JUGGERNAUT

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...l=cs-columnists 1) How badly does Ordonez want to stay with the White Sox? This is the hardest to answer. He says he wants to stay in Chicago, and I believe him, because over the years he's proven to be a straight shooter. But Ordonez doesn't spend his off-seasons in Chicago, and a casualty of his quiet nature is that he hasn't created any relationships with companies who might want him to stay. If Ordonez is determined to test the open market, then it stands to reason his love for the White Sox has a dollar figure on it. Would he accept $1 million less to stay? $5 million? Only Ordonez and his agent know for sure. 2) Are there any teams out there willing to pay Ordonez more than the Sox? Yes. Look at ANA over Colon. 3) Will the Jerry Reinsdorf-owned White Sox ever give any player a contract worth $60 to $70 million? No. The decisions the organization has made over the last few years are based on the fact that the Sox don't produce enough revenue to compete for top free agents. ...and I'm guessing they don't even want to sign him for four years at $50 million. The Sox depend on two things to stay competitive: A minor-league system that produces cheap talent, and wonderful scouts who find undervalued gems buried on other team's rosters. If you want to reply on the Magglio issue: [email protected] When I find the evidence that he said the SOX have no chance to sign him as a free agent I expect you all to salute him with a finger.

I think it was in an article that featured 58/4. In any case the 70/5 is an interesting story because Heyman is the guy who broke the story on the A-Rod-Maggs-Garciaparra deal & all of that turned out to be true. Maggs nor his agent has publicly denied the offer. What they have denied is that Maggs expressed a desire to play for the Mets above any other team. That's expected from a greedy bugger seeking to get all he can in free agency.

Cut that crap out! You guys read the papers. Somebody here must have read the same thing I did. It was a question directed to Maggs & his agent on the possibility of the SOX signing him as a free agent. He said never. I'm still looking for a link .. but you know the Cheapune doesn't save their columns that far back. But here's the latest: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb...s_mlb&fext=.jsp According to commentary from Harold Reynolds on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" on Thursday, the White Sox eventually will add Kansas City center fielder Carlos Beltran to their roster. With tampering violations in mind, nobody with the White Sox could talk directly about Beltran. I'll say one thing for Kenny Williams. His job as WHITE SOX GM has certainly given baseball a shot in the arm in the rumor dept. I think we all can agree there is NO WAY the SOX will keep both Beltran & Maggs next yr.

THERE IS NO F'G WAY WE GIVE OLIVO TO KC TO RENT BELTRAN FOR THE 2ND HALF! That's insane! If Olivo was part of a deal to get Smoltz or The Big Unit or Ben Sheets ( ) then I might consider it. But no way for a position player. To win a World Series you need a Josh Beckett type player. Beltran is not going to put us over the top.

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/mlb/mlbrumors.html Interesting link on all the WHITE SOX trade rumors. It's interesting when you read which part of the Newsday rumor Maggs has denied. Newsday said that Maggs rejected a 70 mil offer. KW has declined to comment. Maggs says the report is a lie but the only reference he makes to the report in that respect is the fact that he said he wants to play for the Mets.

WHAT IN YOUR RIGHT MIND MAKES YOU THINK SHEETS OR FINELY ARE EVEN AVAILABLE? Have you not been paying attention to the NLC? Why would Milwaukee trade Sheets when they are right behind the snubs in the standings? They still have a legitimate shot to take that division! You have a better shot at a date with Jennifer Love Hewitt then the SOX have at getting Sheets in a trade. What makes it worse is you refer to other posters not having any sense. I have something to tell you & hopefully you're listening: the other MLB teams are not in existence to help the WHITE SOX win a World Series. They don't offer a Sheets to the WHITE SOX. Sheets is the best thing going for the Brewers. You can expect them to do all that is in their power to keep him. Talk about a dreamer? Why hell, the Marlins should just offer us a Beckett because we are the WHITE SOX

He said it! It was probably a quote in the Cubune. I'm looking for a link reference now.

Perhaps avg isn't the right word. Baseball is not a nice linear relationship between payrolls & teams. It's more like a bell curve where there are the wealthiest & then the poorest & then the middle class. Norm might be a better word. Because it's all about what winning teams are paying for their rotations in the normal case. Oakland is not a normal case. Likewise, KW still wants to shore up the bullpen & acquire Garcia. If he does that before the trade deadline that will likely add 7 mil more to the payroll. Bringing the total payout for pitchers to 31 mil.

