witesoxfan

Some of that stuff is very intersting. Also...there is no one saying that he'd be the fulltime RFer...OK, maybe I did, but he probably wouldn't end up being that. We have some OFers in the minors, and if Anderson just tears up AA and AAA next year, I don't see why it would be out of the realm of possibility to bring him up and see what he's made of...it's quite obvious that Ozzie has a mancrush(ha, I just used heads word...he's probably gonna sue me now) on Anderson. There are other guys out there we could sign too...not sure who exactly, but there are others.

Yeah, that would be a life of pain

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Several reasons. His average is not the biggest deal, considering that he brings good power, decent OBP, some speed, and good defense to RF. We sign him and he could end up hitting .250 25 70 25 .800 with us with good defense in RF...there are worse options out there, and he does not cost a lot of money. He is a low-risk, high-reward type of guy. Maybe we get lucky and he bounces back to his 2000-2001 form, hitting .250-.260 with 30 homers, 85 RBI, 30 steals, and an OPS of .850. Or maybe he does what he's done in Tampa this year...either way, he's a solid player and I've always liked him. And, FWIW...he's a career .249 hitter.

And to think, people thought we got ripped off when all we got for Durham was Adkins. HA! KW showed them

What I'd do is shop Garland and Crede and see what I can get. If I can get a good reliever, I'd trade one of them. If I can get a good bat, I'd do that(depending on what position they play, of course...I'm not going to add another full-time 1B type). For s***s and giggles, let's say that Montreal has interest in both Crede and Garland...what I'd then do is see if they'd give us Luis Ayala and Brad Wilkerson for those two...if not, you add another piece or two. If it costs too much, you ditch the idea entirely. Just for the hell of it, and so this doesn't become disappointing, they accept, with us having to add to add a prospect, which we do. I'd then look to see what I can get for Konerko...with is being the last year of his contract, a few teams have interest, and with him having the season that he has had this year, it draws even more interest. Seattle comes knocking at our door, and we ask for Joel Piniero...if they turn that down(which I expect they would), we just ask for a package of prospects. They accept We also trade Everett for a bag of balls, and we sign Jose Cruz Jr for $1 mill with an option for 06 for about $2.5 mill. Come FA, we have glaring holes at 3B, SS, 2 in the rotation, and 1 in the pen(we let go of Politte, and our pen is Cotts, Adkins, Marte, Shingo, and Ayala...to fill that hole, we can either sign a true closer, like Benetiz or Urbina, or we can just have a guy like Bajenaru come up and pitch for us too...either works). To fill our hole at 3B, we sign Koskie, who I do believe the Twins will let go due to his injury proneness and lack of consistency along with the emergence of Terry Tiffee, to a 2-year deal for $10 mill, with a $7 mill option for a 3rd year(or a $1 mill buyout). We then sign Vizquel to a 1-year, $4 mill deal with an option for 2006 at $6.5 mill. To fill in the rotation, I would prefer we sign a very good, ace type pitcher, like Pedro...but I could also see us end up signing Russ Ortiz or Brad Radke too. I then say it is Diaz's job to lose in ST for the #5 spot in the rotation, and unless he pitches very poorly, he will have it. So, the lineup looks like this... Rowand - CF Vizquel - SS Wilkerson - 1B Thomas - DH Lee - LF Koskie - 3B Davis - C Cruz/Borch/Escobar - RF Harris - 2B This lineup could be altered, obviously, and Willie would not always have to bat 9th like that...if he remembers how to steal bases, he is more valuable at the top of the lineup then the bottom. Bench... Burke - C Gload - 1B/OF Escobar/Cruz - OF Uribe - MI and 3B (insert power guy here) Rotation... Garcia Buehrle Pedro/Radke/Perez/Ortiz/whoever Contreras Diaz Bullpen Baj Adkins Cotts Marte Shingo Ayala The payroll is roughly $70-80 mill(depending on the starter we sign and how much). I cannot say the numbers for sure, but those are pretty accurate. And considering all that has happened this year(with the attendance atleast being very close to what we had last year with the increased ticket prices, the new TV deal coming in, and JR perhaps willing to dish out more money wanting a World Series before he dies, the $80 mill could happen, but I would look at $70 mill for sure...anything less, IMO, is lowballing it, which could happen, by the way)

