RME JICO

This is no big deal. It is because they both were added to the 40-man roster. Haeger's innings are no big deal, he is a knuckleballer. Getting Owens some extra playing time will only speed up his progression. I don't blame them, they made the 40 man roster, and they also wanted to be home for Christmas and get ready/rested for Spring Training. Here is some info about Haeger that basically describes everything: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minor...nterwonder.html Cora just happened to be the manager, if it is any other manager this is no big deal. Cora has always stated that he was disappointed, and caught off guard. So maybe they both could have let Cora know in advance, instead of just basically walking out. I guess Cora was trying to work with Haeger to have him develop another consistent pitch to go with his knuckler. Having Cora as a Winter Ball manager is a great way for the Sox to assess and mentor young players. I am surprised there were not more Sox on the team.

The MVP should be heads and shoulders above the competition. The only thing Alexander did was break the TD record. SEA just never took him out near the goal line, and actually ran him in for a few easy ones, so if that is how you want to break the record, that is fine, but kind of cheap in my book. If the MVP is going to be a RB, he needs to be more than just a runner. Alexander didn't even have 100 yards receiving. Brady or Manning would have been better picks because they have more of an impact on the game. They run the game from the field. Alexander gets told what to do. His O-Line and the playcalling have a lot to do with his success. Compare these: L. Johnson 1750 yds 20 TDS, 343 Rec yds 1 TD, starting only 10 games. Alexander 1880 yds 27 TDs, 78 Rec yds 1 TD - MVP? T. Barber 1860 yds 9 TDs, 530 Rec yds 2 TD (2390 Total yards) If you were going to pick a RB, then Barber or Johnson should have been picked above Alexander. The only reason he got it was because of the TD record. If Johnson started 1 or 2 more games he would have had the rushing title. The only reason Barber didn't get it was because of his lack of TDs, but he had 432 more total yards from scrimmage than Alexander.

He was a time bomb waiting to explode. It is hard living in the shadow of Ron Mexico. So now he will probably be a First Round Pick by the Raiders.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 08:40 PM) Why isn't this in green? You can't seriously think he desrved to win MVP. He didn't have anything close to the type of numbers a defensive player has to put up to win the award (see: Lawrence Taylor's 1986 season). Um yes. I just thought Urlacher would have received a vote or two. I didn't expect Urlacher to win the award, just to get a vote or two. If you take him off the defense the Bears defense is no where near it is right now.

Pretty good pics, but not really surprising. I am sure most people have looked like that at some point. Who cares if they are athletes, Orton just turned 23, so drinking is still a novelty to him, not a skill. Maybe he is trying to drink away his Passer Rating.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 7, 2006 -> 03:27 AM) #1 #2 #4 #7 #8 #12 #13 #16 Those are the playoff teams from last year. The one team who probably deserves the most credit on there is Cleveland - 93 wins on a payroll less than the left side of the Yankees infield makes. That is incredible. For as much as everyone hates them on this site...much kudos goes to the Indians from me. That's remarkable. That is why Shapiro is up there as a GM behind KW and Schuerholz. A-Rod $26 Million = Entire TB team $26,615,413 ^^^^^Ridiculous^^^^^

Yanks payroll more than the bottom 6 teams combined, and they are $91 million more than the next closest team. N.Y. Yankees - $207,152,931 Boston - $116,640,070 New York Mets - $103,985,823 Los Angeles Angels - $96,951,322 Philadelphia - $94,848,907 Los Angeles Dodgers - $87,753,000 St. Louis - $87,368,220 Atlanta - $85,873,582 San Francisco - $83,316,989 Baltimore - $81,041,711 Chicago Cubs - $76,598,500 Houston - $76,186,763 Chicago White Sox - $73,162,000 Seattle - $70,513,167 Detroit - $68,751,682 San Diego - $66,333,633 Washington - $62,866,000 Arizona - $60,803,968 Oakland - $58,425,354 Minnesota - $56,338,000 Florida - $56,273,212 Texas - $49,870,201 Cincinnati - $49,501,275 Toronto - $45,698,000 Milwaukee - $42,752,833 Cleveland - $40,684,100 Kansas City - $34,903,000 Colorado - $32,504,000 Pittsburgh - $30,139,200 Tampa Bay - $26,615,413 http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5227436

This is from Rosenthal posted 3 hours ago: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5224028 Based off that quote it would be a pretty surprising turn of events. Maybe it was misinterpreted.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 06:48 PM) Cool. I had never heard the term before so I took it literally. I feel like Emily Litella. But, I also think the bottom of roster played a key role on the '05 team and even though that now I know what the hell you were talking about, I'm concerned that it may prove a weakness next season. I feel better now, I was like man I really pissed him off. I use that term so often that I didn't even realize it, but I didn't want to discount what those players did, it took all of them to win the championship. I just thought that even though they contributed, they could be upgraded or replaced with comparable players. I think the Mackowiak signing might be the diamond in the rough for the Sox. He is so versatile and is an upgrade over every guy on the bench in 2005. You take him with Ozuna, and Widger, then throw in Borchard, Gload, or even Owens and the bench looks pretty good. The most glaring need right now is middle relief, and at least one Lefty. Emily Litella = Old School SNL

Actually since it was reported that Prior's agent told the Cubs that he was going to Arb back in November, that is almost the same time the rumors of him being moved started to pop up. Hendry probably figures that he is not going to be able to re-sign Prior, and he will now have to pay him more than what he had expected to pay thru Arb. So it seems like he is trying to get something for Prior before he gets nothing.

