BrandoFan

They were saying the same thing about Aramis Ramirez and the guy is absolutely mashing, and his defense is no longer a problem either. People grow up, they mature, they figure things out. Besides that play, Jimenez made a good play Bones mentioned, drew a key walk in the 9th after battling Wood with 2 strikes on him -- and I already mentioned the 3 line-drives he smoked. That's a hellava day and yesterday was every bit as good. Sox are in no position to pass up on players just because they may be damaged goods attitude-wise -- they have a low payroll, remember? Remember how quickly we have up on Lollygagger Lofton? Giant and Cub fans can tell you that without him, they wouldn't sniff NLCS, let alone WS in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Uribe, Spivey.....There are many examples like that.

How can you argue for EITHER for them? You DO realize that NO hitter in baseball is worth 25+ % of the payroll outside of Bonds? Baseball is not basketball, and Magglio is not MJ. Anaheim has a near 110 Mill payroll and with their new image, could draw 3 Mill in their sleep. Furthermore, the way Anderson has hit in the last 2 years (best clutch hitter in baseball, postseason success, All-Star MVP, etc) and given his skills in LF, he is not overpaid. . In what warped universe is Burhle anywhere close to being what Maddux was at 25? Hitters aren't fooled by Mark like they were in 2001. He is a good pitcher, but not a Cy Young. The sooner Sox realize it, the sooner they will acquire a true ace. Oh please -- Oakland made the deal in 2002 and has won a tough division twice already, and might just do it this year again. I know Miguel is off to a fast start, but Billy Beane is not going to lose any sleep over it even if Miguel becomes Pudge 2 years from now.

Make that 3 line-outs in 3 atbats off Wood. Wow, DJ and Casey's outs are better than some people's hits. Speaking of that momo;....Reds are hitting the ball on the botton and have nothing to show for it. Damn Kubbies.

Another salary update: Bobby Abreu has been at least as good as Magglio throughout his career, same age.....Making 10.5 Mill on a big-payroll team.

DJ is 0-2 so far against Wood, but as usual, both outs were SMOKED - two line outs.

Why is there a thread dedicated to this waste of humanity again?

Now, that's just eerie.

What Frank doesn't realize is that with 2-strikes on him, a blooping single to RF is a wholalot better than a towering pop-up on a pitcher's pitch to LF. In any given at bat: A single = 2000 OPS An out = zero OPS High OPS = leverage to negotiate whatever "respect" he is looking for.

With all the juice, you'd have to find it first. :puke :puke

The first one doesn't even count -- staying loyal is the least a fan can do; otherwise you can't be a real fan. And second part....If you cared about the Sox as much as you say you do, you'd know that, barring an unexpected gesture of super-generosity on Chariman's part, Sox can't afford Ordonez at the figure that is being bandied about. That's something to care about as it closely pertains to Sox' ability to field a winning team....Team, remeber?

You want to know what's Frank problem is? Letting hanging-slider-in-the-middle-of-the-plate go by for strike 1 -- that's his "problem". Being the only super-strong slugger in baseball who's no longer using RF-RCF -- a real problem, that.

Class? Winning trumps class; as long as neither Hurt or Maggs are beating their women with rum bottles or telephones, I don't care about their attitude. Just give me a 1000 OPS and you can make as many stupid and/or self-aggrandizing remarks in the papers as you want. YMMV.

Heretic.

There is no question he's made a few blunders last year (drop pop, bare-handing a DP ball, Minnesota thing), but EVERYONE makes them. Remember Aaron Rowand not tagging up from 2nd with no outs on a warning track FO to CF by Olivo while down by a run against SD? Lost the game. How about Frank Thomas not paying attention on the pads and killing the rally in a crucial loss to Boston last Augustt? Carlos Lee getting picked off more than I could remember pre-2003? Uribe has already dropped a pop and been picked off twice. I've seen him maybe 10 or 12 times while with KC and he's looked MUCH better defensively and baserunning-wise. Still unspectacular, but solid. He outplayed Robbie since we acquired him, and this year Jimbo is dwarfing Willie Harris.

The way you're making it sound, Jim-Jim is worse than SARS and plague combined. How convenient; then we don't have to face the fact that with Everett and Jimenez the team would have in all likelyhood made the playoffs -- and off to a fantastic start in 2004. Compare Jimenez to Robbie from July-October.

