Lemon_44

I'd stick with Jenks for a bit longer. Despite the whip and other stats, he has, for the most part, got the job done. I don't care what he does is non-save situations because that's not his role. His role is to get the save and today was the first time he has failed this year. He seems healthy as his fastball is clocking at 95-97. The problem he had today is Toronto is great fatsball hitting team and that's what he was feeding them. In fact, he really doesn't seem to use his hammer curve like he used to. That pitch was what made him a devastating closer early in his career. Now he seems to only throw the fastball and cutter. I think if he went back to using the curve more, he would become more effective. Maybe his arm can't take the wear and tear of throwing it as much.

I went to the Charlotte/Columbus game. Here were my very amateurish scouting report.It's the 1st time i have seen any of these players and only know about them from what i have read on these boards. Marquez-he threw well. I think he should use his curveball more. The Clippers looked bad every time he threw it. Flowers- he looked great, what a big guy.The ball really comes off his bat. The double to right center looked like he barely hit the ball and was in the gap in a hurry. He also looked very quick getting the ball to second. Of course that was only during between inning warmups. Gartrell-i don't know a whole lot about him,but he looked the best prospect to me. He was very good defensively, offensively and "looked" the part of a major league player. Viciedo- was disappointed in him. Big swing but looks like he had trouble catching up with the fastball. Dolsi- looked like Octavio Dotel out there. He was brining it and saw him hit 96 on the stadium gun. Seemed like he struck out every guy he faced. Danks- he's a pretty skinny guy. He's very fluid in the OF and looks about what i expected. Retherford-i can't see him having any impact on the ML level. Rodriguez- i think it was his first appearance as the didn't have any AB's for him previously. He looked good. Lillibridge- he's probably playing at the level he should be, AAA. De Aza- good hitter, not so good defensively

Pierre's not hitting and Beckham, i think, is thinking too much in the #2 hole instead of just raking. When your top 2 hitters in the BO are struggling to get to .225 there's going to be problems scoring runs. My idea for a new batting order would be: 1-Rios- he has the speed Ozzie likes and he's hitting well. 2-Alexei- he'll see more fastballs which can only help. I know he's struggling but a move here may help him. 3-Jones-when he plays and i'd be fine just putting him in the lineup everyday for now. #3 hitter is the big hole in the lineup. 4-Quentin-you could Konerko here but Quentin, even though he's off to a slow start, is more of an overall threat. 5-Konerko- you can put him anywhere and you'll likely get his consistent production. 6-Teahen- good spot for him 7-Beckham- this takes all the pressure off him and allows him to get back on track. 8-AJ-Like Konerko, he's going to give you the same no matter where he hits. Until he starts hitting, #8 is a good spot for him. 9-Pierre- use him as the "2nd" leadoff man and put him where his .200 batting average should be. I know the lineup is heavy RH in the upper half but something needs to be changed. I don't think you can just base your lineup on righty/lefty. Go with something that changes things up, yet still makes sense.

is it wrong when i hear "best defensive player" to think can't hit much?

Unless Santos completely goes in the tank, the bullpen seems to be pretty much set. CL-Jenks Thornton Putz Santos Pena Williams Linebrink if Linebrink would happen to regain form, that bullpen could match the starting rotation and be a top 3 bullpen. Even if he doesn't, it's still right at the top.

Never been a fan of his. Have Blalock or Branyan signed with anybody? I would rather have one of them. At least they have some legit pop from the left side. Damon had legit pop in Yankee stadium but who doesn't?

I didn't want Thome back. His bat speed clearly was on the way down last year and logic only says that it will be even slower this year. The Sox won't miss him. But, the problem is that Kotsay/Jones and others aren't the answer either. However, i don't think there's a problem with giving it a try. THe Sox know what they had in Thome.They want to try something different. KW is going to give it a shot and see if it works. I think it may work for a month, or two, but then these older guys will start to wear down. That's when KW will be able to make a move. With the Sox pitching they will be right in it in the early summer.Konerko will only have 1/2 years salary left so the Sox can obtain a player(Dunn, Gonzo,Fielder) and make a move to put them over the top. At least that's how i think things will work out. Having Thome,to me, would have minimal impact on this year's team. Plus, out of respect for Thome,if he struggled, the Sox wouldn't want to be put in the position of having to release him. I just think it's better overall to move on. Who knows a youngster may come out of the blue as well.It's not like that hasn't happened before either.

how could he get a contract of 2 year 16-18 mill? I wouldn't give him a 2 year 10 mill contract. He seems to be way overrated. He's a .270 hitter with limited power. If he gets that kind of contract there is a GM out there who needs to be canned.

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 01:29 PM) It's sad that people would even consider him as a serious option. People really are settling for mediocrity. isn't rotating Kotsay,Jones,and whoever below mediocrity?

i'd like the Sox to bring him in. He is a Boras client though.

Dark horse guy to acquire: Jose Reyes. KW has always liked him. Put him at SS,move Alexi to 2B,Beckham goes back to 3rd and Teahan to RF. The Mets need pitching badly.Offer up Hudson plus.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 04:30 PM) Would you do Quentin + Flowers + Danks + throw in for A Gonzalez? Your outfield is Pierre, Rios, Jones/Kotsay, and Paulie is the DH. I think that would way to much,even for Gonzalez. If he's using Quentin, i would think Quentin and Hudson should be enough. SD would ask for more but the most i would add to that is a lower rated prospect,maybe Retherford.

