YASNY

QUOTE(Rooftop Shots @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 10:17 PM) OOPS, the word was supposed to be "CURIOUS, not Vurious!!!!! Whew! I was thinking you FURIOUS!

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 03:18 PM) When was the last time the Twinks had a HOF-caliber player? They're just jealous. Thomas needs just one more MVP season to lock in the HOF. Right now he's a border-line case. Similar to Sandberg. If he can't get the MVP season then he just needs a couple of near MVP seasons. I didn't see any "jealousy" over there. In fact, most were apparent Sox fans.

QUOTE(mreye @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:48 PM) Gringos? Here we go again. Where's Yasny? Hey! I'm a gringo and am not offended at all.

Jackie ... Glad to hear we are cool with each other. For the record on the trailer trash thing, I was positioning to make a point. But, I think it's best that we just let it end without the point being made.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 01:35 PM) I just want to add that AJ aside is it not true that SF has appeared as a fester pool for problems & attitudes for years? Before AJ it was Kent. You didn't hear much about Kent when he went to HOU & now he's a member of the LAD. I think those problems in SF are more related to SF than the players themselves. There probably are no saints there but the clubhouse seems to bring out the devil in the sinners. That's never going to happen here. Not with Ozzie at the helm. He just doesn't put up with that crap & he's not afraid to mouthoff at the best of them. Damn good point. When AJ was with Minnesota, I hated him because he always got under the Sox skin. That's exactly the type of player the Sox needed.

I know this much. I wish we had Ryne Sandberg while he was with the Cubs.

That ball should belong to the Boston Red Sox and their fans.

QUOTE(DonkeyKongerko @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 01:26 PM) Carlos certainly proved you can never be too old to learn to play the outfield. Still I'm pretty sure Scott Podsednik has at least as good an arm and more range than Carlos Lee. I'd say that's a safe bet.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:27 AM) I didn't hear anything like that. I've read the deal is simply contingent upon a physical. Perez is definitely going to be an LAD. The Green deal is off. He won't waive his no-trade. Doesn't like the AZD multi-year offer. KW says landing Iguchi appears to be a long shot. He's asking for 2.35M, the CWS are offering 4M/2. If the CWS lose him over 350K someone needs to be fired. Give him 5M/2 & finish the off-season. I read both scdenarios. I believe Perez will be in LA regardless of the Green deal. Loaiza is the one that will be sucking hind tit due to the Green trade falling through.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:31 AM) It used to be you needed to have a era Now we see Garland with an era If Garland is worth 4M then Perez with an era MLB economics. I think Garland has as much of chance to be 4.00 in the AL as Garland. I like for $4mil vs. Perez at $8mil.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:21 AM) Great move! Congrats KW! He used the bad rep in SF to push AJ into this deal. AJ was offered slightly more $ elsewhere but no one was offering more than 1 yr. Given that AJ still as an arbit year left there was no reason for a team to do that. AJ was over barrel so to speak. KW just landed a former CWS nemesis who happens to be one of the best hitting C's in the game for 2.25M. The CWS get a full yr to decide whether to offer AJ a multi-year deal to avoid arbit in 2006. The odds are that AJ's bad rep in SF is going to surface in Chicago. I don't think it's going to affect Ozzie's clubhouse but I do think enough to where Moronitti & others will decide to write articles about him. That should be enough to keep him a ? mark & lower his price in the future. What you are saying here is that mariotti's BS can be beneficial to the White Sox. SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 01:01 PM) Yes. I'm excited about this team. I don't want the Sox to limp along and hope a Carl Evertt/Roberto Alomar type acquistion kicks them in gear to catch up to the Twinkies. I want them to be on a mission from day one with nothing held back. If they lose 2 of 3 in the opening series, I want Ozzie to go bezerk. The excitment of the new team will be lost if the Sox sluggishly go 10-12 in April Iguchi may be the spark plug the Sox need. Whatever way there is to improve the team now, then do it now. I'm not saying to piss away the money, just take the opportunities sooner than later. Even if this team fails, and I don't think they will, I am extremely impressed with the overhaul KW has done. OK ... I can respect that point of view.

Nope. Ain't happening. The D'Backs were going to get 8 million from LA in the Green deal. No way in hell they send cash along JV. No way the Sox take on that much payroll.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:46 PM) I think you're analysis was solid. IMHAOIO, the Sox addressed some weaknesses by weakening strong positions. Balance in baseball is usually good. Building a team around a manager seems a little strange, but I'm willing to cheer for a couple games (maybe more) OK... I can usually figure these things out, but WTF is IMHAOIO?

