AirScott

QUOTE(WHITESOXRANDY @ Jun 26, 2007 -> 11:47 AM) If I were Kenny Williams, I would trade Konerko, Thome, Mackowiack, Uribe, Pods, Erstad, A.J., Iguchi, Dye, Crede, Buehrle, Contreras, Garland, Vazquez, Jenks, Thornton and MacDougal between now and next season for as many top prospects as I could possibly get. What could they bring ? Maybe 3 top prospects each for Konerko, Garland and Vazquez. 2 each for Mark, Jenks, Thome, Contreras and A.J. One each for the rest. That's 25-30 top prospects. I'm thinking about 7 or 8 A-/B+ level prospects and probably 20 B / B-/C+ level prospects. This would give the Sox an interesting team for the fans to watch next year and get their farm system jump started so that within 2 years they could have serious depth and still begin playing competitive baseball. They save tons of payroll for the next 2 years and develop a handful of young stars. Then, add a few free agents and they could seriously contend in 2010. Plus, they will have 2 drafts in which they will have great position and no excuses - spend the money on draft picks and player development. That's really the only way that the Sox can build this team back up to a serious contender and an exciting team. They already have Danks, Gio, Floyd, Egbert and a few other good arms. They already have Fields and Sweeney. I say go for it. Would Kenny do it ? Would Jerry do it ? Would the fan base support it ? Yes, attendance would drop significantly next year but once Sox fans see our young Crawfords, Pabelbons, Rios, Verlanders, Lincecums, etc. - people will get excited and start coming out again. I think this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

I voted Floyd/Richar. They're the two closest to the majors, and I'd rather not see the other guys look completely overwhelmed because they aren't ready yet.

I just remember a time last year when I was listening to a radio call and Famer and Singleton were talking about Jeff Conine. They said he's a great guy, but if you pull a prank on him - I think their example was tripping him in the clubhouse - then he'd punch you in the gut a week later as revenge. Farmer and Singleton went on to talk about an incident when Singleton was with the Sox and Farmer would always sleep on the plane with blankets pulled up to his chin. Singleton once woke him up and said Farmer got some sort of revenge, but when the inning ended Farmer said, "We'll be back after this and hopefully we won't be talking about this anymore," or something to that effect. I remember Singleton had pressed him to say what he did, but Farmer kind of ignored it. The whole thing just reeked of terrible chemistry, and whenever I listened to radio broadcasts I just got the feeling that the two really didn't like each other.

QUOTE(shawnhillegas @ Jun 25, 2007 -> 06:10 AM) Right now, I say trade him. If you want to sign him, sign him this offseason. This team needs to be completely rebuilt. This would be the ideal situation. We get a package of prospects for him and we're only without him for the remainder of a seemingly lost season. QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 25, 2007 -> 06:12 AM) If he's traded, I can't see there being any scenario that he re-signs here. Unfortunately, we live in the real world.

QUOTE(dmbjeff @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 11:02 AM) are you serious, 10 in a row? i hate to be debbie downer, but they cant even win 2 in a row and you want 10. priceless. the firesale is coming after this cubs/sox series. they couldnt do it before this. we need middle infield prospect who are major league ready big time. That SNL sketch would have been awesome if Jimmy Falloon weren't hell-bent on ruining it.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 08:24 PM) Liriano's mechanics are to blame, not WBC. Peavy might be a fair case, but I doubt the extra, what? 20 innings hurt him. He'd have been pitching in Spring Training if he hadn't been in the WBC, anyway. I think the effect is very much overstated. Obviously none of this is certain, but there were some odd coincidences with no other explanation. How do you explain the aberration in Peavy's 2006 numbers compared to 2004, 2005 and this season? How do you explain the problems Vazquez would have in the 5th inning when he would look so good up to that point? Without the WBC, both are back to normal. Freddy isn't, so maybe all the innings got to him.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 06:49 PM) I believe Jerry Owens has ZERO RBIS in 63 mlb at bats. he has ZERO chance to be a productive every day player. he's a fifth outfielder at best. His only plus tool is speed. average fielder. below average arm way below average power. below average hitter. if he plays for the Sox every day, we're going to be baddddddd. You don't develop a guy like him into a five-tool player, and not every productive outfielder has to be. Owens could make a pretty good living as a slap-hitting terror on the basepaths who plays an adequate left field.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 01:03 PM) That is your opinion. My opinion is the exact opposite. A lot of MLB teams had players represented in the WBC not just the Sox. Like the Twins and Francisco Liriano? His arm just about fell off. Or the Padres and Jake Peavy? Right, he had his worst season. QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 06:51 PM) minnesota does not pay market rates. they've turned over their entire team -- other than Hunter. Ortiz, Rivas, Guzman, Koskie, AJ, Jones, Mohr, Kielty, Radke, Guardado, Hawkins and others all GAWN. But they still win. something ain't right with this team -- namely a leaky bullpen and an underperforming offense. Player development and scouting. You could argue theirs is the best, maybe with your only evidence being how they plucked Johan Santana from the Houston organization.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 10:29 AM) I think VAfan has some nice points, although watch it with that Rowand talk, because there are some here that will open fire on you for that. The only point I disagree on is: Buehrle. I'd build my pitching around him, Garland and Danks. But, we have nothing else to trade for right? So it's a pickle. What a mess! You're right about the this far/this fast point--I thought last year tanked because there was probably some fatigue/hangover from 2005. I still believe that with the pitchers (notice this year) but HELL I never thought 2007 would be even worse!!! Don't forget the WBC, which really stands as the only possible explanation for his 5th inning woes. You could also point a finger at that for Freddy Garcia's loss of velocity, too.