I'm just not sure how Pavano would adjust. He has had great success pitching in a huge park that is very favorable to pitcher's, and he has pitched in the NL...with Freddy Garcia, we atleast knew that he had pitched in the AL before(as in his entire career), and Garcia has not been spectacular with us(then again, a huge blowup or two, and your ERA will be around 4.79, considering he's only thrown about 80 innings with us). I'm just not sold on Pavano, and I'm especially leery about him, due to the fact that his first good year is in his FA year. Pedro shares atleast one thing with Pavano...they've both been injury prone before. Other then that, you know for a fact what you will and what you will not get with Pedro. You will not get a guy who will go out and throw you all kinds of innings...you have to be very careful with him, due to his injury proneness(and spending $15-$17 mill a year on a pitcher Ozzie could f*** up in 1 month is something you have to be careful about). However, he has pitched in the AL for quite some time now, he has pitched in a very good hitter's park for quite some time now, he's had to face the Yankees on numerous occassions(and the AL Central's offenses are cupcakes compared to the Yankees offense), and he has pitched in some huge games before(and has blown a huge game or two in his day two...*coughGradyLittlecough*). Not saying I don't like Pavano...I would just much, much, much rather have Pedro.

JFC, look at how f***ing big that ass is!

I agree 100%. I would almost make it seem too extreme. Take him out in the 5th inning if that helps get the message across. He'll be unhappy, the team will probably seem unhappy, Oz will seem like a dolt, and it may cost us a win...but right now, winning games is not really the most important things. Getting guys straightened out for next year is what's important.

Damn, I was thinking hearing, not listening...D'oh! lol But yeah, I do agree. I'm just not sure what Crede can do, and I'm not sure I want to wait 3 years to find out. I say trade him to a team and try to convince that team that he is the next Adrian Beltre, and get some good arms for him.

I know I would. For starters, he has more baseball instincts then Walker, and the fact that he actually has range helps him too.

If you read what I said, I basically stated that the problems we are having against LHP is due to Maggs and Frank being out, not due to us being bad against LHP. I also said that it is unlikely that Maggs will be resigned, and that someone should be resigned to take his spot...but Todd Walker is not that guy. Mmmmmkay?

If he ever does what Greg Walker tells him to do, he'll be fine. His listening skills are fine.

We have no problems against LHP. The down year we are having is due to having our two best hitters against LHP out for the season. Had Frank and Maggs both been in the lineup, it would be a completely different story. We may need to get someone to replace Maggs's production against LHP...but Todd Walker is not the answer.

I read a stat last year that when Lowe was starting and Walker was in the field, Lowe's ERA was over 5.00. When Damian Jackson was playing, his ERA was around 2.75 or so. Take that FWIW.

That is not a good number to see...but if this is for the best...so be it. I am not sure if it is or not...I haven't taken a stance on this, and I don't plan on doing so. However, I have a ton of respect for those overseas and others who have served either in this war or in past wars. The reason I say this is that my sister's ex-boyfriend(and they are essentially only broken up so my sister can explore other options if she wants to...if she doesn't, they will, in all likelyhood, get back together) has signed and left for basic training today down in Georgia. So, I guess I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who is serving and has served in the war. God bless!

Jaret Wright is kind of interesting...he is having a very good year, but I heard or read somewhere that when he was tooling around in the minor leagues for a couple years that he picked up a splitter, and that has been a big reason why he has had this success. I may be wrong in this...due to my age...but IIRC, wasn't it the splitter that Clemens learned that turned his career around? I may be wrong, and he may have had the splitter the whole time...but I thought I had heard that somewhere. Anyways, I don't think he will make it out to FA...I do think the Braves will resign him...but if he did, and we could get him for $4-5 mill, I do think it would be a good signing Anyways, screw this Morris and Radke and Lowe talk. I say we sign two of them, 1 of them being Pedro, and we go for the whole f***ing thing.

