JUGGERNAUT

Mark my words if Frank puts the ball in the Sox court then Frank Thomas will be playing somewhere else next year. I think in that case the Sox and Thomas will have a classy breakup. Thomas gets a good contract somewhere else and the Sox free up the strings to not only reup with Colon but to also build a new middle infield. I just can't see giving him 8 mill...it would be foolish, imo. Especially when someone like Fullmer could be had for a million and he is a 25-30 homer guy. This really comes down to Frank's ego. If he walks declines the 6MIL option then he's trashing a guaranteed 27MIL contract. That's what remains. I suspect his agent is on the phone now seeing if there's a sucker out there willing to offer him 24/3. Frank 101: 2004: Frank 6MIL, SOX only 8MIL 2005: Frank 8MIL, SOX only 10MIL, Frank buyout 2MIL 2006: Frank 10MIL, SOX only 12MIL, Frank buyout 2MIL 2007: Frank 12MIL, SOX only 14MIL, SOX buyout 3MIL Again, what the SOX gained in this contract is the right to trade him any time, any where. He waived his 5/10 yr rights.

I am very optimistic now. The recent Barry Larkin signing is senting the stage for a very bleak winter for FA's. In the 2004 thread I posted the FA"s for 2003-2004. What it doesn't include are players that are RFA (4-6 yr arbits) & big $$$ players in their last yrs. Let me throw 3 names at you that are now said to be available in the off-season: Curt Shilling Kevin Brown It's estimated another 30 players of great-good caliber will be thrown into the mix this off-season. Considering that Larkin was coming off of a 27/3 deal & settled for a 1 yr 700K(1MIL) deal the future looks bleak for Robbie & company. They better know what they can get outside the SOX before they leave. It's very reminiscent of the Rogers scenario last yr. He turned down a 10mil/2yr deal with TEX & settled with a 2mil/1yr deal with the Twinks. Of course if we had made that deal & used him as a our 5th starter we would have won the division (see my last yr's post) but hindsight is 20/20. Anyways, I'm more optimistic than Sun that Colon will remain a CHI-SOX. What bothers me is that the Tribune seems to be lauching a campaign to get Lee traded. Could it be they are angry over his lumber use vs their beloved scrubs?

After doing the research (see 2004 thread), I've re-evaluated my priorities. More important than re-signing Colon, Everett, & Alomar is the signing of Kazuo Matsui. A GG, SB & RBI machine at SS. That best defines Kazuo. JR make the call. Adios Val. Thanks for the memories.

http://ww1.baywell.ne.jp/fpweb/drlatham/pl...ers/players.htm Kazuo Matsui is probably the best athlete in the Pacific League. He's a gold glove shortstop, a career .302 batter as a switch-hitter, and he's stolen 208 bases in five years. He'll become eligible for free agency in 2003, just after his 28th birthday. After reading this I'm pissing in my pants over the possibility the SOX get him. 208 SB's in 5 yrs?!! Holy crud knockers! You put this guy on base with Lee driving him in & I guarantee you we won't be shutout again. This dude fills SO MANY needs on the SOX! C'mon JR open the F'g wallet! I want this guy signed more than any other player including Colon.

Having see his numbers & knowing that the SOX did take part in the A-ROD auction, I want Kazuo playing SS. Here is a chance to get a name that will instantly draw attention, fans from Chinatown & the rest of the metro, & might just be a low cost A-ROD. If we we're willing to spend 189MIL on A-ROD I think we should role the dice & outbid all others for Kazuo's services. Even if it means trading Thomas in mid-season. Something about Thomas I didn't consider. The SOX could throw in cash to make him more desireable in trade. If they were to do so 2004 would be the year to do it. Kazuo is much better looking than Ichiro. If this dude can put up the same #'s for the SOX that he has for the Lions he can own this town. This dude will definitely sell tickets. I'm so confident in what I've read (especially with his following in the Japanese media) that I'm confident his presence will easily pay for his salary & then some. KW get the red carpet ready to give him a tour of CHI-TOWN. I maybe dreaming right now, but Kazuo could be the biggest star Chicago has owned since MJ. Aside: http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0308/0804balls.html Recent reports in the Minneapolis Star Tribune claim the air-conditioning system in the Metrodome used by the Major Leagues' Minnesota Twins could be manipulated so the home team's hits could fly further, hopefully into the bleachers for home runs. Hmmmmm.......very interesting!

