witesoxfan

Yeah probably. Hey, maybe Gibbs will want a RB so bad that HE'LL take McGahee for a 1st round pick!

I do understand that, just stating a point. That strike hurt a lot of teams, including us, but also the Expos as well. They were going to win the division that year by a lot. And we also saw a division even weaker then the AL Central....the AL West. There are so many things that could have happened that it is damn near impossible to cover them all. BTW, love the story. And I do agree Thomas does not = Banks.

The Dolphins went 0-16 this year

Picks are good, but they don't necessarily mean anything. A lot of times they amount to nothing at all.

Just curious here, what if we traded Koch along with Maggs and Jose...could we then get Damon, or would the $2 mill difference be enough?

We had a s***ty manager. Any half decent manager takes our 2003 team to the playoffs, maybe the ALCS, maybe even the World Series. But because the Sox lost to as many s***ty teams as they did, they found themselves watching the playoffs at home.

Yeah, big deal, we lost Gordon, Sullivan, Colon, Robby, Everett, and Graffy. They also have stud minor leaguers to replace their lost players....we have damn near nothing. However, I am very happy they lost Pierzynski. He killed the Sox every time we played them. And Cleveland doesn't seem to be improving? They got better every game they played last season. I think they'll probably win 80 games this year and I'd have to think they'd get near 90 in 2005, especially if they pick up a few key FAs. Detroit will improve by quite a bit. I imagine they'll probably improve by 20-30 games, and while their record will still be pitiful, it is improvement none the less. Lost Mike Sweeney? What in the hell are you talking about? Their only major loss of the offseason was Raul Ibanez(if you want to call it a major loss). They replaced a .280 25 100 guy with Juan Gonzalez who, when healthy, can be among the best hitters in the league, and can put up .320 45 150 type numbers. Then they also signed several other players to help them win the division. I think the division is theirs for the taking. Except a few players....and a few of those players are main parts from last year. You can't replace a Bartolo Colon, plain and simple. Gordon was replaced by Politte, who will likely not put the numbers up that Gordon did. Sullivan is going to be replaced by probably Grilli or another minor leaguer...who knows. Everett is going to be replaced by Rowand, which isn't that bad of a move IMO, however, he needs to start out hot for us. He can't hit .125 to begin the season like he did last year. That would not be good, mainly because it is much easier to win a division after a hot start then it is to catch up and hope that the team(s) ahead of you stumble. If we can get off to a hot start, we have the depth to win the division. I would like our chances then and only then. Ponson is basically an Oriole again. He'll probably sign within the next week or so I'd have to guess. I'd like him, but it won't happen. This team has a hell of a long ways to go. If they're in it at the deadline, we'll trade for whatever is needed....KW has shown he is willing to do that. We have to get to that point first and then worry about it. As of right now, I see them finishing in 3rd, with KC finishing second and Minnesota winning once again.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. The day of the strike, the Indians were ONE game behind us for first place. We go on a 4-game losing streak, the Indians might not look back. The closest Thomas has ever gotten to a World Series ring is 6 wins away....that's not good enough for most, unless you are an Ernie Banks(and Thomas is definately not an Ernie Banks).

We can all have fantasies, can't we?

Thomas is one of the best players of our generation and if the writers vote correctly, he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He will get 500 homers, and he could even get up to 550 or even higher. He'll drive in 1750-1800 or maybe even more, will probably get 2750 hits, will probably draw close to 1800 walks while striking out 1500-1600 times. About the only other player in the league to have more walks then strike outs in his career in this generation is Bonds, who has done it in sick fashion(over 700 more walks and 300 more K's then Thomas while playing 5 more years). Once Thomas's playing career is over, his career numbers should look something like .300 550 1750 with an OBP of .420, a SLG% of .565 with an OPS of .985, which would land him somewhere within the top 10-15 all time along with a BB-K ratio of more than 1. Those are some impressive numbers, and most likely all with one team. At this point, only one question remains....will the big fella win anything of any type? The closest he's ever been is the ALCS, and he got there when that was the only series there was. The Sox then lost 4-2. I think that within the next 5 years, Jerry Reinsdorf should go on a spending spree, obviously spending wisely, and should try to get a World Series winner in Chicago if not for the fans, but for Frank, who has devoted his whole career to one team, and has stuck with them through thick and thin, through ugly times and through pretty times. Frank should be given a shot to end his career on top, like so many great players in sports have had the choice to do before....John Elway, David Robinson, Michael Jordan(and he then came back and took the Wizards no where), Roger Clemens, and many more that I have not thought of. Frank is and should be considered an all-time great by everybody everywhere. I think it would be a shame if he did not go to the Hall of Fame, especially on the first ballot.

I'm gonna kick your ass for saying that.

