iamshack

I think he's pretty much ours if we want him. Although it's difficult to know just what the package for Peavy was, considering there were two PTBNL's, but my guess is you throw in 1 more of Flowers, Allen, or Danks2 and the deal gets done. The idea KHP brought up regarding Rolen is interesting. If taking back Rolen allows you to subtract the addition of Flowers, Allen or Danks, and throw in Fields instead, that is definitely something worth considering. I think this is just going to be something where Kenny has to decide how far he would like to go. One has to believe he will balk at Flowers and Allen, just because they have a place on this team most likely in 2011 (and replace guys that are moving on after 2010). But would he be willing to trade Danks and what affect could that have on Johnny?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 07:11 PM) Supposedly his price tag is $30-60 million. I'm thinking the Sox stay out of that one. Maybe they trade for him in a couple years after he struggles with the Yankees and get NY to pick up some of the rest of his contract. I don't see JR approving that kind of expenditure right now. Well that depends. $30 million is a lot different than $60 million. If the guy can be had for $30-40 million, I think you do your homework, and if you're comfortable, you sign him. Between the success of Jose and Alexei, and hopefully Viciedo down the road, I think Jerry could get comfortable with making that sort of commitment. Considering the contracts starting pitchers have been getting recently, it's not as big of a risk as it might initially appear. If you're truly confident he can pitch in this league, you go ahead and ink that deal.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 04:05 PM) Mark Teahen gets a day off...? Hmmm... Anyone know Teahan's career numbers against Danksy by any chance?

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 03:42 PM) Reports indicte that Rick Hahn himself indicated that the Sox have Rameriz and Viciedo for 6 years. It was discussed in at least two threads, the only one I can find right now with a google search is from Viciedo's AAP page. EDIT: See Post #7. Interesting. I hadn't seen that, so if that is indeed true, my apologies. I don't know how that could be true, however. Players not eligible for the draft are not required to perform 6 years of mlb service time, as far as the Labor Agreement states. That being said, I am not on retainer by the Player's Union or MLB.

QUOTE (shakes @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 02:39 PM) It's an interesting thought, but right now I think they need the outfield depth, and I think he would bring very little in a trade. I've given up believing he will ever be more than a 4th or 5th outfielder. The offseason would be a better time for this. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-joe03.article This is the last thing I think they should do...dump Wise, keep Anderson....he's going to be a valuable piece off the bench in the event of a playoff run and appearance.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 01:39 PM) The same rules apply for signed players either through the amateur draft or international market. Once you are signed, you falls into the labor agreement. That's not true. Players that are drafted in the amatuer draft are treated differently than those signed as amatuer free agents or international free agents. Guys like Jose Contreras, who were not subject to the amatuer draft are not required to fulfill 6 years of service time. They sign contracts and are the property of the team only for the terms of the contract, much like regualr free agents. After 2011, Alexei will be free to sign with any team, regardless of whether he ever would have sniffed the Major Leagues or not, as his contract was for 4 years, and not based upon Major League service time.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 12:49 PM) Someone on this board said this before, I don't remember who it was. Yeah, it's not true...I posted their contract terms off the top of my head, but went and confirmed at Cot's Baseball Contracts. You can go there whenever you'd like to know the terms of a mlb contract.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 12:25 PM) Then I wonder why there are so many questions about this guy. I'm not sure that any questions really exist. The Cubans have no incentive to allow their players to falsify their ages. In fact, they would have more incentive to get the ages correct, as older players have less value to Major League teams and thus gives the player less incentive to defect.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 12:21 PM) Let us also remember we aren't that far removed from the scouting scandals. I'm guessing the organization is going to move really carefully before opening up the check book. The scouting scandals occur with unknown Latin American players....these Cubans are guys that play on the World stage all year long at a professional level. All high-level baseball officials have a grasp of who these guys are, unlike some 16 year old ss from some tiny town in Venezuela that no one has really seen before.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 12:09 PM) Wouldn't they still have control over him for 6 years? The Sox still have Alexei and Viciedo for the standard 6 years. I don't believe that is true. These are international free agents, not players selected in the amatuer draft. I believe the Sox have control over Alexei through 2011 and Viciedo through 2012.