I was wrong about Kazuo. There is no posting process this time. He's a true FA. The SOX just have to meet his price. No bid cost. http://www.online-shrine.com/matsui_kazuo/ Why We Dig Kazuo Matsui A speedy shortstop with surprising power, Kazuo Matsui is Japan's premier player in the wake of Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki leaving for the United States. After this season, "Little Matsui" may be the next Japanese star to take the MLB by storm. His performance in Japan has been something of a combination of what Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter have been in the USA. Some analysts feel he may make a bigger impact than Ichiro and Godzilla. That remains to be seen, but many major league teams will line up to find out after the 2003 season, with the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres among the teams already rumored to have their eye on Kaz. Did You Know? Kazuo Matsui had the opportunity to come to the major leagues through the posting system after the 2002 season, but instead opted to wait and see if he wants to come over after 2003 in true free agency. Stats: Switch Hitter/Right Career Games PA AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR TB RBIs SB CS SacH SacF BB HBP K DP Avg OBP Slg Rank Err Totals: 1019 4507 4051 658 1254 235 47 117 1934 485 293 60 84 30 321 21 627 51 .310 .361 .477 - 99 http://japanesebaseball.com/teams/stats.jsp?TeamID=SL I was able to find his 2003 stats: Games AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR TB RBIs SB Sacs BB HBP K DP Avg RiSP OBP Slg Err 136 567 100 172 36 4 31 309 80 13 3 55 4 121 4 .303 .287 .366 .545 17 This guy is very marketable. See the picture in the link.

I guess you won't be giving Frank Thomas any props then because he has choked his whole career when the games actually mean something... I don't like the Thomas quote, because you have no idea how he would have performed w/out the strike of 1994. But in regards to the Pedro vs E-LO argument, ESPN has E-LO at 26/33 Qs & Pedro at 21/29 Qs. E-LO wins the Qs % contest vs Pedro.

Thank you TOR -> for giving up on him Thank you KW -> for taking a gamble on him & more importantly having the confidence to offer an option yr. Thank you E-LO for giving the SOX a year that recalls the dominance of one Black Jack McDowell. Thank you Mark, for realizing that in a dead season E-LO's place in the record books is meaningful to SOX fans. Will E-LO win the Cy Young? Y-E-S!! Halladay has 22 wins, but E-LO will win it with the $$$ stats: era: 2.90 vs Hall's 3.25 K's: 207 vs Hall's 204 Qs: 26 vs Hall's 23 K/9: 8.18 vs Hall's 6.90 WHIP: 1.12 vs Hall's 1.09 BAA: .233 vs Hall's 247 OPA: 633 vs Hall's 664 If I'm on the Cy Young Award board I look at 2 stats to decide the award: era, Quality starts. E-LO beats Halladay in both.

Everyone has been saying Guzman is available. How so if he is not on here? This list looks pretty good. Guzman is still an RFA & not an FA. He's only avail if the Twinks make him available.

Min arbitration prices for Carl & Robbie: Robbie: 5.1MIL Carl: 7.32MIL I think the SOX can win both these arbitration amounts if they were to accept. Carl ranks 23rd in OPS amongst OFs in MLB. He ranks 19th in the AL in Sag's RPG. Robbie ranks 22nd in OPS amongest 2B in MLB. He ranks 74th in the AL in Sag's RPG. In Robbie's case he's simply not worth 5.1MIL right now, but because of his D I'm willing to pay him that for 1 yr. He rk's 21st in RBI, & 12th in R for 2B. I definitely offer these guys arbitration. If they decline then the team that signs them gives the SOX a decent compensation pick. Ideally KW would work a deal out with the agents so that they would decline so that the SOX can keep trying to sign them as FA's but still get the picks if they can't.

