witesoxfan

A-f***ING-MEN. I'm not sure Brian Giles will accept a trade to Chicago(otherwise he'd probably already be here...remember 2001?). But I'll take Carlos Delgado at the deadline when Toronto is out of it. They take on Konerko and Koch, and about $2 mill of his $18 mill contract(which would actually be roughly $1 mill at the deadline). We barely take on any of his contract, so we still have room to get a great pitcher too. I'd also take Raffy Palmeiro, and it probably wouldn't cost Konerko and Koch either(though Baltimore can have Koch if they want, especially if we could get Julio from them).

No. But it will help a whole hell of a lot, no?

If you don't understand bowling terminology, you probably won't understand that post. Just the same as how I really won't understand much about hockey.

I think the Twins need to play some real teams. The fact that they've played Detroit, KC, and Cleveland, and that is it, kind of sucks. And the fact that we are still only one game out instead of the 2 or 3 we really should be out tells me a lot more. Once we start playing these teams we need to beat, and we start beating them on a consistent basis, while Minnesota has to play the Yanks and those types of teams, we will gain ground, and I have a feeling we will gain it in a hurry. Then again, I now know how Minnesota has felt the past 2 years. So it kind of evens out. (atleast we beat the Yankees in April! )

Lee did have more walks then strikes in 2002...that was when I felt he was as dangerous at the plate as he has ever been. BTW, just as an example of guys who have as much patience at the plate as Ramirez(no one can be compared to Bonds...not even Ruth), just a few names...Thomas, Giambi, Delgado, Giles...to get you started, and you could (possibly) include Sosa to that list too. I don't consider what he has as patience, I consider it more pitchers pitching around him and him finally learning NOT to swing at all the s*** in the dirt(and still today, you throw him a tight curveball on the outside half of the plate that will break down and away, and I bet you get him to swing at it damn every time)...and really, I could almost see Lee do that too. He learns not to swing at pitches in the dirt, and he starts to hit the s*** out of the ball...maybe not to the tune of 60 homers a year, but 45-50 or so if he takes that Sosa-esque jump. BTW, Lee for RJ is not a bad trade because Johnson is getting older and Lee is still young. Johnson can still bring the heat, and he always has been able to bring the heat. His s*** is still as nasty as ever, and he still can just rip a lineup to shreds(just ask the San Diego Padres). He is nothing like Maddux who, when he doesn't get his corner strike(also known as a pitch 6 inches outside), is very, very hittable. IMO, the only reason you would not trade for Johnson is his contract, and, while I haven't checked it and seen the details of it, is probably voidable at some point within it, and he probably will not pitch until he is 42 or 43.

Getting a 300 isn't exactly an easy thing to do. My dad has been bowling for like 35 years(given, about 10 of those were when he was a teenager), and his highest game is still 290(and he's had a pretty good average over too...about 200-210 in a league last year). It seems in bowling you can only get so much luck. Get a brooklyn strike now and then, get a lucky-ass light mixer, get a lovetap, get a messenger...that s*** doesn't happen all the time. And you can rock the pocket and still leave a ringing 10-pin(or if you are a lefty, a ringing 7-pin). You have to mix that luck in with hitting your spots consistently and getting the same speed on the ball and turning it the same amount each time...it can be a b**** to say the least.

It's weird as s***. Unexplainable.

I see I'm taking a little beating for making a potential Carlos for RJ deal. My question to you...if we WERE to trade for RJ...who do else do we trade to them that is making money that atleast makes a little bit of sense? Konerko makes no sense, thanks to Richie Sexson. Koch makes sense for this year, but not next year, as he comes off the books next year(while RJ probably makes more next year). You could trade Maggs, but he is in the same boat as Koch, plus, we practically NEED him to produce. You got Frank Thomas, but he can shoot down any trade he wants thanks to his status as a 10/5 player. There's also Mark Buehrle, but what in the blue f*** would be the point of trading Buehrle for RJ when we need that 1-2-3 punch in the playoffs to win? After that, no one else is making much money, be it now or in the future. Hence, Carlos Lee enters the picture. Lee is easily replaceable(Everett, Sanders, Mondesi, White, Cruz Jr, and no one said that Reed or Borchard aren't options), he makes $6 mill this year, $9 mill next year, and quite frankly, could atleast help fill a need for Arizona(or at the very least, would work in RF for a half year...they could also see if Luis Gonzalez can handle RF for that half year too...BTW, I'd also take Gonzalez to replace Lee as well, but that again would take more money, and Arizona would have to take on a hell of a lot of money to make these deals work, and I don't see them taking on quite THAT much). IMO, he's the one guy on the team who you could trade in this case. That being said, the only thing that scares me about Lee is that he could go to Arizona and then just kill the ball and turn into a great ballplayer. To me, the one thing that could be separating Carlos Lee from say Manny Ramirez is patience at the plate. Carlos can hit the ball just as far, runs much better, plays his ass off, never complains, actually plays defense...etc. However, what he does not have that Manny does have is patience at the plate. From what I could tell by the mood on the board, Carlos looked like complete s*** on Tuesday because he was pressing and not swinging at good pitches...being overly aggressive(seems like some guy who holds a pretty big position in the dugout was overly aggressive and was not patient at the plate in his day...and of course I'm talking about Harold Baines). To be a .320 40 120 .950-1.000 OPS guy(or possibly even more), he may only need to become more patient at the plate. He walks 70-80 times at the plate instead of 30-40, he sees that many more pitches from the guy, he works the count into his favor more, and he hits the s*** out of the ball that much more...it's not that complicated. He goes from being overpaid by $2-5 mill a year($2 this year, $5 next), to being underpaid by that much, if not more, simply by being more selective at the plate. Just my 2 cents on Carlos Lee. BTW, this hypothetical trade for RJ would include not only Lee but Koch too, and then maybe a solid prospect/minor leaguer(not sure what you call Jon Rauch) or two. Maybe Lee, Koch, Rauch, and Diaz for RJ...maybe even more(maybe less). I'd have to see.

This is true. However, I think what Yas was getting at was that a good right-hander, when on, can completely shut down the Sox, and a right-hander when he does not have his best stuff(but still good stuff) can still limit the Sox to pretty little damage. If a lefty does not have his A-stuff, the Sox can hit him, and in some cases, they can hit him hard I do understand you are joking...but I figured I may as well make the point anyways. You can now see one of the reasons why we need a real good lefty bat in the middle of the lineup, be it Delgado, Edmonds, Griffey Jr, etc.

If only I knew where socialist Canadia was, I could comment.

Ross Gload loves the Cubbies? That traitor bastard...trade his ass now!

IMO, that is not a trade down for the Bears. It is more of a trade up for the Dolphins. Then again, maybe that's a North Dakota thing. That being said...I just don't understand why Miami makes that pick. I personally do not want Miami to do well(for obvious reasons), but I mean, that's like the Twins rumored trade of Jacque Jones for Matt Mantei during the Winter Meetings. I'm just curious as to why Miami wants to get rid of one of the better looking young DE's in the league who seems to be a KGB type of player. Is it money or what? Anyways...Cheat...the reason Miami would do that would have to be to get Andrews. I think Rivers will be gone by 14, (and really, he could be long gone by 14...in fact, John Clayton thinks that the Chargers are looking to trade the #1 pick to the Giants and then draft Rivers at 4...I think that's a bit of a reach, but I could see it happening)

Well I hope he was taking notes real well on how to rip off Montreal, cuz I think he needs to do it a few times this year.

What he said

Jon Rauch, Felix Diaz, Willie Harris, all sorts of neat s*** like that. I wouldn't trade for him now with Montral still "in" the race, but come mid-to-late June when they are easily out of it, look to make a Carl Everett/Robbie Alomar type deal with Montreal. They can be robbed, and KW has done it before...I mean, Bartolo Colon, coming off a 20-win season with an ERA of under 3.00 for essentially Rocky Biddle(who had been mediocre with us), Jeff Liefer(who has since gone from Montreal to Tampa Bay to I believe Milwaukee), Antonio Osuna(who was mediocre for the Yanks), and Delvys Lantingua(and I have no f***ing clue what he has done for Columbus or wherever the hell he is nowadays). Given, they had to unload him, but if you can sugarcoat a deal well enough, you could get him. Give them Harris, Rauch, and Wright...personally, I could see them biting. They might not make it right now, but wait 2-2 1/2 months, and I think that trade will become a lot more attractive, when all New York is willing to do is give straight cash for him(what else do they have to give Montreal?). But I suppose if we have to, I'll take Junior Spivey too.

I have an idea. Let's make Scott Schoenweis the 5th starter... ...after we trade for the ace pitcher we need. Give me Kip Wells, give me Randy Johnson(after Arizona takes on Carlos Lee and his monstous contract along with taking on some salary) even if he is 40, uglier then s***, and off at times this year. He's also had is A game at times, and when he has his A game, he is un-f***ing-hittable. He could get us to the playoffs very, very easily, and once there, could quite possibly guide us to victory. Is that OK with you, or not?

His .233 average or whatever the f*** it is is just awesome at the top of our lineup. Hey, I got an idea...let's trade for Jose Vidro right now. Will that not end all of our worries in one fell swoop? Kills two birds with one stone? Am I right, or am I right?

At 14, I think the Bears will look at it one of two ways. They will draft one of Harris and Wilfork, or they will go best available. If both Wilfork and Harris are gone, but Steven Jackson is on the board, Steven Jackson is a Bear IMO. Same thing can be said about WR with it being so deep this year. If both Philip Rivers and Reggie Williams are available to Buffalo at 13, I see the Bills taking Rivers and the Bears taking Williams(once again, assuming Wilfork and Harris are both gone). If Philip Rivers drops past Pittsburgh, I will be very f***ing happy(unless the f***ing Jets then trade down so the team they trade the pick to can get Philip Rivers, and if they did that, they would be a bunch of assholes). This IS on the Bears though, so enough with the Bills. The Bears realistically are looking at Wilfork or Harris. If they trade down, they are probably looking at Andrews from Arkansas or Starks from Maryland, depending on where they trade down to...hell, I could even see them drafting Ben Troupe too if they trade down. I think trading up would be dumb in this case...the only way you trade up is to get a franchise type player who will be with you forever and will turn your team around(ala Mike Vick), and IMO, the Bears probably don't have enough to get the #2 pick from the Raiders, considering that Roy Williams(who I think they want badly) will be looooong gone by 14, and the Bears will need the #2 pick to guarantee that they get Gallery. You don't trade up to get a Kellen Winslow Jr or anyone like that(UNLESS you are a team like New England with now 3 picks in the first two rounds and are coming off a very good season(I think winning the Superbowl counts as a good season)...if they want, they can trade up and draft a Sean Taylor type, or they can stay put and get Matt Ware or Sean Jones with the 32nd pick along with another good player). You usually end up doing more harm to your team then good doing that. So if you want me to use the ol' tarot cards, put on the funny looking hat, burn some s***, and make a prediction... I say that with the 14th pick in the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears draft Vince Wilfork from the University of Miami(FL)

This is incredible...I'm not sure when this site went up, but there is a guestbook dedicated to Dru Sjodin. It's like 72 pages long and is growing very quickly. Link BTW, I assume everyone here has atleast heard part of this story, but for those that don't or haven't and are proving me to be a bad assumer, Sjodin was a student at UND, lived in Minnesota, and was kidnapped and murdered, and her body was dumped along side a road, and was just found this past weekend. It's been a huge story up here, considering the Dakotas have smaller populations and s*** like this just doesn't happen often around here.

Fotop...well said. Folks(specifically, no mainly, no ONLY C.Rector)...it's a point you've brought up before. If you bring it up in June and MB is 4-6 4.60 or so, then your point will be considered. Until then, it will not, and it will be spit on and stepped on and you will have jabs thrown at you for bringing it up after Buehrle's FIRST and thus far ONLY bad outing all year, so get the f*** off the soap box.

I was going to post an image, but there's too many good ones, so f*** it, here's the link... link

Maybe next someone will bring up how they feel that pissing in other people's yards is not only the right thing to do, but that it is tradition. f***ing assclowns :fyou This is why I dislike Cubs fans.

"This would be a wise move in some situations. Bonds can use his speed and get on base, and no one will expect it. He could start a rally." This is also the same guy that said Kazuo Matsui would have trouble in the first week of the season because he doesn't know English. Uh, Harold...Spring Training is played for MANY reasons, and in some cases, learning the English language is one of them.

EXACTLY. He did just enough, and if you recall, once we got him the pen pretty much gelled. SoxForever...that is exactly the type of guy I am talking about. Ugie would be perfect. Maybe Detroit will take Koch for us. But seriously, maybe Detroit will take Koch for us.

Depends on your definition of competitive. If by competitve, you are talking about payrolls, no, there really isn't. AL East has two $100+ mill payrolls(Sox at $120 mill, Yanks at $185 mill), with Tampa at about $35 mill. AL West is sort of the same, only reversed. Oakland has about a $45 mill payroll, Texas has about a $100 mill payroll. NL East has 3 big guns(New York, Atlanta, Philly), 1 mid-market in Florida, and then one with s*** for payroll in Montreal. NL Central is once again similar...Cubs and Cards are right around $80-90 mill, while Pitt and Milwaukee are around $40-50 mill. NL West has LA at $80 mill, Arizona at about $85 mill, San Diego at $80 mill, San Fran is at $80 mill, and Colorado is at about $60 mill. AL Central is, for the most part, in the $50-$65 mill range. Now, if by competitive you mean like record-wise and talent-wise...I don't think there is any shot that the AL Central is the most competitive. Detroit, Cleveland, and [i personally feel] KC are all potential cellar dwellers, with Minnesota and Chicago being the only two with a shot to win, and I don't even think Minny will get there(I don't think their pen is good enough, and I think their offense is firing at all cylinders right now...both will struggle eventually, and so will the Twins). I think the NL West is good in the sense that the last place team could realistically finish below 10 games out of first. 75-87 could be last place in that division, and 85-77 could be first place. I think that division will be fun as hell to watch down the stretch.