upnorthsox

Kittle talking about the temptation ballplayers face when it comes to taking performance-enhancing drugs: "If somebody had told me I would hit 50 points higher every year drinking a bucket of alligator pee, I might have done it. And so would everybody else."

Sox OBP and Runs by position 2004: C - .316 - 74 1B - .368 - 89 2B - .324 - 102 3B - .296 - 77 SS - .303 - 98 LF - .358 - 104 CF - .345 - 111 RF - .315 - 84 DH - .367 - 93 Total runs 832 Projected 2005 starters and their 2004 OBP and Runs C- AJ - .319 - 45 / Davis - .256 - 22 1B - Konerko - .359 - 84 2B - Iguchi - ? - ? 3B - Crede - .299 - 67 SS - Uribe - .327 - 82 LF - SPod - .313 - 85 CF - ARow - .361 - 94 RF - Dye - .329 - 87 DH - Carl - .319 - 29 / Frank - .434 - 53 Total runs 648 Given 3-5 runs for guys on off days minus C and DH which are already over AB's for a full season that's another 21-35 runs or 669 -683 runs. So for the Sox to equal last yrs runs Iguchi would need to score 149 -163 runs.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Feb 6, 2005 -> 06:17 PM) As long as he has a good year in 05, Thomas will be back. Either under the terms of his current contract or a new one. Thomas & JR are friends. That's very unique in this day & age of major league sports. I think both envision Thomas being one of a dying breed of players that only played for one team in their career. That will certainly help his HOF chances & continue to boost Thomas market value for the team. It's pretty simple when it comes to Thomas really. If he has a sub-par year, he'll return to the Sox under a new contract. If he has an MVP like year, he'll return to the Sox under his existing contract. If he has something in between they'll probably re-negotiate a contract extension. He's not going any where. The only exception is trade value. The Sox will be willing to trade Thomas in any year if they think the player they can get can help them win a WS more than Thomas. But he won't be traded just to improve the team for future years. Frank will cost the Sox $12 mil to bring him back next yr, he's gone so enjoy what's left of his Sox career this yr.

The key without a doubt is the pen. If the pen comes together nicely we should be a force in the AL Central but there are ? across the board in there and we won't have an O that'll be able to come back from blown leads very often. It could go well, or it could be be the most frustrating season in a long while.

Lev 1: Pods And let's hope he stays healthy, or that he more resembles Kenny Lofton than Brian Hunter. http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SB_leagues.shtml Lev 2: Iggy Iggy what? What are you expecting exactly, his 40 in in the Pacific League 2 yrs ago or the 19 he's replacing? And if it's the 19 he's replacing then how does that make us faster? Lev 3: Rowand Arow is my guy and I'm his biggest fan here but he had 17 SB in 487 AB's and 0 SB in the 459 AB's before that. I'd say 12-15 SB is a realistic expectation which is makes him fast on a slow team. Lev 4: Uribe Uribe? Uribe? He's had SB of 3, 9, 7, and 9. And his 9 last season was 9 for 20, that's 45% 9 for fricken 20. And after that? Scary, esp. with Lee's 11, Jose's 8, Olivo's 5 already gone, and Willie's 19 that at best will be warming the bench and more than likely will also be gone. Without SPods we'll might be lucky to break 50 SB and even with him we might not break 100. 100 SB would put us 6th in the AL last yr and 12th in the majors.

QUOTE(Steff @ Feb 5, 2005 -> 01:59 PM) 309. I have a feeling they will either lower the price or offer single games to lessen the empty look. Or exchange with suit holders since it's about the same cost per person. Thanks.

QUOTE(Steff @ Feb 5, 2005 -> 01:04 PM) I think they will also.. but not for the price tag they are at. They are going to offer 40 and 27 game packages for them, which is good news for those that don't want the 81 game commitment. They have only sold 77 seats so far. Even with food and liquor included I don't think it's worth it to pay that much. 77 out of how many? It might end up looking worse on TV to always have a bunch of empty seats in the background than just the black hole that was there before.

