JUGGERNAUT

Ahhh .. but HSC isn't it possible that you built up your PTC wins when the team was struggling & now that they are winning your negativity could be clouding rational PTC choices? ahh how quickly you foreget.. i took a few weeks off here and there and did not put in picks..... as if it really matters who cares about it .. its not like its for money or anything....... That's how I felt until I became tied for 1st! Me SOOOO Happy

I'm enthusiastic about the possibility (remote that it is) that he will come back & throw consistenty & accurately in the high 90's. Outside of that, I'm indifferent at best.

Why I love HSC? Read her quote. Nothing brings out the love amongst SOX fans that ripping on the sCrUBs There's no way this happens. A deal will be worked out with the state & city before the Trib loses it's MLB operating license for the sCrUBs. Best case scenario: The state of IL gets a nice windfall that's directed to the ISFA that further cushions the blow to tax payers for the Cell. I think this is most likely. Tobacco companies never lost their business license to sell the weed, but they sure paid out a sizeable settlement to keep it

Ahhh .. but HSC isn't it possible that you built up your PTC wins when the team was struggling & now that they are winning your negativity could be clouding rational PTC choices?

If you look at the way JM's using Wright I think that's the thinking. A quick hook for Cotts early on with Wright as the pseudo starter. This is really a manager's dream for a 5th starter (next to what the NYY have that is). Wright lost the job & knows that a great job in long relief will help him get it back. Cotts knows that Wright wants his job back & he better not slip up if he aims to keep it. Maximum competition betw them.

Out of respect to HSC they have proven no ability to beat the M's in a series. If they meet the M's in the first round, don't buy tickets for the 2nd round. I made that mistake in 2000. I ate the shipping & handling costs as a result. Of course I say that now with a rational mind. Come Oct rationality flies out the window

Lets just put it this way. Everyone is entitled to your opinions. You may not post that much, but that doesn't mean you can't have your opinion...just like HSC has hers. While we may disagree on her being more negative, that is her right and as a diehard Sox fan she's seen a whole lot as have we. I think the thing is, she's a huge Sox fan, we are huge Sox fans and those are similarities. I'm an optimist so I disagree with her most of the time but I still got tons of respect for her ANDY, chill for a second. If her mental disposition tends toward being negative & the rest of us remain positive the net effect is that she becomes singled out & pushed father away from the mainstream fan base here at SOXTALK. In a word she will be painted as an extremist & as such become so irrational in thought that the mainstream will tend to ignore what she has to say. Her 9000 posts won't make a difference then. She only hurts herself, so there's no need for you to add to her pain Keep in mind she is now 3rd in the PTC game, so that's pretty strong evidence she's an avid SOX fan who simply dreams of one day waking up & finding Steinbrenner as the owner of the SOX.

HSC: [do you seriously think we will get past the likes of seattle, new york, boston (if they are the wild card) or oakland (if they are wild card) your fooling yourself......so if you want to sit around with your blinders on and hope and wish that we go somewhere, when we were basically promised we would go somewhere then so be it.. i for one am tired of the bull s***..... its all or nothing.....period......... its just another bunch of crap talk from the upper management here........] I disagree with you. I do beleive we have a team capable of beating boston, oakland, & the nyy. Post-season is all about matchups & we matchup well against these 3 teams with the talent KW has assembled. Seattle is the biggest nemesis of the SOX. They have been for several years now. We do not matchup well with the M's. We have no answer for Ichiro & his speed & defense negate our power. Likewise we don't have much of an answer for Cameron either. In other words a team that possesses quickness, D prowess, some power, & solid pitching is a threat to this SOX team. You must be a purist (extremist) if you are still looking back when there were only 4 divisions. Get over it. There are 6 divisions & a WC now to make MLB more competitive. This year is the crowning achievment of that. If & this is a BIG if the SOX are able to win the WORLD SERIES this year on a payroll < 60MIL it will shake the foundation of not just MLB but all of professional sports. You may see many more mgrs willing to roll the dice to win it all as KW has. If the SOX win the division then anything is possible as long as we don't have to play the M's.

Borass must still be pricing clients based on A-ROD prices. What a MOMO. Eventually he's going to lose credibility over all this. The NYY are not going to over pay for Beltran or any other player. Cashman has been pretty good at pricing NYY targets just above the best offer. The Sag ratings have him ranked 9th. Beltran 7.57RPG Thomas 7.56RPG Ordonez 7.55RPG The Yanks will probably target him for RF & heir apparent for CF when Williams decides to stop playing.

