Milkman delivers

It's about f***ing time. And that last kick almost didn't go in.

These guys suck.

What do you do as Paterno? My Lord, I wouldn't be able to hold in my anger for that kicker.

Anyone have a breakdown of Lane? What are his strong and weak points.

That's gonna be a fun team to watch next year. Sorry, that was supposed to be "a funny team."

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 11:43 AM) Essentially. The Jews want to rebuild soloman;s temple. To to the Muslims it is something like the 3rd or so holiest site in all of Islam, and for a Jew just to enter it, basically causes riots. You can divide or govern the city however you want, but there is no way to settle this issue to make both sides happy. The longer the Jews have to wait to rebuild that temple, the better. If you believe the way some people translate the Bible, then the temple has to be built in the same location for the third time before the end can come.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 12:35 AM) Looks like we could have the upper hand in our offer for Tejada... There's no way the Orioles would give up Tejada and Markakis for Manny and Clement and still add all of that salary to their payroll. Contreras, Uribe, and prospect(s) could get it done. Doesn't it just seem like we'll be replacing a position that really isn't a hole? Uribe isn't the greatest, we all know that. But, he's far from a hole or a necessity to upgrade. I'd much rather they get a good reliever or two (an actual hole) or possibly a proven CF (possible weakness). It seems like we'll be removing depth from our rotation just to fill a hole that isn't even there instead of filling actual holes.

I, too, hate both ND and OSU. I rooted like hell for OSU, though, because I hate ND more. If Texas can beat USC, I'll be extremely happy with this year's bowl games. Also, I hate Texas a lot.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 11:54 PM) 14 teams?? He sucked in seattle thats why he was cut plain and simple.... Padres liked him I thought but idonno he wanted some more money or something I guess. He is a nice backup C just when used as a starter :puke I was clearly joking with the number 14. You knew that. Olivo was replaced by Doug Mirabelli, a back-up catcher for which the Padres traded their starting 2B. I honestly doubt they thought highly of him. Then, he gets picked up by a team that is in complete rebuilding mode that would take just about any cheap player that can clog a hole for a couple years. When their next catching prospect is ready, Olivo will be out on his ass again hoping to sign with another rebuilding team.

There's a reason Olivo was on 14 teams in 2 seasons. It's because he sucks a whole hell of a lot. Nobody wants him, and we have Widger. That guy can actually call a game.

There hasn't been any new news in this thread since the first few pages, right?

Just go away and stop tarnishing your legacy. This year sucked and his performance in the playoffs the last couple years was pretty embarrassing.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 11:29 PM) The real question is why the f***balls are the Pirates trying to replace Craig Wilson in right field? He must be one of the most underrated players in the MLB. Craig Wilson's career line: .268 AVG / .363 OBP / .488 SLG / .851 OPS He can also play both corner outfield spots, first base, and some catcher. He can put up Dye-like numbers in a healthy, full season (see his 2004 stats). An outfield of Jason Bay in LF, Chris Duffy in CF, and Craig Wilson in RF is fine as is. The Pirates would be moronic to dump him and sign Sosa. The Pirates are moronic. Something like that shouldn't surprise you. Chris Shelton, anyone?

Was this being talked about before or after Garland signed the extension?