QUOTE(kwill @ Feb 5, 2005 -> 07:45 AM) I was wondering if anyone else read that article on espn.com about the 2006 free agents. We obviously have some of our own like Frank( we wont pick up his option) and Paul. I imagine Paul we will resign for somewhere 9 million dollar per season, but i really dont think we would resign Frank. We would probably have about 10 million to spend next offseason. I was wondering what guys do you think we should be intrested in. One guy i think we could go after is Aramis Rameriez if Crede doent produce this year. Here is a list of guys that are 2006 free agents: Mike Piazza Sammy Sosa Bernie Williams Nomar Garciaparra Rafeal Furcal Jonny Damon Tim Hudson Billy Wagner Lance Berkman Carlos Lee Brian Giles Aramis Rameriez Bret Boone That is just to name a few. I can see us going after a closer since shingo contract is up also. I dont believe we would even try for any outfielder. Hudson is going to get a truck load of money.What do you guys think? The Brewers have an option with Lee which they'll use. I thought there was a 1 yr extension with the Sosa trade? Just a prediction but, Ramierez, Berkman, and Hudson will never see FA. You take those 5 out and it's not that great of a list(Boone, Wagner, Williams, and Piazza are all much closer to retirement than prime). As to the Sox contribution to the FA list: Perez, Everett Thomas, Konerko,Davis Shingo, Marte, and Politte There's a remote possibility that Konerko could be resigned but if it hasn't happened by April then it probably won't, the rest, only on the super cheap. Also, IMO I doubt Willie will even be on the team by the end of ST and Garland, Vizcaino, and AJ will be in walk yrs next yr so all 3 will be on the block or even non-tendered. That's half the team that could be gone by the winter meetings in December and with that much turnover Hermanson, Hernandez, and Iguchi all in final yrs of their contracts could also be on the block, though it's doubtful they'd bring anything in return. The point here is that if you liked all the turnover this winter just wait, as many as 15 players and $43 mil in payroll could be turned over by this time next yr. Doesn't that sound like fun.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 03:11 AM) According to Bruce, the Indians are a good bullpen pitcher away from winning the Central. That very well could be true.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 03:11 AM) According to Bruce, the Indians are a good bullpen pitcher away from winning the Central. That very well could be true.

Red Sox interested in Tadahito Iguchi by William Bragg Fukuoka Daiei Hawks infielder Tadahito Iguchi has generated interest on the part of the Red Sox. Iguchi appeared in 124 regular-season games and hit over .300 for the second straight year with a .333 batting average along with 24 homers and 89 RBIs. Richard Moss, the agent of Tadahito Iguchi, is set to begin contract negotiations with the Boston Red Sox, the management company of the former Daiei Hawks infielder said Sunday. Iguchi is a second baseman who also spent time as a shortstop earlier in his career. According to a company official, Moss is scheduled to meet Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein shortly as the American League team was quick to contact the agent about a possible deal with Iguchi. There is also mention that the Yankees are also interested (of course). Until today, the White Sox were expected to sign Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi. Now, that agreement has come apart, and the Mariners are listed among suitors for Iguchi, alongside the Red Sox and Yankees. The southsiders were very interested, but are taking a pass. Word out of Boston is that they’re going to demur as well. The Mariners should, too. That’s not because Iguchi isn’t intriguing, although I doubt he’ll be an impact player in the states. It’s because they have other needs, and because he’s already rejected a two year, $4 million deal from the Pale Hose. Rumor had it that he was asking for Kazuo Matsui type money (3/$21 million), but even if he’s not, he’s likely to be prohibitively expensive anyway. Iguchi’s deal with the Fukuoka Hawks pays him 240 million yen a year, about $2.3 million. He’s not coming for the states for less than that. And that’s too much to pay without knowing which version you’re going to get. A converted shortstop (he made the switch before the 2001 season, after he had shoulder surgery), Iguchi’s production has been enigmatic. The past two seasons, he’s experienced a Bret Boone-like late bloom, blowing away his previous numbers. In his eight seasons in Japan, Iguchi has a career .271 average, .471 SLG and .349 OBP. Compare those numbers to his 2003 and 2004 seasons, which are rolled into the career stats: Avg OBP SLG 2003 .340 .438 .573 2004 .333 .394 .549Some of the ups and downs can be explained by a shoulder flareup that hampered him in 2002, but that’s also a cause for added concern. The 250 million yen question is about plate discipline: can a guy who posted OBPs of .310, .317, .346, and .317 in four straight years have figured out later in his career how to get on base two out of five times? Whoever signs Iguchi will be betting on three things: that the last two years are the real Iguchi, not the guy who hit .259/.317/.423 at age 27; that his skills will translate to the U.S.; and that his shoulder stays together. That’s a lot of ifs for a team that may or not be competitive next year, and I think Bill Bavasi knows that, having signed Pokey Reese. For another team, rolling the dice on Iguchi might make sense, but not this one.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 06:53 PM) Nope. Ain't happening. The D'Backs were going to get 8 million from LA in the Green deal. No way in hell they send cah along JV. No way the Sox take on that much payroll. Well if they took Everett as part of the deal along with Gar and Anderson and also kick in say $1.6 mil of the $9 mil they got from NY, then financially, it's definitely doable for the Sox and for the DBacks it'd be like having NY pay for Gar and Everett to play for them. I wouldn't count on this happening but it's not out of the realm of possibilities esp. with them basically stuck with JV as they are at the moment.