QUOTE(Random @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 05:32 PM) is there a website where i can pic up backrounds for sigs. There are a lot of nice ones in the sticky threads above. Otherwise try using the image search on google to find exactly what you want. One of the posts is called "Pics for sigs" ironically.

Some vindication after the MVP snub.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) Top 3 does not imply KW is 3rd best...it implies he's one of the best 3 GMs in the game. That's not bad at all. To clarify a little more about my personal opinion, I think KW is probably a top 2 GM along side Billy Beane. I'm probably stirring the pot a little bit by talking about Beane, but he put out a very good defensive team last year with a relatively solid but young pitching staff to go along side a good offense...all while "rebuilding." He nearly won the west and he's in a very good position to actually do so this year. The A's won atleast 90 games in a season for 5 straight seasons(00-04), and won 88 last year after getting off to a 17-32 start...it's hard to deny him as one of the best GMs in the game. I'm not saying this of course because of Moneyball...though it probably helps...and I'm not saying it solely because he's a sabermetric GM, because I thought DePodesta did a pretty mediocre job in LA, and Ricciardi has been mediocre in Toronto too. At the very least...KW and Beane are 1-2 in whatever order you wish...atleast I figure they are. I was just curious on who else you felt was up there. Beane has done a good job, but the A's seem to max out and fall short of anything significant. The A's have never even made it to the ALCS under Beane. So even though his teams put up good records, that is somewhat deceiving by the way they play in the post season. It is possible that they just had easier schedules to get those records, because they are consistently bad in the post season under Beane which doesn't really seem to add up. I would say KW #1 Schuerholz #2 Shapiro #3 Beane #4

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 03:05 PM) Johnson is an old man and Mussina is getting there. Pavano, Wright and Chacon can prove to be very solid, followed by Wang and Small .. that's potentially a pretty good rotation. Add to that the fact that Johnson and/or Mussina are still wily veterans that could possibly put in a good year, and the Yanks starting staff could be very good. Their bullpen can also prove to be extremely solid and the lineup is killer. The Yankees are the team to beat from a White sox perspective. When NY signed Damon and KW said the road would travel thru NY, he again showed his basegball knowledge. Like I said the Yanks will be there, but I don't see them as the team to beat. Of course KW is going to say that because it is easier to be the underdog and fly under the radar as much as possible.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 02:37 PM) I really get the feeling that pods will be gone as soon as he hits FA. The Sox have too many guys they like in the OF in the minors. He will only be 30 in 2006, so I think the Sox would re-sign him at a decent price to a 3 yr deal as insurance in case the others in the organization don't pan out.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:49 PM) Top 3 GM in the game. He's not the best trader, or the best when it comes to negotiating, but when the dust settles, he has had a great team on the field going into the season the past 2 years, with virtually no holes. He has gone the route of putting just enough offense on the field the past two years while overloading with pitching, and it worked extremely well last year, and I see no reason it will not work again next year. Lots of kudos to KW. Who are the other 2 GM's? It is hard to say that anyone has done a better job in the last 2 offseasons than KW has. He brought in Ozzie, then made a ton of other bold moves. I think there are only 4 starters left from opening day 2004. Paulie, Crede, Mark, and Jon. That is one hell of a turnover while winning a World Championship and fielding another winner for 2006. 83 wins to 99 wins and a WS Championship in one year.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 12:16 PM) Alright, I sent a three team trade rumor, lets see what happens. I sent in a rumor that I heard from a guy who has a friend that once met Peter Gammons in the airport. Here is the rumor: Sox get Tejada, Ray, Madson + cash to offset Tejada's contract Phils get Contreras + 2 Sox prospects O's get Abreu + Uribe + possible Sox prospect + cash to offset Abreu's contract The prospects were a high pitching prospect, Gload, and possibly one other mid level prospect.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:21 PM) That would be interesting seeing as the REAL Andy the Clown died years ago I thought that was Bozo the Clown.......

