witesoxfan

Agreed 100% I feel the exact same way....and with the way Jas and I have been agreeing lately, I'm sure he agrees with you.

And Maggs IS a good clubhouse leader? Both have very similar clubhouse personalities....play quiet, play shy, and play good baseball. So it's not like we're losing a big clubhouse leader. I've also heard he would be unhappy here. Who gives a s***? After he gets here, he'll be happy enough to want to play well, he'll have some fire in the tank, and will want to put up some good numbers so he can get a big contract from some west coast team. Who is benefitted the most? The Chicago White Sox. He's an adult. It's not like he is going to pout and quit trying if he does in fact stay here.

Mark Buehrle doesn't have a huge amount of control or speed on his fastball....he really sucks too.

Pretty much. Atleast we don't have to wait a week or more, and less then 24 hours. We'll find out VERY shortly.

Exactly. I know you've been preaching about how trading at the deadline is the best way of dealing, because you don't pay as much. If you traded for Kevin Brown(as a hypothetical), you are paying around $5 mill, rather then $15 mill, which is much more affordable.....and most players do not make $15 mill. However, I did not know that he made $3.4 mill this past season...I thought it was a little less. However, I could see him getting $4-$4.5 mill, and if that's the case we still save money, and it's good money. We don't save the $5 mill I initially thought, but more around $3.5-$4....that's still a decent amount of money. However if they don't do Perez for Konerko, all I gotta say is f*** LA :fyou and trade him to Baltimore for maybe Marty Cordova and BJ Ryan...the two make will make around $4.5 mill next year, so Baltimore doesn't have to pay for his entire contract, and we get a decent OFer who may start in RF for us and a good lefty out of the pen and get rid of a slow, GIDP machine who can be a pretty good hitter. Maybe something like that could be worked out.

Who hates the Dodgers? I sure as hell don't. And Brando, I do agree that Konerko could be back to those stats and Perez could put up that 4.50 ERA....but we save a ton of money. IMO, it's worth the risk. Konerko could slip to an in-betweeness of last year and 02, and put up like .270 20 80 numbers, and that isn't worth $8 mill, and Perez could be back to something similar but not quite his 02 form and could win 15 games. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

In the Nomar trade, I believe the number is very small....not sure which way it is though. We may be taking on the amount, we may be saving it, I'm not sure. That's besides the point. This is a baseball move, plain and simple. We get a top tier SS(which we cannot say about Maggs...I would not say that he is a top tier OFer....maybe a top tier RFer, but you have to consider the likes of Vlad, Sheff, Ichiro, Abreu, Green(when healthy), Walker, Giles, Berkman, and even Huff. That's not saying that all those guys are better then Maggs as a player, but rather what their value is. I'd say that if Tampa Bay were smart, Huff would be damn near untouchable. He's making less then $1 mill and is putting up some pretty good numbers(I believe something like .315 35 110 with a .920 OPS this past season while making about $500,000....Maggs barely did that making $9 mill this past season). So, IMO, Nomar for Maggs is a fair trade, and we then get Williamson, who instantly helps solidify a bullpen that was not that good last year. And winning cures everything, and this team could win. Notice I said could, and not will. Regardless, if they don't win this year, we enter Cleveland Indians mode and start a firesale. You look at who we all could trade(Nomar, Williamson, Wunsch, Marte, Lee, and Loaiza all could be dealt in a firesale if it we are not in a position to win at the trading deadline), and it is incredible what we could get.

About 1....Eric Gagne.