QUOTE(shakes @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 04:15 PM) I think it is just hardball, because they haven't refused the $4M deal. Kenny's just waiting to see if he can get him at rock bottom, if not raise the price. It worked with AJP. What a concept, Kenny's negotiating. Could be, but then as others have been quick to point out we don't know for sure what KW has offered since he never leaks anything so who can even say that that $4 mil is accurate. Likewise with the AJ "negotiations", we don't know what KW had originally offered and it's just as likely that the $2.25 mil he did sign for was a significant increase by KW as it is that it was a significant reduction in AJ's demands. The one curious thing is that it all happened within a few hours of LA coming back into the bidding picture.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 04:44 PM) As I was trying to summarize the off season and money gone and money added I realized part of the balancing act is any money saved for mid-season pickups. At first I was thinking screw saving anything for mid season, let's blow this away out of the gate, then I realized we are thin in a couple areas and hoping on Frank healing. Perhaps it does make sense for KW to reserve more than a couple million for mid season stuff depending on who is having a break out year and who is having a :puke year. I've been debating this too Tex and my feeling is.....it depends...... If the feeling is that you'll need a major upgrade of Contreras or Garland to say a Vazquez then do it now when you can get a full season's worth of that upgrade and damm the budget, not having a #3 is our big hole pitching wise. Likewise, leaving the ute IFer spot unfilled doesn't sound like a wise move either though if you could get an Aurilia or Mark DeRosa signed to a minor League contract you could buy yourself some more time with this spot while you see what the market is for Cairo or Cora. Whether to get a replacement for Frank now or hold onto to money for a replacement later is worthy of a good debate. I don't really have an opinion on that at the moment so I'd like to listen to what others think. The one thing I am dead set against at this point is blowing the rest of the budget on an upgrade for Willie, our #9 hitter is NOT going to cost us the playoffs and Willie had a good enough season last yr and high enough upside to warrant at least a half season look. Oh, one more thing, if you want to hold out money to replace El Duque when he gets injured then you probably shouldn't have signed the mofo to a $4 mil contract to begin with. That's all I have on that.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 09:08 PM) Who plays DH then? Or do we do that after Thomas comes back? Konerko can DH and Gload can play first.

