harfman77

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 31, 2007 -> 11:12 AM) Dye somewhat, is still a position player. Thome is a DH. So you eliminate the entire NL in your trade talks, now how many contending teams have a need for a DH. The Angels, and. .... So you have one team. What is your return going to be? Angels, Yankees, Seattle all could use Thome. Seattle has Vidro as their DH and he is pathetic, Yankees are not excited about keeping Giambi, and the Angels need offense. It seems like their is only one possible destination for Dye so isnt three better than one.

QUOTE(kwolf68 @ Jul 31, 2007 -> 10:47 AM) Wow, he could come cheap, but no gurantee he would be ready to assume the SS role in Chicago next year. I'd love to take a flier on him however, but wouldn't want to have him without a credible alternative. Arias may spend another year in AAA. He is out for probably the rest of the year after having shoulder surgery on July 2. I think we could keep Cintron next season as a backup option to Arias and if Arias cant fit the bill we could make another deal at that time. I think maybe Brian Anderson and a pitcher, one of Aardsma, Phillips, Day or Sisco would be a good deal for the Rangers. They need a CF after dealing Lofton and were thinking of moving Arias there. With good hitters in the corners, Cruz and Botts or Mayberry, the Rangers could add a defensive minded player in the OF.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jul 31, 2007 -> 10:02 AM) Saltalamacchia is going to be awesome... especially in Texas. LaRoche's ceiling is much lower. And it goes to need, we have Fields and possibly Crede next season, both are acceptable 3B, but our C position is getting continually weaker and Salty would have solidified that position for years to come.

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 31, 2007 -> 09:39 AM) There is no way the Dodgers give you that.. Why would they trade for A lesser version of Broxton? I think Garland for Kemp, Hu/Mattingly, and Meloan would be a good deal. I would rather have Mattingly than Hu because I think that he projects to be the better offensive player, but he night eventually need to move to second base. I think we could pick up Arias from Texas for a minor league pitcher to play SS next season now that Young has been signed to an extension. Meloan has the chance to be Broxtons equal and can be the closer of the future. The Braves would probably be a bad fit for Jenks as they have a closer now, and three more potential closers in waiting with Soriano, Gonzalez, and Devine. I think that there would be a better fit for Bobby that would pay off more for the Sox. The Yankees could be a good fit in the offseason if they do not resign Rivera, San Diego if Hoffman retires, the Reds if they are thinking of re-tooling their pitching. There are no contending teams that are in dire need of a closer so the return would not be as high as we would want, so trading Jenks doesnt make very much sense until the winter.

QUOTE(michelangelosmonkey @ Jul 31, 2007 -> 07:39 AM) I offered like three ifs. Sometimes a 90 win team wins 80 games...sometimes it wins 100. That is the wonderful randomness of baseball. Konerko is a career .850 OPS guy. Remeber 2003 when he hit 18 homers with a .230 batting average? Then in 2006 he hit .313 with 35 homers. Same guy...no injuries...or Buehrle who has a career batting average against him of .268...same ballpark, same guy...in 2001 his batting average against was .230. Last year it was .305..it's all part of the great randomness of baseball. Accumulate talent then hope that you get the ups at the same time. The tigers are a good old team with Palonco, Guillen, Ordonez, Sheffield, Inge, Casey, Rodriquez, Jones, and Rogers all over 30. Their relief ace, star hitter and key pitcher all basically forty. Gilli, Robertson, Durbin are all 30. Detroit isn't a dynasty...they are a veteran team with the old guys pulling together with a couple of young talented pitchers. The difference is the youth and depth that Detroit has. With Miller, Bonderman, and Verlander they have a pretty good top of the rotation for at least a few more years. They have Granderson, who is still in good shape ready to shift over to LF when Maybin is ready. Their bullpen is deep and has youth with Zumaya, De la Cruz and Bazardo. And the fact is that their player development is stellar compared to ours, a lot of that some will tell you has to do with our organzations draft philosophy. We tend to draft safe players that do not have much projectability. Our players are usually about as good as they will be when we draft them. The fact that we draft players based more on who represents them than their baseball ability or ceiling has set this organization back to having one of the worst farm systems in baseball. There is not one player in our minor league system that projects to be a ML allstar. When we should be modeling our organization after one like the Braves, similar payroll, draft position and resources, we have become the anti-Braves. Sorry this turned into a rant on our system but it really irks me to see some of the depth that some of the organizations in our division have in their minor league systems compared to ours. Kansas City was considered depleted before Moore got their and now they have too much ML talent in the OF to shove on their roster. They have less holes going into next season than we do. But back to Detroit they have a good mix of youth and veterans which allows them to replace pieces as needed, not retool the almost the entire lineup.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jul 31, 2007 -> 07:29 AM) Rowand will sign for less than what Gary Matthews Jr did. Last years' contracts were way out of whack and the prices will come down. Reverse inflation? I'll believe that when I see it. Rowand will likely be looking for $10-12 million and will probably get it, hopefully not from the Sox though. I think that a deal for Pena and Masterson would be ideal. Delcarmen reminds me alot of the guys we already have in the bullpen. I think Masterson could also be a closer in the future if we got the inclination to deal Jenks. At worst Pena can platoon in LF with Sweeney next season, at best he is our full time LF and our DH to be after Thomes contract expires.