My guess is he gets 5/$40 million or so...teams are going to want him locked up for a bit in case it takes him a year or so to break into the Majors, but not too long to where they are saddled with him forever in case he doesn't ever harness that stuff.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 28, 2009 -> 11:23 PM) Kudos to JD who passed Bill Melton for 7th all-time on the Sox homerun list. Great news. Anyone who puts Melton farther down the list is ok by me.

Mark Teahan.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 28, 2009 -> 10:28 PM) I'm calling it now... the White Sox will trade for Matt Holliday. This will be because we are still teetering on the edge of contenders in July, Carlos Quentin won't be ready this year, and our s***ty play in CF. We will move Pods to CF, and have a lineup of: 1. Pods, CF 2. Ramirez, SS 3. Holliday, LF 4. Dye, RF 5. Thome, DH 6. Konerko, 1B 7. Pierzynski, C 8. Beckham, 3B 9. Getz/Nix, 2B Part of the reasoning will also be that Holliday can also help us not only now, but in the future, either by re-signing him or getting 2 draft picks out of him. And what do you suppose we will be giving up to get him? I would guess it would take something like Fields, Poreda, and Jordan Danks....

Has anyone been to a place called Great Lake for pizza? It was written up in GQ as the best pizza restaurant in the US. I tried to get out there when I was in town visiting a few weeks ago, but never made it. It's a few miles north of Wrigley, just off Clark on Balmoral Ave. Was just curious...

Shipps, Last July I moved from my beloved Chicago to Las Vegas, NV. I did it more out of opportunity than a whim, as I had procured a good job, but I was experiencing a lot of the same questions and emotions that you undoubtedly are. I didn't have to go, but I was relatively young (31), had little or no responsibilities in Chicago, and I was ready for a bit of a change. It was difficult to leave all my friends and family behind, not to mention my beloved Chicago sports franchises, but once I got out to Vegas, I never really regretted it. I know this is not California, but Las Vegas really has turned into a "mini LA" of sorts. Half our City is made up of Californians most weekends, it seems. The weather is far better in the West than in Chicago - that much I can guarantee you. The winters (if you can call them that) are mild, the summers are much drier, and overall, it is just far more pleasant. I recently returned to Chicago for a vacation and the weather was just awful (as many of you know). I never thought I would long to get back to the Las Vegas summer heat. The downside about leaving Chicago is probably the culture and the people. The culture in Chicago is amazing, and the people are genuinely nice. I know California is different than Vegas, but the people here are from everywhere - we seem to have everyone else's castoffs. I'm not sure if parts of California are like that, but my guess is many of the big cities are. My advice is to research the housing and job markets quite carefully. Apply for jobs and see if you can get some phone interviews. Look into how much rents and/or home values are. Look at other interests you may have, such as shopping, restaurants and bars, golf courses, bookstores, etc., and see if they are proximate to where you might live. I did a lot of research before I accepted the job and found a great building to live in, which was close to where I would be working as well as plenty of shopping, restaurants and bars (I live on the Strip). Being close to everything made me comfortable about my move, as not knowing many people I knew I would want to be around things like that. Most importantly, you can get most Chicago sports franchises through cable or satellite providers, so you don't necessarily have to quit watching your teams. It does stink that Las Vegas is claimed as the home market by many California baseball teams, so whenever the White Sox play one of them, it is blacked out. But I buy the package and get to watch about 75 - 80% of the games, which also made me feel comfortable about moving. Put a lot of thought into it and research it thoroughly, and then as someone else said, it may be a good idea to try and spend some time out there before making a permanent move. Best of luck!