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:43 PM) It would be better to use all of the Sox resources now to make the best possible team at the beginning of the season. A good start along with a buzz about the new team could help attendance. When the Sox were on a roll last year, the crowds were bigger. If they do that sooner in the year, then the attendance bump may bring the extra cash if it is needed. Not upgrading the team now may cost the Sox a game in April or May. If the Sox lose the division by one game...well. Will you be singing the same tune in July, or will the song be "God Damn Cheap Ass White Sox Didn't Do s*** To Improve The Team"?

Considering the unadulterated joy expressed here over the signing of AJ, I thought it was time to come back down to earth a bit. That's why I made my post. As for expecting ELo to anchor the staff... maybe that was a little strong. But if you consider the guy won 21 games, finished second in the CY Young voting and was in a walk year on his contract, you'd figure he'd give us more than he did. ELo thought he had his engraved invitation to a contract to die for based on his 2003 season. I guess he's questioning his judgement .... and I'm questioning his effort in '04 ... of the current situation now. We should have gotten 17-18 wins from Loaiza, minimum. He had Wilson Alverez disease and was too lazy to throw his best fastball consistantly. That became apparent to me at the All Star game. he was chucking it at 93-94 mph in Houston and we were seeing 88-89-90 from him in Chicago. The Yankees soon discovered the same thing about him.

Let's step back and give this offseason another look. We've added Podsednik, Vizcaino, Hermanson, Piersynski, El Duque We've lost Ordonez, Valentin and Lee Considering we knew Magglio was gone and Valentin wouldn't be back, then it's just Lee for all the additions. However, if you look at opening day '04 vs current roster things look a lot different. We have lost: Olivo - The player most consider the best youngster on the ML roster Reed - The player most considered our best prospect Loaiza - A 21 game winner we thought would anchor the rotation. Ordonez - The player most considered our best every day player Lee -- Second to Ordonez Valentin - A mediocre all around ballplayer the last couple of years. We've added: Garcia -- A solid, not great, starting pitcher. Hermanson -- should be a decent addition to bullpen. Emphasis on "should" Vizcaino -- expect more out of him than Hermanson Podsednik -- A big question mark with speed. Contreras -- can be anything from Danny Wright to Cy Young winner. Who knows? Hernandez -- Good pitcher. How much will he pitch? Piersynski -- All Star catcher, clubhouse cancer or something in between. Dye -- Should be ok, IF he can stay in the line up. All in all, I can't give KW more than a C. There are a ton of question marks there and not one STUD player added. Magglio has been a stud for a few years, until he went down. Lee very well might be even more of a stud than he has been. This coming season can be a very good, exciting season. But there is potential there for the season to totally suck.

QUOTE(mreye @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 09:25 AM) I would some of you that can't / won't read this, either stop with the condemnations or read the facts. There are a lot of holes in the accusations. FYI, I do believe he's guilty, but I'm just trying to say that you should educate yourselves about the facts of the case. Just my $0.02 When the jury gives the verdict, I'll be educated on the case all that I need to be.

The Mets are going after Cairo.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 07:54 AM) This turnaround on AJ reminds me a lot of when Bob "Cola" Probert joined the Blackhawks. HATED as a Red Wing, he became one of the more beloved Blackhawks ( although not by me, I still thought he was a prick ). I'm pretty confident that AJ will become a very well-liked member of the White Sox. His attitude will be welcomed by Ozzie, and AJ does seem determined to shed the cancer tag. Once a Dead Thing always a Dead Thing?

We are geting conflicting reports on what Iguchi is asking. One report says $2.3M and the other says Kaz Matsui type money. If it's the former, we'll sign him. If it's the latter, we won't. Miguel Cairo would look good in a Sox uni.

What was really shocking was the two teams he chose the Sox over ... LA and StL .... those are historically two of the "premier" franchises, though LA is ina transition period right now. No one really knows what to expect from the Dodgers.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 02:51 AM) I was reading the pain boards of espn ( first time in years) and this twin fan had this to say and i laughed. ''White Sox blow and will finish 4th in the Central. They have no starting pitching other then Buehrle, they have no bullpen besides Takatsu, and other then Konerko and Thomas (if healthy), their lineup blows. '' 12 year old poster. :headshake

I voted for both. They were simply HOF caliber ballplayers.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:14 AM) I got this off the Bear board I frequent and a regular poster said the NBC guy quoted trib sources saying that the Bears offered Ron Turner a contract to be the next OC of the Bears. I guess we'll know tomorrow when the radio picks up on this. I'd have to think he'd accept, unless he's just sick of Illinois. He runs a very similar system to his brother Norv Turner. A west coast offense and the only thing I really remember about him was how he had Kramer and Walsh and was able to build sucessful pass offenses around them. Hell, the Bears had one of the funnest offenses they ever had under Turner. Plus they were able to plug in a few backs and get more then good seasons out of them. Raymont Harris, who was never really an anybody, seeemed to produce quite well in Turner's system. Whaddya mean? Raymont Harris was "Ultraback"!!!!