QUOTE(kwolf68 @ Jul 30, 2007 -> 10:41 AM) Depending on who those other two pitching prospects are, I think Atlanta gave up quite a bit. No doubt, Teixera is probably the games best defensive first baseman, a very good hitter, this certainly does fill a position of need for Atlana, and they didn't give up anyone playing any prominent role on the current Atlanta team. However, 4 players...2 of them at least highly thought of is a big package. I think that this would preclude us from dealing with the Braves now, but definitely sets the market very high for top line talent.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Jul 26, 2007 -> 01:26 PM) ok Omar Vizquel is the worst baseball player ever! he has never done anthing good. He was awesome in the 80's, maybe he and Contreras can get their AARP cards together.

QUOTE(bigruss22 @ Jul 25, 2007 -> 11:12 PM) It would be very hard to trade konerko, but it has many positives. 1) Drop 12 mill from the payroll 2) fill in major holes at SS OF and refill his position I would demand willits kotchman aybar and a reliever, otherwise i dont think it would be worth the damage to the fanbase. THat deal brings a crapload back to fill multiple pos. that wont be easy to fill via free agency as well I agree, I would want Kotchman, Aybar and Adenhart back. Frees up money to sign some help in the OF and relivers, gives us a leadoff man next year, and gives us decent production out of the 1B position. Adehnart would probably become our top pitching prospect in the minors and would be ready on opening day in 2009, if not sooner.

I think that there are some really good prospects in next years draft, and with Jermaine starting to come around, I think that he will hit himself into a decent contract in the offseason so the Sox can hang onto him, offer arbitration, and he will decline it and move on and sign with the Rangers/Orioles/Angels, or whoever. I think the there is no way Jermaine accepts arb since it would me a likely deal ~7-8 mil, and before the season he was looking for a contract similar to Carlos Lee's. We all know that is out of the question with his performance this season, but I think he will still get Matthews/Pierre type money in the 10-12 million range. The Sox could be in good shape to get a jump on rebuilding with the three first round picks, and if I were to get the three guys I want it would be Pedro Alvarez, Jordan Danks, and BJ Hermsen.

I agree that it is a long shot that we compete for the next couple seasons. This team has too many holes and is notorious for not signing big time free agents. I would be fine with trading anyone as long as it brought us back multiple starters in return. If the Angels want Konerko I would ask for Kotchman, Aybar, and Adenhart. That fills the SS hole and leadoff spot, allows Richar to play second next season were he is better suited defensively, and gives a young inexpensive left handed first basemen that has the chance to be as good as Paulie. Then with Adenhart, he would THE guy that the Sox would have in the minors that has top of the rotation potential. If the Angels think that is too much, then we dont make the deal, there is no need for us to trade PK if someone doesnt meet our price.