I do not believe KW will be involved in the Beltran sweeps. It's been on record for over a month that KW has been trying to get Garcia from the M's. The problem is the M's just won 6 out of their last 10 so the fat lady has not entered the bldg yet. The M's have a reasonable sched to finish off the 1st half: Milw, Pitt, Tex (7 gms), SD, StL, Tor, & CWS. Most of them are on the road. I think the fat lady should be entering the bldg with them being 12 gms out, but this would be their last hurrah so to speak before the break. If they win against Milw & Pitts, Garcia will stay another week. If they lose I think KW gets the deal done. Garcia's making just under 7 mil with a 3.20 era. The SOX will pick up about 4 mil if they get him before Jul. This makes the most sense for the SOX. KW will likewise try to shore up the bullpen like he did last yr. That will probably cost another 2 mil. As for Crede, he has proven time & again to be a good 2nd half hitter so I would roll the dice on him. The newest draft choice is a plan to replace Joe when he exhausts his UFA yrs which start next yr. That gives the SOX 2-3 yrs more use of Joe.

Which is why he's an arse-hole for saying that once he goes to FA he will never be back with the SOX. :fyou Maggs!

Well considering Chicago is now considered the #1 heroin spot in America capitalism will always have it's share of legal & illegal businesses. I was shocked to read that they estimate no less than 300K gang members in the Chicago met. That includes all major popul centers. Russia & even Iraq will be no different. So in that respect you swap state sponsored terrorism of citizens with gang driven terrorism. That's just part of the game. From what I read of China even under a communist regime organized crime as already taken solid roots in it's capitalistic economy. This has proven many a socialist wrong who always believed that crime was the result of democracy & freedom. The gang problems in China are growing worse. A million man army can not police a nation of a billion. Likewise, China's wealth is slowly eroding from the communists to the capitalists. The wealthiest persons in China are those at the top of the communist pyramid & foreign investors. The trickle down theory is not working well there. So they may be experiencing double digit GDP yr after yr but their buying power & consumerism is growing at a crawl.

FOR the JR knockers, The SOX are 2nd in attendance in the ALC (behind KC) & yet 1st in player salaries: SOX 69 mil (21.9K) MIN 54 mil (20.5K) DET 50 mil (20.5K) KCR 48 mil (22.4K) CLE 35 mil (20.0K) Unfortunately for the SOX 18 mil is either on the DL or gawn.

What the last 4 yrs have shown is that the quality of a hitter in the SOX lineup & playing at the Cell does not need to be great for success. Likewise the last 4 yrs have shown that the quality of a pitcher at the Cell has to be great for success. The 5th starter experiment has proving this. The SOX have less than 25% win rate with a 5th starter over the last 5 yrs! I've already pointed out to you that the SOX are spending 25 mil on the pitching staff & that's with bargains at #2, #3, & #4. The avg cost for a #1 = 9 mil, #2 = 6 mil, #3 = 5 mil, #4 = 4 mil, #5 = 2 mil. Grant it the NYY's skew the avg but that comes to 26 mil! The avg cost for relief is #CL = 5 mil, #SU = 4 mil, #LR = 3 mil, #LHS = 2 mil, #RHS = 1 mil. That comes to 16 mil because you need 2 long relief guys. Avg total for pitchers: 42 mil. The SOX are spending 12 mil on their rotation this year & about 12 mil in the pen. That's a total of 24 mil. Well below the avg. Which is why they weren't expected to be this good. 40 mil is going to the top 5 hitters & Maggs is getting nearly double what any of the other 4 are making. Kenny lost 3 mil on Hairston & Vic. So even with a payroll of 69 mil, when you subtract Maggs, Jerry, & Vic that drops to 51 mil. The SOX still want to add another starter & that's likely to cost at least 3 mil. So even going the cheapest route possible the SOX will still wind up spending at least 27 mil on arms.

What amazes me is that last yr's World Series team refuses to add 5 mil to it's budget to get Beltran. The biggest snag in the Beltran to Marlins deal is that Florida wants KC to pick up some of Beltran's 9 mil salary this yr. That leaves me to look at the Marlin attendance this year: 20th. Why is there baseball in Miami? The best they can do is 20th after Beckett pitches phenomenally in the post season? Either move that franchise or close it down. It's a waste of space. The White SOX are in 1st place & they are slowly closing in on the Royals for #1 in attendance in the ALC. The Cub series should get them there. They still have some high draws left in the 2nd 1/2 so they could even beat the Marlins when it's all said & done! Our beloved White SOX out-drawing the World Series champions! They should be ashamed in Florida. Beltran is an excellent case study for what has happened in MLB to the small-mid rev teams. Restricted FA now means you will have to pay a good hitter an avg of 8 mil & a good pitcher an avg of 6 mil. Is it any wonder that the payrolls of the ALC are converging?

