Gregory Pratt

I doubt Contreras is going anywhere. Ha ha ha.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 07:33 PM) He has a lot of nerve talking about teams having issues with steroids/HGH. Why -- does Boston? -- I say, God bless Curt Schilling. He's a smart man with an opinion about a lot of things and he's not afraid to share it. Nothing at all wrong with that.

THAT is the only reason to keep Konerko, IMO. Heaven forbid we go back to the Nobody Wants To Come to This Dump days. But I'd take my chances.

QUOTE(DonnyDevito @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 08:27 PM) 5-2 Good Guys Take that Kenny "TAR" Rogers. Cheaters never win! Except for Game Two of the 2006 World Series, a few playoff games and a lot of regular season games before that. I love Josh Fields.

I did say that. I will clarify: I meant the White Sox organization, not the White Sox existence. I meant Williams, not the logo. Reinsdorf, not the ballpark. Walker, not the helmets. It was a simple oversight (not adding "organization") although I think it was fairly clear that I meant the organization since I was clearly discussing management right before I said "White Sox." But there you go, my man.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 08:22 PM) If Contreras doesnt get traded, then we need to give him an ultimatium. Jose, are you hurt. He will say no. Then tell him to throw over the top like he used to. When he hems and haws, tell him that in his next start, if he drops down and pitches sidearm we will put him on the DL and shut him down for a few weeks. That might motivate him enough, to get him throwing over the top again. Yeah, that's not going to happen.

I am a Braves fan. I'm a bigger Sox fan. But I'm a much bigger fan of baseball.

And then when Schuerholz talks about his team's budget, hesitance to deal good prospects for rental players he won't sign, and the fact that since the Griffey rumors came up they've made it clear they aren't really looking for OF help, it's clear that Dye isn't going back to Atlanta and Escobar isn't coming here. Sorry. There's a reason they'd rather give us Renteria than Escobar for Garland.

I don't expect any trades to happen with the Braves. Schuerholz doesn't like KW-type GMs and besides, he's too responsible to deal away any significant prospects for a rental like Dye that he'd be an idiot to extend.

Trade. Good trades. Maybe you're thinking of someone else, as a few other Realists have posted in this thread, because that certainly doesn't describe me 1. I'm not patrolling anyplace to prevent suicides. I work downtown. 2. I don't get sick of hearing about how we've been competitive. I'm glad we've been somewhat competitive. I've suggested that it's disingenuous to confuse "competitive" with "good" because we haven't really been that, but I've never complained about the okay run we had in the Comedy Central years. The Indians were nowhere near this bad in 2005. Not to nitpick, but I believe they won 95 games that year. We don't need Top Five Top Ten picks to be good. We need better scouts. We need international scouts. We need to make better moves in free agency. We need to be better as an organization. Our drafts have been miserable for far too long and will continue to be, IMO, because as far as I can tell nothing significant has changed in the organization. And the more I read from Schuerholz book, the more I dislike Williams and the White Sox.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 05:01 PM) We're Toys-R-Us kids.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 04:43 PM) A process which should begin within the next week. Williams has to know how vital to our future any forthcoming trades will be. I know I won't be the only one furious if he f***s it up. No you won't be

I just can't believe we wasted a perfectly good BJ

It was that bad?

I was kidding. But like I've said, I would not be surprised if Dye stayed in town after this season. Like the Podsednik situation last year.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 02:52 PM) If we had Rowand in our lineup we would score 30 runs against Rodgers. And then his best friend Chuck Norris could go into undercover mode as SouthPaw and ninja kick the pine tar out of Rodgers hand. Ozzie better have at least 1 umpire check of Rogers's hand during tonights game. So that other managers will do it to Buehrle or one of our relievers or someone? (I mention Buehrle, specifically, because he's on record as saying that he "won't wipe it off" if it somehow gets on his hand or glove and he also said, "If they get to use pinetar [hitters] why not pitchers?") Beyond that, it's just well known that a bunch of pitchers cheat a little and you don't put someone else out like that unless you expect to be put out yourself.

If we don't trade Dye who else will play RF for us in 2008?!?!?!

Yeah, Balta...except nobody projects Owens or Floyd to do much. Floyd's projected by a lot of people to be what, exactly? Fifth starter or fourth at best? Owens is seen as a future fourth outfielder, I think, by many people. Nobody thinks these guys'll be Jose Reyes. But I do believe in Fields' future. I like him more by the day, and I'm happy to say I was wrong about him, or it seems like it.

