witesoxfan

Contreras will be paid $6 mill by the Sox next year. As part of the Loaiza-Contreras deal, the Yanks sent $3 mill over...$1 mill to cover next year, and $2 mill to cover 06.

Harris Rowand Lee Konerko Gload Uribe Davis-Burke Crede Borchard with Valdez playing about 10 games or so down the stretch. Rowand's not a cleanup hitter, and Lee is better suited elsewhere in the lineup. While we're at it...shutdown Garcia for the season and let him rest his arm, and put Diaz in there too.

The pair of 4's with the second pair on the river wouldn't have bugged me nearly as much had the player I was playing with actually been a good player. To put it into perspective...later in that same game, he called an all in, which was about a quarter of his stack, with 5-2 suited just because no one else called. Of course he made his flush and knocked the other person out, but it is still a dumb move. The fact that he had the reputation of playing lucky is what bugged me, but I should have expected it. There were times when that guy would call a sizable all-in bet with K-4 offsuit, and would win. What's nice about playing those types of players is that you do not always get lucky, no matter who you are. There will be times when you get screwed, and when you just don't get the cards, and they'll call with a s*** hand some of the time. Oh yeah...thanks for the compliment on the queens. I do pride myself in playing a very disciplined game at the table. Calling with queen high and having the best of it is pretty damn cool too. That would be insane.

I'm not sure what watching the celebration would do to the Sox. One would think they'd watch the Twins celebrating a 3-peat as division champion and get pissed and actually show up last year. But then again, most of us thought they would be fuming and would just come out and play with all kinds of fire and life after Jamie Burke got laid out. Yeah, right :rolly This team needs to be shaken up. Not sure who to get rid of, but it definately has to happen.

Depends on who you consider a good pitcher. It wouldn't surprise me if that got us Radke or Ortiz, to be honest. With the depth of starting pitchers this year in the FA market, there will be several who feel they get short-changed.

Thought I may as well start this topic, just to see what everyone thinks. For starters, it is quite obvious that we probably need a starting pitcher. We may or may not need a reliever or two. We will probably need to shake the lineup up. But I'm not necessarily talking so much about personnel...we all know about what we need personnel wise...I'm more or less referring to other things this team needs. Like how they need to figure out a way to pull their collective heads out of their collective asses when they get in a huge slump. You'll never see the Twins get in a huge slump like we get in, simply because they don't allow themselves to. They actually play fundamental baseball. We also need guys who will pick up other guys when times get hard. When the pitchers struggle, the offense needs to score more runs. When the offense struggles, the pitchers need to allow fewer runs. Anyways, I just hit on a few ideas. What are some of your guys'/gals' ideas of team needs? As in, changes this team needs to make to improve themself, not changes KW needs to make

One might say that that is the dumbest idea they ever heard. But I think you're exactly right. Maybe not a leader, so much, but, at the very least, the Sox need a spark of some type. IRod sparked you guys last year, Lo Duca has done a decent job of that this year...Shannon Stewart did it for the Twins last year and this year...improving the defense of the Red Sox, which essentially improves the pitching staff, did it for them. I'm not sure what will spark us like that...but KW and Oz and the rest of the people in the White Sox front office and coaching staff need to figure out what will spark this team. Once they do that, there could be a race down the stretch.

This is fun...talking about poker stories. I may as well share a few of mine. I was playing one night, and was doing very well. I had a sizeable chip lead over everyone at the table, and was pushing people around. On one hand, I limped in with J-3 offsuit, and everyone else did as well. Flop came J-4-x. I bet $1500(we're playing with large amounts...average person had about $7000 or so at this point, I probably had near $25-30 thousand, and this guy I was going up against had about $9000), and the guy with $9000 called. Next card was a blank. I bet $2500 and the other guy pushed it all in. I called...obviously. We turn the cards over, and I have him killed...he has 4-6 off, I have high pair with a bad kicker. River comes...6. He made his f***ing second pair on the river. I was pretty pissed. Later that night, I was looking at rockets in the hole. I had about $15000 at the time, and raised it to about $1000. Guy next to me moves it all in for about $3000 more. Table folds to me...and I obviously call. It's AA to AK suited. Guess what happens. Flop comes: K-x-x Turn: x River: K I just f***ing stared at that river and couldn't believe I was actually looking at that card. Of course, I was then shortstacked later on, moved all in with 10's in the hole, and was called by the guy who beat me on the river with his second pair. He had 4's in the hole, and my night was over after a 4 hit on the flop. However, this past Sunday, I had my proudest and best moment ever playing poker. We were playing with around $50 to start with($20 buy-in, FWIW...not actually $50 real dollar, just $50 in chips), and I was at about $30. I look down and see QQ in the hole, and raise it $6. Guy next to me calls, and the person 2 guys over raises $15 on top, to make it a total of $22 or so. I'm sitting here with b****es in the hole, and I don't know what to do...either push it all in, or fold. I muck it. Guy next to me throws it away too. Guy with the huge raise flips his cards over...KK in the whole. Crazy thing is...I still think I made the wrong call. I figured I should have just pushed it all in, trying to make a set, even knowing I was behind.

