witesoxfan

But so is Politte. And, minus his walk allowed, Adkins looked OK too.

I don't care who you are, that's funny.

Get Koch the hell out of here, get Jose resigned to a $2-3 mill deal, get Esteban resigned, say bye to Scho, jack the payroll up to $70-75 mill after the team (hopefully) makes the playoffs and makes some noise in there(knock on wood)...we could be looking at a half-decent team again next year, and hell, maybe we actually make a splash in FA. Who knows what the future holds

Jackson to Politte to Marte looks good(you could also switch Politte and Marte around). However, I've always been a big believe of closer by committee...not the closer by committee Boston tried last year where you bring in a guy to try and close out a game and if that doesn't work try another. The c-o-c I'm talking about is quite different. You closer should always be the best pitcher in your bullpen. He should be getting the tough outs, not going into the 9th with a 2-run lead to face the 7-8-9 guys. What in the blue f*** is so hard about that? If there is a jam in the 7th inning, you are up by one, bases loaded, 1 out, I'm not bringing in my setup guy(unless I have a sinkerballer out there like Jason Grimsley who induces a lot of ground balls). I'm bringing in my f***ing closer(my best pitcher), to get me out of this jam. If some mopup guy gets a cheap save by getting 3 outs when the team is leading by 3(after you scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th), so be it. So really, it is not closer by committee at all. It is more like bring your closer in when you need him. BTW, I am all for getting rid of Koch ASAP. If we can get someone to take him on, please do it. Hell, if we can get a good reliever for him, do it. I wonder why KW didn't trade Koch for Perez in that Mets deal. I wouldn't mind Ginter and his $500,000 salary on this team giving up a ton of runs instead of Koch making $6,000,000 giving up a ton of runs AS THE CLOSER.

The chance of it not happening is much more exciting than the chance of it happening. You take the two hypotheticals here...one is that Maggs resigns...the other is that Maggs does not resign. Which is more exciting, seeing a player play for the same team, in the same city, with the same uniform and the same coaches, or is it more exciting to see a player with his new team, new teammates, (usually) new city, new uni, and new coaches? I think the more exciting of the two is the latter. I think it's exciting as hell and I look forward to seeing new guys in new uniforms. I thought it was fun on opening day watching Tejada and Lopez in Orioles unis, and seeing highlights of Vlad in an Angels uniform. I don't know why, but I can't get enough of it. Seeing all the new guys in their new unis is something I have to do every year. However, the wisest move would be to resign Maggs(for some people). Me, I'm split...I want to see Maggs in a Sox uniform next year, but on the other hand, I do want to see the White Sox spend money more wisely then they have in the past. Getting Esteban resigned should be a priority as well. Letting the door hit Billy in the ass on the way out should also be a priority(and quite frankly, the sooner, the better). Get what I'm saying?

I believe it said "Kock" not "Koch."

Give me heart. Players can be added at any time for a price(and this is especially true for relievers). But heart, or, to me atleast, actually giving a s*** about winning and winning a lot, is much, much more important then having a good bullpen. Teams will be out at the break and fringe prospects could be traded for solid relievers(KC got Leskanic, Graeme, and Levine for practically nothing last year...those types of pitchers could be all we need).

Just win baby. BTW, bullpen really didn't falter. Koch faltered. Politte pitched very well.

Yeah that, and thank God for Leskanic not being able to throw a strike, for Mendy Lopez to make an error, for Paul Konerko getting a lucky ass little blooper, and most importantly of all... ...THANK GOD HIMSELF THAT HE IS A WHITE SOX FAN(sometimes)!

