Milkman delivers

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 04:10 PM) So as it stands right now, Floyd-Sisco-Danks are going at it for the 5th starter spot???? The 5th starter merry-go-round is BACK Exactly. I truly hope KW has another trade in place to get another starter, because those guys aren't going to hold up in 2007. BTW, I remember when I thought this offseason was way too boring. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) "In addition, the Sox sent minor league outfielder David Paisano to Texas for minor league pitcher Jacob Rasner." Who is that? Sounds like someone with questionable "ties."

QUOTE(SnB @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 03:20 PM) tinsel blows I find it...distracting.

QUOTE(Pauly8509CWS @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 04:01 PM) I'm feeling like these guys are going to be packaged for a larger deal. But who knows, I don't like this initial deal if it's by itself, but if KW can combine these prospects in a trade for a superstar or something, like Tejada, then maybe I like it a bit more. So I'm going to wait on this a few days before I make judgements. That would be even worse. Offense isn't the problem. It's clearly pitching. If we're trading with the O's, we better be getting Bedard.

QUOTE(Princess Dye @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 03:55 PM) everyone loves BMac for 7 games he pitched for us in 2005. 1.69 ERA. everything else from him has been here or there. now if you take the emotion of that 2005 year out of it, which KW has to do as a job.... you will give that player up for top flight prospects. I guarantee Ozzie's dislike for McCarthy also played a role in this. I also must admit that my interest in watching the Sox this year is fading more and more.

I can't believe the boards aren't lit up yet. I know we just got the news 10 minutes ago, but usually something like this gets around in 5.

Two days ago I would've been happy with just getting another reliever and a back-up CFer, and now this offseason has gone to complete s***. It's almost funny...almost.

I think I see the logic here. We're "good enough" to compete in the toughest division in baseball (so we'll still draw fans), but we're clearly not good enough anymore to actually make the playoffs/make a run at the WS again.

Honestly, does anyone see us making the playoffs with Floyd or Danks in the rotation? Don't get me wrong, I like having Danks. The guy's supposed to be amazing one day, but this is going to cost us in 2007.

Well, this offseason again sucks. Danks or Floyd will be in our rotation this year. Ozzie's personal bias against McCarthy clearly had a part in this...because there's not much other reason to trade a quality young pitcher. Hello, 3rd or 4th place in the AL Central.

I'm impressed that Greg Gagne made the Rangers, despite being 58 years old.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 20, 2006 -> 03:37 PM) What about the White Sox bullpen? Adding Aardsma and Sisco perhaps improves it dramatically? Sisco may be in Charlotte. Boone Logan may be in Chicago. How do we know Thornton will continue to have success? It seems to me all the guys that Coop fixes, seem to fall back a little the following season. Loaisa, Cotts, Contreras. Jenks was mostly good, but had his moments. The bullpen really concerns me. KW has not added anyone who has much of a track record of major league success there this offseason. Well, I'd say Contreras fell back because of injury, not Coop's coaching. And the difference between Cotts/Loaiza and Thornton is that Matt throws 97 mph, which is something that's always gonna be hard to hit coming from a lefty. Also, we'll start this year with MacDougal in the pen. He was only there for half the season in 2006. I really do wish that KW would get another quality reliever before the season starts, though.

Damn, the title scared the s*** out of me.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 18, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) I think we'll see Terrero or Owens brought to the club for that purpose. Not saying that's great, but I think that's what we'll get. Can Owens even play CF? I know almost nothing about him, except that he still needs time in the minors.

QUOTE(soxpride77 @ Dec 18, 2006 -> 02:04 PM) Why do we need another reliever? I'll take some outfield help, but I think that our bullpen right now is pretty solid. Because there's only 3 really proven guys. I'm not saying at least one of Aardsma/Logan/Sisco can turn out to be a fine reliever, but having one more solid reliever would go a long way in making our bullpen one of the best around. Also, definitely still need a back-up CF.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 06:28 PM) Huh? Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the offseason today? What would make me happy is upgrading this team in significant ways. One hole we had was backup catcher and it has been filled very nicely. I made my comment in response to someone who said that with this season, he was fully satisfied with the offseason even if no other acquisitions are made. I'm not. I don't see how anyone could be. A third place team needs to fill some holes. Essentially standing pat isn't enough. What would make me happy? A real overall upgrade to the team. Not an overhaul. Not necessarily bringing in a marquee player. But something that does good job of filling a hole from the 2006 team. If you're referring to me, that's absolutely not what I said. I said I'd be happy with a right-handed 4th OFer and another reliever.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 02:48 PM) I don't know if we "would've won quite a few more [games] with legitimate back-ups at C and CF." I think better backups at C and CF would have helped us a little, but those minor positions wouldn't add significantly to the win total. A significantly better bullpen would definitely help. I don't know if the 2007 bullpen is going to be significantly better than the 2006 pen. I think it definitely will, especially if we add another reliable reliever. We're going to have MacDougal for all of this year, instead of just half the year. That itself will improve the bullpen. We also won't be starting the year off with Politte on the team, who was the absolute worst pitcher in all of baseball. If Aardsma/Sisco/Logan/etc. can put together a decent year, we'd have a very solid pen.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 02:20 PM) I just don't like the fan perspective that says "We were great last year, no matter what the results were. With essentially the same team next year, we should expect very different results." We won 90 games. We would've won quite a few more with legitimate back-ups at C and CF, not to mention a better bullpen. I can't imagine our starters being as bad as they were last year.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 02:11 PM) That's quite a gamble. How much of the team's play was underachievement? And did any players overachieve last year? Shouldn't we expect them to regress as well? I still think standing pat as a 3rd place team doesn't make much sense. This is all so very surprising to me.

IF this is true, I'd be happy with this offseason if we could add a legitimate back-up CF who hits righty...and possibly one more reliever.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 01:19 PM) Holy hell it's a festivus miracle. It's not December 23rd.

YES YES YES YES

QUOTE(R.J. @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 01:00 AM) Great trade. Gload is a solid bench guy but an underwhelming option as a late inning pinch hitter, and though I loved having the guy on our team I was never happy when he got a rare start. Sisco is indeed the perfect Coop reclamation project, because he came so cheap. Let's see what he can do. Now maybe sign a guy not unlike Erubiel Durazo and see if he'd be of any value in Gload's old role. No, Gload's old role is completely obsolete right now. The real necessary bench role is that of back-up CF. EDIT: The guy must also be righty.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Dec 17, 2006 -> 12:47 AM) I love the heat, but isn't it more efffective to have a few fireballers mixed in with a few junk ballers in the pen? Hitters won't have to make many adjustments when they know every guy in our pen is gonna throw 95-100 mph heat. The Royals might have become our farm system. Just like the Cubs have the Pirates, we have the Royals. And concerning the theory of having different pitchers, our guys have their differences. Jenks has that 12-6 curve besides his heat, Thornton sorta has a slider (when he's really on), MacDougal throws that 97 mph heater that runs in on righties. I don't know anything about Aardsma, honestly, but Sisco supposedly has a damn good slider to compliment it. Basically, I'm saying that it's alright to have all these hard throwers because they seem to each have something about them that separates them from the next guy. It won't be the same look from each and every guy.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 16, 2006 -> 06:50 PM) FWIW, here's an article from BP talking about the trade and some of Sisco's behavior problems: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=104 This does not please me.