'Tis no joke. The Mariners would have, in all likelyhood, accepted Garcia for Valentin straight up. You have to consider the circumstances though. Freddy was coming off of a 12-14 4.51 season for a pitcher who was supposed to be an ace. Jose was coming off a decent season. The Mariners had no SS, after trading Guillen to Detroit for Ramon Santiago. The stars were aligned, and the trade was considered. Then, Freddy Garcia busted the hell out of his funk in the first two and a half months, and was spectacular for Seattle...we traded Olivo, Reed, and Morse for him...and the rest is history.

If he's lucky, he'll get $7 mill; however, with the surplus of SP's out there, I think he will be looking more around $4-5 mill, assuming a team doesn't overpay. I do agree about the walks though. They really do scare me. The only guys in the AL that succeed who also walk a lot of pitchers are those who have nasty stuff so nasty that they find it hard to control. Victor Zambrano comes to mind immediately, though he is no longer in the AL. Russ Ortiz really does not have nasty stuff like that. AL teams will feast on him all day long. I think what you'll see is that once just one starting pitcher signs, there could be a flurry of signings after that. Someone has to set the bar...or perhaps it has already been set with the Freddy signing. For example...if the Yanks give Pedro $20 mill a year for $4 years, Pavano will be looking at probably atleast $14-15, knowing full well he is the 2nd best SP available, and it will continue tumbling from there. If Pedro only gets like $10 mill, Pavano will have to settle for considerably less, and you will see all kinds of crazy action after that...we would probably end up with 2 starters we probably had not thought we would get(like perhaps Perez and Radke for a combined $12 mill, with us thinking it's a steal, and Perez and Radke potentially both thinking they just got away with murder). In all likleyhood, Pedro will settle for around $15-17, Pavano will get $10-12, and it wil be a domino effect from there.

I like Willie, but he is not a leadoff caliber hitter yet, and he seems to be the kind of guy that will not produce until he relaxes. Becoming the leadoff hitter on a playoff contender has just a little bit of pressure. What I would like to see happen is to see Willie be in the everyday lineup next year batting 8th or 9th most of the time. 61382, I do like that lineup though, though I would ask for more then just Winn for Crede.

I have mentioned before that Wright toiled around in the minors for quite some time, and in that time, he picked up a split finger pitch, and it has really helped him in his career. If the price were right, he'd be worth a shot. However, I think Atlanta will more then likely resign him.

Milton had a career ERA of 4.76 coming into this year. He is not having adown year. Pavano could be a risky player for us to pick up, and it would probably be wise just to let him sign elsewhere for big bucks. Pedro will be too expensive, in all likelyhood, but he would put us over the top, and I have no doubts about it. He would make our rotation among probably the top 5 in the majors...as of right now, everyone in the rotation is really a slot too high...Garcia would be a better #2, Buehrle a better #3, Contreras a better #4, and Garland would be a better #5. If somehow, the Sox found a way to get the money to get Pedro, they would have a very good chance of winning the AL Central, and would probably be favorites to go to the Series and win it all. Radke would be decent. but nothing spectacular. He would definately strengthen the rotation to the point we really need though. Lowe will eithe remain with Boston or will go to the Tigers in all likelyhood. Wright could be a decent pickup, but I see the Braves resigning him. Wells is a guy I do not see the Sox pursuing. They went down that road once before, and I'm not sure KW will go down it again. On the otherhand, however, we do know that KW will get players he has liked in the past again...ala Everett and Alomar. You did not mention Russ Ortiz, who the Sox will more likely go after and may end up getting, along with others too who are not coming to mind right now.

Got some money out of it...nice Had to figure it would happen at the very least.

Isn't that what message boards are for?

Let them keep Radke. I would like to see them survive without Santana. I bet they wouldn't. And, to me atleast, losing the Cy Young winner(to be...he will win) is very close to being as bad as losing two hitters as good as Frank and Maggs. If the Twins hadn't had Santana, due to injury, for the past 4 months, I can almost guarantee you that we are in first place, even with all of our injuries.