I completely agree with leaving him up and letting him take his knocks. The rest of the season should be training camp for the young guys in the bullpen and rotation to work through their problems and see if they can be "fixed". If not you have a much better idea what you have going into the offseason and aren't counting on someone who may not be able to perform or are not spending extra money to duplicate a player that you already have. We will have to make come trades for this to happen, and the closer to the deadline we get, the less faith I have that KW will make any significant moves.

QUOTE(AirScott @ Jul 23, 2007 -> 06:25 PM) I just read the article about this on MLB.com...Gotay has only taken five walks, and it didn't sound like Willie Randolph is too high on any of these guys. Would you be? I think that is more likely that they trade for Grudz from KC. KC wants to move him to play German everyday and would be willing to trade him and Sanders for spare parts.

These are the types of trades I expect to see from the Braves. They want to but payroll and stay in contention at the same time. Their new ownership is from all accounts very frugal and trying to bring the payroll down. I almost more expect them to trade McCann then Salty because he is closer to costing them more in arbitration. The Braves do not seem to be a good match to trade with. But I agree that Garland should be traded, and probably by the deadline if we can get a few prospects back.

QUOTE(Wanne @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 01:18 PM) I guess my biggest problem was keeping Sisco up...which I think personally was an ego trip by KW. Sisco had NO BUSINESS being with the big club at that point...and yet he was used in critical situations. But there was talk of using him as a starter at the beginning of the season. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong...but isn't he being used as a starter now? I'm not blaming KW for all of this...but between him and Ozzie's use of the pen...it's been frustating as hell. And along the lines of the pen...somewhere in there AJ needs to be mentioned. I know it's probably tough for him knowing all these new faces and all...there strengths and weaknesses...but I can vividly recall just shaking me head with certain pitches called for in certain situations. The problem with Sisco is that he always seemed to be close to figuring it out before it would fall apart for him. He has great stuff, and good power coupled with no control at all. I think KW and Cooper thought he would turn it around and they gave him every opportunity to do so.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 09:25 AM) The Angels have many options... one of which is Brandon Wood who could be called up to play short and shift whoever's there to 2nd. They will not move Cabrera off short to put no defense Brandon Wood there. Aybar will fill in as he did when Kendrick was hurt to start the season. They can use Figgins and Izturis there as well.

Garland for Jackson and Quentin?

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 05:25 AM) His walk rate is brutal. How well do you think that will translate to the major league level? Plus our lefties have done a decent job, we need a righty to step up. If Thornton were to be dealt before the deadline I think Vasquez would get the call.

