WCSox

1 - Anderson, basically because he has nowhere to go but up at the plate. And he did look a lot better in August/September last year. If he can stay out of Ozzie's doghouse (whether that's his fault or not), he'll take a big step forward. 2 - Thome isn't getting any younger and he's been dealing with injuries for the past few years. 3 - If Buehrle returns to form, the Sox are contenders. If not, they have no shot and he'll be dealt in July.

QUOTE(retro1983hat @ Mar 7, 2007 -> 08:12 AM) 3 @ $42 mill for Buehrle is a steal and he won't take it. He knows lefties who have been multiple-year All-Stars and durable are worth more. Unfortunately, I agree. Then again, maybe Mark really wants to stay in Chicago. I'd be pleasantly surprised.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 04:37 PM) One thing Lilly has that Vazquez doesn't have...is being a lefty. LHSP are commodities, and I would take Vaz over Lilly any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Maybe even three times. +1 Not to mention that the Sox committed less money and fewer years to Vazquez. If Vazquez puts up a 4.30 ERA and eats 200 innings over each of the next two or three seasons, I'll be satisfied.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 02:45 PM) Personally, I still would want a veteran starter in my rotation around the likes of Gio, Danks, Haeger, Broadway, McCullough or whoever else is going to be in the rotation in the coming years. I think that was a huge part of it.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 02:16 PM) I never said he was a lock. I said he was one of the candidates from his era. He's definitely in the top ten-fifteen pitchers of the last 7-8 years, in terms of career numbers. A Top 10-15 pitcher isn't a HOFer. Yes, it MAY. But he's not even 28 yet, so I don't know why you're talking about him having 9 more really good seasons and 225-250 wins.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 02:08 PM) And my point is that Buehrle is one of those candidates. What makes him a HOF candidate? The fact that he's had a very good career so far, but isn't on the same level as the league's dominant pitchers?

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 02:06 PM) Ok, name me a pitcher who will win more than 250 besides Santana who started anytime after 1996. There's probably three or four candidates at most. That's because HOF pitchers aren't born every three years like clockwork.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 02:03 PM) Yeah. I guess I'm pretty dumb for assuming you could tell what I meant by "Missouri". No, you're "pretty dumb" for equating an entire state to one of its cities. What makes you think that Buehrle will automatically knock out NINE good years and hit 225 wins? It's certainly possible and I'd love to see him do it, but you're acting like he's a shoe-in for the HOF. He isn't.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:57 PM) Name me another pitcher besides Santana who could get to 250 who started in 1998-2000. LOL, you're asking somebody to come up with a HOF pitcher over a cherry-picked three-year window. Good one!