Well, one of the things the players always said in the 2005 run was that they always wanted to pick each other up after making a mistake, and when it was close and they were down in the late innings, they always felt like they could come back. Now for that last one, what gives a team that mentality? Is it just something they say as it keeps happening, or is it the team's make-up? Two of our most fiery players from 2005 who have departed are Aaron Rowand and Carl Everett. Were they responsible for that never-say-die mentality? Or could it be the underdog thing? Nobody predicted we'd do much in 2000. Then the next few years we were AL Central favorites. Then the media stopped believing in us, we changed the team identity and were predicted to finish 3rd or 4th in 2005, then won the whole thing. Now last year it was really World Series or bust. Frankly, we got slow fast. That obviously has something to do with it. Pods, Erstad and Ozuna went down. Willie Harris wasn't brought back after 2005. But just what happened to the clutch hitting?

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 09:51 PM) Way to bring in Jenks. I don't question this move, if only because just about every manager doesn't use their closer in a tie game in the ninth. But seriously, why is this common practice? If it goes to extras anyway, you're using another pitcher besides the closer if it goes that far. The goal is to not let it (obviously).

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 12:10 PM) I chose 5yr/$16 million which would be 5/80. The Sox could either front load or back load it to their pleasure. I don't see them going much over that value. I agree with that. Zito is getting $18 per, but he's got a Cy Young in his cabinet and his H/9 have generally been lower. Buehrle's control is better, though.

QUOTE(vandy125 @ Jun 19, 2007 -> 09:30 AM) IIRC, Konerko did not take less to come here than any of the other offers. On the surface it appeared to be so and was definitely good PR, but when you consider taxes on all of the offers, they came out to be the same. While Konerko's with us on a 5/$60 million contract, Baltimore offered him 5/65.

This article, and the one in the Sun-Times, really encourage me about the situation in that we know what Buehrle is thinking. Remember after he joked that he'd like to play for the Cardinals, then was grilled and said he'd want to spend his career with the Sox and then maybe go to St. Louis for his twilight years? Looks like he's sticking by that sentiment. It appears he can be had on the free agent market for 5 years - $90 million. Konerko took $5 million less ($1 million per year) to stay here instead of go to Baltimore or Anaheim. Buehrle might be willing to do the same type of thing -- he proposed to his wife on a hunting stand.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Jun 16, 2007 -> 06:24 PM) How the hell can anyone feel one way or another about this trade? Prospect for prospect. 24-year-old for A-baller. Who cares. Nothing to look twice at. If this means Iguchi is out the door sooner rather than later, maybe this trade develops some sort of significance...if not, I really couldn't care less. I thought the same thing when I saw the reactions here. The only people feeling the impact are the players traded and their coaches.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 16, 2007 -> 02:33 PM) Well to me the team looks like it doesn't care and is just going through the motions. Everyone has their own opinion. I respect yours, and expect you to respect mine. I understand your point of view. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I do respect it. But put yourself in Coop's shoes. I mean, I don't think the coaches have their meetings and say, "You know what? Why don't we just pack it in?" So when North asks if that's what they've decided to do, he oughta take that BS out of his bio that says people would come to his hot dog stand for his insight into Chicago sports. He oughta take it out, anyway.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 15, 2007 -> 07:52 PM) I have no problem with North and this interview. He asked the question about what the plan is for the next couple series, and if the plan was to lay down. I have no problem with that question at all. I would have asked the exact same question in that situation. And I know alot of SOX fans feel the same. This team has layed down. There is no fight in them at all, no heart, nothing. I watch alot of baseball and in my eyes they are the worst team in baseball. They look like they are just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. And I love the part where North says, "sorry for ruining your off day, but you guys have been ruining everyday for the fans" I love that. Call him and the whole team out, they deserve it for the way they attempt to play baseball. OK, coaches dislike stupid questions. And, in sports, by far the stupidest question a member of the media can ask is, are you not going to try? "So what's your strategy...you just looking to lose again?" How dumb does that sound? If you're Don Cooper, how else do you answer that? I'm surprised the term he used was "jerkoff" and not "f***tard." QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 16, 2007 -> 12:34 PM) Our genius GM had a good plan - the plan didn't work - but it looked good for the first month didn't it? Everyone was saying what a lights out bullpen they had. Now everyone is saying KW sucks for putting this bullpen together. None of them can throw consistent strikes. They have talent indeed. I am not saying they don't, but I wouldn't question that they are not trying, that they don't care, that they are just going through the motions, or that they don't have the desire. That is a f***ed up thing to say as I am sure you would never want that said about you. Doesn't it kind of suck that the bullpen actually had a good April? Like, when Shingo sucked in 2005, he sucked right out of the gate, so we were able to make the switch to Hermanson before not having a closer could hurt us. But since the bullpen had a good April, then took a nosedive in May, it was originally chalked up to a bad stretch. Now we know it's not just a bad stretch -- and the bullpen has done a month's worth of damage.

