SSH2005

And the Red Sox will be happy with this deal for the exact opposite reason as the Marlins -- the Red Sox want to win now, not 5 years from now.

It's a good trade for Boston. Prospects are just prospects. They are not guaranteed to be good in the majors. And Hanley Ramirez's offensive numbers are hardly impressive. The Red Sox actually know that they are getting an ace-quality pitcher in Beckett if he can stay healthy. Also, Lowell could put up great numbers pulling cheap homers over the monster.

Good move for Boston. They needed an ace-quality pitcher and now they have one. Lowell is an extreme flyball pull hitter so he could have a big comeback next season hitting flyballs over the monster.

Seeing-eye singles and not many extra base hits?

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...t=.jsp&c_id=mlb Marlins, Rangers set deadline for deal

We aren't the mystery team. If anything, we will be trying to dump a starting pitcher (El Duque), not add another one.

Wow, Owens hits wherever he goes. Is there any possible way he could be a bust over a good leadoff hitter? I can't wait to see this guy play.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/spor...677_mari21.html M's to sign Japanese catcher Johjima

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...de.39e1038.html Rangers sweeten the deal for Beckett Texas offers Danks or Diamond in pitch

I remember the exact opposite. Anderson made a few great catches in left field and center field. I think he also made a nice throw from center field and helped rack up a double play. I'm pretty sure he was perfect in the few games he played in the outfield.

Indubitably. Dumping El Duque's contract would be nice. And we could either trade for Pierre or just throw Brian Anderson in center field.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...ack=1&cset=true

Regardless, Ozzie said he wants to add a more speedy #2 hitter and move Iguchi down in the order in more of a RBI producing role. There must be a reason that Ozzie would rather have a guy like Pierre batting second and Iguchi batting lower in the order, right? So it may not matter how much you like Rowand. He could be as good as gone.

So we should stunt Iguchi's true offensive production when there is probably a better option available to bat second for us? If we lose Konerko, we will likely need that production. It just doesn't seem very wise to me. Pierre will earn more money than Podsednik because he has been better over his career and has had more good seasons than Podsednik. I really don't understand what Pierre's contract has to do with Podsednik's contract. Pierre got paid more than Podsednik for a reason. I would take both players, even if Pierre makes twice as much as Podsednik.

Okay. Well, let me ask you this. If Iguchi truly has the potential to hit 25+ homeruns like he himself has stated, why waste that potential batting him in the 2-hole where he will often be sacrificing himself to move over Podsednik? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to put Iguchi in the sixth spot in the order where he can swing away and be more of a RBI producer? Wouldn't it make more sense to put the better bunter, better speed and stolen base threat, and the guy with barely any power in the 2-hole to move Podsednik over? Why waste the guy with the 25+ homer potential to move over Podsednik most of the time?

That's not my personal opinion. Pierre strikes out less, he's faster, he steals more bases, and he's a better bunter. Those are all facts. Also, Pierre is a left-handed bat so his natural pull swing would be towards the right side of the infield allowing Podsednik to move from second to third with ease. Iguchi wants to hit homeruns. He also strikes out a lot. He is more suited to be batting sixth in the lineup.

Juan Pierre barely strikes out and almost always hits the ball into play. Iguchi struck out 114 times. While Iguchi is a pretty good bunter, Pierre is one of the best bunters in the MLB. Pierre has much more speed than Iguchi and can steal a lot more bases. Because of these reasons, I think it's more than reasonable to say that Pierre would be a better #2 hitter for us than Iguchi.

Exactly. And if you decide to replace Rowand with Pierre, you would just have to make sure you also add high OPS guys at first base and DH. For example, a 3-4-5-6 of Thome, Frank (if healthy), Dye, and Iguchi would make up for a light-hitting outfield composed of Podsednik and Pierre.

Exactly. Even if we lose Konerko we could still have a good lineup. I don't know how anyone could complain about this: Podsednik LF Pierre CF Thome 1B Frank DH Dye RF Iguchi 2B Pierzynski C Crede 3B Uribe SS The only problem is that Frank would have to show that he is healthy and we would still probably need a solid backup plan in case he got injured again.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-sox19.html Haha, does anyone think Ozuna is actually going to earn those incentives?

Yeah, I posted this in the other Thome thread. Pretty interesting. It's nice to know that even if Konerko leaves, we will still have a good option for first base. And a 100% healthy Thome could put up even better numbers than Konerko. He'd be a very nice #3 lefty hitter in our lineup that we could also DH to keep healthy.

Jim Thome says that he would accept a trade to the Indians and White Sox. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/13211982.htm

According to this article, the holdup in the trade is that the Rangers don't want to give up John Danks or Thomas Diamond in the trade, even though the Marlins want one of them. The Rangers would rather ship Adrian Gonzalez to another team for a starting pitching prospect to send to the Marlins. It makes sense too. The Rangers need pitching way more than they need offense so they value Danks and Diamond a lot more than Adrian Gonzalez.

According to the original trade rumor, the Marlins were asking the Rangers for either John Danks or Thomas Diamond. Both of those guys are still prospects, not MLB-ready starting pitchers. We wouldn't send the Marlins Brandon McCarthy but we could still send them a starting pitching prospect like Gio Gonzalez.