YASNY

I can see Steinbrenner working behind the scenes to prevent Boston from getting ARod. If you were going to approach it from that angle, what team would you think may have the cash to handle ARod's contract? The Cubs, of course. Especially if George can swing it where he ends up with Sosa. Not too much of a longshot imho.

Ok. That's something, anyway. Thanks.

Maybe on sports talk radio. I haven't seen anything on the internet, and some of those are "Chicago media outlets". Talk radio, is just like this.... speculating fans. I'd just like to see something a bit more concrete before I start looking for this deal to happen.

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here, I guess. But, when someone tells me that Nomar is much much better than Magglio, and belittles Beastly because he is sticking up for a guy who has been a fabulous Sox player, well, I have to question their motives, biases or perceptions of baseball. Something has to be out of kilter.

I also think Nomar hitting .243 on the road is due to one thing. The Mia Hamm factor. I mean .... wouldn't you be distracted?

All the more reason why Evans might do the Perez for Konerko deal. His top 2 prospects for filling that RH hitter he needs are about to be traded for each other. I think KW is trying to extract a little revenge for the Berry/Barry fiasco.

Though, I'm not happy about this, I can see the union's point of view. They don't want to set a precedent in allowing a player to restructure his contract downward for any reason.

Are these rumors in the media? Anywhere?

I'm not sure that I don't agree with Beastly on this one. Magglio had a SLIGHTY down year in '03 and everybody bails on him and thinks Nomar is God's gift. Well, to Mia Hamm, he might be. But, in '03, his defensive numbers were right on par with the terribly s***ty defense of Jose Valentin. Yet, he's considered a great defensive SS. Both Magglio and Nomar are very good solid ballplayers with their own strengths and weaknesses. It's a matter of weighing one's abilities vs. the other in the context of your particular team. As for which one is "better", to me, that's a toss up.

I'm in KY and I know a southerner when I hear one. Welcome to Soxtalk.

Where did this information about the deal being in place come from? I haven't seen any reference to Jose going to Seattle anywhere except here on Soxtalk.

I don't Sox fans will consider it being teased with Nomar. I look at it this way. If LA prefers Nomar to Magglio, and we can't get them to meet our price for Magglio, maybe they'll meet it for Nomar after a Nomar for Maggs deal. I also believe that we still don't know all of the details regarding the Red Sox trade with us, as yet.

Has anyone heard that Seattle has expressed any interest in Jose, or has it just been speculation on our end?

I still think Nomar will end up in LA. They prefer Nomar to Maggs and they may be willing to give it up for Nomar.

Source?

Nomar lands here just long enough for KW to point the direction to LA.

Something will happen to keep the Cubs out of the Series. It may be Armegeddon, but something will prevent it.

If this scenario goes down, Maggs to Boston for Nomar, Williamson and Kim, then Nomar to LA for for Perez, Mota and Miller ... then we have enough good young pitching to pry Huff away from Tampa Bay.

The Mets are still trying to dump Cedeno on us, I fear.

Wouldn't it be great if they threw a "New Hockey League" Party and no one invited Bill Wirtz?

Paxson wouldn't know a good point guard if one fell on him.

How can there be a most absurd moments in rock list and there not be a single Alice Cooper or David Bowie reference?

With the way the Sox stand right now, Buehrle ain't going anywhere. He's locked up for $3.5 next year. We are a starter short. Why would we want to move him?

If the Cubs can sign Barrett, they will still be in the IRod/Javey sweepstakes. They'll non-tender Bako and keep Barrett as a backup C-1B-3B.

Sheff at 3 years for $39 Million at age 35. If I'm Magglio I'm grinning ear to ear right now. He will get in the neighbor hood of $15 million a year for 4 to 5 years. Guerrero will probably get 7 years or so, and his deal won't hurt Magglio either.