Prior will NOT miss time because of pitching too much. The guys mechanics are as sweet as you'll find in the league. Also, as an FYI, Wood threw 2 fewer innings in 2003 then he did in 2002 while making one fewer start(and I don't even think it was an injury related missed start....I just don't think the schedule worked out to where he could get 33 starts in). I won't rule out Zambrano though. He might, but I doubt it. We should not hope for injuries. What anti-Cubs fans should do(because I know there are some on this board) is expect the Cubs to have a great season. If they do, you aren't heartbroken, and if they don't, you get that nice, warm fuzzy feeling inside of you. I expect they'll sign Maddux, he'll have a decent year(15-10 4.00 180 innings with a good K-BB ratio), the Cubs will win the division and they'll lose in the NLCS in 6 games.

We were the same way last year too, in fact, we were better last year. How far did that get us?

I know you can have a mild concussion, though I've never had one. I wish I could tell you more, but I cannot. The last time I hit my head hard was when some kid tripped my ass and I went from standing up to laying on the ground in less then a second or so it felt, and my head hit a tiled gym.

Wood will occassionally get walk-happy, but if we had a rotation of Kerry Wood's, I wouldn't complain. Zambrano gets a little to happy sometimes. His celebrations remind me a lot of Carlos Perez, that pitcher for the Dodgers and Expos with the blue glove. He'll be good though. Clement I think will bounce back and have a solid year. I think he'll probably have about 15 wins or so with an ERA right around 4.00. Whoever the hell their #5 is, I don't know....but he'll probably suck. I think that Houston will have a better rotation then the Cubs, but the Cubs still have a top 5 rotation.

No it's not, we're over budget as we are right now, by like $2-4 mill, I do not remember off the top of my head.

Not quite sure why you'd rather have Nomar and Nixon over Maggs and Jose. Nomar is a worse fielder then Jose, and is a worse hitter then Maggs, and has not hit on the road well since his wrist injury. Nixon isn't that much better then Maggs in right(if he isn't worse), and he's not a hugely better hitter then Jose, not to mention how much better of a baserunner that Jose actually is, along with the fact that he can bunt as well. I like the reliever....but the hitters aren't all that much better then what we already have, and IMO, one reliever won't put us over the top. We need a good #3 starter to be a contender for the division title. I hope Kenny is smart enough to not make this move. I was all for the Maggs for Nomar and Williamson deal if Manny for ARod got done, because the moves that would then proceed would have helped us tremendously. There just is not anything we can do right now to improve our holes via FA, because aside from Vlad, Ponson, IRod, and Maddux(none of whom will sign with us, because the first two are almost locks to sign with the O's, and IRod and Maddux are both represented by Boras), who is left? At the time of the Arod deal, Gonzalez was still available and Ponson was more available then he is now. I just don't see how and why we would make this move now, because it really makes no sense, but now that I think of it, Kenny does like to make moves that make no sense whatsoever, just to confuse us.

Banned

Let it be known that this is from WSI. Take it for what it's worth. And pardon me for saying this, but to make a comparison, would that not be like trading a good apple and an average orange for an average apple and a good orange? I don't really understand the trade at all.

If the Bills hired Jauron, and Shoop is then hired....I'd be speechless. That would be s***ty as hell. If they did that, I would go to Buffalo and I would b****slap the person who hired him. That's worse then hiring Wannestedt. Hey, atleast they'd have consistently good draft picks.

Just to get the technicality part of this straightened out... Mo Vaughn was not signed via free agency by the Mets. He was acquired from the Angels for Kevin Appier.

The team apparently felt they could roll over the Tigers and that did not happen. This year, the Tigers will be better, so the White Sox team will think they are better and will take them seriously. Yeah, who the hell knows. Our s*** manager from turned this team's mental state into s***. I think they need to hire a team psych....or 3 or 4. Or just let Ozzie kick their ass!

Why would you trade up when you can have Willis McGahee for that first round pick? But seriously, if the Cowboys would want, and I were the GM of the Bills, I would do that in a second. Henry proved last year that he can carry the load and is a premier back. His stats may not show it, but when he played well, they played well. When he sucked, they sucked. I would love nothing more then to see Henry be the one and only back in Buffalo. Also, I remember reading an article somewhere that mentioned that Bledsoe got a vote of confidence and that he would not be cut just because he had the worst season of his career. It's like I said, if he has any protection whatsoever, he has a good year. He's going to get sacked, and that's a given. But there's not much you can do about it. It's kind of hard to look past though. I mean, you look at his days with New England, and you see losing, losing, and more losing under Drew Bledsoe, but then he gets hurt, Tom Brady comes in, and before you know it, the Patriots win a Superbowl, and two years later, they are in prime position to go and possibly win the Superbowl again. I don't think it is out of the question that the Bills could draft a QB to develop....say John Navarre or Jeff Smoker or Jared Lorenzen....all are guys that could be decent QBs in the NFL, though all are slow.

I don't remember where I read it, but it seems that I remember once reading about how they first diagnosed him with a rotator cuff injury and then when he went under the knife they found his labrum all torn to hell as well. Don't quote me on that though. It could be way off.

I know I talked to you first at the MLB boards. And then those boards went to hell and it was either come here or go to WSI. I chose here.