Assume B = 60% of A = total budget for pitchers Assume C = 40% of A = total budget for hitters For the SOX, assuming a 60 mil annual budget, that makes B = 36 mil, & C = 24 mil. The guys who perform the best should be paid the most. I thought about this a little more & this is one of the issues KW is now facing as he comes to grips with the fact that the Cell is a hitters park. That means you need greater talent & skill level in your pitchers then in your hitters. The SOX obviously do not have 36 mil allocated to their pitching staff but then the SOX are not done. There is still the possibility that KW will pull a rabbit out of his arse & land a #2-#3 starter in a trade. Right now there is about 25 mil allocated to pitching. This is likewise something JR has not come to grips with either. The SOX will need to be active in building a quality rotation & bullpen through the draft, trades, & free agency much more so than they have in the past. That means less dollars for position players. Obviously what it means is the SOX would have to increase the budget just to fit Maggs in even for say 8-9 mil a yr. The last solid offer I heard was 58/4 or 14.5 mil for 4 yrs. What he's currently making. The SOX were willing to increase the budget to keep Maggs. He said :fyou. I'm worth at least 15 mil a yr. Sayonara O-E-O.

========================================== Sun, Jun 13 v ATL W10-3: PoG: Mark Buehrle (8 ip, 6 quality) AoG: Mark Buerhle (24) BoG: Joe Crede (107, hm: J Burke 106) GoG: Jose Valentin (2 dp) Comments: The closest BoG race of the year! Both Crede & Burke had 4 quality ab's. ========================================== MB(24)=0+0+10+40+10+80+25+25 JA=0 FT=50 CL46=20+16+10 TP29=16+13 JC107=70+11+15+11 JB106=22+2+47+35 WH21=14+7 JU80=45+35 PK40=5+35 JV=26 KD=11 ========================================== ATLANTA 1ST CHICAGO SOX 1ST -F Thomas homered to left. 50 -C Lee doubled to deep left center. 20 ATLANTA 2ND CHICAGO SOX 2ND -T Perez singled to right. 10 -J Crede homered to left, T Perez scored. 70 -J Burke singled to right.10 -W Harris gifctp, J Burke safe at third on error by pitcher T Smith. 10,2 -J Uribe doubled to deep center, J Burke scored, W Harris out, J Uribe to 3b. 45,2,4 ATLANTA 3RD -E Perez singled to left. 10 CHICAGO SOX 3RD -P Konerko walked. 5 ATLANTA 4TH -N Green tripled to deep center. 30 -J Drew grounded out to second, N Green scored. 10 CHICAGO SOX 4TH -J Crede walked. 5 -J Burke grounded out to first, J Crede to second. 2,2 -J Uribe doubled to left, J Crede scored. 35,4 ATLANTA 5TH -J Franco singled to left. 10 CHICAGO SOX 5TH -C Lee singled to right. 10 -J Valentin singled to right, C Lee to third. 20 -T Perez hit by pitch, J Valentin to second. 7,2 -J Crede walked, C Lee scored, J Valentin to third, T Perez to second. 11,2,2,2 -J Burke singled to right, J Valentin and T Perez scored, J Crede to third. 45,2,4,4 -W Harris walked, J Burke to second. 7,2 -Atlanta's Manager B Cox ejected by G Gibson in the 5th. ATLANTA 6TH -M Derosa singled to left. 10 -R Furcal homered to left, M Derosa scored. 70 CHICAGO SOX 6TH ATLANTA 7TH -J Franco singled to left. 10 -E Marrero reached on infield single to third, J Franco to second. 15,2 CHICAGO SOX 7TH -J Crede walked. 5 -J Burke doubled to deep right center, J Crede scored. 35,6 ATLANTA 8TH -N Green singled to center. 10 -J Drew hit by pitch, N Green to second. 15 CHICAGO SOX 8TH -C Lee singled to left. 10 -K Dransfeldt gifct2b, C Lee out at second. 2 -K Dransfeldt safe at second on throwing error by pitcher C Nitkowski. 5 -P Konerko doubled to deep right center, K Dransfeldt scored. 35,4 ATLANTA 9TH -J Adkins relieved M Buehrle.