Here's the problem with re-signing Robbie & Carl. The SOX have 3 options: 1-sign them to a new contract 2-offer them arbitration (80% min pay) 3-re-sign them after ST This is how I believe it works. If you offer a player arbitration & he declines you can then attempt to re-sign them any time thereafter as a FA. If you decline to offer a player arbitration then you must wait until May 1st before you can re-sign them. If the SOX were to offer Carl arbitration, they risk the chance he will accept & have to pay him betw 7-9MIL for 1 yr. If he declines then they can continue negotiating with him as a FA. I'm hoping that KW is smart enough to know this & can work a deal with his agent to where the SOX will go ahead & offer arbitration & Carl will decline it so that they can continue to try & sign him. This is what Gonzo's agent worked out with CLE in the past. The same can be said for Alomar. KW really needs to be thorough in this process. I'm saying he will be, because w/out a doubt he should have taken Koney to arbitration last yr. Even if Koney had his normal 2star,2avg, 2poor months I doubt his salary would be close to 8MIL in arbitration this yr. The bottom line is the KW overpaid Koney's arbitration price on the belief he would emerge as another Thome. There was no evidence to suggest that. He should have at least waited more year to see if Koney would be able to put up 3star months. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I hope he's learned his lesson.

Let's face reality here: SOX owe Thomas 6MIL nxt yr (poss 2MIL bonus) SOX owe Koney 8MIL nxt yr SOX owe Maggs 14.5MIL nxt yr SOX owe Koch 6MIL nxt yr They can't simply sweep that away. It's a slim chance Thomas walks away from a guar 24MIL to play for another team under a new contract. KW needs to be creative here. There's a total of 28.5MIL in salary he needs to move in order to sign Colon, FA 2B, & Everett. Koch is not needed as Gordon, Marte, or Wright can do as equally a good job. I think he can work a 3-way deal betw the NYM & STL so that NY gets Koch & Drew, STL gets Koney & Maggs, SOX get Renteria & a pkg of ml prospects betw NY & STL. Renteria costs them 6MIL, so they have 22.5MIL freed up to sign Colon, Everett, pay the raises to Buehrle, & Lee, sign a FA 2B, offer Val a 2 yr to play 1B, etc.

After seeing the 1B FA list, Koney appears as an achor. Why would you trade for Koney & his career 279A, 812 OPS when the Fullmer's available with a career 284A, 829 OPS? Fullmer made 1MIL last yr. There are bargains to be had this year at 1B for any team.