This is gonna be a looooooooong thread, and I'm not helping with this post.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:38 PM) Naming someone as a possibility doesnt do anything for me. Either you know or dont know and in Tejada's case he doesnt know. He also said Clemens is a possibility so... Herbert Perry was also named as a possibility NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Seriously, I know it doesn't prove anything, but he said what a lot of people think. And you have to believe he had some inside knowledge. And then when Palmeiro went and blamed him, I believe he did it because he knew that Tejada juiced and figured he'd be a good guy to blame. But, I really don't want to turn this into a steroid discussion. Let's just drop this one and stay on track.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:18 PM) Canseco never said Tejada did steroids, he said he didn't know either way. He did accuse some people without ever witnessing them taking steriods, but Tejada was not one of them. As I said, he named him as a possibility. He didn't say he did steroids directly. I read the book.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:50 PM) I think Clement was starting to suck before he got hit. Yeah, I just checked and, as far as I can tell, his ERA when he got hit in the head was 4.43. That's pretty bad, and it looks like the ERA just was just growing for a while. I think it's more likely that he came from the NL, had a few decent (not even very good) months his first time through the AL, and then everybody figured him out. I doubt he ever is actually good in the AL.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:48 PM) From the Trib. Thats a pretty damn good offer assuming Bmore is willing to add the payroll (and I think they are). Clement has good stuff and he stunk after getting drilled with a baseball in the 2nd half. Before that he was pitching quite well and will help there rotation. And than there is Ramirez, who is in my opinion the best run producer in baseball. Obviously this has to do with freeing up payroll but talent wise (and salary/attitude asside) Manny >>> Miggy and than to add Clement to it, I think this is the deal Bmore makes. They improve the offense and pitching staff in one fell swoop and Angelos has never had problems with adding payroll. I think Clement was starting to suck before he got hit.

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:27 PM) Very true. I'm happy if the Sox get Tejada. I'm happy if the Sox keep their pitching. I can't lose. I think it's just that I feel more comfortable with having the pitching depth and a seemingly pretty good offense than I do with a pitching staff with little depth and a better offense.

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:18 PM) I would bat Thome 5th. Thome has a better OBP, but I think Paully could benefit from Thome's protection in the lineup. Thome also strikes out a lot and Konerko would be better at getting a big sac fly or basehit up the middle. I don't think you can go wrong either way. I remember reading on this site somewhere that Konerko was told by KW that the Sox would go out and get him some protection in the lineup. Tejada sure would be nice batting 3rd. Figuring out where to bat Konerko, Tejada, and Thome would be a wonderful problem to have. Ah, but the same could be said of having our current 5 starters with McCarthy waiting to fill in.

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 08:59 PM) McCarthy as the long man out of the pen may be overkill. KW will need to get a starter for the long man spot if a deal goes down just in case of injury. I don't think we really know what the Sox max payroll will be next year. What the Sox say or what they tell Levine, may be a smokescreen. Or, it may be subject to change if an impact player such as Tejada is available. Or, ticket sales are going even better than expected and the Sox are in a position to bump the payroll even farther. Pods Iguchi Tejada Konerko Thome Dye AJ Crede Andersen MB FG JV BM JG That is impressive and fun to talk about. Do you think Thome would bat 5th? Especially with Guillen's love of the lefty-righty thing, I think Thome might bat 3rd in that scenario.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 08:43 PM) Yes that is the downside, and its not like there are that many decent relievers left. I hope nobody gets me wrong, though. I love the idea of having possibly the best SS in baseball on the Sox. He's great defensively and offensively, and he seems like a nice guy. I just don't like the steroid talk about him. He was named as a possibility in Canseco's book, and Palmeiro pointed a finger at him. I'm sure Palmeiro did it just so he can push the blame on someone else, but I also believe he chose Tejada for a reason. And then I don't want ship off Uribe. The guy dropped Boras and signed a good deal with the Sox. He plays hard as hell, and might even be a better defender than Tejada. He almost single-handedly ended the World Series for the Sox on top of that. I don't like getting attached to players, but after this possibly scenario, the Sox have replaced a whole lot of last year's team in one offseason. I'm all for improving the team, but that just worries me a lot. It would also remove all of the depth from the rotation and take a pitcher from the bullpen. I love this trade and I dislike it at the same time.

OK, let's say for a second that the Sox do in fact trade Uribe and Contreras for Tejada. This means that McCarthy definitely goes to the rotation, and now we have two different starters from last year in Brandon and Vazquez (which is good and bad because it means no more Duque, but it still has question marks in those two replacements). That scares me a little because a starter is likely to go down at some point during the season, perhaps for an extended period of time. I don't know who would replace that starter. And then what about the bullpen? McCarthy would be in it now, with the rotation already full. When he's taken out of it, that leaves two likely open spots in the pen. So, I also wonder who would fill those positions especially since we'd probably be maxed out financially for the year.

Thanks, greasy.