Dick Allen

I don't think losing Ben Davis would make much of a difference in the quest for a championship.

I predict Ben either signs for less than he made this year, or he gets non-tendered. What would he command on the open market?

He sucks. He always has sucked. He always will suck. Good riddance. Another $2.2 million for KW to play with.

The Twins signed Jones, LeCroy and Rivas, and offered arbitration to their other eligibles including Santana.

Oswalt was tendered.

I'm sure if the espn station in South Florida had information like this, they would share it with the station here. It probably is bogus, but Tampa Bay is supposed to have serious interest in AJ.

Rotoworld says DeAngelo Jimenez may be non-tendered.

Players can't get moved to Japan without their consent. Myette and/or his agent arranged the deal, and the Phillies picked up some cash.

A lot of his "buddies" on the Twins will be gone by the start of the season anyway. I agree with you.

The problem with contracting them is that they would have to contract another team as well, or teams would have 3 days off every now and then. I read somewhere they will wind up in Virginia, and not play at RFK if this latest issue isn't resolved. Las Vegas is the sleeping giant. As soon as either MLB or the NBA puts a team there, the other will quickly follow. I heard that when Las Vegas put their proposal to MLB together they had a little video presentation. During the presentation, when a member of the Vegas team hit a homer, the scoreboard played a giant slot machine coming up all 7's. That was frowned upon. I also heard that their stadium had a massive number of suites, and not that many seats figuring that the casino's would buy suites for their VIPs.

Marriotti wrote the other day that Clement wouldn't sign with the Sox because he knew what a screwed up situation it is. Now he says its because the Sox didn't pony up the cash. This guy is so full of s***.

They can demand a trade after the season, and if they are not traded by a certain date, I'm not sure of the date, but I think it may be March 1, they become a free agent and the remainder of their contract voided. Rick Reed did it with Minnesota a few years ago, and when it became apparent the Twins weren't going to be able to trade him and his market value was a lot lower than his current contract, he rescinded the demand. Considering the amount of Vazquez's contract, unless he had a Cy Young type season, he wouldn't want to give up all that money. If he had a Cy Young season, the Sox probably would have won something so he wouldn't want to leave.

But we're also counting on guys like Harris, and Gload and Davis to produce for a full season, which thus far they haven't done. Also, Uribe and Crede can't go into the prolonged funks they have gone into every season of their careers. Podsednick has to prove scouts and fans wrong, and prove he's not a total fluke. Jermaine Dye has to turn back the clock 4 or 5 years. Rowand can't drop off at all. Frank has to come back and be what he was in 2003 and the beginning of 2004 before his injury. He played injured a couple weeks and his average really dropped. He was around .300. If all those things happen, the Sox offense will still be middle of the pack at best in the AL. The pitching staff won't have any glaring weakness, unless there is an injury, but they aren't exactly loaded with dominant guys.

We also lost Magglio Ordonez, and Frank Thomas is going to be a huge question mark as to when he'll be ready to play, and at what level he'll be able to play. I don't know of many teams that have lost that much firepower in one offseason and still have been successful.

Vazquez has a lot of talent, but his 2004 season was very Garlandesque. Supposedly he has just a mechanical problem. The Yankees obviously couldn't correct it, can Don Cooper correct it? If its easily corrected that's one thing. If not or if he's hurt, Garland may be better than him all by himself, and he is $7 million a year cheaper. The other knock was that he couldn't handle the pressure of New York. If acquired, it would mean that 40% of the White Sox starting rotation couldn't handle the pressure of pitching in New York, yet they are supposed to lead the White Sox to the World Series? There has to be more to this.

He is a Red Sox season ticketholder.

This must mean its a lock.

As great as the Sox starters alledgedly are, their eras are pretty high. Garcia's was 4.46 after he joined the team. Buerhle's was 3.89, and Contreras' 5.30 and Garlands' 4.89. The team is still going to have to score runs. Vazquez's era was 4.91, actually .02 higher than Garland's. Giving up Konerko, Marte and Garland and having to pay his entire salary makes little sense. You still have a hole in the 5th starter role. You weaken your bullpen significantly. Despite what Ozzie thinks, Marte is a stud, and your offense suddenly becomes maybe the worst in the AL. Does this mean they offer Schoenweiss arbitration, give him Marte's role and listen to him b**** about it all season? Does this mean Frank becomes the everyday first baseman? Do they teach Everett how to play first? That wouldn't be consistent with the pitching and defense philosophy. Unless KW has something lined up to upgrade the offense, this move seems very odd.

You are absolutely correct.

KW said that he had money to sign a part-time middle infielder, before the CLee trade. Let's make that $2 million. Take that, plus the $6 million gained in that deal. Shoenweiss is arbitration eligible and would get at least $2 million. Let him go. Ben Davis made $1.4 million last year and is arbitration eligible if I'm not mistaken. Minimally, he'd get $1.5 million. That comes out to $11.5 million to play with. I think you do better than El Duque, Cairo, and AJ.

It seems strange then, that the top pitchers always seem to win their fair share of games. It also seems strange then that on your previous response, you mentioned how you weren't looking forward to another 83-79 or worse season, which I believe is reference to the team's W-L record.

Yea that's right. Boston sells out every game. Their box seats are double the price of White Sox tickets. Anaheim draws over 3 million a year, partly because of the weather advantage they have. Sox fans think almost 2 million is great attendance. They are cheap. They complain they can't buy an upper deck ticket and sit in the boxes. Many only show at half priced night, because they say they can't afford a regularly price ticket, but for some reason they have enough money to by 15 $6 beers and make asses out of themselves. The White Sox can't afford to make a $25 million mistake. It would hamstring the franchise for years. Last time I checked, the season doesn't even start until April. The White Sox will spend that money, they just aren't going to piss it away on a guy who isn't even a .500 pitcher.

Not at the expense of the future of the franchise. You give Clement that money, you are now over budget, and won't be able to add anything else. Counting on Willie Harris and Ben Davis everyday isn't going to win you a division, even with the great 69-75 lifetime Matt Clement.

1. How do you know they didn't? There were reports that they went to $8.5 million a year which would come out to $25.5 million. 2.How do you know that if the money was the same Clement would choose the White Sox? He has a chance to pitch in a great park that will be sold out every game. With the White Sox, he'll have to pick up tumbleweeds after he gets tatooed in USCF. Really, if you're a pitcher would you rather pitch for a team that has Damon, Ramirez, Renteria, Ortiz, or pitch for a team with Podsednick, Dye, Rowand and Konerko. The Red Sox should get him a lot more runs as would the Angels. I don't think that's a coincidence they were his top 2 choices.

Good. Clement doesn't have the stones to earn his $25 million. Boston is going to regret signing him. Sign ELo, AJ, and Cabrerra. Let Schoenweiss and Ben Davis go. You still may have some money to play with.ELo's "tired" shoulder won't get so tired as the #5 guy, getting skipped over occassionally, plus he was pretty effective with the Yankees in the playoffs. AJ is a huge upgrade over Davis, and Cabrerra would push Harris to the bench, and the White Sox middle infield defense would be amonst the best in baseball, not to mention the offensive upgrade as well.