another Francisco or another Rupe in our organization? Everett would have never netted those prospects if Texas didn't pay his salary in full. Of course, if you and Cerb have any suggestions as to WHO Arizona might want instead, feel free to weigh in. With dramatically increased revenues as compared to 2003, and with more good will and momentum heading into 2005 (especially if Sox do some major damage in the playoffs), you could do BOTH if Maggs proves he is worth it in the final 3 months of the season. IF. Koch and his 6.3 Mill are gone. 2 of Loaiza/Valentin/Konerko/Lee are as good as gone, hopefully. That right there can pay for Randy Johnson in 2005 and then some. Or you could always get rid of Unit before next year - there will be plenty of takers among the Big Money teams. Wrong questions to be asking. My point mainly deals with WHY SOX SHOULD PURSUE him, NOT why he would want to come here. I said long time ago that if a serious offer to get him is made and he ends up shooting it down, then I could defiinately live with that.......Have Sox made a big offer? But to answer your question.....Maybe because he still has that true Hall of Famer's uber-competitive spirit laying dormant, and might want to re-experience that special post-season adrenalin rush, in the beautiful Chicago no less........as opposed to becoming an old man sitting on his millions in the lizard land we call Arizona, taking the mound every 5th day while his team is losing 100 games. He seems to be content with the latter scenario, which is a shame, really.

Garland + Rauch + Anderson + prospect + a lot of money freed up? Yes, it's not an offer dreams are made of, but for a team that might want to go real young in the next few years.....and considering Unit will turn FORTY-friggin'-ONE at the end of the year and is NO longer in his 1999-2002 perfomance prime......I guess such offer is a start. . It all depends what Yanks and Angels are offering, really. But make no mistake about it, we're not talking about Mark Prior or even Ben Sheets here - Randy Johnson is not worth the farm anymore. Why the f*** not? IF he is going anywhere, why not come here? Less pressure than NY or California, less chance of him being destroyed in the media. He'd be deified in Chicago if he plays an instrumental part in bringing the WS title here. An unlikely scenario? Perhaps. Pipe dream? Hardly. Then again, with a jaded provincial loser's mentality (60+ Mill OD payroll?! Freddy Garcia??!! Robbie Alomar???!! oh happy days, halleluja!!!) many here seem to have adopted, I could see why the mere mention of adding Randy Johnson at the deadline may seem about as likely as blizzard in Sahara. "It's the Big Bad No-Trade Clause of Doom, oh noooooooooo, run!!"

Yes, because what I was suggesting is to trade ALL of the prospects away..... . So is that it, unless he is a "flop" he shouldn't be traded for a pitcher who makes you an automatic WS contender in the next 2 years, something this sorry 2nd rate franchise hasn't had in AT LEAST 10 years? Is he anything like Jeff Abbott, our LF for the next 10 years? That guy murdered AA pitchers. . That's the risk you take. Sox could get swept out of ALDS even WITH Randy Johnson....or they could win the World Series. It's all about the odds, and in my opinion Unit increases them - as well as provides a HUGE buzz around the team, which could only improve business and help pay for his 10 Mill a year price tag and maybe, just maybe, help this franchise take off. Wanna play it safe after 86 years? Fine. Jerry is cheap and short-sighted (as far as winning and general health of the franchise go, not talking about bottomline here because he is a smart businessman).......but even he should realize that spending 4 extra Mill of upfront money this year and 10 Mill next year on a valuable commodity like Randy Johnson, while a risky proposition given his age, has the potential to galvanise this franchise. With the ongoing park renovations and increased attendance (20% up), with the Comcast deal and revenue sharing ready to kick in, and with Magglio and Frank still in their prime, with Ozzie still a minor celebrity.......the timing couldn't be better. Again, worst comes the worst and Sox get ousted from ALDS and JR flat-out refuses to up the 2005 payroll.....Sox could always trade Randy Johnson and his 10 non-deferred Mill to Boston/NY/SanFran/LA/whoeever -- after what Clemens did this year, there will ALWAYS be demand for Unit from contending teams, provided his knee passes a physical, lube injections and all. If Unit helps Burhle, Garcia and Co win the WS in 2004 or even in 2005 (hopefully Cubs somehow find a way to fail in the meantime), trust me, nobody will give a f*** about Garland or Andersons or Rauch's fate, let alone another overhyped prospect in the Ring mold.