QUOTE(heirdog @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:02 PM) I voted for >110 because I think this team will be better than last year and I wanted to be overly optimistic so instead of 105 I just boosted it higher. But as far as the championship, is anyone else worried about the Yankees? I mean there line-up has always been dangerous but now with Damon they are that much more potent. Their big downer last year was the pitching. This year they bring back 6 bonafide big league starters (although not as good as the Sox overall). Johnson was down by his standards last year but is still a legit ace and then Mussina is a decent #2 or #3. Chacon pitched extremely well for them and will be there for a full season. Wang looked pretty good and if either Wright or Pavano regain the previous season form, they would be solid #4 or #5 pitchers. The bullpen has the best closer in the game in Rivera and just fortified with Farnsworth, Dotel and Ron Villone as set up men. Aaron Small looked great in spot starts last year and they will have specialists like Sturtze and Mike Myers. The pen at this point in time looks stronger than that of the Whitesox and while the starting pitching is not as good as the Sox, it is still solid to very good. That coupled with a line-up that features unreal talent might be a serious concern for the Sox. I think Sox still take them in 6 but I think part of all this line-up bolstering by KW is to think ahead to the Yankees. He did mention earlier in the off-season that the championship will have to go through NY (not sure I ever heard a world champ GM say it goes through some other team but whatever) and he understands that the Yanks have a talented pitching staff and if they get the bounces that the Sox got last year, they could very easily dominate from start to finish. I still say Sox in 6 over the Yanks but I am a little more worried than I am about the Indians, Angels or Redsox. Damon is an upgrade and that lineup is potent on paper, but who knows what that will translate into on the field. I don't think he is going to put up numbers like he has in the past. His stolen bases have slowly declined for the last 5 or so years down from 46 in 2000 to 18 in 2005. That is normally not a good sign over that length of time. Who knows what Giambi will show up? Roids or Sosa 2005. Sheffield just turned 37, so will he play OF or DH. How productive can he be in the OF for a full season at 37? Their Pitching staff has the names, but Johnson is 42, Mussina 37, and the others (Pavano, Wang, Chacon, and Wright) would all be 5th or 6th starters on the Sox. So yes the Yanks will be there, but I worry more about the A's and Indians because they don't have all the big names, but they have some under-rated talent.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 12:30 PM) The more time goes on, the more I like having Thome - Konerko - Dye, for a couple reasons. 1. It spreads out the lefties more - you put Thome at the end and he's 3 guys behind Pods, and right next to AJ. 2. It massively increases PK's chances for RBI's through Thome drawing walks. 3. It gives our best 2 hitters the best protection we can offer (If Thome or Konerko bats 5th, we better hope Crede, Iguchi, or AJ turn into 25+ home run guys, or they can just pitch around our 5th place hitter). 4. Thome and Konerko are bigger threats than Dye, and the closer they are to the front of the order, the more times they'll hit this season. I agree with you and tonyho7476 110%. I think getting the extra ABs for Thome and providing protection for both is paramount. Now to spread out the Lefites, would it be completely crazy to put Paulie 3rd, so the Sox could have the #1 slot, #4 slot, and say the #7 slots lefites? L-R-R-L-R-R-L-R-R. Thome would provide protection for Konerko, and Dye provides protection for Thome. Pods - Uribe - Thome - Konerko - Dye - AJ - Gooch - Crede - Anderson? Pods - Uribe - Konerko - Thome - Dye - Gooch - AJ - Crede - Anderson?

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 11:59 AM) As far as the lineup goes, I personally would prefer Ozzie to hit Thome 5th rather than 3rd, with Dye moving up to the 3 hole. I believe Dye was a more patient hitter when put in the 3rd slot at the end of the season and postseason, and you can't argue with the results. Dye was WS MVP, and the Sox scored 14, 5, 4, 2, 2, 5, 8, 6, 4, 7, 7, and 1 runs, winning 11 out of 12 games. With all the righties, it is also beneficial to have a lefty hitting in the middle of the lineup. I also think Joe Crede, if he continues where he left off after his disabled-list stint last year, could hit 6th. With Thome and Konerko on base so much but being slow, hitting Crede 6th takes maximum advantage of Crede's power. Iguchi's hit-and-run skills would be wasted here. That would slide Iguchi to 8th, perhaps an unreasonable "demotion," but with his speed, it would also allow the 8, 9, and 1 guys to try to manufacture runs. I am curious to see how the batting order will play out. It seems like the only slots that are pretty much locks are #1 and #4. There is a pretty big difference between the #3 and #5 slots, so that will be interesting to see how it plays out. It would almost seem better to sandwich Thome in between Paulie and Dye to provide a nice R - L - R punch, but it looks like it is going to be either Dye-Paulie-Thome or Thome-Paulie-Dye.

This is the new update. I guess his source was wrong, go figure. WILL THE REAL ANDY THE CLOWN PLEASE STAND UP!

I didn't know it was possible to collect Social Security while playing Major League Baseball. Now we have 2, Franco and Mulholland.

This should speed up the Tejada talks with the Sox since now the O's are going to need a real major league outfielder after acquiring Patterson.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jan 4, 2006 -> 10:37 PM) I love Cubs fans....bitter ones at that: A Sox fan pwning someone: ^ Very ironic....don't you think? Good stuff. I like the powerhouse one. Sox fans don't necessarily worry about the Cubs, it is more like bash them, or ridicule them. Most Cubs fans don't even know they are at a baseball game. They think the Cubs are a name of a social club, like the Brownies.