Dick Allen

If the Garland offer was 3/$24 million, I would have turned it down also if I were him.

If the White Sox are willing to pay Javier Vazquez $24 million for 2 years, there has to be better options out there for that kind of money.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 13, 2005 -> 09:48 AM) http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/NASApp...t=.jsp&c_id=ari You can keep him at that outrageous price. What their stance does is basically makes it almost impossible to trade him. They are holding the cards. They wait until March, and either Vazquez recinds his trade request or he becomes a free agent who is going to have to take a pretty significant pay cut, and the D-Backs get him off the books and still have a total of $6 million coming from the Yankees. Maybe the opportunity to land a Garland or Contreras will make them change their minds about picking up at least some of the salary.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 13, 2005 -> 09:39 AM) This has been covered numerous times in this thread. Vazquez is owed $8.5 million in 2006 and $9.5 million in 2007 because the Yankees are picking up $3 million per year of his contract. That's a total of $18 million over 2 seasons that Vazquez is owed, not $24 million. The Yankees are paying the Diamondbacks $3 million a year to cover it. The Diamondbacks are on record, according to Gammons, as saying they will not move that $3 million a year. In other words, you trade for Vazquez, you would be responsible for the entire contract. The D-Backs are keeping the $3 million a year the Yankees are sending them.

I hope its not a straight up deal. I still think it makes no sense unless Arizona is going to sweeten the pot with cash and prospects. Vazquez is owed $24 million the next 2 seasons.

TWIW, but Gammons said last week if Arizona were to trade Vazquez, they would not pick up any of his contract, including the $3 million the Yankees send them to help pay it. That means, if their position hasn't changed, the Sox would be on the hook for $11.5 million this year, and $12.5 million next year. The way Vazquez has performed the last season and a half, I would prefer to hang on to Garland and/or Contreras at that price. I am one who doesn't think this is going to happen.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2005 @ Dec 12, 2005 -> 12:39 AM) Just an idea. I've always liked his arm. After what Coop was able to do with Contreras last year, I wouldn't doubt he could get Heredia back on track. However, I see that Heredia only pitched in 3 games last year. He must've had a serious injury. Forget about it if he isn't healthy. I'm really interested to see what Kenny has up his sleeve. Because I don't see jack out there right now. Isn't Heredia going to start the season with a steriod suspension? I really doubt he is even being considered.

QUOTE(illinilaw08 @ Dec 11, 2005 -> 02:05 PM) Any harm in giving Grossman a shot right now? As fragile as Rex appears to be, I don't think it would be too wise of Lovie to bring into a game that is already lost, where they are going to be teeing off on him. Start him next week.

I was hoping the Sox would shake up the bullpen a little bit. Relief pitchers have a tendency of following good years with bad years, plus you really don't know exactly what you have with Jenks. IIRC he still has a screw in his elbow, and that has to be a concern, especially with Hermanson's status probably being unknown until at least a couple weeks into spring training. I was hoping they kept Marte, but Mackowiak looks like a player the Sox really can use. Overall, I am looking for a drop in production by the bullpen this coming season. It will be interesting to see how the starters handle it. Garcia is a concern playing the World tournament. Buehrle I don't worry about. Garland should be alright although he wasn't as effective the last couple of months of the season. Contreras could be a stud, or he could fall back to the pattern he had with the Yankees and his first season with the Sox, thats why I think its important to keep Duque around. He's worth the $5 million if he makes Contreras better. BMac was very impressive his final few appearances, but he's still young, so it will be interesting to see how he comes out of the gate. Overall, there are a lot of questions, but they do have so many guys who can pitch, a lot , if not most of those questions are going to be answered in the postive as long as they remain healthy.

Bradley came up with the Expos. KW really wanted him when Cleveland acquired him. He seems to be a bad guy, but that's exactly what Everett appeared to be, and this guy has a ton more talent than Everett. It remains to be seen whether or not he can get his act together. If he can he can be a star. If he can't, he's going to cost managers and GMs their jobs.

The A's supposedly are the frontrunners to deal for David Wells. If they signed Frank Thomas, it could make for a pretty interesting scenerio considering Wells' comments the first time they were teammates.

He may want to be traded, but I really doubt Baltimore trades him. They are trying to attract stars, not rid themselves of them.

