harfman77

I think it is too early to be sellers. Not that I think we have a legit chance of contending, more that I feel that our players are going to do nothing but help their value until the deadline for one, they cant play much worse. Secondly the closer you get to the deadline the more desparate teams will become to add players to make their run, teams like Seattle and Milwaukee who may feel this is their chance. If we were going to br buyers, that time has come and passed it is time to wait to see what we can get.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 04:10 PM) Rebuilding is not going to happen under KWs watch. Get that through your thick skull. Thats why KW will not be here much longer

I would agree with the 25th ranking. We dont have any impact players in the minors. We have a bunch of players that will need to be brought along slowly like we did with Rowand and Crede. There is no Andy LaRoche, Ryan Braun, Brandon Wood, type of player. I think it is time for a new GM, KW has made the organization top heavy, I guess I shouldnt say made as it has been that way for a long time. But what this or any other organization needs is to have a solid minor league organization to draw starters from. The most consistent teams in the league do this quite well. Atlanta brought up Johnson and Thorman this year, and have Salty, Elvis Andrus, Gregor Blanco waiting in the wings. The Mets have Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, and Deolis Guerra. The way to mainain an organization is to build from the minors and sprinkle in parts through free agency, thats the only way you can remain competitive year in and year out, otherwise you are locked into too many bad contracts that are unmovable, as the Yankees have done(though they have developed their minor league system at the same time). No manager could win with the way these players are playing so there is no reason to fire Ozzie unless KW goes first, at that point a new GM should be able to bring in his own guy to run his players.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 02:09 PM) There's no sarcasm there, this is a true belief amongst a portion of Sox fans and frankly, it scares the s*** out of me. The only OF's I would take from the Phils would be Victorino or Bourn, we had Rowand, he never really impressed me. I know he is a saint to some here, but he is the past and it is time to look toward the future. Grab a younger player that we can control on the cheap for awhile so that we can afford to put pieces around him in the OF.

So can we just hire away Minnesota's minor league scouting department then?

I think if you take Dukes out of the environment that he is in he would stay out of a lot of the trouble he gets himself into. Duke sounds like he grew up hanging out with a bad crowd and is still living and hanging around the same guys, move him out of that environment and he could be a pretty productive player, and maybe a distraction sometimes, not the constant problem he has been.

I think that our relievers are a year away from being a competent bullpen, many of these guys are so young and Mac has had success, but obviously doesnt have it right now. I think a lot of the problems with our bullpen have to do with confidence issues, pitchers arent confident enough in their stuff to throw strikes or remain composed on the mound. I think that at this point we hang on to everyone and give them a year to develop, because with the offense we have it is obvious to me that we are going nowhere fast. I think we can send Massett down and sign Chan ho Park to be the long man/6th starter and use him out of the bullpen the rest of the year.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 02:21 PM) In the short term, the sox might have to bite the bullet and deal for a guy like Dukes. Acquiring immediate talent comes with a price--either in prospects which could hurt the team in the long run. Or at the price of getting a guy of questionable character. The hole the sox are in now, getting Dukes who plays hard on the field yet has big time off the field issues might be worth it I agree, I think Dukes and Callaspo could both be buy low players. And as long as they dont bring their significant others with them they shouldn't have too many problems. But Callaspo could end up at 2B or SS and Dukes could play any OF position.

To me it depends on the front offices attitude towards the season at this point. If they are planning to go into sell mode, it doesnt make sense to bring any starters into the bullpen, just keep throwing the kids we have in the bullpen now out there until they get it figured out. It may take the rest of the year, but it will put us in a good position next season. If they feel that this team will cotend than they need to put whoever out there they can that can get outs.

Any trade that the Sox make needs to net multiple players in return to establish depth in the system, a one for one trade with a current MLBer or prospect does nothing for the long term of the franchise.

In order to get Abreu to waive his no trade, whomever trades for him would have to pick up the $16 million option, that would stifle the Sox in the free agent market this off season and would not improve the team at all.