You don't need to sell me on the virtues of optimism; go back to the off-season prediction thread and see how many games I was looking forward to Sox winning. And then see how many wins my detractors were predicting. Enough said. But arrogance about the team is just that. Sox have done jack s*** in the last 4 years (since June 2000) when it mattered; there was always a slew of excuses and "mitigating" factors. So pardon me if I actually expect something out of Harris, Rowand, Crede, Wright and Koch...RIGHT NOW and not tomorrow. There is no excuse for not taking 2 out of 3 this series in Tampa. If Sox can't beat Paul Abbott and Victor Zambrano in April what chance to they stand of beating Shilling and Pedro in October? Yankees have earned the right to a slow start; Sox HAVEN'T.

Maggs is not a star; Bonds is a star, A-Rod is a star, Helton is a star, Griffey used to be a star, Mark Prior is a star, Pedro is a star, Sosa is a star, Manny is a star, Vlad is a star. Etc. And as much as I like Beltran, I wouldn't pay 75/5 for him either. He'll be 27, so he has already began his prime; as he gains more power, his speed and defense will suffer, they always do. Maggs used to be able to swipe 25-30 bags and throw very well -- now he is just average. Beltran will be better than Maggs in those departments, but if you think he is a 40/40 guy, you're naive. It interesting to see how many people here talk the "give him what he wants" talk, but out of 18 who voted only 1 sided with Magglio.

Never. I dunno about most people here, but I'd rather *be with* one Julienne Moore or Amy Rossum than 100 Tracy Lordses. Borken cum dumpsters really don't appeal to me that much. I am Clujer like that.

Uribe is not so much Jimenez as he is Angel Berroa circa 2 years ago.

Now that's just silly. Everyone knows his man-servant Julian Martinez would be the one administering the Karen Silkwood-esque shower treatment. Incidentally, he also does all the crying for Sammy.

Spiffster, you mean you weren't offended by that old Sox fan stereotype prevalent in the Chicago media?

You got it.

Is this UD only, right? I am sure they've crunched the numbers and didn't think it's financially feasible. Obviousy, when I asked the 3 Million Dolla, er, Attendance Question, cutting the ticket price down to peanuts didn't occur to me -- 3 Mill is a magical figure, but only if the tickets are still at major league average levels. I am coming from the 80+ Mill payroll perspective here. Right now, it would take 3 Million fans to accomplish that -- not so much because it will make the necessary dough -- I am sure Reiny has the money already -- but rather because it's symbolic, it would send the message that Sox fans are BACK with a bang. As far as super-tight budgets go....How about taking your family to a Cineplex 3 times a month instead of 6, or buying your ADD-riddled kids 50 disposable toys instead of a 100....and instead using that money to make special memories at the Ballgame 2-3 times a summer? If the desire is there, anything is accomplishable. If not, the excuses will fly.

Yes, but WHEN will it happen, that's a burning question. Last year, both Kong and Joltin' Joe, Jr DID get it going....after sucking for 3 months. You want to avoid yesterday-type embarassment? Then you CAN'T have half the team take a month off or go into existential funks. The Yankees right now are full of selfish, stupid overswingers and LOOK at how they are struggling despite literally having an All-Star roster. In the long run, by the virtue of their scary talent, they will STILL prevail and make postseason somehow. Sox, on the other hand, can't really afford to struggle because their talent is vastly inferior. Sure, losing to Vasquez is understandable (although Red Sox knocked him around pretty good), but shut down by Paul f***ing' Abbott? Gimme a break. So to Sox and Aaron Rowand....Shape the f*** up and win these 2 games with ease.

Yeah, or so they tell me. Not sure if I buy it; give me a Jimenez over an Ozzie any damn game day of the week. Jimenez had one horrendeous month (June) and that overshadowed the 4 good months (Sep-May with ST) he had as a Sox. DJ is unfairly associated with the 1st half collapse. Guess what? Konerko wasn't hitting. Thomas was just beginning to heat up. Magglio had an ordinary year by his standards. Koch, White, Wright, Riod, Daubach, Rowand, Crede and even Gordon -- they were all struggling well into June. To put it simply: had Jimenez stayed and Robbie was never traded for, Sox would have been in the playoffs. You like playoffs?