I can think of worse...Pat Hentgen this year, Esteban Loaiza of year's past, and IIRC, Kenny Rogers has had some pretty rough years too. And that was only the Dan Wright who had about nothing for a right elbow and shoulder. In 2006(or perhaps even mid-to-late 2005) Wright could be back and pitching with good stuff. I remember seeing him pitch in 2002, and he had nasty stuff...he just couldn't figure out how to use it.

For the amount of weeks left(ie 3 weeks left), we have to be within 2x that amount(to continue with my example, with 3 weeks left, we have to be within 6 games to have ANY shot at all...4 weeks, 8 games, 2 weeks, 4 games, etc) And that is to have ANY shot. Another thing I'm thinking...if they are within 7 games of the Twins by the time they start the last 6 games, they are not dead. I do not think they will come back...not at all...but this team, the past 5 years(with the exception of 2000 and 2003), has played its best ball in September. Take that FWIW

You lose Maggs and Frank(especially Frank) who normally kill lefties, and you are filled with a lineup that is less then mediocre against LHP, especially with Valentin playing everyday.

Soriano has had comparable numbers to Uribe this year, no doubt about it. But you also have to remember that in both 2002 and 2003 he hit in the .290-.300 range and he hit right around 40 homers and stole right around 35-40 bags. The strangest thing is that his numbers have suffered this year, and he is in a better hitter's park. Methinks he feasted on the crappy teams of the AL East(Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and even Toronto), and he used those short porches in both LF and RF in Yankee Stadium to his advantage. That also makes me think that he could be a perfect player for our team...a guy who beats up on mediocre pitching? Hell yes, bring him on. If we can get him for Garland, who has had 3 very mediocre years and has shown no signs of improvement, you do it in a friggin second, even if you would have to give up Harris and say Spidale. I like Huff a lot...he seems to be a good LH power threat...usually good for 30-35 homers or so and around 100-110 RBIs...I'd take it. However, I do not understand why you do not like Crawford. He is not like Willie Harris of the past 2 years(not including this year)...he stole 55 bases last year with an OBP of .309, and has already stolen 50 bases this year with a .329 OBP, and his power has increased this year too. Crawford is coming along very nicely, and if we could get him, it would be a very good thing.

I've played that...we called it four-maha. We also play a form of lowball that I absolutely love. We call it three-deuce lowball...you get 3 cards, and the idea of the game is to make the lowest hand possible, with 3-2-A being the best...straights and flushes do not count. It's a draw game, and you get 2 draws. You can win some serious money playing that if you get good at it, and your friends understand the game. Like one night, mainly playing that in a cash game, I won like $40. And I do play with real money too...obviously...I'd say overall, I've made a slight profit, however, within the past 2 or 3 months or so, I've made a huge profit...the first couple months I played, I was pretty much clueless(and don't think I'm not expecting the "but you still are clueless" line...I'm not that dumb...lol )

Knuckle...hate to say it, but you are wrong in way more ways then one. You are fighting for a losing cause. If you think Troy Brown, Deion Branch, and David Patten are good fantasy players, then that's your opiniong...I'd still rather have 1 Randy Moss over those 3, plus you do have to consider Marcus Robinson as a factor in Minnesota too. Culpepper will probably throw for over 4000 yards, will probably run for 300-500, will probably throw 20-30 TD's, will probably only throw 10, 15 INTs tops...but will fumble. Culpepper is the best fantasy QB there is, period, bar none. BTW qwerty...Randy Moss is not > Deion Branch. Randy Moss >>>>>>>>>>Deion Branch. In fact, Randy Moss >>>>>>>>>any receiver in the league. NO ONE can touch him.

Scott Sullivan was traded from Cincinatti to Chicago for Tim Hummel. 100% sure of that.

Alright, thanks guys...I was just wondering.