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:52 PM) 225-250 is about as many wins as any pitcher from the post 2000 era can hope to accumulate in a career IMO. Besides, Buehrle has one of the best career ERAs in the AL going right now, could you imagine how dominating he'd be with the Cardinals? (the hometown discount - he's from Missouri) He's not even at 100 yet? He's only pitched 6 full years LOL. He's not even 28 yet, is he? He has probably at least 9 good years ahead of him. I didn't realize that Missouri was considered a "town." Buehrle has thrown something like six straight years of 200+ innings and it began to show last season. His style of pitching will help extend his career somewhat, but it certainly doesn't make him a lock for "at least 9 [more] good years". He doesn't have great stuff as is and if he loses even a few mph off of his fastball when he hits 30, he could go downhill very quickly.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:50 PM) John Smoltz is a hall of famer, easy. I wouldn't say that. He's a legitimate candidate, but he's no lock to get in. Especially when two of his former Braves teammates have overshadowed him.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) Yes I do. He will win 225-250 easy LOL, he hasn't even won 100 yet. And it's going to take more than 225 wins to guarantee a spot in Cooperstown. So, you're saying that he signs with the Cubs this winter? I don't put Mark Buehrle on the same level as Santana, Randy Johnson, or Tom Glavine. Those are HOFers. Buehrle is on the really-good-but-not-great tier, along with David Wells, David Cone, and John Smoltz.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:36 PM) When it's all said and done, Buehrle may be the one of the best left handed pitchers of his era. So, you think that Mark will be a HOFer? I don't.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:33 PM) I'd rather have Javy at 3/33 than Buehrle at 3/45. Unless Mark has another repeat of '06, it'll be tough to get him to agree to less than 5/70.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:24 PM) he basically took the deal Buehrle turned down, right? savvy move by the Sox. Get Javy below market value (even though the market is obscene), and they make Buehrle look a bit greedy. that's how it looks from here. I don't think that they're concerned about how it makes Buehrle look. Mark's going to command Zito-like money/years on the FA market this winter and JR isn't going to pay.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 01:17 PM) 3 years 34 million reported. A GREAT deal by KW. Considering what the market is these days, that Freddy is in Philly now, that Buehrle is as good as gone next season, and that Contreras is entering the twilight of his career, I agree.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 3, 2007 -> 09:34 AM) I'll make this as simple as I can; If Ozzie Guillen keeps his team together and keeps them winning ballgames this year, gets them to the playoffs, and so on; I couldn't care less which players he rips into. If that works, I'll take it. If Ozzie Guillen becomes a distraction that starts costing the White Sox chances at the playoffs, in repeated seasons, then there will be no more reason to tolerate these rants. +1 Ozzie reminds me a lot of Billy Martin.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 01:32 PM) Contreras should have been the starter last year on opening day, but the Sox rewarded MB for being here the longest. No more Mr Niceteam I guess. I guess they're not going to showcase a guy who they have no intention of re-signing.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 23, 2007 -> 09:46 PM) Nope, apparently 07. That truly blows. I basically live in a forest, so it's doubtful that I'd be able to get a satellite signal. I enjoyed Extra Innings over Comcast last year, but apparently I won't be able to again. I had DirecTV a couple of years ago and thought that their customer service was very good. That said, the response time of changing channels/menus was slow at times and the signal would go out for 30-45 minutes at a time during heavy rain. I liked DirecTV, but don't have much love for satellite TV. It's an inferior medium.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 24, 2007 -> 09:25 AM) As long as we don't get Erstad playing more than 20% in CF, then this is a solid deal. He's what the team needs as insurance for Pods' groin and Anderson's whiffle bat. If Pods ends up healthy and Anderson stays above .240, then its all good. Agreed. I've always thought that there was something going on behind the scenes with BA. I'm cautiously optimistic that it was a one-time thing and not typical of Ozzie's decision-making.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Jan 19, 2007 -> 12:28 PM) The problem is, the NFL money isnt guaranteed. MLB money is. If I were him and the Cubs were waiving $8 million at me, I'd take it. Heck, if I blew out my arm on my first pitch, I could not have to work a day the rest of my life ($8 million / 100,00 per year = 80 years @ $100,000 per year). Exactly. I doubt that Smardzija could get an $8 milllion contract from an NFL team, even if he went in the first round. And even if he did, there's no guarantee that he'd see anything more than his signing bonus.

QUOTE(MSHAWKS @ Jan 17, 2007 -> 06:10 PM) That is a one year exmple of WHIP and k/BB. Over the course of their careers, Zambrano's OPS against is 30 points lower than Oswalt's. And, as for sucking against the AL, those stats are for 9 games in the last three years. Zambrano is one of the five-ten best starters in baseball, certaintly better than Zito. One negative on Oswalt is that he has a tiny frame for a power pitcher. Because he's going to need to use his arm more to compensate for his lack of weight and/or leg muscle, I'd say that his chances of suffering a major shoulder or elbow injury are greater than somebody with Zambrano's frame.

Moved to the Chicago area in '82 got into baseball and was basically a casual fan of both the Sox and Cubs (my grandmother was a huge Cubs fan). After reading up on both teams in the '83 Opening Day preview in the Trib's sports section, I decided that I couldn't root for both. The Sox won because, LOL, I thought that their uniforms looked cooler than the other team's. Of course, that was the Winnin' Ugly year and I was hooked after that.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 11:31 AM) I misrepresented nothing. You said all Bonds supporters. That's everyone who supports him is it not? You claimed that I said that "everyone hates him [bonds]" as a general statement, which is obviously not true. Is it inaccurate or is it just damage control? I honestly don't know.