I joined this board before the 2005 season (January I think)...someone tell me how long this board has wanted Greg Walker fired. I remember a lot of that talk here in 2005, and he was hired in 2003...

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jun 15, 2007 -> 09:16 PM) I hope Day can return healthy for next season. I really liked what I saw from him, outside of those two outings. His slider has really looked good coupled with that mid-90's fastball with movement. Not quite, we need Bukvich to implode so we could recall Sisco. Hey, their ERAs in Charlotte were 1.09, 1.31 and 1.36...or something like that...that always translates to major league success, right?

If anyone's interested, the internet radio made it sound like Singleton was announcing from a remote location before Maholm hit the ball. No other sound at all. Then the bat cracked and awoke the crowd from their slumber.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 15, 2007 -> 01:09 PM) LOL at the infinite wisdom of the 20-year-old. Apparently you haven't followed sports long enough to know that a bad start isn't a death sentence: How about the 83-79 Cardinals that got hot in the playoffs and won the WS last year? Or the mediocre 2005 Steelers that entered December at 7-5, ripped off four straight wins to get the Wild Card, survived three tough road games in January, and won it all the following month? Or the 2004 and 2005 Astros, for that matter, who started slow and made the playoffs both years. Like Kalapse said, I was being sarcastic, and I made this thread because I'm in the "this season isn't a lost cause but it's getting there" camp. So with this 20-game stretch, solid starting pitching and underachieving bats that should wake up at some point, the possibility of the playoffs isn't out of the question. From here till the all-star break serves as the time to get on a roll, build up confidence and get back into the playoff mix. If the Sox can't capitalize on this portion of the schedule, playoff chances then look very, very meek, especially with what appears to be a strong second half schedule.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 15, 2007 -> 12:34 PM) I agree with that. I'm not sure if they'd be looking to add on if they played really well over the next few weeks, but they may decide to hang onto either Mark or JD and take the draft picks, rather than trading them next month. I'm very cautiously optimistic, given that they're playing well below their talent level and they have some soft opponents coming up. Then you can't be older than 16 years old. Sorry.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jun 15, 2007 -> 03:05 AM) To answer your question, imagine Jermaine Dye at SS. He's played there before. Or Timo at first? 2005 was awesome.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Jun 14, 2007 -> 07:17 PM) Air Scott your must me lke 15 years and well versed to think we have any chance. Thanks for the input. No, really. You're right, this team has NO shot of making any sort of run. I mean, it's not like it's ever been done before. But thanks for your intelligent insight. Isn't that what we're all here for? The know-it-all-ism? The thought that if people are optimistic, they're 15 and haven't been fans longer than the summer of 2005? Can't these people be lifelong fans and not conditioned to expect the worst? I'm not saying it's a given that this team goes 15-5 in this stretch. I'm not saying that if they do, they're making the postseason. But when I looked at our upcoming schedule, I kept looking and didn't see a quality opponent until after the break. So at 27-35 and 8.5 out of the wild card spot, this is the time to make up ground. If the Sox aren't even at .500 at the all-star break, it's time to sell, plain and simple. But if all our guys hitting well below their career averages (Dye, Konerko, A.J., Iguchi) can get hot, is it so far-fetched that the Sox can win 15 of 20 and make an Astros-like second half push for a playoff spot? Tell me, why is this IMPOSSIBLE? The starters have been solid. Hitters who have done nothing but hit their entire careers could gain some confidence with a few good games in this stretch. But no, I must be 15 years old and not know what I'm talking about. Or I feel dumber for having read your post.

Look at schedule on tap: three with the 28-37 Pirates, three with the 32-34 Marlins, three with the 30-35 Cubs, four with the 29-35 Devil Rays, three with the 25-41 Royals, then four with the 29-36 Orioles. We're 10 games out of the division lead and 8.5 out of the wild card. Our next 20 games are against opponents with a combined .442 winning percentage. This is by far the easiest stretch of our schedule this season, and if there's much of a chance of us making the playoffs, this team needs to win 15 in this stretch.