========================================== Sat, Jun 12 v ATL W10-8: PoG: Frank Thomas (4 quality ab, 2 HR) AoG: Shingo Takatsu (1st save 1-2-3 9th) BoG: Frank Thomas (121) GoG: Juan Uribe (2 dp) Comments: Shingo's first save of the year! Shingo is looking like Kenny's best find. Uribe is definitely up there as well, but the wheels seem to be coming off the rotation & bullpen & Shingo is keeping the wins alive. ========================================== EL(45)=0+0+5+97+145+22 DM(24)=22+25 CP=62 ST=0 FT121=10+50+11+50 JV18=16+2 PK40=22+7+11 TP50=31+19 JC59=2+30+27 WH=16 JU81=65+16 CL74=24+20+30 MOL20=10+10 ========================================== ATLANTA 1ST -J Drew walked. 5 -J Drew caught stealing second, catcher to shortstop. -5 CHICAGO SOX 1ST -F Thomas singled to left. 10 ATLANTA 2ND CHICAGO SOX 2ND -J Valentin singled to center. 10 -P Konerko singled to right, J Valentin to third. 20,4 -T Perez singled to left, J Valentin scored, P Konerko to second. 25 -J Crede bifctop, P Konerko out at third, T Perez to second. 2,2 -W Harris walked, T Perez to third, J Crede to second. 9,2,2 -J Uribe doubled to deep center, T Perez, J Crede and W Harris scored. 65,2,4,6 ATLANTA 3RD -A Jones walked. 5 CHICAGO SOX 3RD -C Lee singled to right center. 10 -C Lee stole second. 10 -P Konerko walked.5 -J Crede singled to center, C Lee scored, P Konerko to second. 30 ATLANTA 4TH -N Green singled to center. 10 -J Drew homered to left center, N Green scored. 70 -J Estrada singled to right. 10 -J Franco walked, J Estrada to second.7,2 CHICAGO SOX 4TH -F Thomas homered to right center. 50 -C Lee reached on infield single to shortstop, C Lee to 2b err-ss. 20 ATLANTA 5TH -E Marrero doubled to deep left. 20 -R Furcal doubled to deep right, E Marrero scored. 35 -N Green singled to right, R Furcal scored. 25 -C Jones homered to right, N Green scored. 70 CHICAGO SOX 5TH -P Konerko walked. 5 -T Perez bsto2b, P Konerko to second, both adv on err-2b. 17,4 -M Olivo grounded out to second, P Konerko scored, T Perez to third. 10,2,2 ATLANTA 6TH -J Franco doubled to deep right. 20 -A Jones grounded out to second, J Franco to third. 2 -Chi White Sox's Manager O Guillen ejected by G Davis in the 6th. CHICAGO SOX 6TH -J Uribe singled to center. 10 -F Thomas walked, J Uribe to second. 7,2 -C Lee singled to right, J Uribe scored, F Thomas to second. 30,4,2 -J Valentin gidp, C Lee out at second, F Thomas to third. 2,2 ATLANTA 7TH -D Marte relieved E Loaiza. -R Furcal walked. 5 -N Green singled to left center, R Furcal to second. 15 -J Drew gidp, N Green out at second, R Furcal to third. 2,2 CHICAGO SOX 7TH -J Crede doubled to deep left. 20 -J Crede to third on balk by A Almanza. 5 -M Olivo hit sacrifice fly to center, J Crede scored. 10,2 ATLANTA 8TH -J Franco singled to right. 10 -A Jones reached on infield single to pitcher, J Franco to second. 15 -C Politte relieved D Marte. -J Franco to third, A Jones to second on wild pitch by C Politte. 20 -E Marrero singled to left center, J Franco scored, A Jones to third. 25 -M Derosa gidp, A Jones scored, E Marrero out at second. 10 -R Furcal walked, M Derosa to second. 7 CHICAGO SOX 8TH -F Thomas homered to left. 50 ATLANTA 9TH -S Takatsu relieved C Politte.