http://kmbumb.people.wm.edu/04agency.html http://kmbumb.people.wm.edu/05agency.html http://kmbumb.people.wm.edu/06agency.html x-club option for 2004; m-mutual option for 2004; y-player option for 2004; v-player can void contract. DH: CHICAGO (10): m-Frank Thomas, dh; SEATTLE (9): Edgar Martinez, dh; 1B: ANAHEIM (2): Brad Fullmer, 1b TAMPA BAY (5): Travis Lee, 1b; TEXAS (3): Rafael Palmeiro, 1b; ATLANTA (10): Julio Franco, 1b; CHICAGO (13): x-Eric Karros, 1b; LOS ANGELES Ron Coomer, 1b; Fred McGriff, 1b; MONTREAL (8): Todd Zeile, 1b. NEW YORK (4): Jay Bell, 1b; Tony Clark, 1b; SAN FRANCISCO (13): Andres Galarraga, 1b; x-J.T. Snow, 1b; 3B: BALTIMORE (8): Tony Batista, 3b; DETROIT (3): Dean Palmer, 3b; KANSAS CITY (11): Joe Randa, 3b; ATLANTA (10): Vinny Castilla, 3b; CHICAGO (13): Lenny Harris, 3b; LOS ANGELES (9): Robin Ventura, 3b. MONTREAL (8): x-Fernando Tatis, 3b; PITTSBURGH (8): Jose Hernandez, 3b; 2B: Roberto has plenty of competition to drive down his price. BOSTON (9): Todd Walker, 2b. CHICAGO (10): Roberto Alomar, 2b; CHICAGO (10): Tony Graffanino, 2b; TAMPA BAY (5): Terry Shumpert, 2b. ARIZONA (7): Carlos Baerga, 2b; CHICAGO (13): x-Mark Grudzielanek COLORADO (5): m-Chris Stynes, 2b; FLORIDA (8): Luis Castillo, 2b; PITTSBURGH (8): Jeff Reboulet, 2b; x-Pokey Reese, 2b; ST. LOUIS (12): x-Fernando Vina, 2b; SAN DIEGO (3): Keith Lockhart, 2b. SAN FRANCISCO (13): x-Eric Young, 2b. SS: Wow! The SOX are sure to be able to upgrade this position. BALTIMORE (8): x-Deivi Cruz, ss; BOSTON (9): Damian Jackson, ss; CHICAGO (10): x-Jose Valentin, ss. MINNESOTA (8): Chris Gomez, ss; Denny Hocking, ss; OAKLAND (4): Miguel Tejada, ss. SEATTLE (9): Rey Sanchez, ss. TAMPA BAY (5): Rey Ordonez, ss; TORONTO (4): Mike Bordick, ss; CHICAGO (13): Tony Womack, ss. CINCINNATI (3): Juan Castro, ss; Barry Larkin, ss. FLORIDA (8): Andy Fox, ss; HOUSTON (6):; Jose Vizcaino, ss; MILWAUKEE (6): x-Royce Clayton, ss; MONTREAL (8): Orlando Cabrera, ss; PITTSBURGH (8): Pat Meares, ss; ST. LOUIS (12): x-Edgar Renteria, ss; SAN FRANCISCO (13): Rich Aurilia, ss; C: Wow! The SOX can upgrade here as well. BALTIMORE (8): x-Brook Fordyce, c; CHICAGO (10): Sandy Alomar Jr, c; CLEVELAND (4): Tim Laker, c; DETROIT (3): Matt Walbeck, c. KANSAS CITY (11): Mike Difelice, c; x-Brent Mayne, c; NEW YORK (9): John Flaherty, c SEATTLE (9): Pat Borders, c; TORONTO (4): Greg Myers, c. ATLANTA (10): Javy Lopez, c; COLORADO (5): Gregg Zaun, c. FLORIDA (8): Ivan Rodriguez, c; HOUSTON (6): Brad Ausmus, c; MILWAUKEE (6): Keith Osik, c; Eddie Perez, c; PHILADELPHIA (9): Todd Pratt, c; m-Kelly Stinnett, c; ST. LOUIS (12):Joe Girardi, c; Chris Widger, c. SAN FRANCISCO (13): Benito Santiago, c; R/LHP: Wow! What a glut of FA arms! The SOX should definitely buy a 5th starter & Schow is not a lock for 4th. BALTIMORE (8): Hector Carrasco, rhp; Scott Erickson, rhp; x-Pat Hentgen, rhp; BOSTON (9): John Burkett, rhp; x-Bobby Howry, rhp; Todd Jones, rhp; x-Derek Lowe, rhp; Robert Person, rhp; x-Jeff Suppan, rhp; Mike Timlin, rhp; CHICAGO (10): Bartolo Colon, rhp; Tom Gordon, rhp; x-Esteban Loaiza, rhp; x-Scott Sullivan, rhp; CLEVELAND (4): Jason Bere, rhp; x-Mark Wohlers, rhp. DETROIT (3): Steve Avery, lhp; KANSAS CITY (11): Brian Anderson, lhp; Jason Grimsley, rhp; Curtis Leskanic, rhp; Jose Lima, rhp; Graeme Lloyd, lhp; MINNESOTA (8): Mike Fetters, rhp; Eddie Guardado, lhp; Latroy Hawkins, rhp; x-Rick Reed, rhp; Kenny Rogers, lhp; NEW YORK (9): Felix Heredia, lhp; Jeff Nelson, rhp; x-Antonio Osuna, rhp; Andy Pettitte, lhp; x-David Wells, lhp; Gabe White, lhp. OAKLAND (4): Keith Foulke, rhp; Jim Mecir, rhp; SEATTLE (9): Armando Benitez, rhp; Shigetoshi Hasegawa, rhp; Arthur Rhodes, lhp; TEXAS (3): John Thomson, rhp. TORONTO (4): Kelvim Escobar, rhp; Cory Lidle, rhp; ARIZONA (7): x-Miguel Batista, rhp; Mike Jackson, rhp; y-Matt Mantei, rhp; Mike Myers, lhp. ATLANTA (10): y-Paul Byrd, rhp; Roberto Hernandez, rhp; Darren Holmes, rhp; Kent Mercker, lhp; m-Shane Reynolds, rhp; CHICAGO (13): Antonio Alfonseca, rhp; Shawn Estes, lhp; x-Mark Guthrie, lhp; Dave Veres, rhp; Tony Womack, ss. CINCINNATI (3): y-Jimmy Haynes, rhp; COLORADO (5): Darren Oliver, lhp; x-Steve Reed, rhp; FLORIDA (8): Chad Fox, rhp; Rick Helling, rhp; Ugueth Urbina, rhp. HOUSTON (6): Brian Moehler, rhp; Ron Villone, lhp; Rick White, rhp. LOS ANGELES (9): Wilson Alvarez, lhp; x-Andy Ashby, rhp;x-Hideo Nomo, rhp; MILWAUKEE (6): Dave Burba, rhp; Todd Ritchie, rhp; MONTREAL (8): Vic Darensbourg, lhp; x-Joey Eischen, lhp; x-Livan Hernandez, rhp; NEW YORK (4): Pedro Astacio, rhp; John Franco, lhp. PHILADELPHIA (9): Terry Adams, rhp; x-Rheal Cormier, lhp; x-Jose Mesa, rhp; Kevin Millwood, rhp; r-Dan Plesac, lhp; Turk Wendell, rhp; x-Mike Williams, rhp. PITTSBURGH (8): Jeff D'Amico, rhp; Julian Tavarez, rhp. ST. LOUIS (12): x-Chris Carpenter, rhp; x-Mike DeJean, rhp; Cal Eldred, rhp; x-Jeff Fassero, lhp; x-Sterling Hitchcock, lhp; Lance Painter, lhp; Russ Springer, rhp; SAN DIEGO (3): Rod Beck, rhp; x-Trevor Hoffman, rhp; SAN FRANCISCO (13): y-Robb Nen, rhp; Sidney Ponson, rhp; m-Felix Rodriguez, rhp; Kirk Rueter, lhp; OF: The glut here again will drive down Carl's price. BALTIMORE (8): Albert Belle, of; B.J. Surhoff, of. ANAHEIM (2): Eric Owens, of. CHICAGO (10):Carl Everett, of CLEVELAND (4):x-Ellis Burks, of; KANSAS CITY (11): Raul Ibanez, of; Mike Tucker, of; Rondell White, of. MINNESOTA (8): Shannon Stewart, of. NEW YORK (9): Ruben Sierra, of; OAKLAND (4): Jose Guillen, of; SEATTLE (9): Mike Cameron, of;x-John Mabry, of; Mark McLemore, of; TAMPA BAY (5): Ben Grieve, of; Al Martin, of; TEXAS (3): Juan Gonzalez, of; ARIZONA (7): Raul Mondesi, of; ATLANTA (10): Darren Bragg, of; Gary Sheffield, of. CHICAGO (13): Doug Glanville, of; Tom Goodwin, of; Kenny Lofton, of; Troy O'Leary, of; v-Sammy Sosa, of; COLORADO (5): Mark Sweeney, of; FLORIDA (8):Todd Hollandsworth, of; HOUSTON (6): Orlando Merced, of; LOS ANGELES (9): Jeromy Burnitz, of; Rickey Henderson, of; x-Brian Jordan, of; MILWAUKEE (6): John Vander Wal, of. MONTREAL (8): Wil Cordero, of; Vladimir Guerrero, of; PITTSBURGH (8): Reggie Sanders, of; Matt Stairs, of; ST. LOUIS (12): Orlando Palmeiro, of; SAN FRANCISCO (13): Marvin Benard, of; m-Jose Cruz Jr, of; Jeffrey Hammonds, of; KW, with the exception of Colon to not jump to quickly to re-sign these guys. Wait & see how the market shakes out as many might drop to rock bottom prices.