Tejada should sleep in the bed he makes. Baltimore offerred him the most money and years so he signed with them. He couldn't realistically think they were going to be better than NY or Boston, could he? Now that he has his guaranteed contract, he asked to be moved. Sorry Miquel, the Orioles made a 6 year committment to you, the least you could do is recipricate.

QUOTE(hi8is @ Dec 8, 2005 -> 03:00 PM) scratch that idea, looks like he just now inked with the spankes. Thank God.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 8, 2005 -> 10:19 AM) That's like saying assuming Rex Grossman stays healthy the Bears will have a great QB. Yeah, if guys like JD Drew, Izturis, their pitching staff, Gagne, Kent, Valetin, Werth all stay healthy, they'll have a good team...but there's absolutely no reason why we should expect those guys to all stay healthy, when either they're all getting up in age or they all have a long history of injury problems. Looks like Valentin is taking his .170 batting average to the Mets.

Why is everyone so gung ho about acquiring Myers? Look at the guy's career, he is below average. Sure he can get lefties out, but you could throw an American Legion right handed batter out to face him, and he would get lit up.

Another ironic fact.......Tommy John was traded for Dick Allen, a trade Roland Hemond has said saved the franchise.

Do you think there is any chance the Sox would consider Harris a candidate to play CF?

QUOTE(JimH @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 10:46 AM) Not that stats are the be-all end-all but I just looked up Tony's fielding stats at 3B for the last several years. Ouch. Tony was brutal with the glove when he played for the Sox. They had the sweep against the Cubs, but Tony G. thought they had a force when they needed an easy tag.

QUOTE(JimH @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 10:43 AM) Pablo is the perfect 25th guy but they want a more proficient backup at 3B, and understandably so with Crede's iffy back. Pablo was brutal defensively at third for most of the season, but did improve toward the end. I'm sure they would love to have Mueller play a supersub role, and that apparenty isn't going to happen. The question I would have is if the Sox got a guy like Mueller to play this supersub type of role, and Crede's back held up,(Ken Rosenthal hinted the Sox would have to trade Crede or non tender him for Mueller to sign), how much playing time would Harris and Ozuna get? Ozuna would spell Uribe, but Harris would probably be a pinch runner. Certainly not enough to take up 2 roster spots.

Tommy isn't the greatest broadcaster in the world, but the Score is trying to fill this position on the cheap, so he may be the best they can do.

The Cubs are not going to trade Prior. No way, not for anyone.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 03:11 PM) What do you expect Kenny to say? We absolutely need Pierre, Ozzie loves him and wont stop b****ing at me to trade for him. Thatll help negotations. SB He said he NEVER has called the Marlins about Pierre. He isn't coming to to the Sox.

The White Sox aren't going to trade BMac, especially after they see what pitchers are getting this offseason. He is going to be cheap for several years. They are going to need that to be able to address other areas. On the other hand, if TB really would do a Crawford/Fields deal, which I find impossible to believe, KW should be stitching Crawford's name on the back of a White Sox jersey himself.

QUOTE(JimH @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 11:03 AM) You guys are absolutely correct, Graffanino would be a good fallback option. But at this stage of his career he's better suited to 2B, especially after his shoulder injury. 2B is where he'd like to land a starting job, but yes, he is definitely an option for the White Sox and as mentioned in this thread, the Sox could do worse. I don't think there's a chance in hell the Sox will trade any starting pitching. This world baseball classic is coming up which will tax Garcia and Buehrle, plus the starters threw a ton of innings last year. They will need every bit of depth that 6 starters provide. As for Freel, I don't think the Reds want to deal him even though he's arbitration eligible. I suspect they'd want to focus on their bigger needs first - young cheap starting pitching - and Freel is a good bargaining chip for the Reds in a possible larger deal. The more I think about this, the more I sense the Sox have their eyes on minor league veterans we've never heard of, that is if they can't land Mueller. The guy they bring in will be versatile though - someone who can for sure play 3B and 2B and maybe 1B and some OF too. That's why Freel is a great fit, plus he adds speed and a good batting eye. But that doesn't mean there's a good match between Cincinnati and the White Sox. Tony G's glove leaves a lot to be desired, although offensively he is a pretty good hitter playing part-time.