========================================== Fri, Jun 11 v ATL L6-4: PoG: Jose Valentin AoG: Scott Schoenweis (4 decent ip) BoG: Jose Valentin (75) GoG: Jose Valentin (dp) Comments: This might have been the worst offensive night. ========================================== SS(37)=10+102+100+0+0+15 NC=12 MJ(15)=30+0 DM=10 JU14=12+2 FT15=2+13 JC=9 SA=15 WH21=5+16 CL=49 JV=75 PK=10 RG=2 ========================================== ATLANTA 1ST -N Green singled to right. 10 CHICAGO SOX 1ST -J Uribe singled to center. 10 -F Thomas grounded out to third, J Uribe to second. 2,2 ATLANTA 2ND -J Franco doubled to right. 20 -A Jones singled to center, J Franco scored. 30 -E Marrero singled to center, A Jones to second. 15 -M Derosa singled to right, A Jones scored, E Marrero to third. 35 -R Furcal gifc to third, E Marrero out at home, M Derosa to third. 2 CHICAGO SOX 2ND ATLANTA 3RD -J Estrada doubled to deep right. 20 -J Franco 1BRF, J Estrada to third, J Franco to second advancing on throw. 20 -A Jones walked. 5 -E Marrero doubled to deep center, J Estrada, J Franco and A Jones scored. 55 CHICAGO SOX 3RD -J Crede walked. 5 -S Alomar Jr singled to right, J Crede to second. 15 -J Uribe flied out to right, J Crede to third. 2 ATLANTA 4TH CHICAGO SOX 4TH ATLANTA 5TH CHICAGO SOX 5TH ATLANTA 6TH -E Marrero walked. 5 -E Marrero stole second. 10 CHICAGO SOX 6TH -W Harris walked. 5 ATLANTA 7TH -N Cotts relieved S Schoeneweis. -N Green walked. 5 -C Jones walked, N Green to second. 7 -M Jackson relieved N Cotts. -J Franco singled to center, N Green scored, C Jones to second. 30 CHICAGO SOX 7TH ATLANTA 8TH CHICAGO SOX 8TH ATLANTA 9TH -D Marte relieved M Jackson. -J Drew singled to center. 10 CHICAGO SOX 9TH -W Harris singled to right. 10 -F Thomas walked, W Harris to second. 7,2 -C Lee doubled to deep left, W Harris scored, F Thomas to third. 45,4,4 -J Valentin homered to right, F Thomas and C Lee scored. 75,2,4 -P Konerko singled to center. 10 -R Gload grounded into fielder's choice to second, A Rowand out at second. 2

========================================== Wed, Jun 9 v PHI L13-10: PoG: Aaron Rowand (3 major hits) AoG: Neil Cotts (2 decent ip) BoG: Aaron Rowand (119) GoG: Carlos Lee (outfield assist) Comments: Might have been Garland's worst start of the year. ========================================== JG(66)=50+0+10+197+75 JA(29)=22+35 NC(13)=0+25 BK(48)=85+12 ST=0 PK=50 JV=50 MOL75=25+70 WH24=15+9 AR119=50+25+44 JC=11 CL32=16+16 PK25=20+5 JU=17 FT=9 KD=31 JC=70 ========================================== PHILADELPHIA 1ST -B Abreu homered to center. 50 CHICAGO SOX 1ST PHILADELPHIA 2ND CHICAGO SOX 2ND -P Konerko homered to right. 50 -J Valentin homered to right. 50 PHILADELPHIA 3RD -M Byrd reached on infield single to third. 10 CHICAGO SOX 3RD -M Olivo doubled to deep right center. 20 -W Harris reached on bunt single to third, M Olivo to third. 15 PHILADELPHIA 4TH -P Polanco singled to left. 10 -P Polanco to second on wild pitch by J Garland. 10 -B Abreu homered to right, P Polanco scored. 65 -P Burrell singled to left. 10 -R Ledee walked, P Burrell to second. 7 -M Lieberthal walked, P Burrell to third, R Ledee to second. 9 -M Byrd reached on IF 1B to 2B, P Burrell scored, R Ledee to 3B, M Lieberthal to 2B. 40 -J Rollins walked, R Ledee scored, M Lieberthal to third, M Byrd to second. 11 -P Polanco 1B to LF, ML & MByrd scored, J Rollins to scored, PP out at 2B 35 CHICAGO SOX 4TH -A Rowand homered to left center. 50 -J Crede walked. 5 -M Olivo homered to left, J Crede scored. 70 PHILADELPHIA 5TH -B Abreu walked. 5 -J Thome homered to left, B Abreu scored. 70 -J Adkins relieved J Garland. -R Ledee singled to right. 10 -D Bell gifc to 3B, R Ledee out at 2b, D Bell to 1b, D Bell to 2b(err Uribe) 12 CHICAGO SOX 5TH -C Lee reached on infield single to third. 10 -P Konerko singled to left, C Lee to second. 15 -A Rowand singled to center, C Lee scored, P Konerko to second. 25 PHILADELPHIA 6TH -J Rollins singled to center. 10 -P Polanco doubled to left, J Rollins to third. 25 -N Cotts relieved J Adkins. -B Abreu flied out to left. -J Thome flied out to left. CHICAGO SOX 6TH -W Harris walked. 5 -J Uribe singled to left center, W Harris to second. 15 -F Thomas walked, W Harris to third, J Uribe to second. 9,2,2 PHILADELPHIA 7TH -R Ledee doubled to deep left center. 20 -D Bell walked. 5 -B Koch relieved N Cotts. -M Lieberthal singled to center, R Ledee scored, D Bell to third. 35 -C Utley doubled to right, D Bell scored, M Lieberthal to third. 40 -J Rollins intentionally walked. 5 -P Polanco hit sacrifice fly to left, M Lieberthal scored. 5 CHICAGO SOX 7TH -P Konerko hit by pitch. 5 PHILADELPHIA 8TH -P Burrell walked. 5 -D Bell walked, P Burrell to second. 7 CHICAGO SOX 8TH PHILADELPHIA 9TH -S Takatsu relieved B Koch. CHICAGO SOX 9TH -C Lee singled to left. 10 -A Rowand doubled to deep right center, C Lee scored. 40,6 -K Dransfeldt singled to right, A Rowand scored. 25 -J Crede homered to left, K Dransfeldt scored. 70