Thomas's contract is not the same one KW had when he came in. The Dimished Skills Clause was used on Thomas after the 2002 season, where Thomas had a period of about 45 days where he could have signed with any other team in the league...after those 45 days were up, he was resigned to a 1-year deal with mutual options for the next 3 years(he made $5 mill plus a $1 mill loan in 2003, $6 mill this past year, will make $8 or $10 mill next year(more likely $8), and $10 or $12 mill in 2006, and that could end up being his last year in the majors...though he could also go to 2007 or even 2008 too) All the contracts on the team have been signed when KW was on board, or they were signed with another team. LDF...KW has usually come out on top of deals, but has occassionally been on the wrong end. His first year was by far his worst...Wells for Sirotka was a PR disaster, Myette for Clayton was bad(even knowing Myette has done nothing in his career...trading anyone, especially Myette, who at the time was a pretty good prospect IIRC, for a bench player making $7-9 mill or so over the next two years is terrible), the Berry-Barry thing, and I'm quite sure he handled the Sean Lowe fiasco terribly too...saying something like he was the 11th pitcher on an 11-man staff, or something like that. 2002 was better, but only by a little bit. Ritchie was awful, but he did get Marte and Edwin(now Ruddy) Yan for Matt Guerrier, who is now in Minnesota. He also traded away Kenny Lofton, Bob Howry, Ray Durham, and Sandy Alomar for Ryan Meaux, Felix Diaz(those two in the Lofton to San Fran deal), Frank Francisco , Byeong Hak-An(Howry to Boston), Adkins(Durham to Oakland...many considered this a huge mistake at the time, but it has turned out to be a much better deal then most initially thought...Durham only lasted half a year in Oakland, and Adkins will play a key part in our pen in the coming years), and Enemencio Pacheco(Sandy to Colorado). He did help boost the minor league system big time. He also traded Alex Fernandez and Humberto Quintero for D'Angelo Jimenez, and, at the time, that seemed to be a very good deal...Jimenez flat out raked with us for the rest of that year and for the first couple months in 2003 too, and then he started to suck, and was traded to Cincinatti for Tim Bittner and Scott Dunn IIRC...I know for sure we atleast got Dunn for him. Those two were eventually traded along side Glover for Schoenweis, and that deal was pretty much a wash. 2003 he made 1 terrible move, 2 decent moves, and 1 excellent move. Foulke for Koch was probably the worst trade of the year...Foulke went on to have an excellent year in Oakland, and Koch probably cost us the division. However, we did get Cotts out of the deal, and none of the players Oakland received are in the organization anymore...not that it is really worth anything. He also got Everett and Alomar, and with those in the lineup, this team made a very strong push for the playoffs, and came up 1 series short of doing just that. Francisco has been good in Texas, but has just recently thrown a chair into the stands. He's still got a bright future though. He also made the Colon trade, and Colon was good for us. 15-13 3.87 242 innings for us, and he gave up spare parts. That was by far his best move. And I really don't see any move he's made this year that's been terrible. He got Uribe for Miles...that is a wash. He traded Matt Ginter for Timo Perez, and Ginter had no future in the organization. He traded Olivo, Reed, and Morse to Seattle for Garcia and Davis, and has since resigned Garcia to a 3-year deal...that is probably the biggest make or break deal he has ever made. Lucky for us, we got 3 more years to see if that make or break deal does make or break this team. He also completely b****slapped New York, trading Esteban Loaiza, who has since been removed from the rotation, for Jose Contreras, who was stellar in his first few starts with us but has since faded, probably due to both being worked a little more and him having no real reason to pitch, other then pride. He also gave up spare parts to get Everett and see if he can spark the team, and he didn't. He also will give up a PTBNL for Robbie, but really, that move was unnecessary. I covered most of the deals KW has made, and, to me atleast, he does not come across as being a bad GM, in fact, I'd say every move he's made has had justification. Many he's paid too much for, or he overrated the guy he was getting, but in the end, he's come out on top, especially in the smaller moves. You look at the moves that don't make the headlines, and he really has come out on top.

His WHIP if 1.60 and he has walked 20 men in 25 2/3 innings...how does that NOT jump out at you and scream "I SUCK!" ? Also, I should add...that is with JUST the Marlins. If he ever comes back to Chicago, I hope he had a red C on his hat.

All we can really do is hope to show the world that, first of all, we will be a force to be reckoned with in the future, and second of all, that Johan Santana is no invincible(I hope). Also...I do not think we should retaliate for what Hunter did to Burke. Preferably, we should do that next year when we play them in June or July or so, and, preferably, do it IN the Metrodome.

Not having that kind of guy cost them the game on Sunday.

Well regardless of whether or not he outplayed Maggs, Caballo, Thomas, or Konerko in ST, he would not start, due to those guys making between $14, $6, $6, and $8 mill each respectively. If there was actually a competition, that would be entirely different.

And the bad thing with how it was worded was that it could be taken the wrong way very easily. Your opinion is just that...and you meant no harm. No harm, no foul, right? Though, I do prefer a little bit of meat on my ladies. Oh yeah!

And we think our offense is inconsistent. They score 26 runs combined in two games of a double header...26 in the first, 0 in the second. Then they score 12 against the Yanks. I would almost put money on them being shut down tomorrow. Any takers?

I think what he said can be mis-interpreted very easily. What many would see in that is that he is being racist towards Serena Williams and black people, saying that they are like apes. How I understood it was that he called Serena Williams an ape due to her muscular physique, and said he really does not think she is hot. Unless you are referring to the latter and still feel the same way. If that's the case, there's nothing I can say to defend Tony.

I think that's tampering