Do you think we can put all 2004 chatter in 1 thread? THE MANAGER: Hot: Ozzie Guillen, Buck Dent Cold: Wally Backman $$$: Maneul due 1.2mil for 2004. BARTOLO COLON: Angles GM Moreno puts him at the top of his list.

I'm sorry to be the voice of reality here (shocked at Bmr's optimism) but whether or not we retain Colon will depend on 3 teams: NYY, BOS, & NYM. They all have the $$$ to blow any offer we make out of the water. The question is do they want him? The NYY have a rotation of Mussina, Wells, Petite, Contreras, & Clemens. Clemens is retiring & Wells is not getting any younger. They have the ex-scrubs ace looking to rebound but there is a definite opening for a FA. Latest FA link & update : the big 8: http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/fantasy/story/6613461 Vladimir Guerrero: You can count on the Angels, Dodgers, Mets, Orioles, Padres and Yankees to make the 27-year-old a hefty offer, but why is everyone ruling out a return to the Expos? Miguel Tejada: Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Orioles are now the most likely suitors. Kevin Millwood: Millwood, 28, will certainly draw interest from Atlanta, his former team, and Baltimore, but it'd be best for his Fantasy chances if he remains in the National League. Greg Maddux: Padres, ATL Bartolo Colon: Padres, Giants, Orioles, Phillies, Yanks Gary Sheffield: He'll likely be the consolation prize for teams that lose out in the Guerrero sweepstakes, making the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees the early favorites to secure his services Javy Lopez: pADRES Luis Castillo: Castillo has expressed a desire to sign with the Cardinals, despite a .254 lifetime average at Busch Stadium, but he might land with the Cubs, whose second-base options are all prospective free agents. I would say with so many teams vying for Bart's services, it will be a long-shot for the SOX to retain him.

