witesoxfan

My guess is that ARod and the MLBPA were a few million bucks away from us having potentially Williamson, Ponson, Garciaparra, and Gonzalez in our lineup, and only had to have traded Ordonez, and personally, I would not have minded trading Konerko if it would help get the numbers lined up right, and we could have traded him for peanuts too and let the media and everyone else criticize KW for making such a "terrible" move. And obviously we would have had to have traded Jose along with Konerko and Maggs. Maggs-Konerko-Jose = $26.5 mill(Maggs at $14 mill, Konerko at $7.5 mill, Jose at $5 mill) Garciaparra-Williamson-Gonzalez-Ponson = approx. $25.5 mill(the numbers I used are Garciaparra at $11.5 mill, Williamson at $3 mill, Gonzalez at $5 mill, and Ponson in the first year of a 3-year, $24 mill deal where he makes $6 mill the first year). So as you can see, the numbers work out. The problem is, KW put all his eggs in one basket, and unlike previous years, all his eggs broke. We went from one of the best teams in the AL to maybe the 3rd best team in quite possibly the weakest division in the majors. I like Kenny's ideas, and I've liked his trades and he is getting better overall as a GM. But if continually does this and does not make more plans than he does(I know in some article he said he has Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, where A was keeping Colon, B was getting Garciaparra, and I assume C is getting s***). I find it hard to accept that our biggest moves this offseason are Juan Uribe and Cliff Politte.

Something tells me he knows who he is.

They will, don't worry.

They made the Sox look silly. Some posters on here could make the Sox hitters look silly, so be careful what you say. Though I do agree that they have a good young staff. I like Maroth a lot and I really like Cornejo. If KW could get Cornejo without giving up much, I would like it. I think the guy had 15-18 wins written all over him with a good team within the next 2-3 years.

I'm sure that there would be. You'd get some childish kid say something along the lines of "His joint is bigger then mine" and they'd start fighting, and before you know it, World War III But they'd be too damn stoned to figure out how to use guns.

Oh yeah All that matters now is that he's back

I can't believe I just saw his name down there! Welcome the hell back man!

This and the fact that Dabby brought up about him being injured(which I believe he was....he had something wrong with his shoulder I believe) were the two main factors of him not having a good year. His main protection in the lineup was Jeromy Burnitz, an aged Robin Ventura, and a very inconsistent Adrian Beltre. I personally would make a trade of Maggs and Konerko for Green and Perez in a heartbeat, because when I think of what Green could do in Chicago....it is incredible. I could see him putting up .300 50 150 type numbers while playing a very good RF.

I remember after Norton homered, they both said "Nawton, you da greatest!" Classic moments!

IMO, I think the Bills will have to see another s***ty year from Bledsoe to go trade for someone else. I think this year was more bad coaching and a bad offensive line then it was Bledsoe just sucking. However, if Bledsoe does have another crappy year, I could see them maybe giving up their first or second round pick next year for Drew Henson's rights, because it is quite obvious he is going to come back to football. Or maybe they just totally rebuild and they draft Leinart next year, or some other stud college QB(I'm not really sure who a stud QB could be that will be in the draft next year, but the Bills could surely draft one then and use Bledsoe for another year, or something like that....that's a long ways off in the future to think about though) BTW, I personally doubt Kevin Jones slips to 20. There are a few too many teams who could use a good HB that have higher picks then the Cowboys.

Am I reading in between the lines too much, or did Politte just say that the AL Central blows? He says that he is happy getting out of the AL East because it can "ruin a guy's career." So guys can make a living with better stats then they'd normally get in the AL Central, therefore making more money in the end? Or does this suggest that he was a little indimidated by New York and Boston, and if he were put into a real crucial spot in a game during the season that he would throw down his glove and put both hands around his neck and squeeze tightly? Or am I just reading into this too much? Anyways, I like the signing. Low-risk, high-reward type of signing. I'm hoping for a strong year from Politte.

From what I've read, the major negative about him is that he is too big. I've never heard of a DT being too big. I mean, maybe if you're 350-400 pounds, but I can't imagine he'd weigh that much. And besides, if he loses little speed while weighing around 325-350, let him be that big. You'll then need double teams to block him, opening holes for blitzes and plenty of pass rushing and QB sacking, and when QBs get pressured, they have to make quick decisions, and only a few QBs can do that and complete 50-60% of their passes, which is good news for Tillman, Azumah, and the rest of the DBs. I can guarantee you that if you get pressure on Daunte, he'll panic. And when he panics, he throws it to the wrong team most of the time(because he's a dumbass). Harrington will probably be able to throw quick passes as he gets older and matures, but next year, he won't be ready and will also make mistakes. That really doesn't work for Favre, but if the DBs get lucky enough, he'll throw 4 or 5 balls up in a game and you'll come down with 2 of them.

There are too many posts about Turner to quote, but as an example as to where the Bears could maybe draft him, I think the 3rd round sounds about right. All I need to do is look at Onterrio Smith in Minnesota. Got taken in the 3rd round and was awesome in the few games he was in. I think he was a major steal by the Vikings, and there's a possibility that if Turner falls down to the 3rd or 4th round that he should be picked up. The Bears would have to consider themselves lucky if that occurred. I could see him coming in and being a solid back.