I'm fine with Willie as long as he hits .250-.275 with a .330-.360 OBP. If he does this .180-.220 s***, I would rather just let him go then try to use him as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement. If we want some speed sign an Olympic sprinter and have him be a designated runner(and for all our historians/old-timers in here, we go back to the Herb Washington days). And I do agree with you....I would much rather non-tender Scho and use that extra money on other stuff. I'm sure there's a cheap lefty available who we could sign and hopefully turn into something(or maybe there's another possible diamond-in-the-rough guy that is asking for dirt money that will eat innings....I'd be all for it), and then call up Arnie Munoz or Dave Sanders and have them setup from the left-side and have Williamson setup from the right, while Marte closes. Saves a little money in the process. Then maybe Diaz starts, or Cotts has a good spring and earns the spot....who knows. I do like your idea about Burnitz....I had totally forgotten about him. He's probably as bad as Huff is in RF, but I think he has a decent arm out there and he's a bat to break up the righties, and it's less of a risk then having Harris being depended on. Sign him for $2 mill(probably the money you'd save with non-tendering Scho) and we'd have our RFer. He strikesout like there's no tomorrow, but the guy has some power. You get him out of those pitcher-friendly parks and into a hitter-friendly park, and you might see some similar numbers to what he put up in Milwaukee. And as far as I'm concerned....Jose for Guillen should be done now. It'd be a good move if we do get Garciaparra, and wouldn't be a bad move if the deal falls through. As you have brought up, there is another option that we could use in RF in Burnitz, so maybe we should take that route.

If he can throw 100, that's all he needs(along with a little control). You got a guy that can throw 100(with a little control), you got yourself not only a closer, but a hell of a good closer. Billy Wagner is going to make $10 mill this year because of 1 pitch.

He can play SS with a ton of range, so I see no reason why he couldn't play 2B. It would take a little bit of an adjustment, but I'm sure he can play it.

I do agree. If he can get up to 98, I'd be very, very damn happy. If we could get him for $3-5 mill, somewhere in that area while going no higher then that $5 mill, go out and get him. If he comes through, he'd be worth it.

Where else are they going to get offense from then? Are they going to resign Jeromy Burnitz and Rickey Henderson and hope for a miracle again? They are desperate to get rid of Odalis, and really have no where else to look. They could sign Javy Lopez/Ivan Rodriguez, but that's about as far as they'd get on the FA market as it is. I think a Perez-for-Konerko deal is very possible.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't he been reported to have lost quite a bit of velocity? I seem to remember seeing that he can barely touch 90 somewhere.

You're right that we'd add payroll, but I believe Seattle just signed him to a 1-year, $6 mill deal. So we'd only add $1 mill in payroll....but I'd still rather have Guillen in both scenarios.

No, the whole deal is contingent on if ARod is dealt to Boston. KW doesn't give a rat's ass if we can or cannot resign Garciaparra. We wouldn't be able to resign Maggs either so who gives a s*** if we can't resign Garciaparra? Did he care if we could or could not resign Colon this offseason? HELL NO. He made the deal anyways because we was getting a pitcher coming off of a 20-win season with two s*** teams....if he had done that with us we might be talking about a White Sox World Series winner, or atleast a division championship. Personally, I'm very glad that KW, and not you, is making the calls.

I'd prefer Guillen over Garcia in both scenarios. We get Guillen and he can play 2B....I like that a hell of a lot more then Harris/Uribe/whoever the hell else we sign.

Right now, the lineup(with Valentin at 2B and Konerko at 1B, Rowand in RF and Harris in CF) is making about $39 mill, the rotation $18 mill, and the bullpen making $12 mill. At that state, and adding in about $5 mill for the bench, you are at about $74 mill. You then trade Kong for Perez(+/- prospects, doesn't matter), and Valentin for preferably Guillen, and you save about $5-6 mill in the Kong deal and $3 mill in the Valentin deal, which could take the payroll from that $74 mill number to $65 mill. You then can trade Koch for Weathers, and that would be a savings of roughly $2 mill, which leaves us at $63 mill. That's $5 mill over the wanted payroll. And while many people here believe that JR could be willing to go a little over that, I could be wrong with some of my numbers. Lee may make $5 or $6 mill next year in the first year of his deal, possibly even less. I'll say he makes $6, which would bring the total down to $62 mill. I had Scho making $2 mill....he might make $1.5, he might not even be a White Sox pitcher next year....who knows. I'll say $1.5. I had Marte making $1.5, he might make $1 mill, he may make $3...who knows. I'll keep that where it is. At that point it's at $61.5. However, I also had included two minor league pitchers, and with the moves we would have made, only one would be needed....bringing us down to about $61.2. And I rounded up from I believe $11.85-->$12 mill, $17.8 mill--> $18 mill, and $38.95 mill-->$39 mill. Those numbers bring us below $61 mill. Also, the bench may make more and may make less then $5 mill. I would actually venture to guess that it will make more around $3.5-$4 mill then the $5 mill I said it would, bringing it down to below $60 mill. I don't think JR would die if the payroll were about $59.5 mill, or $1.5 over the wanted payroll. Hell, maybe he'd realize it's Christmas time and that he's been a grinch for the past 25 years he's owned the White Sox, and that he'll give KW $5 mill extra, and we go out and sign Juan Gonzalez. I'm not counting on it though.