Maggs is statistically in his prime. If you are in the ages of 28-31, you are in your prime. You can improve after that, but very rarely do you. There are exceptions(Bonds and McGwire being the main ones off the top of my head), but the prime is when you really peak as a player and do not improve much(and rule of thumb is that this occurs at about the age of 28). Maggs could very well put up .330 45 150 1.050...but he could also put up his usual .310 30 110 .900(not bad, but not of superstar status either). Who knows? You say that like I think Everett is the second coming. For starters, Everett is a solid ball player, nothing spectacular...maybe .275 25 80 .800 or so(as I said before). There is nothing incredible about those numbers, but for slightly above the league average(which he is getting), I'd take those numbers. The reason he is in Montreal could, but not necessarily does, have something to do with the way he plays the game. He showboats, he can be bad with the media, he can be a troublemaker...plain and simple, he can rub people the wrong way. Teams want to have a good chemistry, so they'll take a player with less talent and worse numbers. He signed with Montreal, who has to take risks to win. The same thing applies to Tampa Bay. There was a reason that those are the two teams who pursued Everett the most. A reason he is making $3.5 mill this year could have something to do with the market being down. Juan Gonzalez only got $4 mill, Ugeuth Urbina got $3 mill, Benetiz got $3 mill...these examples are all around. Hell, Vlad got $15 mill a year, and I can almost guarantee that two years ago he gets somewhere between $20-25 mill a year. The market is way down. For $3.5 mill a year? I'll take him(and several others) over one player making $15 mill(unless that guys name is Barry Bonds). Considering he hit .375 or so and I believe led the minor leagues in average last year(going from low-A ball to AA ball IIRC) with his average increasing at each level, I'd say he could put up .275 10 60 .700, and that .820 OPS Brando had is very reachable as well. For the league minimum of $300,000, I'll take him as well. What's wrong with that? That answer of course is nothing, which is exactly my point. Criticize with nothing to back it up. As they say in the Guiness commercials... "BRILLIANT!" Just as a question...how many times has he led us to the playoffs? The answer, as of right now, is the same number of World Series appearances the Chicago White Sox have in the past 40 years. Maggs has been in the playoffs before, in 2000, but Thomas led the team to the playoffs. I have no problem with $12 mill a year. Maggs and his agent apparently do. They asked for $15 mill a year for a reason(and it wasn't for s***s and giggles). There is a reason the point of the discussion is basically "what is the best way to spend $15 mill"

Grew up in Pierre, South Dakota(town of about 13,000...also known as the second smallest capitol city in the US), and I move to ND this past summer. Basically, the story goes like this. I grew up(from about age one day old to about age 7 or 8) as a Twins fan. When I was in about first grade, I wanted a poster for my room(because I thought they were the s*** and that if I had one, I'd be the s***). I just picked one out, and never really knew who it was. Well, after about 6 months had passed and I finally looked up and saw that there was a name on the poster in bold white letters on the bottom that said "Frank Thomas" and then below that in slightly smaller letters were the words "Chicago White Sox." This kind of intrigued me, but I remained a Twins fan. As about a 3rd grader, I was in my school library, and I wanted to check out a book on a sports player(as I absolutely loved sports, and I still do...sports has basically been my main love in life). I went for Kirby Puckett, only to find out the book I was looking for wasn't there. I then saw a book on Frank Thomas(the man in my poster), checked it out, read it, and thought he was a pretty good player. I also saw some games on WGN, and only cared about seeing Thomas bat. Somehow, a love for the Sox blossomed from this, and the more research I did on Frank Thomas, the more fascinated I became with him and the only team he's ever played for. By 1998, I had my first White Sox hat(and really is one of my few...I need more White Sox s***, so if anyone has too much, I'll gladly take it ). I remember the Albert Belle signing...barely. I think in the end what really got me hooked were 3 things. One was a game where the Sox were down 10-1 to the Twins, and I was cheering for the Sox(because I wanted them to win, but also because my friend was cheering for the Twins), and they came back and made it a 10-7 game and then lost(I remember it so well because Thomas led off with a hit, Ventura hit a homer, and then Baines hit a homer...that's what I remember the best from that). That got me along with Hawk and his famous "You can put it on the boooooooaaaaarrrdddd!!! Yeeesssssss!." You gotta love that. But what really got me on the bandwagon was 2000. I got tickets to two games for my birthday(July 19 and 20th I believe...I saw Mark Buehrle's first career start and win in person...so ha to the rest of you), and then I won tickets to a Twins game from my local batting cage(just a little drawing). Those 4 games and the Sox success that year really got me on, and after 2001, I joined the White Sox message board, and I went from a casual White Sox fan to a die-hard. For the most part, it all happened within about 5 years. So there's my story. Possibly a little weird, but nothing I do can be done without it being completed in a weird fashion.

