Texsox

Damn, I lost my mlb conection

I'm not certain at what point he can exercise the option. Usually it is before any FA negotiations. It would be interesting how they structured Frank's. Wasn't it Roberto Alomar who refused our offer and signed for less? I'm glad he did.

OK, I should say it rarely works. Why else would we be desperate for a 5th starter? That was our deepest position. Checking the Braves roster back then. not many position players were Braves draft picks. JR has almost always refused 5 year deals for pitchers, I do not see us developing a pitching dynasty. I think if Mark had a great 1st half last year, he would have been looking for bigger dollars and possibly have left at the end of his previous contract.

I thought you were advocating the team taking their option. Because of his contribution to the club, I would like to see a new deal at close to $8 with incentives above that. I think it will be ugly if Frank has to take his option. But no way I would take the $11 option.

No, prospects are great chips at the poker table. You dream of a Dontrell Willis coming out of nowhere. I really hoped Rauch would have been it. I've been pulling for him since I met him. Damn, he's the second biggest human I've ever met, behind Keith Van Horn. If you try and build a team from the ground up, it doesn't work. That is why hanging onto your top two or three players is key. We will never have a laten 1990s Braves rotation because JR has all but refused pitchers more than a 4 year contract.

Look at it from a purely numbers perspective. We just drafted close to 50 players, may sign 35-40 by the time it is over. This year, ike most years, we've called up and kept on the 25 man roster only 2 players. There never is enough room for more than a couple making the grade. For that reason alone, prospects are a dime a dozen. This isn't disparaging our drafting or our players, that's just the math. An outstanding draft class for a team would be 4 players advancing to their 40 man roster.

LMAO I wonder what JM is doing today,

You would extend Frank at $11 million?! Do you think another team would sign him at more than $8 million? I wouldn't and I expect him to exercise his option at $8 million.

I'm not calling them busts, yet. I do not believe I mentioned Borchard at all. Rauch is looking less and less likely. As I said sarcastically before, when you were 11 they drafted Rauch and he was a can't miss prospect, a certain Cy Young winner. Injuries, maturity, etc. so far as kept him from realizing his potential. See, injuries are another way prospects do not turn out. Look over the Sox drafts over the past 15 years and see how many 1-2-3 rounders are playing for the Sox.

And how do you know this? How about the Valentin and Koch savings? How about an increase in payroll? Frank's option is plus or minus 3 million depending on who excercises their option. $11 million is the team does, $8 million if Frank does. Are you planning on exercising Frank's option at $11 million? or saving some mney there?

habit, pacing

wasn't that sweet? Had him standing there looking. And Jones isn't a stiff.

SWEET Set him up

:headshake so far outside, he's got to move in

Nice dp

seems a little early for Marte

That's why baseball has 50 rounds of drafts and the NBA 2. I do think by the time they reach AA and AAA the can't miss outfield prospects have a better success rate than then "can't miss" pitching prospects.

That is so true, it is a shame it had to be posted in a fan web site. But I guess some younger fans haven't seen enough prospects fail and guys like Piazza and Maggs come out of nowhere.

He has a lot of very valid thoughts. Trading your everyday best player for a 3rd or fourth starter isn't a bargain in my book. Further, JR has always balked at the type of long term contract it would take to sign a major free agent pitcher. If Buerhle and E-Lo showed signs of slipping, I would be more inclined to agree. Prospect watching is the most frustrating experience.

Brando I was thinking about this post Corporations can borrow money, corporations can borrow money from individuals. Individuals can set the terms of the loan. The repayment can be defered for a very long time or even forgiven. That is not illegal, nor would it land anyone in jail. Selling shares is one way for a corporation to raise capitol, but not the only way. How does ncorgbl think some teams, for example, fund their own stadiums? This doesn't pass the common sense test. Am I missing something? Added later: I called a buddy of mine who works for a bank in their Corporate Loan Office. Corporations give loans all the time, it use to be a popular executive perk, now it has fallen somewhat out of favor as a perk. Legally one corporation can loan money to another. There are some restriction to protect both corporations shareholders investment, but it isn't illegal and in fact somewhat common. An example he gave was GM will loan suppliers money to fund expansion and upgrades to facilities. He mentioned they call it their "Too big to fail" plane for key suppliers. So in theory the Bulls could loan the Sox money, but seriously, why would they? On the borrowing side, corporations borrow money all the time and from a variety of places. Depending on the size of the corporation, and remember some corporations may have only one shareholder and less than 5,000 in sales to Exxon in size, they borrow from US sources, off shore sources, venture capital sources, and private individuals, sometimes called angels. The terms vary all over the place. As long as the corporation that receives the loan isn't being defrauded, or accepting unreasonable terms, it is ok and perfectly legal. If a shareholder or soxtalk really wished to loan the Sox say $5,000,000 this year and have the interest and principle deferd until 2020 or longer, there is no hardship to the Sox corporation, in fact it is a benefit, so the shareholders have no complaints. Since this would be in theory, a loan to meet payroll, there really would be no legal issue. Now, having debunked the great Ncorgbl, I do agree why should a shareholder be asked to personally give money to the organization when banks would be lined up to offer a loan with a major sports franchise as collateral? ncorgbl has claimed to be a successful businessman and an investor in the Sox, I wonder why he didn't know that?

I guess we are looking at the minimum for Sox pride. I think it is somewhere above wearing a Sox hat. During the black and silver gangsta days, Raiders and Sox gear were cool for the look, not the team.

I think CW brings up a good point. The laws of the state must be followed. Even though I do not support the death penalty, our legal system only works if jurors are prepared to follow the laws, not reject ones they do not personaly agree with. I would have no problem, if on a Texas jury, to vote the death penalty for someone who fell into that category. I still do not trust the government to execute it's citizens.

Where is an all of the above?

I all your years of experience following this team, what makes you so certain we can sign a front line FA pitcher? What makes you so certain we can get a player who isn't looking for more money than he "is worth"? When you were 12, everyone talked about how stacked our farm system was with can't miss pitching prospects. Remember Rauch? He was the head of the class, now he's the guy that ran out on the team. He was a sure fire, Cy Young candidate, minor league player of the year. Now we're stacked with outfield prospects. You'll understand in a dozen years. I'm done arguing with someone who has at best 4 or 5 years following this team. I have watched them do their best to attract and sign FAs and fail most of the time. I hope they find another E-Lo or Uribe. If you think they'll sign a major FA, I just do not have any confidence. The Yankees will also be looking for pitching, it's their achilles heel. E-Lo, Sho, Uribe these are the guys that we go after, not $$$$ free agents. After Belle, I can understand them being gun shy.

I hope you are correct.