WCSox

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 01:19 PM) Not my business, and very respectfully to other posters but I would say the insults are about even up. Can we talk baseball please. Sorry

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 01:09 PM) Or your stretching to make your argument sound solid.. since well it is about as solid as a wet paper towel. And apparently you have a wet paper towel in between your ears, because it's a really easy concept to understand. See 2005 offense for plugging in over-paid, aging veteran talent. And I wouldn't lump Fields and Sweeney into the "30-year-old career bench guys" group. LOL!!! Even if Pods could stay healthy for more than a month, that's still pretty funny. I'd say that last comment puts you right about there.

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:34 PM) Contreras, your flight to LA is boarding I have a soft spot for Jose, but I agree that Kenny should deal him ASAP... even if we have to eat half of his remaining deal.

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:45 PM) You can only win one World Series a year.. lets stick to baseball. Apparently you're incapable of extrapolating simple concepts to other sports. Mackowiak is a lesser player than Pods? Ozuna wouldn't at least be a halfway decent one-year stop-gap? Or is he too much of a downgrade from the Tad's super-awesome play? Remember, this is the same organization that won 95 games with Herbert Perry at 3B. Old enough to know that you don't need to be stacked at every position to get into the playoffs. Remember when we hit 200 HRs with Carl Everett as our DH?

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:44 PM) I have to agree with the poster who is claiming we'll have a decent shot next year to be competitive IF we see this starting pitching intact minus Contreras. Add a couple of relatively decent bullpen arms, and you've got the makings of a solid ballclub. No, silly, they're going to be the worstest team ever because Kenny is a stupid poopy-head and all of this losing is making me so angry that I'm going to go listen to my Linkin Park CDs now.

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:31 PM) Very rare it happens.. Then it's sure interesting that it happened twice in one year, isn't it? No, Mr. Strawman, I bank on the Sox having a decent rotation next year (like they do this year) and I think that they have a legitimate shot at the playoffs if the bullpen is overhauled.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:31 PM) Second: the Colts weren't a bad team. Their defense was giving up an average of 175 yards on the ground per game. They gave up 375 rushing yards at Jacksonville in December. It's a miracle that they held Larry Johnson to less than 40 yds rushing in the playoffs, much less WINNING the freaking game with Peyton throwing three picks. What makes you so sure that the AL Central is a lock to be ultra-competitive next year? Is it the same logical that predicted that the Indians would win 93 games in '05 or that they'd only win 78 in '06? Or is it the same logic that predicted that the Tigers would win 95 games and the pennant next year?

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:30 PM) I think you're talking out of your ass. You don't say?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:29 PM) I am going to continue my education and become a big smart boy. You still have a long way to go.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:25 PM) You can say whatever you want. So far in this discussion all you've done is make bad points about past underdog champions completely ignoring their whole situations. Like St. Louis -- the White Sox aren't in the NL Central. Kind of like how you're completely ignoring the fact that average teams IN ANY SPORT that peak at the right time have a shot? Or how you make false statements and then throw a temper tantrum when you're called on it?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:23 PM) Football = baseball = why KW possesses one ring to rule them all. Or didn't your math teacher teach you that, too? Nice. Do mommy and daddy know how funny you are on the innernets?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:22 PM) No. So then I'll say that you're full of crap.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:21 PM) I don't think Bill Cowher or Tony Dungee are laughing at him, either. They say, "We overcame the impossible. Go White Sox!" That's why I say, God bless Jerome Bettis. He beat up on the Cleveland Indians of Milwaukee and led his Indianapolis Colts past the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series of Sports. Wow, the Soxtalk IQ will increase exponentially once school is back in session.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:16 PM) Umm, by a lot of people. Care to provide some links?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:15 PM) It has increased over the last three years. But it's a false impression and it'll go back down soon. I don't think that Gord Ash thought of Kenny as a "laughingstock" six years ago and I don't think that Pat Gillick thinks of him as one now. I don't think that Billy Beane is laughing anymore. And since he hasn't won crap since he began running his mouth, I don't think that anybody's listening to him anyway.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 12:11 PM) You can see it in Moneyball, for one. For another, KW was and often is made fun of as a bad GM. Yeah, by a guy who hasn't won crap.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 11:28 AM) You do not understand the term "fluke" or "upset", do you? So, the '05 Sox were just a "fluke", right? I mean, it was all luck, huh? Do you also think it was a "fluke" that the maligned Colts defense played exceptionally-well against the run in last year's playoffs? And I suppose that it was just a "fluke" that the Patriots "upset" the Rams in SB 36? LOL, talk about not understanding sports...