========================================== Tue, Jun 8 v PHI W14-11: PoG: Juan Uribe AoG: Mark Buehrle (5 near perfect ip) BoG: Juan Uribe (157, hm: F Thomas 144) GoG: Paul Konerko (default) Comments: This game pretty much sums up the SOX offense so far. Two hit innings coupled with walks are killing the opposition. ========================================== MB(40)=122+140+0+0+0+14+5 MJ(98)=77+120 CP=0 WH27=16+11 JU157=70+50+13+24 FT144=50+55+39 CL95=50+10+35 PK100=50+50 RG44=24+5+10+5 JC=11 SA60=55+5 JV=24 ========================================== PHILADELPHIA 1ST -Top of the 1st inning -J Rollins reached on bunt single to second. 10 -B Abreu walked. 7 -J Thome homered to right, J Rollins and B Abreu scored. 85 -D Bell doubled to deep left. 20 CHICAGO SOX 1ST -W Harris singled to left. 10 -J Uribe homered to left, W Harris scored. 70,6 -C Lee homered to right. 50 -P Konerko homered to left center. 50 -R Gload doubled to deep left. 20 -J Crede walked. 5 -S Alomar Jr doubled to right, R Gload and J Crede scored. 55,4,6 PHILADELPHIA 2ND -J Michaels homered to left. 50 -J Rollins singled to center. 10 -P Polanco singled to right center, J Rollins to third. 20 -B Abreu singled to right, J Rollins scored, P Polanco to third. 30 -P Burrell hit sacrifice fly to right, P Polanco scored. 10 -J Thome singled to center, B Abreu to third. 20 CHICAGO SOX 2ND -J Uribe homered to center. 50 -F Thomas homered to left. 50 -C Lee walked. 5 -C Lee to second on balk by A Telemaco. 5 -R Gload walked. 5 PHILADELPHIA 3RD CHICAGO SOX 3RD -W Harris walked. 5 -J Uribe walked, W Harris to second. 7,2 -F Thomas doubled to deep left center, W Harris and J Uribe scored. 55,4,6 PHILADELPHIA 4TH CHICAGO SOX 4TH -P Konerko homered to right. 50 PHILADELPHIA 5TH CHICAGO SOX 5TH -J Uribe doubled to left. 20 -F Thomas doubled to deep center, J Uribe scored. 35,4 -C Lee doubled to right, F Thomas scored. 35,4 PHILADELPHIA 6TH -M Lieberthal singled to left. 10 -J Michaels grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, M Lieberthal out at second. 2 -M Byrd grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Michaels out at second. 2 -J Rollins grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, M Byrd out at second. CHICAGO SOX 6TH -R Gload singled to center. 10 -S Alomar Jr walked. 5 PHILADELPHIA 7TH -B Abreu walked. 5 CHICAGO SOX 7TH PHILADELPHIA 8TH -M Jackson relieved M Buehrle. -D Bell doubled to left. 20 -J Michaels flied out to right, D Bell to third. 2 -M Byrd doubled to deep right, D Bell scored. 30 -J Rollins singled to right, M Byrd scored.25 CHICAGO SOX 8TH -J Valentin doubled to deep right. 20 -P Konerko grounded out to second, J Valentin to third. 2,2 -R Gload grounded out to pitcher, J Valentin scored. 5,2 PHILADELPHIA 9TH -B Abreu doubled to deep right center. 20 -P Burrell reached on infield single to third, B Abreu to third. 15 -J Thome homered to center, B Abreu and P Burrell scored. 85 -C Politte relieved M Jackson.