If I remember the Green Mile correctly and how old Mr. Jingles is(I thought he was 87, but that may be off), then he is 2,958 years old. That is old as hell...like literally.

Ask him/her what type of magazine he/she likes to read. And of course, like Pat from the SNL sketch, he/she will say Time or Newsweek or some multi-gender magazine like that.

How do we know he is not already 50? He looks likehe could be 50 to me, albeit a young 50.

There is a reason you don't touch a hot stove after you have touched it once already. We tried that route last year(going with Porzio, Wright, Stewart, and Cotts in the #5 spot), and that could be what bit us in the ass and gave the Twins a playoff birth and not us. Why on earth would you want to do it again? Give me a proven starter, or atleast someone that will pitch well.

I wanted Konerko for Perez to get done badly. It would have given us a much needed 4th starter, and really, when all things are considered, we only knew that we had a solid 1-2-3, and we really had no clue how the 4 and 5 spots where going to shape up. If Paulie can force feed me crow, then by god do it. If he wants to put up a .310 30 110 season, he sure as hell can, and I'll be looking forward to my crow.

And there's only 155 to go!

3-year, $382 million deal Highest ever

If you are worried about an injury to Mark Grudzielanek, you were f***ed when he was healthy. I highly doubt they are that worried about Grudzielanek being injured. They have Martinez and Walker to play 2B while he's out. Now, when your biggest injury is Mark Prior, you can go from a potential 95-100 win team to a mediocre team.

This is true Which is why we'd get him in June or July, Toronto would take on Konerko, Koch, Borchard, and Rauch, and we'd also get Kerry Lightenberg(one of Kenny's infamous trades where he trades a positional player for a player that plays the same position...Sirotka for Wells, Wells for Ritchie, Foulke for Koch, and essentially El Duque for Colon...this is a 1Bman for a 1Bman and a reliever for a reliever) And Toronto gets to experience the Billy Koch roller coaster all over again. At that point, we are really only paying for $4 mill of Delgado's $18 mill in a sense. It would work for me.

I'll take Delgado too. A 3-4-5 punch of Maggs, Delgado, and Thomas has a nice ring to it.

They did just resign him to a 4-year, $42 mill deal, just as point. And to get him, I'd imagine it would cost Reed, Honel, possibly Cotts, and another pretty damn good prospect too(maybe Rauch), and I'd say they'd have to take on Koch/Konerko to offset some of the salary, and if they took Koch, I'd want Speier/Lopez/Lightenberg as well(and I don't believe they can trade Lightenberg until June, as he was a signed as a FA). To get to the point of my post and to answer your question...Reed, Honel, Cotts, Rauch, and Koch for Halladay and Lopez(Acquilino I believe is his name...solid reliever)...yes, I do it. You never, ever let a possibility of winning it all slip by. If it costs, the farm, so be it. Winning it all can do wonders for a team.

Maggs is in his prime. Everett will give you .275 25 80 .800 or so every year. They are not great numbers by any means, but are very solid, especially for $3.5 mill. Reed, while he will not necessarily be great, would probably put up atleast .275 10 60 .700 numbers(and those could possibly be much better), and for the league minimum, I'll take that from a #8 hitter or so. Washburn is a good pitcher, and I'll take him...as you said Urbina is a good reliever, and I'll take him...as you said Who says that Thomas and Edgar could not just platoon at 1B and trade Konerko for another need? While it could be awful to watch, I wouldn't mind seeing Thomas and Edgar at 1B. They would compliment each other very nicely. Regardless, I do not necessarily think Brando is trying to point out that those are guys who the Sox should target in trades(though they are not bad ideas by any means). He's just saying that we can do a whole hell of a lot more with $15 million then give it to one player, when you can have all those players for right around $15 mill. That I agree with.

I think it was cuz Loaiza felt sorry for us kicking the s*** out of them, so he had to make it atleast somewhat respectable. Then again, that makes no sense since we scored like 9 of our runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th. Maybe Loaiza is a psychic.