QUOTE(quickman @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 02:24 PM) jim, I still think things will get worked out. If there were teams lining up for these guys I can say spend the extra million. Nobody is lining up or maybe the dodgers are interested but are waiting to see if the D-bakcs deal goes through. We will know that today. If they don't get there catcher they will go after AJ, if they get the catcher they probably won't. I think we will understand all this better today or tommorrow as the deadline ends. In addition, I still beelive we will end up giving AJ 2.5 with an option for next year. (if the dodgers fall out) What other options does htis guy have? There were no teams being mentioned for Omar either but that didn't stop one from swooping in and grabbing him from right under KW's nose. I'm not here advocating overpaying for AJ but there's nothing wrong with paying a player what he's worth, esp. when when he fills your biggest need and it still fits in your budget.

It sounds to me that he's set a minimum(he won't take a pay cut which is reasonable) that he'll accept and probably wants more than that. So the ball's in KW court right now to come up in price if he wants to get anywhere with this deal.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 01:25 AM) TB signed SS Alex Gonzalez to a 1 yr $1.75 mill deal. There goes some of their cash. Now they still need an OFer and a 2B man. AJ won't fit here Uh oh, TB signs AJ then trades Toby Hall to the Sox for Willie and a prospect(there's always gotta be a prospect), the Sox then sign Cora. AJ goes on to be TB's AS rep and Willie becomes the 2nd half of a 50 SB tandem with Carl Crawford. In the meantime, Cora has his typical odd yr(where he struggles to break Mendoza) and Toby Hall becomes, well........Toby Hall. Lou's sitting in Tampa right now thinking "KW, I feel you near".

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 5, 2005 -> 07:42 PM) It's not an either/or choice. They are completely unrelated. Getting Iguchi has no impact on getting AJP. The CWS have the money to sign both. But KW is not going to sign a player at a price that is far beyond reasonable. I think all of the signings this off-season including Garcia & Uribe meet that principle. Based on performance alone AJP is worth at least 3 times more than Davis. Even if you factor in Davis' potential AJP is worth 2 times more than Davis. So any contract in the neighborhood of 2-3M/yr would be reasonable. Hopefully AJP sees it that way. I likewise hope that he's considering the intangible that no other team can offer him: a chance to beat his old team. Beat them when they play, & beat them out of the post-season. Think of the personal satisfaction he would feel in out-playing Mauer & helping the CWS win a division. As the MC commercial goes, that's priceless. Well it just might be either or depending on the $$$$ which with the Sox will mean it's either or.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 5, 2005 -> 02:06 PM) I don't consider a fiscally responsible, but fair, offer that someone else tops as being a "lowball" offer. But you have no idea whether the Sox offer was "fair", if you don't like the Clement comp then you can move on to another, Omar Vizquel.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jan 5, 2005 -> 08:51 AM) How are we low balling him? Do you think you just give a player what he wants right away? You have to negotiate with them first. Everyone is freaking out that we offered him less so far and i am willing to bet we will offer him something better before it is all over. But then there's the history of this org low balling one of their "Targets" and then never coming back with a sufficient counteroffer. Matt Clement comes to mind as a recent example.

Any thoughts on Rich Aurillio as our Ute IFer? He'd come cheap.

Maybe, maybe not but it's hardly clear. What they REALLY don't have at the moment is a utility IFer, it seems it's the Willie bashers who have been calling for his replacement in the process and I've heard nothing that'd suggest that KW is one of them.

Ramon Martinez - SS - DET Tigers signed infielder Ramon Martinez, who had been with the Cubs, to a one-year contract. Martinez hit .246/.313/.346 last season, but that's the worst line of his career. He'll be useful in a utility role alongside Jason Smith. The Tigers also have Fernando Vina as a possible backup for Omar Infante at second base, but they'll probably try to dump him. Jan. 4 - 1:23 pm et

Pokey Reese - SS - BOS The Mariners are likely to sign Pokey Reese to replace Jose Lopez at shortstop. Reese will get a deal worth about $2 million if he passes a physical. This might be the second consecutive January in which the Mariners have spent more money in order to downgrade at shortstop. Reese is certainly a better defender than Lopez, but he hit .221/.271/.303 last season and .215/.271/.262 in limited action in 2003. $2 million is at least twice what he deserves. Jan. 4 - 1:39 pm et Source: Tacoma News Tribune