KW may as well go ahead and pull the trigger and bring Prince in.

let's face it nobody on here can say with certainty if he's the anwer or not. You can't draw any conclusions on his limited time.But, the fact is, he's better than anything we currently have in the leadoff role, which is nothing. Personally, i would like to see what he could do in the leadoff spot for an entire year. I doubt KW gives up anything of major significance for him. Maybe Retherford and lower level pitching prospect with nice potential would do it. Maybe the Yanks take a flier on Linebrink bouncing back.I think there's a decent chance that could happen and the Yankees have gotten rid of Kennedy and Bruney so there's some holes in their bullpen and money is no issue for them.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 12:57 AM) I question exactly how high the price for Halladay really is. I don't think Toronto gets a player like Danks or Floyd in whatever deal they end up taking. i agree. That may be what Toronto wants but no team is going to give that much up when they have all the leverage in a deal. Johan Santana, who i think was every bit as hot a commodity, didn't require that type of price tag. There's no way the Sox are going to give Danks/Floyd plus Hudson, D2, and Flowers. Teams are getting less and less likely to throw alot of top prospects around in a single trade.You may get 1, possibly two top 5 guys, but no team is going to drain their top prospects on one deal.Not even for Adrian Gonzalez.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Dec 5, 2009 -> 07:13 AM) Pack your bags BJ! i hope you're talking about Upton

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 05:51 PM) Uggla expects to be traded. What would the Marlins want? Package around Alexei + Flowers/Danks? Becks moves back to SS, Uggla to 2B obviously.... 1) Beckham SS 2) Uggla 2B 3) Quentin LF 4) Konerko 1B 5) Pierzynski C 6) Jones DH 7) Rios CF 8) Teahan 3B 9) Kotsay RF ? Or maybe we give them one of Danks/Floyd instead of Alexei and keep Alexei at SS, Becks at 3B, Uggla at 2B, and Teahan into the OF? i wouldn't trade any of those guys straight up for Uggla let alone in a a package

Alot has been speculated about trading Jenks in a deal for Upton. What about dealing Thornton as the main guy for BJ. He likely has more value as he's cheaper, lefthanded, and has no real injury concerns. He hasn't shown the overall, longterm ability to close out games but he did pretty well in his limited chances. Granted he would leave a gaping hole in the Sox pen but you have to give something to get something and Thorton's value may be at it's peak right now.

I think KW is lining up something big coming up soon. He has to be confident that he can land either Upton, Gonzales, Figgins, or maybe even Miguel Cabrera. Otherwise, why would he be signing these older veteran guys to fill out the bench. If you didn't think you were going to have a legit shot at winning it, the more likely thing to do would be to integrate the youngsters on the bench and let them get some seasoning. And, i don't even the optimistic Kenny can think the Sox everyday lineup is good enough to compete with the best as it stands right now. I think the first domino to fall will be PK being traded.Maybe to SF for Sanchez who could fill Hudson's potential role as bullpen, 5th starter if Garcia fails. That would allow Hudosn to be moved in a deal for Gonzales and not hurt the Sox future as much. Or it would free up money for a Figgins signing. Either way, with the way this team is being stacked up, something has to be looming on the horizon. The Xbox, way out there,dream scenario would be do the PK trade to SF, send Hudson,Flowers, Morel, etc, for Gonzales ,and then send Jenks and some propects to TB for Upton. Hey, it Thanksgiving a guy can dream can't he? lineup: LF-Quentin CF-Rios RF-Upton 3B-Teahan SS-Ramirez 2B-Beckham 1B-Gonzales C-AJ DH-??? maybe do a late,cheap signing of Delgado,Thome or someone like that. bench-Kotsay, Vizquel, Jones, Blanco, Nix SP-Peavy SP-Buehrle SP-Danks SP-Floyd SP-Garcia RP-Linebrink RP-Carrasco RP-Sanchez RP-Pena RP-Nunez CL-Thornton

i didn't know Blalock was a Boras client. He's who i wanted the Sox to bring in.

he would create moe excitement than Vizquel, but i'm hoping for Duscherer.

just for an entertaining clubhouse, for KW's next move he ought to sign Jose Mesa as a setup man.

PK for Javy (green).

What do you think the chances are the PK gets moved this off season? Omar Minaya has come out and said he wants a run producing 1B. Well, PK is a run producing 1B, money is no issue for the Mets, and he and KW seem to have a pretty good relationship. Williams has said he'd like a LH bat. How about PK and Jenks packaged around a deal for Daniel Murphy and Fernando Martinez? That would free up alot of money from the Sox side of things and the Mets would get their 1B and a guy to replace Putz in the bullpen. I don't know what the Mets think of Martinez these days because of injuries and he hit under .200 this year but he was an elite propsect. The Sox could then use the freed up money to acquire a guy like Dunn or another power hitter that the lineup would need.

QUOTE (1977 sox fan @ Nov 6, 2009 -> 09:12 AM) i think many here are way to caught up in this speed players we need some speed and guys who can go 1st to third and 2nd to home . remember people we play in the cell if we want a slap hitting speedy team then change the dimensions in the cell . i agree. I just think OG and KW may be obsessed with getting guys who can run. We definitely need a couple 30 HR threats at least. That's why i'd like to see either a Dunn or Blalock be brought in instead of a guy like Polanco.