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 11:13 AM) Really.. You give up your best pitcher because of a couple of mil? There is no way KW is able to deal MB for spects not if he wants to keep the fan base. Apparently you don't remember what JR did to our rotation back in the mid '90s. He doesn't care what the fan base thinks. This is 2007, not 1997 or 1987. I'll take the starting pitching that we have now over the crap that we had in '97 or '87. Who said that Pods, Tad, or GrindErstad were "top-notch" players? Do you think that Terrero is a massive step down from Erstad? Do you think that Dye's .230 average will be difficult to duplicate next year? Is Crede with sporadic back problems a better option than a healthy Fields? Are you going to be sad to see Mackowiak in LF, rather than Pods? These "irreplaceable" position players are part of the problem that we're experiencing now. Fields, Mackowiak, Terrero, etc. are not a step down from this over-the-hill crew. So KW could simply pick up Uribe's option and move Ozuna to 2B and we'd get AT LEAST the same level of production that we're currently getting from this collection of over-priced/over-the-hill veterans. If KW improves the 'pen via FA, I'm confident that we have a legitimate shot... because we definitely have the starting pitching. A couple bullpen arms and a veteran RF with a little power would put us in a decent position.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 10:09 AM) It's not early. The Sox have a 0.1% chance of winning the Central next season. I'm sure that a lot of people were saying this back in '99. And that team had a hell of a lot less talent than what we'd be fielding next year. QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 10:13 AM) You have to deal someone good to get something good back.. See Freddy Garcia trade in what you get from trading crap. I'd say that freeing up $10 million was far from "crap." For all we know, that may have been the difference between extending Mark and dealing him for prospects. I'd rather just stick with Thome next year and then fork over the buyout at the end of the season. Or if we're in the same unfortunate position at this time next year, deal both him and Garland for 'spects before the deadline.

With Dye as good as gone next year, I don't think that dealing Thome would be a good idea. Especially since that we have him for half-price.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) Oh, bulls***. We may not have had losing seasons but we weren't necessarily very good in those eight years. We were okay teams in a bad division through much of the 2000s and late-90s. News flash: Divisional strength can change quickly. Remember how the Indians were supposed to be competitive last year? And how the Tigers were supposed to suck last year? Remember how the Twins were a lock to win the division in '05? But, no, you're right. The Sox should just put their collective tail between their legs now because the AL Central is soooo haaaard to win. Look at the Devil Rays. Look at the Blackhawks. Look at the Sonics. THAT'S perspective. Let me guess: Kenny Williams? The sky is falling! QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 09:47 AM) This conversation's about done from my end, though. My position: we should have a full-scale firesale but alas, Williams won't do it, and that might be for the best because I don't think he could do it right. Your position: I like the Cubs. I am overly-emotional in my analysis of the Sox and am ignoring both the level of talent in the Sox's rotation and the amount of fan support/revenue that would be lost by dealing a still-highly-productive Konerko. And am being too pessimistic. Got it. Now you've got it.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 09:24 AM) You know, I'm echoing Reinsdorf in 97, except our team's in a much worse situation now. Much much worse. Truth is, this organization's bad, and there's nothing wrong with admitting it. If everyone got on Reinsdorf, Williams and the scouts for being terrible, we might see true, significant changes but as it stands, anything less than sheepish devotion to the team and a refusal to criticism is seen as "Cub-like." Truthfully, I think you're being Cub-like by refusing to acknowledge the reality of our situation. Truthfully, I think that your knee-jerk reaction to what could be the Sox's first losing season in EIGHT years (and not to mention being less than two years removed form a WS title) shows what little perspective you have. You have no idea what "bad" is.

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 09:22 AM) So because the Cards got hot in the playoffs you think we can win it all because of that? Yes, and because of all the other teams that have done it in other sports. And because the Sox have more than enough starting pitching to compete for a Wild Card next year.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 09:20 AM) Why don't you go become a Cardinal fan, if you're such a huge fan of them? I do root for the Cards when the Sox are out of it. Spoken like a true champion.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 09:15 AM) Football =/ baseball. Cardinals over Mets Cardinals over Tigers Then go become a Cubs fan.