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 04:34 PM) not being sarcastic, actually want to know, but what would the point of it be? Man, this is another red flat that points that KW and Ozzie are butting heads Admitting Quentin will be out for months if not the whole year takes away a lot of leverage if Kenny actually tries to make a deal to improve the team.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 06:35 PM) First, that Aaron Poreda is not here to develop, he's here to produce out of the bullpen. And if he doesn't? "I talked to him and made it real clear, 'If you don't pitch well, you're going to have O'Hare Airport next to you pretty soon,' '' Guillen explained. "I said, 'Did you arrive at Midway or O'Hare?' He said, 'O'Hare.' I said, ''Well, on the way back, Midway is closer.' Because this is to win. I think he can help us, I think our scouting report and our minor-league people said we can count on him to win. It's another good arm in the bullpen. This kid can be used as a long man, against anybody, lefty or righty, and he gives me another good arm in the pen. "This isn't instructional league. I make it really clear to him, this isn't development. You're going to be treated the same way as everyone else. If you don't do the job, we have Southwest airlines waiting for you to go to Charlotte. That's the only one with nonstop, I already checked.'' by the way if you read who article by cowley ozzie had no decision on bringing up bechkham and was all kenny and minor leagues Ozzie has done nothing but resist these kids coming up since day 1 of the season. It makes sense that Kenny telling him another kid was coming up may have caused an argument between the two of them. My guess is Kenny gets to decide who to put on the roster, but Ozzie gets to decide who actually plays. I'm sure this is often a source of "spirited debate," if you will.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 03:50 PM) It appears I don't value Dotel as much as others. I just don't see him as being as reliable as most people here, apparently. I think if you review some of the deals in the past few years for relievers around the deadline, you'll get an idea of what we are alluding to. I think Dotel may have even fetched a few decent prospects himself when the Royals traded him to the Braves in 07', and that was his first year removed from surgery.

QUOTE (tommy @ May 31, 2009 -> 06:43 PM) Forecast shows some rain for tomorrow and Tuesday. Forecast Schmorecast.

This is as good as I've felt after a win since last October...

QUOTE (jimmiething @ May 31, 2009 -> 05:21 PM) Ok first time posting but anyways I think it would be very very bad for the sox to have to call up Beckham to play third base this season. There is now way The Cuban Pimp is ready for the big leagues and in my mind I don't think there is any doubt that Beckham could hold his own right now in the big leagues. That being said, the reason Beckham is so highly reguarded as a prospect is he is such a good hitter for a middle infielder. Now if he plays a good 3rd base and hits how people project him to hit he will be a nice player but by no means a superstar. Going along with this,if Josh loses the job to Beckham, Fields becomes virtually useless to us in trades in that his trade value really has never been as low as it is now. So best case scenario for me, Gordon continues to succeed in the minor leagues and Josh keeps hitting the ball like he has over these past few days. Next year we can hopefully trade Getz of Fields for a good major league ready pitcher or outfield and have Beckham step in and be the savior all of the southside expects him to be. Your argument is very good, in theory. However, position scarcity only works from an "on-paper" standpoint. We, as fans, have to always remember, the key is not to have the best or most valuable team on-paper, but to win the most ballgames on the field. And therefore, if Beckham were to provide better play at 3b than what we are currently getting, as opposed to building up his prospect status down in Birmingham as a MI, than it may be advantageous to do so, if only temporarily. Of course you mention all the long-term implications such as rebuilding Josh's value, establishing Beckham as one of the best young MI's in the game, etc., etc., but at what point do those become secondary to competing for a division title NOW?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 31, 2009 -> 07:40 AM) Haven't seen Greinke pitch, but usually when pitchers are going as well as he is, they are throwing anywhere between 66% and 75% first pitch strikes. And with his control thus far, I'd say he's doing that. Simply logic says swing early to hit those pitches. Of course, if you don't hit those pitches, he's going 9 innings again, which is a catch-22 in the fullest regard. I still say you swing early. BTW, Alexei in the 2-hole... .382/.447/.471/.918. Keep him there. I TOLD YOU SO. I've heard several commentators suggest that no one has commanded the fastball as well as Greinke this year since Greg Maddux.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ May 30, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) Agreed. I like the idea of making him a long reliever/6th starter. He might put a bit more on the heater if he's only going 2-3 innings at a time. It's no time to factor his $10M salary into any decision, that's a sunk cost. Honestly, if he has rediscovered his forkball, as they say he has, he can start again in this league and be effective. And something tells me we'll need him plenty of times before this year is finished.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 30, 2009 -> 02:40 PM) What I like about him is he didn't b**** or freak out after his name was mentioned in trade talks. Just came out and pitched his best ball. Plus, he's a good athlete, stud QB in high school who was recruited to Michigan and then left the dark side for a better sport!!! Honestly, how does one get pissed off about being named in a deal for Jake Peavy? I would have been pretty stoked, personally.