I'm going to simplify this for the Magglio lovers. Assume A = total budget of a team for player personnel If you are in a pitcher's park then the majority of your budget should go towards pitching if you are in a hitter's park the majority should go towards hitting. The SOX are clearly in a hitter's park. Assume B = 60% of A = total budget for hitters Assume C = 40% of A = total budget for pitchers For the SOX, assuming a 60 mil annual budget, that makes B = 36 mil, & C = 24 mil. The guys who perform the best should be paid the most. In all fairness to Maggs his avg ranking over the past 4 yrs is better than his 2004 so we will use that for a guide for a future contract. That gives him #3 in Inn 1-6 & about a #3 in Cl&Late. Breaking down the 36 mil & 2005: Thomas: 8 mil Konerko: 8 mil C Lee: 7 mil Valentin: 5 mil Uribe: 2 mil Due for raise in millions: Crede, Garland That leaves 6 mil left for 9 more players. Even w/out Maggs the SOX will be pressed to keep the team intact without exceeding the budget. Unless you have diamonds in the rough like the A's & Marlins that allow you to spend less than 40% of your budget on pitching it's not wise to steal from the pitching budget.

In this country of now 290 million people I find myself ripped between two ideologies: social conservatism & economic liberalism. As much as I identify with Ronald Reagan on the first I now adamantly disagree with him on the second. I believe economic conservatism worked when the economy was driven by America. An America that by & large played by the same rules: min wage, subsidies, etc. But that is no longer the case & Reagan's policies are partly to blame. I can hardly call them Reagan's because they have been shared by every president since including Clinton. The quick embrace of the global economy left America with a decimated manufacturing base & now we are beginning to see the same effect in back-office services. The bulk of America's economy is supported by back-office services. I remember the arguments back in the late 80's when the manufacturing losses were a trickle. I remember the pundits saying don't worry it's not going to have much of an effect. Today are manufacturing base is 1/2 of what it once was. Ten's of millions of jobs have been affected. It's not the fall of the Soviet empire that Reagan should be exalted for. It's the initiatives he put in place & Bush Sr carried through that have helped the Soviets embrace democracy & capitalism. It's the speed at which this has taken place that we should marvel at. But there has been a very heavy cost. One that will either prove to be our ultimate downfall or our ultimate success. Reagan bet that capitalism & democracy would eventually creep into China. He firmly believed it's impossible to have one without the other. China is trying to do just that. If Reagan is proving wrong then eventually "China's Iron Hand" driving it's capitalistic markets will crush America. If things remain as they are America is destined for a 2nd great depression that might last for decades instead of years. If Reagan is proven right then capitalism will inevitably create a spirit of freedom & choice for which no govt will be able to suppress. That would earn him a spot on Mt Rushmore.

When I said measure it in terms of wins I meant how much does Maggs play over the course of 162 game season factor into winning ball games? That's pretty cut & dry if you ask me. There are several ways to measure this: Sagarin's RPG rating: factors total offensive production including sacrifices Close & late: Innings 1-4: The last two might be the strongest measure of what a player means to a team because they have the biggest impact on winning. It goes w/out saying that the SOX attendance is more about winning ball games then signing stars. It likewise goes w/out saying that Kenny Williams excels at finding good players at low prices. Colon was not the difference maker in 2004. Gordon was. If they had signed Gordon the SOX might be running away with it. But Gordon's DL history made it a risky investment. Shingo has proven to be a great investment. Maggs most important stats: 2004, Inn 1-6: #6 on SOX (914 ops) 2004, Cl&Late: #4 on SOX (804 ops) 2003, Inn 1-6: #3 on SOX (908 ops) 2003, Cl&Late: #1 on SOX (1096 ops) 2002, Inn 1-6: #1 on SOX (943 ops) 2002, Cl&Late: #4 on SOX (842 ops) 2001, Inn 1-6: #3 on SOX (937 ops) 2001, Cl&Late: #6 on SOX (782 ops) 2000, Inn 1-6: #4 on SOX (912 ops) 2000, Cl&Late: #3 on SOX (856 ops) You may think those numbers are worthy of 75/5 but I don't. More importantly I could care less if other teams are paying that kind of $ for that kind of production. I'll take my chances with Kenny Williams finding replaceable talent. There isn't one position player with the exception of ShamME-roid Sosa that has left the SOX and proven to be worth more than what they were willing to pay. If anything those numbers prove that Maggs was in decline in 2004. Maybe it was knee related & maybe it wasn't. What are the odds of an over-acheiver coming back & performing at a level better than he did before the surgery? Because that's the real question to ask when considering 75/5 for Maggs. His past & current production was never worth 15 mil/yr so why should any of us think his furure production will be?

