Jim Fainter

More importantly, just the absence of KW's boy, Ritchie, puts us into the cat bird's seat.

Look for the Cubs to get him to join Sirotka and the ghost of Ken Karchner.

..........with Jesse Orosco out of the pen, but they got rid of him.

The Sox outfield will look a lot better at mid year than it does now, with the same players. But, if Carlos doesn't turn it on this year, he might be gone next year. If Rowand is healthy, he will be fine. Not like Erstad, but more than adequate. He knows that this is his year, his chance, to prove he is a real big leaguer, not just a journeyman outfielder. He hit well in the minors and has been brought along properly. Just keep him off motorcycles.

If we sign IRod, even if it's for only one year, I will quit my job and work for the Sox Marketing Dept. We would sell a s***potfull of tickets. JR would make a ton. What a marketing Bonanza that would be. Plus, we would kick everyone's ass. Wet Dream. It would piss off every Cub fan in the state. Someone send JR a calculator for Ground Hog Day.

RE: Wunsch. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Wunsch can't get anybody out when the game is on the line. His mop up stats are fine. That fact keeps his ERA down. But when the game is on the line, it's a different story. If he is facing Olerud, Raffy, Giambi, or any other tough lefty, I would bet your ranch on the hitter. I'm just hoping he walks the guy. Unfortunately, they don't keep stats on this. About mid 2000 or so, he went to s***. He might start out the season on the roster, but after he blows a few, he'll be gone. JM must know his tendencies by now. Remember, he can come in during the 7th or 8th inning, in the clutch, give up a run scoring hit (to a lefty), leave, and it doesn't show up anywhere in the stat sheet if his reliever gets the side out. But he still blew it. Happens all the time. Marte is different. He gets guys out in the clutch (usually) and he can face both lefties and righties. (I would like to see a stat sheet on Wunsch vs. Olerud, etc.).

Why do most people think that Ginter and Wunsch will make the team? I sure don't. And to whomever referred to Jack Cust as a great prospect, be advised that he could not make our Bristol team.

There is good and bad regarding this trade. Most of us don't know the nitty gritty behind the scenes, but the fact of the matter is that Ray busted his ass for us for years--always hustled and played hard. Now, if he wanted to be traded to a contender, then trade him. If he doesn't, don't trade him in midseason. He deserved that consideration. But we do not know Ray's thoughts on that. Another fact is that he was below average defensively with a high salary. We all knew he was going to be gone for 2003. Atkins was probably as good a prospect that we could get--no one knows for sure. Time will tell if he's any good. But when Oakland first tried to talk Kenny into paying the balance of Ray's salary, we should have walked. Stupid is as stupid does. Same with the Howry and Alomar trades. If we trade a player to your team in mid-season, then you pay his remaining salary. And if we do pick up the balance of Ray's salary, don't cry poor mouth in your next breath.

Maybe now the Sox will re-sign Parque Butter, and he will emulate Bartolo and throw like him.

When I commented that our bullpen was fine, I was assuming that Flash will be with us. He has great stuff. Look at his K's per innings last year. He had one or two bad innings last year right after his return from the DL, and that inflated his ERA. Our biggest weakness is probably Wunsch, but both Almonte and Munoz are probably better anyway. Of course, I always look at the glass being half full.

Jason Gage: Are you psychic, or what? After re-reading your article in the wake of the TRADE, I noticed that you did not include Delvis Lantigua on your list of notable players expected to be on the Charlotte roster this year. How did you know?

We don't need any of those guys. We'll have enough good pitchers at AAA, that if we need one, we just make a phone call to Charlotte. Bartolo is all we need. JR can spend his money on guys already on the roster.

.291/27 SB's in AAA is not chopped liver. Just ask Tim Hummel.

yes

Kenny, you just advanced way up on the food chain. If you can sign the Flasher and fill out our roster with another player or three, I'll forgive you for your past sins and chalk it up to your own personal learning curve.

This trade also clears up two count 'em two roster spots, so there almost has to be more activity. 35 roster spots. This kid Nunez (sp)....is he a throw in or is the brass looking at him to possibly replace Jose in 2004? I know he hit .291 for Ottawa, which is an affiliate of the Orioles, no power, good steals numbers....don't know anything else. I know on the scale of things, this is not the most important issue of the day, but I'm so frigging excited, I can't see straight. RE: Flash Gordon, I have been touting him ever since he filed for FA. He will be tremendous for us. A stud who can get tough hitters out in the clutch. I hope I don't jinx him. One last question.....does any know how Bartolo has fared against the Twinkies the last 2 years or so?

Great article. Who is their catcher if Olivo stays with the Sox?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Rocky could not get anybody out when the game was on the line. I call it the Kelly Wunsch disease. Even if this trade turns out to be lousy, I will never second guess Kenny for it. Now, while you are in the mood to spend money, go after Vasquez before he goes to arbitration.

In addition to all the Colon rumors, I read that Colon has been lousy in Winter Ball, and could not get out of the first inning in his last start. I'm already getting buyer's remorse. I hope KW uses this as a bargaining chip to not give up too much in the way of prospects. Kenny, please do f*** this up by giving away too many future stars for a sore armed fat guy who will get paid $8.6 large.

Well, we still have Ed Yan to show for that miserable trade. Do you think Kenny is praying that he will hit .280 in AA?

My question is about one of our ex-minor leaguers, Gary Majewski. I know he's been with us for a few years and that we traded him to the Dodgers and then got him back in another trade. Last year he posted very good stats (ERA, K's, etc.) in the minors, and we left him exposed to the Rule 5 Draft, and he was gobbled up by someone (Toronto, I believe). I'm sure we knew he would be taken in that draft, but we could have protected him on the 40 man roster, where we still have room. I know we have better pitching prospects in the minors, but he certainly could have been used as trade bait, because other teams don't have the pithing prospects that we do. Then, if we subsequently needed the roster spot, we could always cut him anyway. Since we had and still have the roster room and there are some others on the 40 man roster that really have little chance of ever playing in the bigs, why not keep him? Is it the $50 K we got for him? I'll be following his progress in 2003, where he has to be on the big league roster of his new team, or offered back to the Sox.

Does anyone have any news on the rehabs of Rowand and Graffanino?

The A's don't need Venafro now that they have Joe Valentine.

Maggs was signed as an undrafted, unheralded, free agent and worked his way through the entire system, but he won two minor league batting titles along the way. He came up about the same time as Jeff Abbott.

KW: PLEASE do not trade Crede. Secondly, I still think that if we land a big time pitcher, attendance goes up, automatically. That's one reason why I wanted to spend the money on Clemons, although I don't think he would ever have come to Chi. But the same rule of thumb holds true for Colon. But leave Crede, Buerhle, Honel, Webster, and a few others out. All of which makes me think that we really are well stocked with kids one year away.