IlliniKrush

I would think about adding Wagner to that list.

Ya, you have to start somewhere. And it's not like we have all the inside info about what the Padres want to do with their lineup. But the whole thing with the salary and the new ballpark make sense. Oh, and age. I'm sure they'd love to dump Klesko here pretty soon. He'll be gone by the time they win anything.

And to think i was the only one on the Mark Kotsay bandwagon...

If we could somehow do the Klesko/Kotsay for Konerko/Lee swap, i'd do it in a heartbeat. That would be spectacular. The 40+ stolen bases and defensive help would be great. Then Borchard could play left field when he comes up instead of centerfield, when he is not a "regular" centerfielder. However i don't see the Higgy/Thomas swap happening...not with the current situation the Tigers are in. They don't need an overpriced, old, b****y first baseman when they drastically need to rebuild. And they have Carlos Pena over there anyway. I still want to do something with Valentin at some point, but you can only do one thing at a time in this league. And as far as that lineup goes, if jimenez struggles, which i think could easily happen, you could move Kotsay to leadoff and have some possibilities for the 2 hole (maybe crede eventually)

Well then that explains it, actually

Kind of random, but another starter to closer thing i could see happening is Jon Lieber becoming a closer. I'm not saying he's the next Smoltz, but i think he's the perfect fit to try something like Smoltz did. Keeps the ball down, nasty slider, not many walks at all, and the first time around the order, teams were usually clueless against him. I had this idea right away when he became injured last year. Of course a lot of it depends on how healthy he is. But i don't know how effective he would be as a starter at this point.

supposedly he can play center. He can steal 40+ bases, assuming he has an OBP that isn't .320 or something ridiculous. That's a concern.

probably the big reason was the game was over when jose made his error so at that point it was like so freakin what...had he did that in the first inning and it lead to the 2 runs that it did we all would have been on him too.. plus jimenez 's was a routine pop up...we see guys make throwing errors al lthe time...but NOBODY drops a routine pop up..and it couldnt have caused more damage..3 unearned runs... a real scorekeeper would have given him 2 errors on that play too..first for dropping it..and a 2nd for kicking it rf and letting the 3rd run score.. timing is everything in life The thing is, everyone is so heavily against him it seems. I'd b**** if it looked like he wasn't hustling on it, but he looked up for the ball and didn't look like he was dogging it or anything. I'm assuming he lost the ball in the lights. Its definately inexcusable and I complained about it, but I also complained about Jose's error, because it put the game out of reach and to me ever error matters. Even if they don't score another run a pitcher has to throw more pitches and if that doesn't hur them this game those extra pitches when magnified with all the other errors could lead him to being more fatigued or something along those lines. Though it's obvious Jimenez's error had a bigger effect on the outcome of the game (in my opinion it ended it with Mulder on the mound), i'm more pissed about the Valentin error because he half assed it. A sidearm throw from behind 2nd base? What the hell is that? Jimenez may have lost it in the lights or just misjudged it, but he seemed to be tracking it the whole way and didn't just try to one hand it lazily or anything.

I agree with Higgy if you can get rid of some of that salary. The problem with Furcal is that they wouldn't need Lee in any deal with a Jones-Jones-Sheffield outfield...there's no way to play him. A possible deal with Konerko, depending on who else you need to give up, would be great. If he stops swinging for the fence every at bat, he'll be a great leadoff guy. And i believe he can run more than he has been, but why run often with that heart of the lineup behind you. Also, Fick is coming around now, but i think Konerko would be a definite upgrade. Klesko would be great because it would give us the lefty we need. The only thing bad about that deal is you'd be giving up what, 5 years in age? And Klesko has some speed, whereas Konerko has negative speed (if that's possible he has it). Klesko could still probly swipe some bags, too. Jason, love the Mark Kotsay mention. I've loved this guy for years, but no one knows who the hell he is. I once heard some scout say "he doesn't do anything spectacular, but he does everything pretty well." Some pop, good average, good defensively, pretty good speed. Plays hard. Very underrated, and i think he's on the rise. I don't know how much SD wants to keep him, but he'd be #1 on my list right now because i don't think it'd take a whole lot to get him, compared to someone like Furcal. Stewart's would be a nice addition. He's gonna hit around .300 for years, that's great for a leadoff man. However the one thing about him is he isn't stealing much anymore, but i think this can be attributed to the fact that the Jays just don't run. He can still 30+ bases, i believe. .300 hitter with 30 SB? That looks pretty nice when penciled into the 1 spot on the lineup card. I guess if i had to rank who to go after, all things being considered, i'd go with Kotsay, Furcal, Higgy, Stewart, Klesko.

I'm loving some of the things he's saying on Baseball Tonight. I know that's nothing to base hiring him off of, but the guy has some great theories about baseball.

Where is, get someone in here to replace Ward? That being said, i voted for speedy leadoff guy...maybe Manuel can manage differently if he has that asset.

I got one word to describe him: nasty

Well let me add on to my last post by saying get rid of Lee first because it will be practically impossible to get rid of Thomas. So basically, try to get rid of Lee way before Konerko.

The cubs lost? does that help? helped me for about 5 seconds...ok now i'm back to being pissed off

Paul was such a terrible move, you don't need 3 catchers on a roster, anytime, anywhere, under no circumstance. It's a waste. We were operating with a 24 man roster to start the year.

How many times have you heard an announcer say "you know that when he's hitting the ball the opposite way, he's about to break out of his slump." I've heard it endless times...and here's the thing...they are right in saying it! Maybe if this team started having a better approach at the plate they would break out of their slumps. This will be especially true if Konerko begins to hit and everyone else in the middle of the order still struggles. Gee, i guess i found the answer to our hitting problems.

Definitely need speed. D'Angelo doesn't have enough to be a leadoff hitter, and Harris won't get on base enough to be a leadoff hitter. I'd get rid of Lee first as i don't think he's ever going to be any better than he is right now, or the past few years at least. Fine someone who thinks his breakout year is actually coming and get something for him, preferably a lefty bat or someone with speed.

Ya, he threw that ball completely sidearm, that wasn't even 3/4. That was a pitiful throw, that's inexcusable. Valentin sucks at SS as well, i'm with Jason when he says make some changes and have Valentin as your DH

Ya, but that's a difference in defensive position, not whether or not he's starting or not. This is graff vs valentin in the lineup

If you aren't going to start Graff against lefties...what's the point of having him? The answer i guess would be "pinch hitting for valentin against lefties later in the game", like if they brought in a reliever. Well if you are gonna use him as a pinch hitter against lefties, why can't you just give him the damn start when a lefty is on the hill?

I can attest to the fact that Reynolds has been all over the Sox for kicking the ball around for years

What happened to the idea of Valentin sitting against lefties because he can't hit worth a damn right, and starting Graff? He's a solid player and needs to stay fresh throughout the year. Valentin's righthanded at bats are a waste for the most part. What the hell is going on here? And why the hell wasn't he pinch hit for in his last at bat?

I wanted JM gone because i think his tactics sucks, however if KW is pulling the strings and we didn't know that, then we were blaming the wrong man. I'm fine with KW outta here if he is constantly meddling with this team when he shouldn't be.

Struck out looking on an inside fastball in the first, and i know he grounded out to short i believe cuz he tried to pull an outside pitch, then he took a s*** swing and flew out. In a word, crap.

Ya, i never used to start pitchers against the Sox...dropped that habit really quickly.