Balta1701

Perhaps its time to edit this thread title to suggest it's possible/pending.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 09:16 AM) We guaranteed a 2nd year at $5.5 mil? I don't believe this contract until it's posted on the Sox website. I have no problem with $5.5 mil this season as we wouldn't have spent it on anything else anyways, but next year when the FA crop is much much better? Horrible if true. To be fair though...this year's FA crop looked better than it wound up being as well. Things like the signing of Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye, Vernon Wells, etc., took several big money guys off the market, at least 1 big guy (Jones) had a horrible season, and you had the Yankees spending big money to keep their 3 guys from moving on also.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 09:11 AM) Fortunately, Tom DeLay has become nearly useless to the GOP anyway. So he can "sit this one out" all he wants and it will make no difference. You don't think there's an awful lot of connections still remaining between him and the money guys?

I'll leave it to you guys to tell me whether you find this important or not. Tex excluded, as this I'm sure just decided his vote.

At least he's not a type A free agent.

Is it too early to say Octavio Dotel?

Ick. 2 years and $11 million for this guy? I could be proven wrong, but my initial reaction is "Ick".

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 08:27 PM) Let's see ... Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee, Aaron Rowand and .... and .... and ... hmmmm. I'm stuck. Chris Young.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 08:09 PM) I didn't mention Santana since odds are he will be traded and his new team would sign him before he opens the market. NOt if no one meets the Twins' price.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 08:03 PM) I'd rather go after Bedard. Isn't he going to be an FA soon? At least for now...that Santana dude is. Bedard is a FA after 09.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 06:47 PM) So that's Crede and Uribe making a combined $9.6M this season. That's not a very good use of resources is it. Ideally, they'd both be off the 25 man roster before the first game of the season in April, but my guess is 1 (probably Uribe) will be on the bench to start the season. Looking on the bright side, we can actually have the expectation that the team will have $10 million in salary to spend on FA's next offseason. And you could easily up that number considerably if you were able to move Contreras.

QUOTE(A's fan @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 07:09 PM) I agree with the fact Garett will be the guy soon maybe after next season however I dont think B-moore is that bad of a job except the QB situation. The problem in B-More is that they're a team that is getting old but who's owner thinks seemingly that they'll be ready to compete again next year, just like last year, if they just find the right coach. If the owner isn't willing to face up to the situation and admit that his roster is getting old and you can't simply plug holes, then whoever you put in there is going to be caught in a trap; they're expected to win right now, to be the miracle coach who fixes everything, and they'll get blamed if the pieces don't all fall into place.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 07:00 PM) ... or change it. So that we kick poorly performing kids out of our schools and so that we have repeated disease outbreaks due to sewage contaminated water?

QUOTE(JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 06:55 PM) I hope he starts in AA, and can make it up to AAA by the end of the season. Then hopefully make the team by 2009-2010. That sounds like at least 1 level ahead of the pace he'll probably be on, IMO.

QUOTE(BurlyMan56 @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 06:54 PM) mods, please change the title, i heard it was an extension. sorry about the uninformed title Technically it is an extension. But it's not the kind of extension that would send this place into a frenzy - a multi year one. His contract was extended 1 year, which everyone expected as a means of avoiding arbitration. A multi year extension for Crede would mean that we have 2 3rd basemen locked up for the long term, which would mean that we'd be trading Fields immediately.

