SSH2005

We already had 2 bad arms in the outfield this past season -- Podsednik's and Rowand's. Dye had a strong arm but he wasn't accurate with it. Didn't you know that having one bad season means you are on the decline? I wonder what it means when you only have one really good season and then a really horrible one to follow it up like Rowand.

The article even mentions that the Yankees are looking at ways to work a 3-way deal for Rowand like many people here suggested since the Yankees have nothing that we would want.

No, thankfully I am not in the picture.

According to ESPN 1000's update, Bruce Levine is reporting that the Cubs have made a "serious long-term offer" to Scott Eyre. The report said that both parties are committed to getting the deal done. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG6QFPOHV1.DTL "Eyre all but gone: Free-agent Reliever Scott Eyre, one of the most valuable members of the 2005 Giants, has decided he wants to pitch closer to his Florida home and has narrowed his choice to the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros and Braves, his representative said Wednesday night. Agent Tommy Tanzer expects to get Eyre a three-year deal worth at least $9 million."

Everett and Blum are already gone. Konerko and Frank are free agents. A big question is who will be traded. Marte, Rowand, El Duque, and Willie are all candidates to be dealt.

I would make that trade in a second. Rowand and Marte will earn a combined $5.5 million in 2006. If the Phillies pay half of Thome's $43.5 million remaining contract, he would only cost an average of $7.25 million per season for 3 years. Anderson would replace Rowand and the lineup would be better all around. We would have a nice lefty #3 hitter that could play first base if Konerko leaves and also DH to stay healthy. Your lineup is wrong though. Thome would bat third and Konerko would bat fourth. Thome is more of a #3 hitter than Konerko is and it would also split up the lefties and righties that way. But you're right about the improvement to the lineup. Jim Thome & Brian Anderson >>>>> Carl Everett & Aaron Rowand

He dressed as Captain America at a Blackhawks game. http://www.northtonorth.com/photogallery/photo24274/real.htm

I hate to break it to you but that's some kind of fantasy game site. It says that the Sox signed Ozuna on 9/16/2005. They didn't.

All the Twins have to do is form a decent offense and they will be good again next season. They will have a very nice rotation of Santana, Radke, Silva, Baker, and Liriano and a studly bullpen. If they add some good offensive players this offseason, they will be back to winning 90+ games again.

Another good reason to go after Thome -- to block the Twins from getting him. The Twins have the prospects to make the move if the Phillies pick up a lot of Thome's contract. If they trade for Thome, keep Hunter, and Morneau rebounds, they could have a potent 3-4-5 punch. Seeing Thome wearing the high black socks like Podsednik and Crede would also be classic.

I know. His defense is shaky as well. I still think I'd start him. Songaila is pretty weak. We need Sweetney's inside game to replace Curry's from last year because Chandler has none.

Losing Antonio Davis hurt, especially since Chandler has no inside scoring game. Also, Songaila starting over Sweetney is becoming a joke, a very bad joke.

I know Podsednik's bat from his walk-off homer went to the Hall of Fame. Blum's bat probably did as well considering his homer led to the end of the longest World Series game in history.

Let's take a look at the possibilities: #3 Frank DH #4 Konerko 1B ------------------- #3 Thome 1B #4 Frank DH ------------------- #3 Thome DH #4 Konerko 1B

Haha, so true man. Everyone thought we would be done with his raping of us at the Cell when he left the Indians. Then he hits 4 homers against us in that 3 game interleague series with the Phillies at the Cell in 2004. Thome would bat third and Konerko would bat fourth. We would have our own version of the Bash Brothers, the extremely slow and pudgy Bash Brothers that is. No, we need a good hitter that will take a walk. We need a #3 hitter, preferably a lefty. Even if we re-sign Konerko, he's not a true #3 hitter. Neither is Dye. And Frank can't stay healthy enough to fill the hole and be depended on.

Maybe the Mets got Otsuka.

I wonder if Willie Harris will be traded. Ozuna can play 2nd base, 3rd base, and shortstop.

I agree with you. I think the Sox are probably only interested in dealing Rowand, El Duque, and Marte though. Rowand can be replaced by Brian Anderson, El Duque will be replaced by McCarthy, and Marte could be replaced by a guy like Scott Eyre or Mike Myers. No one else on our team has a viable replacement. Rowand, El Duque, and Marte will earn a combined $10 million next season. Rowand and Marte probably have good trade value but El Duque probably doesn't have much because of his age, injury issues, and $4.5 million contract. We would most likely have to pick up some of El Duque's contract to deal him. Rowand, El Duque, and Marte are the guys I look for the Sox to deal in any possible trades. Delgado would probably cost Rowand, Marte, El Duque, a decent pitching prospect, and some money to pay for El Duque's contract.

Giles and Konerko are going to bust the bank now.

Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 said that there's a lot of interest in Marte from many teams. Of course, Levine is often wrong. If it's true, it's good news for us on the trade front.

Haha, Bruce Levine is backing off this trade rumor faster than you can imagine. He is now saying that the Cubs and the Marlins haven't talked about Juan Pierre in the past 3 days and that no trade is imminent. :rolly

Good point about how our pitching at the Cell would skew the park factor. The stats show that the Cell was the easiest park to hit a homer at. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfa...tor&season=2005

Citizens Bank is a hitter's park but the Cell is even moreso. I would guess that Abreu's home numbers would at least stay the same if not improve at the Cell. He still had an .804 OPS on the road. That's not bad.

I wouldn't mind the following lineup if we lose Konerko and could trade Rowand, El Duque, and Marte for Abreu (not that I see this happening): Podsednik LF Iguchi 2B Abreu RF Frank DH Dye 1B Pierzynski C Crede 3B Anderson CF Uribe SS If we don't re-sign Konerko and dumped Rowand, El Duque, and Marte's combined $10 million in payroll, we could afford Abreu. That would be a nice, speedy lineup with Pods, Iguchi, Abreu, and Anderson that Ozzie would like. The outfield alone would probably be the speediest in the entire MLB. Ozzie would love the Venezuelan connection too. I'm not sure the Phillies would be interested though. Are you really going to only look at Abreu's 2005 numbers? He owns a career AVG of .303 and a career OPS of .923. Dye is a career .272 hitter with a career OPS of .803. Abreu is a much better hitter than Dye.

Damaso Marte, your plane is boarding. The bad thing about Eyre is that he's going to be way overpaid because he's the best lefty available. I'd rather just sign Mike Myers to a cheap contract and trade Marte.