I do agree that, on paper, we've got the starting pitching, but that's about it. I don't believe in the future of our aging offense, I don't believe that the bullpen will be fixed, I don't believe that the organization is going to spend much money or that what's out there will fix things for us. I don't believe we have what it takes or will have what it takes to surpass the Tigers or the Indians or the Twins. And I'm not sure I would gamble on these starting pitchers. Javier Vazquez can very easily revert to who he's been much of his career. If Buehrle loses a couple of MPH like he did in the second half last year -- just two or three MPH -- he's going to be burned real bad. Danks is still a baby who can go either way, though I do believe in him. I just don't think these guys are enough, even if they pitch to their potential.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 02:32 PM) KW traded for the wrong guy named "Barry" from LAD -- he thought they were getting a 24 year old relief prospect and instead he got a 32-year old OF link If that doesn't look ridiculous... The Moneyball references that show the A's laughing their collective asses off at both the trade of Bradford and the drafting of Ring over Blanton have alreayd been mentioned. Moneyball paints Williams as a stooge (FWIW, I think the A's also thought MIL drafting Prince Fielder was a hoot). Fathom has mentioned that the Sox drafts are regularly considered humorous to BA (drafting Ricky Brooks in particular was laughed at, I believe). And THT's Carlos Gomez has ripped the Sox 2 top picks of 2007 but good. And Poreda's already injured, which makes Gomez look like he knew what he was talking about. So, I'm not saying KW is a bad GM. I actually don't think he is. But you can't deny the people around baseball haven't thought much of their front office. Of course, 2005 probably boosted the Sox stock a little. There's one. I'm done with this discussion. I don't want to say anything too controversial and all this childish name-calling is getting to be too much. Which of course means that THE HEAT GOT TOO MUCH FOR ME and I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 02:30 PM) I think you're talking out of your ass. Certainly Kenny was thought of as a little green when he first became our GM, but I think you're just flat out wrong if you don't think he is very well-respected at this point in his career. Not sure he will ever really impress some of the more arrogant strokes such as Beane or Theo, but Kenny is regarded as a bold, decisive GM. Recently, most of those bold strikes have worked out for the better. The other misperception I love, is that Kenny is somehow making these decisions about the quality of players we get in return on his own. As though he is going off only his own personal knowledge. I don't particularly care what some other scouts say about some of the players we bring in via trade or FA. Scouts always have and will continue to disagree on the vast majority of players. For every scout that said Masset and Floyd weren't what we though they were, there are plenty who laughed at us for bringing in Vazquez; plenty who thought Dye was washed up when we signed him before 05'; plenty who thought Contreras was a bad acqusition when we acquired him from the Yankees. Kenny trusts his scouts, and his advisors, and he makes the best decisions he can. Some work out, some don't. It seems like most of the larger ones have though. You think I'm talking out of my ass that people used to ridicule KW? I know he's seen as "bold" and "decisive" but that doesn't mean that people think he's good. He's been riding the World Series but that won't last forever, and it shouldn't.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 02:30 PM) You still have a long way to go. Probably as far as you've got to go.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 02:28 PM) 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? First of all, the 2005 Steelers weren't a bad team. Bob Costas said when they one, "They were a sixth seed but they weren't. This Steelers team was a number one or two seed that underplayed." Second: the Colts weren't a bad team. They won for a variety of reasons. Third: the Cardinals got hot, sure, but what I've pointed out to you before is: Sox are not in the NL Central or the NL. You can't be "average" and win the division. Which makes me a Cub fan.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 02:26 PM) Maybe he was referring to when he goes back to school? Well, at least he isn't assuming I'm a College dropout, or that I have no future. He's giving me the benefit of the doubt that I am going to continue my education and become a big smart boy. I appreciate his thoughtfulness.

Like I've said, you've ignored a bunch of my points, have taken a bunch of childish potshots and you expect me to go look for people who have called KW a bad GM -- so that you can just say, "Oh, that's why they don't have a World Series ring, f*** them!" Please. And yes, my parents and family and friends know I have a sense of humor. But like I asked earlier -- if The Ring is criteria for greatness, does KW = JS?