This is Joe Crede signing a contract to avoid arbitration. Not Joe Crede signing a contract extension. Please for God's sake someone make that clear in the thread title.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 03:36 PM) Thing is, I do admit that I, nor the vast majority of fans, can really know that for sure, which is why I said it seems he's been timid to me. We can't know for sure what trades teams have discussed other than what gets reported. I just don't feel he's brave enough to make a risky move that could really help the team, and I base that on the largely safe moves he has made. What this season is proving to me, at least, is that "the farm" is not nor will it ever be good enough to win a championship, and I've felt that way since before the season started. So let me ask you this: Do you believe pax has explored and truly attempted the type of trade this team needs in order to get a true impact player, or do you feel, as I do, that he has been reluctant and hesitant to trade the young, safe guys he's drafted and feels could have grown into championship contenders? Looking at what has happened, my guess is, yes, he has probably tried to trade for each of those guys you ask about. But the problem we run into is...unlike a team like say, Boston or Denver, one of these teams that has been able to trade for a big name guy without selling out their entire roster...we actually have, or at least before this season, had, a lot of guys that another team could demand. So, if I'm Philly, and I'm trading AI for example (AI being the one guy I'm sure the Bulls didn't want, he wouldn't have fit well with Skiles, for example)...if I decide I'm dealing this player, and I look at the Bulls, what's the best package I'd expect? Well, it starts with Deng and Gordon and goes beyond it to include an expiring contract and probably another draft pick. But if I'm dealing with Denver...well, what guys do they have that I'd want? They have Anthony, but they're not dealing him. They have guys like KMart, Camby, etc., but I don't want them because they dont' have expiring contracts and get paid a lot. All they can offer me is a couple of late first round picks and a couple of shorter contracts...but if I deal them, that's the best deal I can get. The Bulls are, in my opinion, in no small part a victim of their own drafts. If they go to minny and ask for KG, what is minny going to ask for? Deng, Gordon, TT, last year's draft pick, and cap relief. The problem is, making that deal, which on paper would be fair for both sides, kills the Bulls and puts us in the same boat as Minny was; stuck with a superstar but without enough to win a title. So Pax has to insist he can't give up Deng, at which point the offer isn't the best one we could offer, and so Minny turns their backs for us not offering our best talent, and takes the best deal Boston could offer. The Grizz might consider dealing Gasol, but they don't have to, so they want to get a great deal for him, which means Deng and Gordon. But trading those 2 for Gasol, or any deal for Gasol involving Deng, does not make the Bulls better without getting even more back in return. There was as far as I remember, 1 press report of the Grizz being willing to accept a Gordon centered deal without Deng, which if that was true I'll admit that not making that deal was a mistake, but that was as far as I could recall 1 unconfirmed report from 1 source. And Kobe...I really don't believe the Lakers would have dealth him even if we offered up our entire starting lineup. He's worth too much money to them...and if you believe Pax, he's stated that the Lakers never were really interested in trading him, just trying to give Kobe the impression taht they'd consider it. But there's no way on God's green earth that the Lakers would have done any of the deals people thought were so great, like Gordon, Noc/Hinrich, Wallace, TT, Noah, etc., (Pick 3 with 1 big contract) that so many people thought we'd steal him for.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 03:05 PM) If you are trading Dye, you could also look for an outfielder to come back to the White Sox, or you can scrounge the waiver wire for a high ceiling or toolsy outfielder as well. Luis Terrero filled your needs last year well I take it? Fact is, few teams are going to be willing to trade you a ML-Ready OF of the sort you'd like to get back (young and fairly talented) for a guy like Dye unless he gets on an 06 like tear again...because you're not exactly making yourself better by giving up a young, toolsy OF for an older, possibly declining OF with an injury history and a >$10 mil a year contract. If you've got the kind of OF we'd like to get back in that deal...he's either not MLB ready or you're not trading him for JD.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 02:57 PM) I personally would like to see Dye raise his value and then be traded. If Dye could raise his value high enough that'd be one option....but it would strongly require someone else to step up and show that they have the ability to be his replacement in the OF. Right now, if we trade Dye, we're swapping Dye for Owens...and that's a LOT of offense to lose. If Brian Anderson could ever get his head out of his tail and hit .300 with 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases like he was supposed to....so that we could run the Quentin/Anderson/Swisher OF that would be solid offensively and defensively...then trading Dye would be a solid move...but without someone to take his place...it'd have to be a really killer deal to move him.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 02:49 PM) He seems, and has seemed, too timid to make any moves... But how do you know that's not because everyone's asking the farm from him? Last year would you have done Deng, Gordon, and PJ for Gasol? Would you do Deng, Wallace, and Gordon for T-Mac? Teams aren't just going to give us players so that we can get better. If we have a lot of young guys, they're going to ask for a lot of young guys from us no matter what other teams are offering. People get pissed at Pax for not making any moves because they assume some cheap and easy deal that would be hugely lopsided for the Bulls is just sitting out there.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 02:43 PM) Other 2 are pre-debate. While true, I wonder if the more important factor is the debate or simply the likely caucus goer screen. I'd put my money on the latter, but we'll see. It could be that the likely voter screen is off and Clinton still wins. Who knows.

Mason Dixon polls South Carolina:

Mason Dixon polls South Carolina:

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 02:11 PM) lol.... meh. I dont think its a huge deal. If the Bulls cut him over this that will be kinda pathetic. In a vacuum it'd be nothing. But this is the same kid who was going to UNC until he was arrested there for attempting to sell pot, which led to his termination at UNC. So it's not like this is happening in a vacuum, and the Bulls supposedly made it very, very, very clear what they wanted from the kid in terms of behavior even before they drafted him.

The Las Vegas Review Journal has given a heads up about poll results to be released tomorrow for NV: