witesoxfan

I believe it; in fact, I agree with it. I feel the same way. However, I dislike Cubs fans more then I dislike Twins fans.

I to am in the middle of the die-hard/devoted category. So I voted as devoted

Exactly. He is a sabermetrics person's wet dream. His career OPS is only the best among active players(ahead of one Barry Bonds by 62 points). He would help our lineup in more ways then one. I think if Helton was acquired, Thomas would go back to 3rd, Helton 4th, and Maggs 5th. Maggs hitting ability is probably best served in the 5 spot in the lineup. Another thing you can do is have the Rockies take on $5 mill per when his contract rises to $16 mill. I don't know if they'd do it, but you never know.

I like it. We'd most likely have to give up a lot more then that, but it looks like it would be good to me. Konerko and Hernandez cancel out(though I could potentially see us having to take on another contract), Nick Johnson is a very good player(essentially a poor man's Giambi or Delgado), and the Expos get some good minor leaguers in return, though we would have to give up more then Borchard(struggling right now and is getting older), Rauch(older, but still solid), and Meaux(who is very old to be pitching in I believe AA...correct me if I'm wrong though). I assume they want good, younger arms with lots of potential, as most franchises do...Neal Cotts, Felix Diaz, Arnie Munoz, hell, possibly even Dan Wright(but he wouldn't be the main one in the deal ). They'd like Joe B though as a project...if he can shorten his swing, he could be deadly. Basically, if we want Hernandez and Johnson(especially Johnson), it will cost us Konerko(for the replacement for Johnson and the "salary-swapping"), Borchard(as their project as his potential has no limit), and then two or three of Diaz/Rauch/Cotts/Munoz/Wright. That's a tough deal to make. The only time you ever push for trades like this to happen is if you are absolutely certain it will push you over the top, and honestly, I'm not sure this does. If we could somehow get away with highway robbery and only have to give them Wright, Rauch, and Diaz, I do it in a heartbeat. Hernandez is a horse and can handle the pressure, and Johnson could be a/the LH bat we need so dearly. BTW, to those who talk about how Hernandez struggled in Pac Bell Park in 2002, look at his 2003 numbers in Montreal and San Juan. 15-10 3.20 in 233 innings with a WHIP of 1.21, K/9 of about 7, K/BB of just over 3, and BB/9 of just over 2. They're not great, but they could be worse. That's not worth $7 mill a year, he's worth more then Konerko is, I guarantee you that. I'd take him in a heartbeat over Konerko.

Because they're 25 and invincible. Until something like that happens to them. Why did Jay Williams go out on his motorcycle when it said in his contract not to? Why did Aaron Rowand go out on his ATV or motorbike and nearly get himself killed? Why did Len Bias do drugs and end up dying due to an overdose? Regardless...I don't believe they wanted the drugs. The gunmen could very easily have just gone into the rooms thinking someone else was in there, or they could have gotten the wrong room number, or gotten the wrong hotel...etc, etc, etc. There are so many different scenarios you could speculate and never come up with the right answer, so it is probably best just to leave it be and be happy all 3 are alive and healthy.

If he ever shortens his swing, he could be a huge threat offensively with his LTP. The odds of JB making it are getting smaller by the day though.

When was the last time a major trade took place in May? Obviously, this trade will take place in June or July. Some team that thinks they need another starter and potential ace will probably go out and get him. I could see Baltimore wanting him, the Yanks, Rangers, White Sox, possibly the Mets, etc...more teams then most people think will probably be in the hunt for him, not only for this year, but for years to come(which is why there will be more teams then people think). One name not mentioned enough is Livan Hernandez, and I believe I have mentioned it before. He is battle tested, he is a horse, and he would not cost very much. Send a couple of decent prospects to Montreal, and Livan is probably yours.

It is time to send Diaz back down though. It's not that hard to see. The Sox brought him up to see if he could handle the big leagues(and after starting out as hot as he did in AAA, why not?). He couldn't, so why not send him back down to AAA for seasoning and maturing. He looks like he could be a solid pitcher someday. He doesn't have much for breaking stuff, but I could see him turning into a solid #3 or #4 pitcher someday. He's got decent pop on his fastball, he's just young right now. Young pitchers make mistakes like that. It's not like we(atleast me anyways...I assume others on here as well) are judging Diaz on one or two starts alone. We are judging the #5 starter as a whole this year, and a weakness is becoming more and more apparent as each day passes...the #5 starter has sucked. We need a #5 starter whose ERA will atleast be around 5.00. Give me 6 strong innings per start from my #5...is that so much to ask for?

Exactly. Though they would trade him. We'd have to overpay like crazy for a young, inconsistent LH starter when we have someone similar to him in AA right now in Arnie Munoz. If we trade for a good young starter while having to overpay, go out and get Ben Sheets. He could be the Josh Beckett of 2004.

I thought I was the only one. With all the Paul Konerko for Odalis Perez talks in the offseason, I was all for not only that move but also for trading for Simon. He could be exactly what we need to spark the team.

It's better then popping out. I'd rather he look like a complete dumbass at the plate but bring in a run then look like a complete dumbass while not bringing in a run.

I'll take him hopping and then seeing the ball caught in an OFers glove short of the warning track.

Why does that not surprise me?

We'll take ARod, so long as you take on $150 mill of his contract. Thanks

Dbaho is pulling a 2003 Royals on us. FIRST PLACE ONLY COUNTS IN SEPTEMBER!

We'd have wasted a perfectly good $11 mill on Colon's fatass. Now, if we could have resigned him for the $8 mill he made last year, hell, I would love that rotation. But he wanted something in Cali that he didn't get in Chicago. Not sure what though

...except for the ball that was 3 feet from leaving the park for a grand slam off of Javy Lopez's bat in Baltimore. When Lopez hit that ball right away, with the camera angle they showed, my heart sunk. It looked way gone. Luckily, it died in Carlos's glove with Carlos up against the fence in LF. But other then that, Shingo has been as close to untouchable as any reliever on the Sox. And(bold prediction) he will be closing by the end of the year.

That's the perfect example of why we do not score a lot of runs. We are a team based basically on the Earl Weaver philosophy of baseball, that is, get good starting pitching and wait for the 3-run homer. That's fine and dandy, if you're hitting 3-run homers. In fact, many teams today do it...the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Padres, Athletics, Braves, Rangers(though their starting pitching is never that great), etc. However, when your 3-run homers are solo homers, you lose 4-3(with 2 solo homers and a RBI single) instead of winning 7-4(two 3-run homers and an RBI single). What's the point of 220 homers if 140 of them are of the solo variety?

Rowand heated up in June last year. If we went totally different from here on out and we just cut Aaron loose, it could be a big mistake. I do recall last year him hitting that huge homer off of Alfon-six-a, the second homer Six-a gave up in 2 days(the previous day he gave up that walk-off to Jose). I also recall Six-a going into the dugout and practically crying. Aaron's too much of a "grinder" to give up anyways. KW brought in grinders this offseason, remember?

How is his average? Or RBI numbers? Sure he has 7 or 8 homers...I ask, how many of them have been solo? Frank is having a good season, but a guy with his talent and his ability to swing the bat should not be hitting .250 and getting rung on up 3 pitches. The White Sox are no longer sink or swim with Frank, but if he can put up numbers he should put up(.280 40 120 atleast, maybe more), instead of trying to swing for the fences(.260 45 105), they are going to have a much better chance of swimming. Frank is one of the few guys on the team making $5+ mill who is actually earning his paycheck. He should be doing better though.

I only wish. Man, if I had a stache like that, I'd be banging all the babes. I wonder if he and Big Pimpin' Willie go out for chicks every night. Cuz I'm sure they could bag a dozen per night each.

And he's averaging about a K per inning. That is very unBuehrle-like, but I'll take it.

I've wanted Lee out of here for quite some time now. And I've been a Jose backer since about 2001 or 2002. I could give a s*** about politics and government. And I don't think I like the Bills or bowling because of Brando either. But if you want to think I do, go ahead.

Hey, I got an idea. Let's lock this topic up until September, and when we bring it up then, we will all point fingers and laugh as Buehrle locks up his 17th win of the year.

I will so long as you open your eyes and realize that Jose is not nearly as bad you make him out to be. I'll let you have Royce Clayton's defense at SS while I take Jose Valentin's defense at SS. Because he wanted to? Because he thought he could make the play like that? Because he wanted to try to be on SportsCenter twice on the highlight reel, one for the homer and one for a good DP? Because he is a dumbass sometimes? Because he is a psychic and knew we were going to win 11-0 and he knew that if he made an error at that point it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass? Does anyone know? Jose's got a pretty damn good arm. If those two got in a throwing competition to see who could throw it harder, I think Jose could probably come out on top. Now as far as accuracy is concerned, I think the fans along the first-base side can tell you who throws it accurately more often. Jose's our only LH power. Until we get another LH power hitter, he should be a fix in the everyday lineup(and even if we get another LH power hitter, he can stay in the everyday lineup).