Assuming we got Perez for Konerko....we'd have 4 starters locked into the rotation(Buehrle, Loaiza, Garland, and Perez), 4 relievers locked in(3 are for-sure's....Marte, Wunsch, and Williamson....and then one of Koch or Weathers), and an offense with Olivo catching, ???/Thomas at 1B, either an unproven player or someone brought in at 2B, Garciaparra at SS, Crede at 3B, Lee in LF, Rowand/Harris in CF, and then someone brought into the organization or Rowand in RF, with the other player not playing 1B DHing. I figure we then trade Jose to Seattle for Winn or Guillen, and if it's Winn, he plays CF with Rowand playing RF while Willie plays 2B, or if it's Guillen, he plays 2B, Harris plays CF and Rowand plays RF. We then either use an in-house starter(Scho or Grilli) and get a couple relievers somehow, someway, or we sign a starter and use Grilli and Scho out of the pen. This is starting to pump me the hell up. I want it to get done now.

And he's trying to get the A's screwed so they suck terribly in a few years. I'm pretty sure I see where you're looking.

We have a guy by the name of Paul Konerko, remember him? Was nearly dealt to LA earlier this offseason? Trade him for Odalis Perez, straight up....it's a good move. You get a prospect or two, it's an even better move.

We get the top tier SS we've always wanted AND a pretty damn good reliever, while giving up a good OFer who is NOT worth $14 mill a year, and now we are COMPLAINING? Now we get to TRADE Jose and we'll get some kind of value in return(maybe Carlos Guillen from Seattle, who will then play 2B for us....an up-the-middle combo that has Guillen and Garciaparra....not as good defensively as Jose and Robby, but it kicks their ass offensively). If we threw in like Wright and Diaz and then got Winn too....hot damn would we be in the driver's seat to win the division. I swear if we as Sox fans are not complaining about something then we are not happy. I bet there were a few Sox fans last year pissed that we got Colon for nothing. It boggles the mind. I figure that if we get a decent starter somehow, someway, we are the favorites to win it...and this time I think it could actually be done.

Nellie Fox, if actually did come out of retirement, would be better then any 2Bman we have no. Notice no green, and I do realize that Nellie has passed on. That's how bad I think our 2B situation is.

I completely disagree with your assessment of Rowand. He sucked in April(because of his shoulder), came on strong in mid-to-late June, and then we traded for Everett which totally ruined any shot Rowand had at coming back. IMO, you give Rowand a shot when he is healthy, he is damn good. I could see a .275 15 75 20 performance out of him with good defense and a solid OBP Willie I agree was s***ty last year, but you still gotta give him a chance. Maybe he'll surprise you.

If you translate what he did over his 82 games this year to 140 or so, he had some pretty incredible numbers. If we got those numbers from him, we'd be in buisness. If you took his 2001 totals from Cleveland and put them into the White Sox offense, we'd be sick. Not saying we would get them, just that they'd have a huge impact on the lineup....and he'd be cheaper then Maggs, probably cost around $5-7 mill a year tops. Pretty much an impact player. He and Ken Griffey Jr. are in the same boat.....when healthy and 100%, they can chance the game all by themselves. That is a pretty big 'when'.