That seems about right if you're not going to sacrfice the front 3 on 3 days rest 1 time. I think Cotts can carry the load. In his last start vs TEX he lasted nearly 6in, & gave up 2 BB w 6K's. He gave up 4er, 3 of them in the 3rd. The dreaded leadoff BB. The 4th was courtesy of A-ROD belting a HR. Like Garland, he needs to stay away from the big inning. And let's not forget that the game Cotts imploded in ANA Wright came on & pitched 5 solid innings giving up just 1 er. Again, a dreaded BB played a role.

They are pretty scary right now. The worst thing that could happen for SOX fans has. They are de-weeding the lawn so to speak. Placed pitcher Rick Reed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 18, with a lower back strain; optioned outfielder Michael Restovich to Rochester of the International League (AAA); purchased the contract of pitcher Carlos Pulido from Rochester; recalled catcher Rob Bowen from Rochester; announced that pitcher James Baldwin declined his assignment and elected to become a free agent. 22-12 since the break.

When did Ginter get called back up? Did I miss something or did you? Koch won't be back til after the 1st, Book It!!!!!! I forgot what I think most of us wanted to forget: the Schow trade. Ok, I don't see Koch coming back until the roster expands

Everybody chill! Let's continue to talk baseball. Here are all the toys in JM's toy box for him to play with: starting lineup: 1. R Alomar 2B 2. C Lee LF 3. F Thomas DH/1B 4. M Ordonez RF 5. C Everett CF 6. P Konerko DH/1B 7. J Val SS (Graff) 8. J Crede 3B (Graff) 9. S Alomar C Reserves: 10. T. Graff (All) 11. M. Olivo C 12. B. Daubach (1B,LF,RH,DH) 13. A. Rowand (LF,CF,RF) 14. W. Harris (LF,CF,RF,2B) SP 1. M. Buehrle 2. B. Colon 3. E. Loaiza 4. J. Garland 5. N. Cotts RP 6. D. Wright Long Relief 7. D. Marte Setup/Closer 8. T. Gordon Setup/Closer 9. S. Sullivan Long Relief 10. K. Wunsch Short Relief 11. M. Ginter Short Relief That's the why I would rank the position players & relievers. I don't know what the rest of you think, but that's a very talented team. I can still see Koch returning & claiming Ginter's spot.

The ramifications of this trade. With Nunez & Hummel gone, someone will be promoted to the Knights to play SS. I don't know who that is as but the Baron that has been playing there is having a piss-poor year. He's been hitting of late, but Reyes, Guillermo .193A 105G 337AB 36R 65H 9DB 2TP 4HR 32RBI 31BB 67K 14SB 8CS .267OBP .265SLG 18E Is not going to cut it in AAA. The SOX have nothing in the ml's to step into SS any time soon. Does this spell Tejada in 2004? Only time will tell. Assuming Koney will continue to rebound I do not expect him in a SOX uni in 2004. That's $ better spent at SS & there are plenty of NL teams that would be interested in Koney.

I've got the details. With Nunez coming over from MTL & Miles emerging at 2B, Hummel was playing 3B through 6/24. Hummel has been playing SS for the Knights since 6/25. If you doubt Hummel's $$$ number of 150 (R+RBI) take a look a the game logs. This guy's consistency of getting a hit a night was unreal. I'll make a bold prediction right now: He will be a starting IF for the Reds in 2004 (if they don't trade him that is ).

You're wrong. If you check the game logs, Hummel has been playing the majority of his time at SS. They had to make room for Miles at 2B. Hummel has always been tagged as a middle IF. http://minorleaguebaseball.com/teams/box.a...=222&game=16549