ALDS Red Sox 3, A's 2 : loss of Mulder will be the difference Yankees 3, Twins 1 : Twinks can't beat NY in NY NLDS Braves 3, Cubs 0 : Maddux will be psyched Marlinss 2, Giants 3 : Barry will be the difference ALCS Red Sox 4, Yankees 2 : Red Sox end the jinx NLCS Giants 4, Braves 2 : Barry will be the difference World Series Red Sox 4, Giants 3 : Pedro will be the difference THE BOSTON RED SOX WILL FINALLY HAVE A CHAMPIONSHIP! Leaving the scrubs as the longest & most fabled team without one.

Why STL does the Maggs+PK trade: 1) They have no place to play Drew. (He's solid O, but not a big bat) 2) They are paying Tino 7.5mil for a 786 OPS. PK is a major upgrade for about the same $$$. 3) Drew will be a FA after 2K4. They don't plan to keep him. 4) Maggs is a near certainty for 30HR, 100RBI. 5) Maggs has proven success vs most of the NLC. 6) SOX would probably throw in cash (2mil) 7) Maggs is a career 308A, 897OPS hitter. That makes him the best hitter on STL with players having 5+ yrs experience. Jim Edmonds made betw 8-9MIL last yr & has an avg 17 pts less than Maggs. 8) Renteria's career 748OPS in 8 yrs, makes him a late bloomer/1 yr wonder candidate. 9) STL has Bowers in AAA who turns 26 & is ready to make the jump to the MLs. 10) A lineup of Rolen, Edmonds, Pujols, Maggs, Konerko makes STL the strongest offensive club in the NL. (Assuming Koney has 4/6 avg-all star caliber months). As for Buehrle+Koney it's a no-brainer for STL since the $$$ is about the same & Mark would definitely improve his #'s with about 5 sure outs vs pitchers ev game. Of course why would the SOX trade Mark? Ans: $$$. Mark is up for his first yr of arbitration. He has a 53-35 rec in 104 GS w a 3.71 era that he brings to arbitration. His rankings through his 1st 4 yrs: 19,16,5,43C. His avg ranking is 13th. What's the 13th best pitcher in the AL over the last 3 yrs worth? They might do this just because they feel they can't sign him to a multi-year. I've think this we can bank on. If they can't sign Colon they wil NOT deal Buehrle. If they can sign Colon they would be more likely to deal Mark.

PAUL KONERKO In what I hope is his last game in a SOX uniform.

FRANK THOMAS Such a F'g depressing day The Mutha F'g scrubs on the verge of win'g the NLC. Time to update the sig.

TONY GRAFFANINO I'd like to go with Jon but you guys won't let me. Call it wishful thinking but I feel Jon is going to step up tonight & put the SOX up 1 gm with Colon & E-LO to finish off the series. THE RACE FOR 2ND PLACE is STILL ON!

