SSH2005

If you look at Garland's 2002 to 2004 numbers and compare them to his 2005 numbers, the only thing that really changed was the number of walks he gave up. If he goes back to walking 75 to 80 batters in 2006 instead of walking only 47 like last season, he won't be as effective.

Brutal man. It's bad enough that I have to see Frank holding up an A's uniform but I also have to see Billy Beane right next to him with a creepy smile. I call your :puke and raise you :puke :puke.

If Frank stays healthier and outperforms Thome, I may agree with you. But Brian Anderson had to play sooner or later.

ROFL.

The thought of Willie Harris being Boston's starting center fielder is making me laugh my ass off.

Two seasons is twice as many as one. Also, Buehrle has shown much more consistency of being a good pitcher over the years than Contreras. Don't forget that Buehrle is much younger than Contreras. And finally, losing Buehrle to free agency after 2007 would net us a couple draft picks. Losing Contreras to free agency after 2006 won't. Horrible comparison.

Or maybe not every poster here thinks that every White Sox player is a stud just because they are on the White Sox. Guys like Podsednik come to mind. There are many good players on the Sox but they aren't all great, even though they won a World Series. There is a reason KW improved our offense afterall.

That's my whole argument. I never said that Contreras wouldn't be a stud next season but I'm not so sure he won't be mediocre either. We just don't know because he hasn't shown any consistency yet. My argument is that we will have Contreras for possibly only one year. If we traded him, we could get players in return that we could have for many more years. And Lastings Milledge isn't the only player I am talking about.

Scouts and GM's think that Lastings Milledge will be a good center fielder in the MLB but you don't seem to care much about that. You can't have it both ways.

Consistency, i.e. more than 19 starts.

Because Contreras was only awesome for approximately 19 starts (15 starts after All-Star break + 4 postseason starts). Sorry, but I want to see more before I dub him "one of the best pitchers in the league." I don't think I'm being unreasonable.

What is my angle? I just don't think that Contreras is a top pitcher in the league because of one good half season and one good postseason. What in the hell is wrong with that stance? What were you saying about Contreras after 2005 when he finished with a 5.50 ERA on the season? Show me a few years of consistency first and I will agree with you.

One good half a season and a good postseason does not make Contreras "one of the best pitchers in the league." Sorry.

This was how I was comparing them... Proven players: Aaron Rowand Jose Contreras Unproven players: Brian Anderson Lastings Milledge

KW already traded away a good player to let "a player that may or may not be a good player in the league one day" start in center field. Obviously, he got Thome in return but he's still going with an unproven player in center field.

So you don't think that there's a difference in trade value for a pitcher who is under contract for only one season and a pitcher who is under contract for three years for example? Contreras's trade value would be the same if he was under contract for three years instead of only one? If KW is truly thinking that way, he's smoking too much of the wacky tobaccy.

If it is not even in KW's head to even think of trading Contreras, why did he say the following instead of saying, "I will not trade Jose Contreras, period."? http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/whitesox.asp?id=147020 That doesn't sound like KW is completely against trading Contreras. That sounds to me like a GM who is talking up the bids for his pitcher. If KW really wasn't willing to trade Contreras, wouldn't he say that Jose is offlimits? One reason I could think of is that his buddy El Duque is now gone.

So you won't feel bad if we keep Contreras, fail to win another World Series or even make the playoffs, and Contreras goes on to sign elsewhere once the season is over? I know it's a risk to trade Contreras but come on...

That's not my argument. I think Contreras can be a stud next season but I also think it's possible that he isn't very good. My argument is that I don't won't to lose him after 2006 and get nothing in return. If we actually received draft picks for losing him to free agency, I wouldn't mind as much. But Contreras has the same contract as Hideki Matsui did. There's no compensation if we lose him to free agency.

Frank Thomas has been injury-plagued and has only played in 108 games (345 AB's) over the past 2 seasons. Losing him isn't a big blow because he hasn't contributed much due to injuries. Letting a quality starter go after one season and getting nothing in return would hurt much more. Frank Thomas had absolutely zero trade value the past couple seasons. Right now, Contreras has a lot of trade value.

Maybe we could get Royce Ring back. We still need a lefty, haha.

I guess I just fear losing Contreras for nothing after 2006 and I will feel worse if he has a bad season. If we at least got a couple draft picks for losing him to free agency, it wouldn't be so bad.

If he did, we would have Brian Giles by now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/players/...ching&year=2003 58.2 IP as a starter in 2003 13.1 IP as a reliever in 2003