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=mlb The White Sox are responsible for half of Sullivan's $596,000 salary. "The waiver wire complicates things, but you have to play the blocking game and make sure competitors don't get your behind," Williams added. "You play the game, and if someone is out there you need and can afford, you make the deal work from a match-up standpoint. We were able to match up today." ................... I'm sick of you guys dumping on SOX prospects when they're traded. Hummel is not left over junk. He has remained the heir to either 2B or SS for the better part of 3 yrs. The only reason he is not in a SOX uniform today is because Val coming off a solid year signed a home discount contract with the SOX, & Jimenez was once considered the highest prospect in the NYY organization. Frankly speaking, there were accomplished Major leaguers that kept Hummel for stayin the MLs. Here are his true numbers: .284A 126G 468AB 72R 133H 78RBI 25DB 3TP 15HR 45BB 82K 9SB 3CS 349OBP, 447 SLG. The numbers don't tell all of Hummel's success this year. That's not a 284A built on a mix of hot & cold months. It's built on consistency month after month. Led the Knights in hits (136), walks (51), sacrifice flies (9) , multi-hit games and ranked second in doubles (33). Rated by Baseball America prior to the 2003 season as the No. 17 prospect in Sox organization. Here's another stat many people over look R+RBI. Hummel led the Knights this year in R+RBI. Or what some call the $$$ stats. Hummel: 72+78 = 150 Miles: 73+44 = 117 Borch: 49+49 = 98 This is as good a trade for the Reds as it is for the SOX. They are picking up what amounts to the buy out price of Sullivans contract & receiving what amounts to the Knights best offensive player of the year in return. Considering there are less than 35 gms in the season & the Reds are going no where, that's a pretty good deal. The Reds clearly have no plans to pick up Sully's option, so unless the SOX do they will still have a chance to pick him up as a FA. Bottomline: It was a good move by KW but he gave up a talented player in return.

This is a big move & Selig must have felt what KW was offering was decent value. The Yanks tried to get him before the deadline but Selig stepped in then. I like these numbers! Opposing hitters: .211A, .321O, .341S, .662OPS vs LH: .213A, .333O, .344S, .678OPS vs RH: .210A, .315O, .339S, .654OPS Pre-AS: .224A Pos-AS: .067A NL Ranking 24 Sullivan, Scott CIN R 2.97NPERA 6.0$ 49.2IP 3.62ERA 43K 6W 12.68MOB 0SV 22.2 POWER Ok, that brings me down to Earth a bit, but then ... there's the game log: Apr 14IP, 6ER May 13IP, 9ER Jun 11IP, 4ER Jul 5IP, 0ER Aug 5IP, 1ER Reds August 8: Activated pitcher Scott Sullivan from the 15-day disabled list; placed pitcher Jose Acevedo on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle. Reds July 19: Placed outfielder Ken Griffey on the 15-day disabled list with a ruptured tendon in his right ankle; placed pitcher Scott Sullivan on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 14, with tendinitis in his right shoulder; Finally: Pitching, Defense & HittingSullivan never regained the bite on his 90-plus, sidearm, sinking fastball. Without the sinker, he doesn't have an adequate weapon against righthanded hitters. He still is seeking to gain better command with his cutter. Sullivan often will fall off to the first-base side of the mound and put himself out of position defensively. He made three errors in just 11 total chances last year. He holds runners adequately and rarely hits. However, if he regains strength in his throwing arm and stays healthy, he is one of baseball's most valuable relievers, as he can eat middle and late innings. His contract runs through this season, with an option for 2004. EXCELLENT TRADE!

It feels so much like NEW YEARS DAY, I broke out the U2 song!

ME SOOOOOO HAPPPPYYYY!!!!! ALC Magic Numbers: SOX: 163-67-61= 35 MIN : 163-66-61= 36 KCR: 163-65-61= 37 Baseball has not seen such a close divisional race in MANY a year! Party hardy dudes & smack the Rangers with Cotts on the mound! And for you sCrUB fans back a REAL team! SOX .523 winning %, sCrUBs 516% :fthecubs

MAGGLIO ORDONEZ

ROBERTO ALOMAR

FRANK THOMAS

1) Who will win the series (CHW/TEX/Split) (2 points)? CHW 2) Will Neal Cotts get a win (Y/N) (2 points)? Y 3) How many errors will the Sox make (4 points)? 1 4) How many times will Miguel Olivo strikeout (4 points)? 2 5) What will Mark Buehrle's season ERA be after the series (I will give .01 either way) (5 points)? 4.18 6) How many RBI will Carlos Lee have in the series (5 points)? 5 7) How many earned runs will Bartolo Colon allow (4 points)? 3 8) Will Carl Everett have at least 5 hits in the series (Y/N) (2 points)? Y 9) Who will be in 2nd place in the AL Central after the series (2 points)? MN 10) Will Hank Blalock hit a homerun (Y/N) (2 points)? Y TB: 41

I can take the bag off.