It should have never been locked in the first place. Boot anthony and SSI and that's that.

Ok.....1 of Thomas/Konerko HAS to be there, but then you could make a case for Loaiza NOT deserving to be there. Still only 1 player. Shingo? Not enough innings as a closer, and the Cubbie meltdown killed whatever chances he had. Uribe? Went from a sure bet (better than Soriano and Belliard 3 weeks ago) to someone who shouldn't be there. Noone to blame but himself. Buerhle? Montreal and Cleveland outings did him in. By the time he took the mound against the Cubs, selections were already made. Valentin? Poor Cub series put a kabosh on that. He needed to go 4 for 7 in the first 2 games, and he didn't.

Carlos saw a thigh-high fastball middle-away and lined it to the gap right at Anderson. Sox caught a break when Christian Guzman lined what would have been a 2-run game winning hit right AT Carlos Lee in the 8th inning on Thursday. We won that game. Here, Carlos was the one on the receiving end of bad luck - if the ball is 10 feet further to right, it's a 3-run gapper, and Sox probably win. Thems the breaks, right? And do you know why I personally criticized Carlos in similar situations in the past? Not because he made a bases loaded out on the first pitch, but rather because he tried to pull/homer off an outside strike and promptly jammed himself, usually resulting in a shallow pop-up to RF............That wasn't the case in last night's game - he did everything right and it just didn't go his way.

What were those arm problems I forget?

Would it matter if the entire discussion is based on a (potentially) faulty premise, then? Hell, you could make a case for Mike Morse being the next Nomar Hamm based on dubious reports that Seattle was the highest on him.

Yeah, I think that was it. World Champiionship in 93. As for your baseball comparison......Melvyn Mora sucked before turning 30 and this year he HAS performed better than A-Rod, in the first couple of months anyway. And you know what I like about cycliing? The TEAMWORK - for instance, how Indurain's goons, er, teammates used to bully anyone who would challenge him. Right out of the West Side Story spoof

Yeah, but you have to admit that Unit Garcia Buerhle as 1-2-3 in 2004 and 2005 sounds a lot better and much less unrealistic than you think.

Frank needs to stop dreaming of an all-star game and start mashing those middle-of-the-plate fastballs he's been fouling off in the last couple of weeks. Oh and extend your hands and flip an outside pitch to RF once in a while, will ya Frank?

No, no - that's not it. I think it was in the Americas, but not IN the US. Not Olympics, not Pan-American games, but something pretty unique and major, circa 1993 maybe. Damn, what AM I thinking of? In any case, that's where I first heard of Armstrong because he won it despite not being one of the top cyclist at the time, and to my surprise when he started winning all those Tours (5? That's unbelievable) later on, I couldn't quite reconcile it with I remembered him as.

f*** RoboRoddick. That is all. You want to see some awesome tennis? Get a tape of Agassi-Sampras 2001 US Open Quarterfinal match. Or Federer-Roddick 2003 Wimbledon Semifinal. As far as Serena losing to Sharapova at Wimbly, it was more the case of the former playing her B tennis and the latter playing WAY over her head. I still think Sharapova doesn't have the "genius" everybody ascribes to her and she'll probably be the next Davenport (not too shabby either) as opposed to the next Graff. She'll also be Agassi's 3rd beard, er, wife but that's another story for another time.

Yeah....Greg Lemond, eat your heart out. Through the haze I remember Armostrong winning some North American event in the mid-90's but he wasn't close to being a contender on the Spanish or the Italian tour let alone Tour-de-France.......By the time the cancer thing happened and he started winning I was already here and not really following cycling closely.

How about Maggs for Rob Mackowiak?

1. I will not be getting over RJ anytime soon. I am not as cynical and jaded as most of you low-expectation mongers are. Randy Johnson is not a boogie-man to me - he'll be tough to get, sure, but not impossible. This ain't 2002 anymore. 2. Garland is mediocre, but his "potential" and a low price-tag might intrigue Arizona. Might. He is no good to us anyway - he won't get anywhere near ALDS and should Sox make it to ALCS or WS, he'll pitch in one game - that is IF Shoenweiss doesn't out-pitch him. 3. Anderson is NOT that good, IMO he'll never be an All-Star. I'd give him up for 2 years of RJ in a heartbeat. What's the earliest he could contribute as an above average ML starter anyway? 2006? 2007? Please, we're talking about here and now, about GOING FOR IT and stuff.