Heres my sell mode version Buehrle - NYM, NYY, STL (fading), ATL, LAD, BAL, or SEA Contreras - NYM, ATL, SEA Garland - ATL, SEA, LAD, NYM, NYY, BAL, SD, MIL Iguchi - BOS, NYM, OAK Dye - ARI, LAD, BAL, LAA, ATL, PHI, CHC, SFG, MIL, SEA Crede - PHI, LAA, PIT, SD, LAD, SFG Players of interest - People I think could be acquired in a deal ATL - Joey Devine, Jarrod Saltamacchia, Gregor Blanco, Elvis Andrus ARI - Carlos Gonzales, Alberto Callaspo, Tony Pena, Emilio Bonifacio BAL - Garrett Olson, Nolan Reimold, Jeff Fiorentino, Pedro Beato BOS - Manny DelCarmen, Lars Anderson, Michael Bowden CHC - Mark Pawelek, Ryan Harvey, Eric Patterson, Chris Walker LAA - Reggie Willits, Nick Adenhart, Erick Aybar, Joe Saunders LAD - James Loney, Matt Kemp, Ivan DeJesus Jr, Blake Dewitt MIL - Tony Gwynn Jr, Mat Gamel, Alicides Escobar, Jose Capellan NYM - Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez, Deolis Guerra, Phillip Humber NYY - Delin Betances, Jose Tabata, Melky Cabrera, Tim Battle OAK - Javier Herrera, Daric Barton, Justin Sellers, Jermaine Mitchell PHI - CJ Henry, Michael Bourn, Greg Golson, JA Happ PIT - Neil Walker, Javier Guzman, Brad Corley SEA - Jeff Clement, Wladimir Balentien, Sebastian Boucher, Yung Chi-Chen SFG - Fred Lewis, Angel Villalona, Eddy Martinez-Esteve, Marcus Sanders STL - Daryl Jones, Bryan Anderson, Josh Kinney, Mark Hamilton

I think this is very premature, but if we fail to either make the playoffs or come out of this season with the prospects to make a run in the near future, it is time for Kenny to go. This organizational has done a horrendous job of bringing in amateur talent either through the draft or through international free agency and that all falls on the shoulders of Kenny Williams. I pray that Steinbrenner will fire Cashman so the Sox would have a shot, their minor league organization has been depleted over the years by some of Georges moves but it is a strength again for that organization. Either that or whoever is running the show in Arizona, they have also done a good job bringing in Owings, Quentin, Gonzales, Young, Callaspo, and others. And if you get rid of Kenny you have to give the new guy an option to hire his own guy to manage the team, if he decides to stick with Ozzie, thats fine, if not he should bring in a guy that he trusts to get the job done.

How about Crede for Lewis and Sanders?

Moves I would like to see IF we go into sell mode: Contreras to the Braves for Salty and Elvis Andrus Buerhle to the Mets for Fernando Martinez or Lastings Milledge and Phillip Humber or Deolis Guerra Dye to the Dbacks for Carlos Gonzales, Alberto Callaspo, and Tony Pena Garland to the Dodgers for Preston Mattingly and James Loney. Crede to the Phillies for Michael Bourn and CJ Henry I think that all these trades make sense on a need basis for all teams, however I can never really gauge our players true value in the marketplace. But as teams become more desparate to stay in contention the return would work more in our favor. We may have to add some minor league pieces in to balance these deals out, but at the same time we would be restocking the system. And while some of these players are two to three years away from contributing, we would have some freed salary to fill holes until they are ready. Our pitching staff would be an adventure the rest of the season though with Vazquez, Danks, Floyd, Broadway, Masset or Sisco. But we would be in a position in the offseason to being some veterans in to fill out the staff and any needs on the roster.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ May 21, 2007 -> 02:16 PM) Excellent news. I didn't remember the 6 million but so many were talking about it so I bought into it. I think we will see Erstad back for 3.5 or so. I think the Sox want no part of Rocco, he has had more injury problems than Pods and Erstad combined. It it was too early to find a good partner to trade with because too many teams feel they are still in contention for the postseason. I think that viable options are Coco Crisp - whom I would rather not have, Matt Kemp, Lastings Milledge, James Loney, Jeff Baker or Fred Lewis.. in other words someone who is being blocked or is blocking someone else from seeing the field. Each team, except the Giants, would probably want SP in return, the Giants may be satisfied will bullpen help.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 14, 2007 -> 09:54 AM) DeJesus is one of their cornerstones. He's close to leading the AL in hits and multi-hits games. If you want Gathright, or Reggie Sanders, or Emil Brown...those are the 3 players they are selling right now, although Sanders is injured. They want to get time for Costa to prove if he's a regular or not, they need to get ABs for Butler in the outfield with Sweeney DHing, even though he's (Butler) not a natural OFer and Teahen is in RF until they move him to 3B and send Gordon down. Who would the D-Rays have to replace Callaspo? Why would teams want to get rid of players like Burke and Callaspo when they are the most valuable commodity in baseball, young/affordable talent not even in arbitration? Or at least most valuable after LH starters... Callaspo is not travelling with the team now because he is in trouble with the law right now and they may be ready to get whatever they can for him. DeJesus is good, but they need to fit in Costa, Butler, and Teahen in the outfield, and by the time their young players are ready DeJesus will walk in free agency.