They traded away Derrek Lee(a player they don't really need with Conine still there) to save a little money, and they could not offer enough money to keep IRod(and they may end up getting him back come May 1st if he does not sign with a team in the meantime). Otherwise, they have made very few moves to dismantle their team from last year. What a huge firesale.

Quick, I'd personally say that we also have a dependable pitcher in Wunsch too. He will most likely have a good year as well. The bullpen is a huge if. Marte and Wunsch are in and will probably have good years....we got that down. Then the ifs begin. IF Koch regains his 98 MPH heater, or even gets it up to 95-96 on a consistent basis, he becomes valuable(not $6 million valuable, but valuable none the less). IF Politte rebounds from his awful year last year(which I believe he will), we have a steal for only $800 K. IF Grilli can pitch well all year and can be a valuble relief pitcher, that is a great move. And IF our 6th man is decent, we have a very good bullpen, among the best in the league if everything above falls into place, and if I were managing a team that would be the first thing I would ask for. You'll get 50-70 quality starts a year from a mediocre rotation(which IMO we have). We'll probably have 30-50 decent starts. And then the rest will probably be days where the starter just did not have it and the defense made like two or three huge errors behind him, and the starter gives up 8-10 runs. In all of the situations above, a good bullpen will come in and hold the opposition 70-80% of the time very close to their score when entering(maybe giving up a run or two a game). We average 5 or 6 runs a game, and IMO, we win the division or atleast have a competitive team. However, there are a ton of things that have to fall into place for this to occur. On the bright side, all of them could fall into place. We'll just have to see how it shakes out.

I do believe he said he wouldn't sign with the Yankees because of the attention he would get in New York, therefore, by default, he will not sign with the Mets.

Low-risk, high reward. If Politte pitches well, we get a steal. The guy has a 96-98 MPH heater....that's pretty damn good.

I'm not exactly sure how Callahan would do in college football. My guess would be that he would end up recruiting stupid players.

Jose was a little over priced. We all know that. He also does have more power. All you have to do is look at the fact that he has averaged 25 homers over the past 4 seasons. IMO, Cabrera got what he deserved, and Jose is worth more around $4.5 mill.

Is Eck's 0.62 ERA of the early 90s(taking a total guess here, I'd say 1992) the record for the lowest ERA of any pitcher of all time(inlcuding relievers too, because I know Gibson's ERA of 1.12 in like 68 or 69 is the record for starters)?

I was hoping someone would get to that. I was damn close to doing so myself.

And it's like I said, that is JUST looks. He actually has gained 25 pounds over his career. It's kind of like if a 500 pound man gained 50 pounds....you wouldn't be able to tell because he'd still be huge as hell. How could he not be big though? He was a tight end at Auburn. If he WEREN'T big, he wouldn't be playing tight end at Auburn.

In this case, KW has made some friends and made some enemies...in some cases, the friends and enemies he's made have been the same people....by not making any moves. You are right in that he really hasn't made a stupid move yet. Uribe is a low-risk, high reward type of player, Jose Santiago the same, Cliff Politte(if that is ever finished or done) is the same. The moves that are not high-risk, high-reward are the ones he's had trouble with, because they've had little reward(with his best being Colon). After rambling for a little bit there, he's made some enemies in not getting anything done because this has been one of the best FA years in recent times and he's signed one FA(Santiago). What he could have done is get a deal done where Konerko/Maggs/Lee is dealt and he gets the right value in return. However, IMO, he has overvalued our players up to this point. He's asked for Carlos Lee type value for Paul Konerko, Magglio Ordonez type value for Carlos Lee, and Nomar Garciaparra type value for Magglio Ordonez. Konerko is not worth Perez and Mota/Jackson/Miller, Lee is not worth Perez, Mota, and Jackson/Miller, and Maggs is not worth Perez, Mota, Jackson, and Miller. I think that's probably what he was trying to get for each, but that's no guarantee....I could be wrong. Anyways, we have almost undoubtedly gotten worse from last year. We have become more right-handed then we were last year(as we lost Everett), are as slow if not slower then last year, we have worse starting pitching, and we have a mediocre bullpen. The only hope we really have is if those who had bad years last year have good years this year, OR Reed/Borchard/someone else comes out of nowhere and puts up MVP/Cy Young-caliber numbers, OR Ozzie somehow pulls some magic out of his ass, or maybe two of the above, or maybe all 3. I'm still hoping for the best though. I think 75-80 wins is definately possible.....though I'm not expecting anything more.

The main exception in looks to that rule is Frank Thomas, and even he has gained 25 pounds over his career(I believe he started out at 240, and is now at 275, you just can't tell the difference)

To be 22(or 25, or in your 20s) and invincible. Aaron Rowand damn near killed himself crashing that bike, and now he gets a second chance. One mistake was all it took. It's unfortunate that it did happen to him. But if he wants back in, he will have to work his ass off to get back in, if he even can get to that point.