upnorthsox

I'll grant that one, but a deal for Alf would have to be some kind of 3-way between say us, Texas, and LA with Alf coming here, Konerko to LA and Vazquez to Texas. It's possible I guess, but other than Texas getting Vazquez I'm not sure why anyone would be motivated to do it. If LA lands Zito today or tommorrow as I suspect then that'd change the landscape some.

If they hold to that then Konerko will be going nowhere and we won't be getting another starter unless it's a reach like Nomo. We're probably looking at Schoe or Grilli and we should know about Schoe today I believe.

Garland will be gone, whether it's this off-season, at the trade deadline, or next off-season but he'll never make a pitch for us in '06. Book it. Willie is the fastest 2nd baseman in the majors and our desire for a speed team will live and die with him. Take him out of the lineup and it's dead dead dead. There is no 2nd baseman available with enough power to go in a different direction.

.....then trade his ass like they shoulda last May when he got hot down there.

Bruce's phone call: High ranking Sox Official: Bruce, did you tell them I wasn't in the 3-way deal? (Ok Ken, Paul and Jon's lockers are empty. Clubhouse door locks have been changed). Bruce: Yes sir, I also threw in that the deal would take a while to complete so there's time for you to change your mind. High ranking Sox Official: Excellent, but my mind is made up. Bruce: You know Sox fans will still be wanting word on a starting pitcher. High ranking Sox Official: Yea those ungrateful whining SOB's, after all I've given up to get my guy. Bruce: Well......... High ranking Sox Official: Alright, tell them we're interested in Perez. Bruce: Really? High ranking Sox Official: Of course not but it'll keep'em talking til he signs with Anaheim. Bruce: Ok got it. High ranking Sox Official: I'll call you when that happens and then you can break the Javy trade to them. Bruce: You had no choice but to make the trade. High ranking Sox Official: You got it.

What speed and Defense? Dye is potted plant so you lose speed their, Carl doesn't run anymore so no speed there, Spod gives you 50 SB potential but if replace Harris' 50 SB potential with Polanco(almost no speed) or Cora(makes Dye seem fast) then you've negated the increase from SPod, Gload could match Konerko's 2 SB last yr though he doesn't have a career SB yet, Uribe by himself is less speed than a Uribe/Valentin combo plus worse basepath running, AJ over BD no gain. If you keep Harris in the lineup then you've gained some speed but it's all congregated in two guys and they'd better be world class hurdlers to leap over all the other potted plants in the lineup(there's also the little matter of getting on base too). If you replace Harris then you have a net loss of team speed and if anything happens to Spod(yea that would never happen to the Sox) we become the slowest team in the league. In the meantime you've taken 140 of the 242 HR's we hit out of the lineup. There is an upgrade in D but it's only a slight one.

How about if this is Konerko and Cotts for Vazquez? I'd still not be thrilled about it but it would make more sense to the Dodgers if they felt that Cotts could be a starter for them.

If he's commenting on the Kong/Marte/Garland for Vazquez rumor than yea I could see why he'd be hesitant of it's validity, that makes zero sense at all for the Sox.

Be very leery of Zito, there are attitude and velocity problems there. IMO that's who BB will try to dump and I wouldn't pay nearly as much for him as for Hudson. As I said with Hudson, if you're willing to take Kendalls's contract you will seal the deal with Beane. EOS. Of course you have to be willing to deal with Beane and if Steff's source is right then KW is too miffed over a few words said in a book to do what's right for the team. That's truly sad. Btw, I didn't realize Byrne was arb eligible. SPod may not be Beane's prototype player but he'd be of definite interest to him as a replacement for Byrne.