It all depends on how much. Right now the Sox are responsible fo roughly 65 Mill + whatever they owe for Freddy, I am not sure how much. Since Arizona pays Randy Johnson 10 Mill per (the rest is deferred just like Jerry likes it), if Sox were to acquire him after the ASB, the 2004 payroll shoots up to 70 Mill. Then you either go after Finley or Guardado, whichever is the bigger need at that point (something that will depend on how Willie, Rowand and Politte fare in the next 3 weeks). That's another 3 Mill. 73 Mill? JR might have a heart attack, but who knows how persuasive KW/Einhorn/Ncorgbl can be.

Come playoff time, both Brown and Pedro will still be healthy and rested. Don't sell them short - they're still capable of shutting a line-up like ours down COLD - we're known to be pretty damn weak against tough RHP, esp on the road and under playoff pressure. Especially vulnerable. And losing Anderson, Garland, Rauch and another prospect is NOT mortgaging the future - they're not THAT good. Besides.....after 86 years, the future is NOW. What the team does this season and in 2005-2006 will largely determine whether or not ANYONE STILL GIVES A s*** ABOUT THIS SORRY FRANCHISE OR NOT. Sox need Randy Johnson more than NY, Boston, LA, SF need him. They can live with not making the playoffs, let alone with not going deep in the playoffs because their revenues (and payroll) will still be as high as ever in 2005 and beyond.

Whoa, how do you know that Seattle didn't really prefer Reed? Nobody knows for sure. They'll never tell you, and even if they did, what makes you so sure they are CORRECT in their evaluation? As I've shown in that "Draft vs. Talent" thread, when it comes to projecting and predicting, it's often a total crapshoot, with many future quality major leaguers misjudged by MANY teams along the way.......unless of course we're talking about such rare exceptions as Prior, Pujols, Wood, A-Rod - who just took the majors by storm - and suffice to say neither Borchard nor Reed possess THAT kind of talent IMO. Secondly, Reed's wrist problem has a higher chance of hurting his long-term performance than Borchard's quad. Perhaps that lowered Reed's "value" in the eyes of our organization. Maybe, maybe not. Amateur, professional.....when we're talking about a Gio Gonzalez or Micah Shurnstein, I defer to the "pros" since players that young and that raw could go either way, and you have to watch and re-evaluate them on a regular basis lest you fall out of touch with their progress - or in the overwhelming majority of cases, lack thereof.........However, when it comes to Borchard and Reed, the two players who are supposed to be major-league ready or just about, I feel I know enough about baseball to reasonably assess their strenghts and weaknesseses. (And needless to say, the last couple of years, Borchard resembled Branyon more than he did Thome. ) It's not an exact science (not all the time anyway) of course, so that's why I almost always preface my opinion with "there is a good chance neither of the players can put the tools together and succeed against superior ML talent" and "even if they have the physical ability to thrive in the bigs, who knows how they'll be able to make the transition psychologically", etc. I mean come on, that much should go without saying.

Exactly. Lee got his pitch, didn't try to pull it, hit it hard to CF-RCF and its trajectory just took it to CF Anderson. Oh well, that's baseball for you -- if Carlos caught the ball of the end of his bat, that's a 2-run bloop single. The game was decided by Lackey not being afraid of the Sox and Sox hitters (Thomas got numerous middle of the plate fastballs and just fouled them back) AND by Garcia hanging a f***ing slider to Devanon in a crucial situation, Christian Guzman-style. :puke Another bad loss. Loaiza didn't step up on Friday and Garcia didn't pitch like an ace today. Right now our offense is incapable of overcoming mediocre pitching performances.

You know what happens when you make a huge assumption (like that twit who accused me of not going to the games a while back), which couldn't be more incorrect, and then build an arguement around it? Judging from your (and others') content-less response to my earlier inquiry, I can only presume that with the exception of Rex, NONE of you know what the f*** you're talking about when it comes to Borchard, much less Reed. But hey, why don't you tell us how Reed has "no arm". That one had me rolling.