Alberto Callspo from the Dbacks could probably be had on the cheap and can play either middle infield position and left field. He could be insurance if Iguchi walks. Also the Royals are a little crowded in the OF and maybe DeJesus could be had, he know Central division pitching and can play left and center.

There will be no firesale until at least the end of June when teams have a better idea if they are in contention and what they would need to move up into contention. The Sox are in no means out of anything even if they were 10 games out at this point. If you had a firesale now the only player that you would be sending out who could net his value would be Buerhle. Iguchi, Crede, and Dye have not been hitting well enough to make them worth trading.

I think the blame falls a lot more with the players not getting the job done and not being focused than it does with Greg Walker. That said sometimes I think it takes fresh blood to wake up the troops and bring their focus back in. I think it is time for a change, this offense is much too talented to hit this badly.

At this point I would rather just trade JD to the Dodgers for prospects. Send JD and BA for Ethier, Kemp, and DeJesus Jr. Then we will have corner outfielders for a while and will allow us to focus on either Sweeney or Ichiro in CF after this season. I think our production would still be at least at the level it has been now. I want nothing to do with Baldelli, he plays in the field only half the time becuase he is such an injury risk. He is like Glass Joe on Mike Tysons punchout. Freel would be OK, but the Reds just signed him to an extension. I would like like to get Melky Cabrera from the Yanks and with their pitching situation we might be able to get him for Floyd or Logan.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 02:07 PM) true, i wish boone would go away. I think Boone will be fine and the experience he is getting now can pay off in August and September. What will tell the most about him is how he comes out and throws next time. It sucks to lose now, but if he would have came through in that spot that would have been a huge confidence builder, unfortunately it didnt pan out but hopefully they can build off it and make each of the young relievers a better as the year goes on. QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 02:07 PM) Rest guys when they clearly weren't pitching well (and, after the season, admitted they were hurt)? Like Buehrle in the second half or Garcia in the first half? You know, do what they said they'd do when Vazquez was first acquired...? I would like to have seen a six man rotation last year in June and July, I know that is frowned upon, but the way our pitchers were throwing I think they could have used the extra rest.

A few things that I got from the game. Massett pitched well to begin with but seemed to lose his control quickly. Bringing in Logan was the right call because you get a cold bat off the bench and hopefully you get him to hit into the double play. Unfortunately Logan didnt appear to have much control either, and that may have been nerves as that is the biggest spot that I think he has been in. I think that Ozzie should tweak the batting order for a little while, move Konerko up to third so he sees better pitches, and drop Thome to fourth so that he has Dye protecting him. I think BA is doing everything he can to get sent to Charlotte. I thought the bullpen performed well, outside of a couple pitches, I would have rather had Mac in there, but he has been worked pretty hard.

Maybe Boone IS being showcased for a trade, if that is the case I hope that we can work out a deal with the Dodgers. I would love to be able to bring in Matt Kemp as our left fielder. Maybe Logan, Pods and Owens for Kemp?

The series is pretty strong for me and I have never lived in Chicago. The baseball fans in this area are like 50% Cubs, 30% Cards, 10% Twins and 10% everything else. Most of my family and friends are Cubs fans and most of the people I work with, it is pathetic. So it is good rivalry for me to be able to put them in their place and show them how basball is played. I understand there is some pride for bragging rights toward which side of town wins out, but there is also Sox Pride that extends all the way over here to Iowa. I guess every rivalry is big, but because of the fan structure around here, it is always a little sweeter to beat the Cubs.