You are talking ideologies & I am talking principles. Harm in terms of the principle of democracy is whenever a judge makes a ruling that goes against popular majority opinion. It matters not what the ideology of that opinion is. That's the difference between an objective & subjective argument. In terms of your subjective arguments here is my response: civil rights: There is no evidence that the civil rights movement of the 50's & 60's was not supported by popular majority opinion. I think this is the biggest fallacy by the left in trying to link the civil rights movement with their cause. The plain simple fact of the matter is that the movement would not have taken off as it did if there were not prominent people in the majority supporting it. abortion: It is a fact that Roe v Wade led to abortion on demand in the USA. Now that might be part of your ideology but better than 2/3rd's of Americans are against abortion on demand. This is a perfect example where the ruling was not as important as the summary. The summary should have been written such that the court discouraged the use of abortion as a method of birth control. In other words uphold the constitutionality of a law but don't encourage. Not unlike the sodomy issue that recently went before the court. If you don't think the summary opinions are not important than you must never have studied law. School prayer: This is a perfect example of the harm of a liberal activist judge. This ruling PREVENTING the majority from EXERCISING their freedom of religion. Now it might be your opinion & ideology that limiting the freedom of millions of a children to sanctify the rights of a few is a noteworthy cause but again it is only your opinion. Recent polls & surveys on the subject show that the majority of Americans never had a problem with school prayer in the public schools. It was never considered a GROSS misconduct of majority rights vs minority/indiv ones. We likewise have a 30 yr history now of public school performance since prayer was removed. Now I'm not suggesting that school prayer had any affect on that performance, but the numbers do paint a compelling before & after picture. If school prayer was the symbol for discipline in the school it's absence. Now since all of these decisions affect the young more so than the old, which area should we look at to measure the effect of the decisions: 1) avg age of criminals in America 2) % of criminal behavior in America's schools 3) # of abortions by school children 4) % of STD by school children 5) % of children on Ritalin or other benavior controlling substances 6) % of rageful students in schools The facts are pretty clear: the decisions by liberal activist judges that clearly went against the popular majority opinion has served to impact society towards being less disciplined & more irresponsible. The plain simple fact of the matter is that as a citizen of this country you are either married to democracy for better or for worse or you are not a real citizen. America was never intended to be a socialist nation where the ideologies of a few dictate to the rest. It was always intended to be a a govt of the people, by the people, & for the people first & foremost. Those people by & large have grow smarter & more wiser to where they should have a more active role. Having voters weigh in on the retention of judges at the federal level would go along weigh to strengthening democracy in America.

On the issue of gay marriage this is very similar to the debate over co-ed schools. The social liberals pushed their agenda that in general school would be better off being co-ed. Well now after 25 yrs of that failed policy even Hillary Clinton herself is advocating that schools be segregated based on sex. I suppose it's not a coincidence that Japan is moving in that direction as well. It's funny how conservative ideas that were considered old-fashioned & antiquated are now surfacing in the midst of America's failed school system. Do you think the fact that 50% of blacks drop out of high school might have something to do with a 30% decline of blacks at Berkeley? The main reason I would imagine Asian Americans are beginning to dominate the admissions in colleges is because they have the lowest drop out rate & the highest acceptance rate. Now of course the social liberals would say that has nothing to do with their homelife being the most conservative in the nation. So what does this have to do with gay marriage? Simply put it changes the culture of the nation towards a more socially liberal mood. The precedent of saying to 66+% of the American people "F you" means there is no way to re-define it for gays & still exclude polygamists & other freaks. Not one social liberal has come up with an even plausible argument to debate that. That's why now is the wrong time to push for this. It would be better to push for civil unions having no definition in terms of sexual behavior or familiy ties & then let the nation ADJUST & OBSERVE these unions over time. Finally married people in America should have the biggest say on this issue because they are the living definition of the word. In my opinion that supercedes any law or any dictionary definition of the word. Presently they are adamantly against gay marriage. The polls/surveys amongst married persons is as high as 77%. Well above the 2/3rds majority. Civil unions is the best way to avoid all the social ills that will arise from forcing acceptance of sexual behavior on the American people. They can provide fair & impartial benefits & opportunities to a much greater multitude of Americans w/out debating the norms of sexual behavior. An intelligent society would move in this direction but the two sides are so polar that intelligence rarely is considered.