Those of you who are blamming a loss season on 11-8 vs DET don't know jack. We lost this division back in the off-season when KW paid 24/3 for Konerko. A player who has consistently produced 2 monster months, 2 avg months, & 2 s***y months ea. & every yr with the SOX. The only thing that really changed over time is that his monster months got bigger. But there was still only 2 of them. Konerko should have been traded for a solid 2B or SS that could hit last year when his #'s were at their peaks. Most of you made every excuse for this 1/3rd season player but I knew better. I told you that his lack of speed would hurt the SOX more than help them & that's exactly what happened. We lost this division when Jerry Manuel was retained after accomplishing nothing in his tenure with the SOX. Sea swept them in 2000 in the post-season. I hardly consider getting there an accomplishment worth celebrating. Jerry's Jeckyl/Hyde decisions cost this team a minimum of 12 wins over this year. That's more than the failures vs DET, or even Konerko's impact. He should have been fired after 2001. The SOX aren't paying him Baker $$$. We lost this division because we had the worst performance from our 5th spot in the rotation in 6 yrs. It might have been the worst ever. Any one who thinks you can win a division with s*** as a 5th starter don't know jack. The 5th starter still gets about 30 starts a yr. About 5-7 less than the rest. It all comes down to %'s. Good starters win 40% of their starts (14) wins & the team picks them up about 20% more. So if you have a decent 1-4 you should get 80 wins out of them. That means you still need a minimum of 10 wins out of the 5th spot. Our wonderful 5th spot combined for 4 F'g wins this yr out of 27 starts. We lost the division because the Twinks came to their senses & unleased RJ jr. Santana went 10-2 as a starter this yr & 7-0 his last 7 starts. The hot arm usually pushes their team across the finish line. Let's break it down: SOX (1-4): 59W-49L in 132 starts; (5): 4W-10L in 27 starts; (BP): 20W-16L MN Twinks: (1-4): 47W-41L in 115 starts; (5): 22W-12L in 42 starts; (BP): 20W-16L It's blatantly obvious where the SOX lost the division. The question is who's to blame? KW & JM. KW for not realizing the importance of a viable 5th starter this year when competing with the Twinks & knowing that Santana was eventually going to make his way into the rotation. JM for managing 5th starts like they were throw away games. Now let's look at the F'g offense: Twinks: 770 OPS, 742 OPS vs, 2376 TB, 784R, 736R vs., 738RBI, 94/138 SB% C SOX: 774 OPS, 726 OPS vs, 2384 TB, 756R, 709R vs., 733RBI, 74/102 SB % Overall the numbers are pretty similar with 1 exception: The Twinks scored nearly 30 runs more than the SOX. Even with a useless 5th starter, the SOX still could have won this division with offense alone. The Twinks did more with less because of team speed. For the 2nd straight yr the Twinks have won the division with team speed & pitching. Their hitting is no better or worse than the SOX or KC. Team Speed It's not just that the Twinks stole 20 more bases, but also that they had 36 more attempts. A team that runs that often puts added pressure on opposing pitchers & that usually results in more mistakes that they can capitalize on. The SOX need to re-vamp the team for more speed. This is why I am strongly suggesting a Maggs+Konerko to STL for Renteria+Drew+arm. Or if you think the SOX can afford Maggs, then swap Buehrle for Maggs. The combination of Renteria+Drew on the base pads will easily make the SOX the fastest team in the ALC. A +28 in SB's in the exchange. That should lead the SOX to 140 SB attempts in 2004. This isn't about a popularity contest. That isn't KW's job. His job is to make the SOX a better team. Period. 2004 lineup: Alomar/Vina - 2B Renteria - SS C Lee - LF/DH F Thomas - DH/1B C Everett - CF/DH J Crede - 3B J Val - 1B/RF/DH J Drew - RF/1B/DH M Olivo - C This is a fast, yet powerful lineup that is certain to be more competitive than 2003's. The SOX will lop off 11MIL in salary on the trade. Enough to pay Colon or purchase a new #1.

PTC for Hockey is a breeze as far as scoring goes. You can just rely on the +/- system they already use to assign pts for players. I hope we can develop a +/- system for the SOX next year. The biggest demand in the off-season will probably be Da Bears followed by ND, MI, IL, WI, OSU, MSU, & NW. The regional Big 10. So maybe we could develop a +/- for the CFA. I doubt the Bulls will get much interest.

FRANK THOMAS As the Terminator would say, "I'LL BE BACK!"

1) Who will win the series (CHW/KC/Split) (2 points)? CHW 2) Will Esteban Loaiza earn his 21st victory (Y/N) (2 points)? Y 3) How many errors will the Sox make (4 points)? 2 4) Name a Sox pitcher who will earn a win (4 points)? E-LO 5) How many batters will Thursday's starter face (2 either way) (5 points)? 21 6) How many AB will Frank Thomas have in the series(5 points)? 20 7) Who will lead the Sox in hits for the series (4 points)? Carlos 8) Will Maggs finish the season with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI (Y/N) (2 points)? Y 9) Who will be in 2nd place in the AL Central (KC/CHW) (2 points)? CHW 10) Will Angel Berroa hit a homerun (Y/N) (2 points)? N TIEBREAKER: Total bases for Sox outfielders 25