Kazuo Matsui was a huge bust in NY with the Mets but has had a nice time in Colorado after working out some problems in the minors. His numbers over the last two years: 2006 Col 32 113 22 39 6 3 2 19 10 27 8 1 .345 .392 .504 .896 2007 Col 46 189 39 59 10 5 3 21 11 30 16 2 .312 .350 .466 .816 He is an option at least, I am not sure how his defense is, but I remember he started as a shortstop but moved to 2B when Reyes came up.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 11, 2007 -> 11:22 PM) For Iguchi, what's better: any type of player at all or nothing? I think that question answers itself. Of course you're not going to get an A type prospect; if you expect that, you won't be making any trades this season unless you're trading Garland, Vazquez, Konerko, or Thome. For Contreras, of course he'll bring players back; if you put him on the DL, let his arm rest, and he doesn't come back strong, then what are you getting out of him? If you can get 1-2 players with upside, you do it and take it. For Dye, if he accepts arbitration, and the Sox have different plans for the outfield, he becomes an obstacle. And you seem to only be considering the fact that he'll come back healthy; if he comes back and he's unhealthy and putting up a .675 OPS again at the break next year, then the Sox have wasted a full year on him (dating from now to next July) and they will get LESS value for him next year. At least this year he's coming off a year in which he could have won an MVP. For Crede, plain and simply the least amount of money you can get coming off of arbitration is something like 80% of his salary this year. That means he'll be making $4 mill next year. Do you want to pay $4 mill for a player who is coming off of back surgery and has no place on the roster? And the 3 starting pitchers the Sox are building around are Buehrle, Vazquez, and Danks, and I'd be extremely surprised if it doesn't end up that way. And I really don't think he'll be able to deal Dye and Iguchi in the offseason. Contreras could probably bring you back Damion Easley and Gotay right now. Not worth selling while he is in a slump. Dye is obviously having a terrible year, but if he accepts arbitration and comes back next season, his numbers might be closer to last seasons than this seasons and he definitely would have more trade value then. I think it is a moot point anyway because there is no way he accepts arbitration. Crede is a high risk/high reward offseason sign. However if he can be had four $4 mil, it is definitely worth taking a chance to see if he can rebound and earn some value back next season, and if not Josh will be a solid insurance policy. I agree the big three will be Buerhle, Vazquez, and Danks. Garland should be traded for some position players that will help out next year.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 11, 2007 -> 12:55 PM) I'm not sure even Mark Buehrle was apart of Ken Williams long term plans; I would assume he was expecting Buehrle to try and get 6 years on the free agent market, and when he came back with something around the 5/75, and he found that Berry and Buehrle were then willing to work with 4/56, he had to take it; that type of value for a pitcher of Mark Buehrle's caliber is unheard of in this market. So, to add on to the bolded part, and seeing as how Garland has almost been moved twice in his tenure with the White Sox, I think it's very possible and likely that he will get moved. I don't think it will occur until the offseason, but I think it will happen. I agree, I have said before that I think Garland is the Sox player most likely to be moved. He has good value, is signed through next season, and the Sox have already alomst traded him twice last winter.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 11, 2007 -> 12:59 PM) I'll disagree on Dye, simply because with this organization's use of the arbitration rules in the past, Dye won't be offered arbitration because they won't want him back at $7 mill. I think $7 mil is not a bad number given the current and the projected offseason market. Ichiro just got $20 mil, and A-Rod is now projected to get around $30 mil. I think Jermaine still has some gas in the tank, just is having a very off year. There is no reason not to keep him and offer him arbitration. Worst case scenario is that Dye is back next year affordably. That will allow us to try to pony up some money for Fukodome. Dye, Fukodome, and Sweeney would be a decent OF next season. If Dye declines arbitration than we have a chance to add some more young talent to our farm system.

Maybe they are sending him down so that he can pitch on his regular schedule like the Reds are doing with Homer Bailey. Since he wouldn't have pitched for at least days, maybe they are just trying to keep him on schedule and get an extra start in.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jul 5, 2007 -> 03:47 PM) I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him have a dominant second half. It's happened before. I won't go as far as dominant, but I agree that he has a good chance to rebound in the second half. His arm has looked like it is going to fall off for about a month. I wish they would get him on the DL and get him some rest and leave Gavin up to get a longer look. I think that the rest would go a long way to getting him back on track and maybe gaining some value in his final two starts before the deadline.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jul 10, 2007 -> 07:50 AM) That's worse than this year's team. Probably a last place team in the Central. Paying Rowand $9M a year is simply crazy. If that's what you were illustrating, job well-done! As far as likely roster moves go, I agree Ichiro! won't be coming to a team unlikely to contend, he'll get more than $13M per year, and the Sox aren't interested in paying even that much to a single player. Getting Ichiro is completely unrealistic. I really think that one of Garland & Vazquez will be gone. And I think the Sox will give Crede a shot at 3B to see if he's healthy enough to flip at the deadline. I think the bench is pretty realistic if you replace Anderson with Terrero. It will be one of the worst in baseball, but very cheap at least.... There have been rumors that the Red Sox are targeting Ichiro in the offseason, and with the money they can throw at him, and their current success, I think they will be hard to beat.