This reminds me of a post in another thread where someone was saying that it might be a good move for KW to just hold on to the money for a June/July trade and how it worked great last yr with Freddy Garcia. Actually, if you look back to this time last winter Seattle was debating whether or not to non-tender Freddy and were looking desperately for a trading partner. Had we offered Olivo then it most likely would've been a done deal and not only would we have had Freddy the whole yr but Jeremy Reed would be our starting RFer right now at almost $5 mil less than we're paying Dye. This is not to advocate a trade for Miller who with a shoulder injury is a much bigger risk than Freddy was, it's more a reminder that anyone who thinks they can just wait for a team to non-tender a good starting pitcher is fooling themselves and that waiting til June/July does not equate to a better bargain. In fact, it may cost you much much more and be too little too late to make a difference.

LOL!!! We'll be keeping a pitcher for ten years? I'm dying to know who our new owner is.

A week lineup makes your era go up? Damm another reason not to like this coming season.

Never say never, look at Clement's first 3 yrs.

They'll take less...............and like it!

My problem is is that it is yet another roster spot taken up by someone with little to no speed( no SB potential to be more accurate), plus it's a spot that could be taken by a future OFer. KW continues to show he has no plan at all this season.

Makes no sense at all. This rudderless ship keeps drifting.

ARow in the 2 hole, EOS. Uribe? Puhlease! Don't be fooled too much by last yr, the 2 yrs before that he had an OBP less than .300 and you need a good OBP guy up there in the 2 hole. You also run the risk of him K'ing on 3 straight pitchouts. Maybe if he's in a hot streak but otherwise he should be hitting 8th. Unfortunately with the Lee trade we will probably have to hit ARow 3rd, at least until Frank comes back. If that's the case(and it is) I'd lean towards putting Willie up in the 2 spot, he's a decent OBP, he can bunt, and it bunches our two rabbits together for double steals and running rallies. My other suggestion, and don't laugh, is putting Crede up there. I have a few good reason why, but y'all are probably laughing too hard to read them so I won't bother.

Yea in 2003, in 2004 he started out as their #3 and after Wood went down he was their #2. By the end of season he was a physical and emotional wreck.

Who says the Cubs are targeting Beltran, and for that matter who says the Yankees are? Borass? Seriously though, that would probably free up enough money for the Scrubs to go after Maggs plus they'd have a pitcher they could turn around and trade for a LFer or in worse case scenerio keep. I just don't see them giving up a prospect like Guzman to do it. The Yanks on the other hand have always been willing to give up Vazquez plus cash to get RJ, that's who they have a real hard on for. Beltran would be only lukewarm interest as long as they still have Williams. IMO it's a bunch of Borass smoke. Arizona, who knows, who cares, they're just f_cking crazy if you ask me.

In what? Deep s***?

Davis would have to be non-tendered to make salary space for AJ, that'd be the only way it would be done. This means AJ would have to be signed by Monday, I'm not confident that it'll happen but at least the wait is short.

Fine, judge him on his Career 4.34 era in the NL then, that's right there with Gar's 4.68 era in the AL. Would you want to pay Gar $7-10 mil to be your #3?

Gar won 12 gms in '04 and 12 in '03, I'll split the dif and say 12 Clement won 9 in '04 and 11 in '03, I'll split the dif and say 10. Perez won 7 in '04 and 12 in '03, I'll split the dif and say 10. That's 22 wins. Johnson won 16 in '04 and 24 in '02, I'll split the dif and say 20 Estes(a warm body) won 15 in '04 and 8 in '03, I'll split the dif and 11 That's 31 wins. Gar's career high is 12 wins, Clement's is 14, Perez is 15, that's 27 wins tops. Johnson's career high is 24 wins, Estes is 19, that's 43 wins. Range for avg of last 2 full seasons to career high season totals: Gar and Clement or Perez: 22 to 27 wins. Johnson and Estes: 31 to 43 wins. Payroll costs for '05 estimated: Gar and Clement or Perez: $10-13 mil Johnson and Estes: $12 mil

$1 mil of that is a personal services payment and would still be up to Arizona for payment, another $6 mil of that is defered.

The Sox a cutting payroll The Sox are raising ticket prices Ok, NOW it's a White Sox off-season