witesoxfan

I gotta like the Phillies....they have a real good 1-2-3 with Millwood, Padilla and Wolf and then have Myers and whoever their 5th starter is....their bullpen isn't as strong as a good contenders should be, but their offense is dynamite. I also don't see Paul Byrd repeating his performance from last year and I'm not sure how Russ Ortiz's arm can hold up...he throws the ball quite odd and if I read the scouting report right that I did on him, that could be a problem. They also have a 38-year old or however old Maddux is that is going to make about $14 mill next year, and Marquis didn't pitch well at all last year(with him being young and all)...and no one knows how Hampton's going to pitch...probably fine, but it doesn't mean that Coors couldn't f*** him up mentally. Their bullpen isn't as strong as it was last year(they had Hammond, Remlinger, Lightenberg and Spooneybarger last year and have added Hernandez, King, and someone else who I can't remember)....and they haven't improved all that much offensively. I just think that the Braves streak of 11 straight is done for...and I think it should have been over in 1994. I think the Phils are too strong....regardless of what has happened in Atlanta's history.

Baggs....how about the team being led mentally and emotionally by Valentin, with Thomas's bat, with Ordonez's great, quiet numbers, and the guys who hustle their ass off....we don't have a vocal leader for our starting rotation...then again, not many teams do. The key to this season should not be to win....but rather to have fun and try to win a few ballgames here and there....make some miracle comebacks like we did in 2000....and act like kids....and I think we will, though that may just be personal bias....we got Crede, Jimenez, Olivo and Rowand/Borchard/Harris and then we have the forever young Jose Valentin....we have Koch in the pen and kids that should pitch better in the rotation....a better bullpen than last year's....I'm getting excited about this year...and I don't think it is just because I haven't had baseball in near 4 months now.

Daubach also hustles his ass off wherever he plays....he's a good player....a better version of Jeff Liefer...worthy of starting actually. Can you believe that next year, we could have 3 lefty power hitters off the bench(Borchard, Rios, Daubach)? We had none last year...however, if we were to make the postseason, I assume only Borchard and Daubach would go, assuming they both hit what they can hit....hell, Rios may not make it out of ST....and he could get traded out of ST(like Marte did last year), which is a point baggs made.

Anyone but Selig.

Also, I don't care about how many times he strikes out....he's still worth it.

I don't think so....but others may. I think that a .275 25 75 25 season with good defense and a good arm is worth $3 mill, especially out of CF...hell, we are giving Carlos $4.2 mill this year and he's never put up numbers that good or played defense worth a hoot or play CF for that matter. I wish we could have signed Cruz.

I know what you're talking about Cali...and then Maggs turned on it and it was just a rope out of the park....I remember that, because I was cocking my little bro all night long about that game and how the Sox demolished the Twins...I think the final score was 14-4 or something like that. I also remember Paulie's homer....because I called it. Then again, I was calling everyone to hit a homer that game...so it came as no surprise! Twins bullpen

I'll take Ben Sheets For Buehrle? Make them throw in some other good prospects as well...and Royce Clayton and Todd Ritchie are not prospects. No, I was just responding to a player I'd take in Milwalkee. If I were giong to deal Buerhle(Throw in Rowand), I'd ask for Matt Morris and JD Drew. Oh ok....gotcha. How about we throw in Lee instead of Rowand and get Morris and Pujols!

That'd be nice...even if it is a prospect like Neal Cotts who may or may not be anything special...just a guy with potential. I'd be fine with that.....maybe a team like the Tigers or Royals will take a risk on a guy like Rios...maybe the D-Rays....not the Brewers though....stay the hell away from the Brewers.

In his playing days, KW was picked off by Dennis Eckersley twice...think that's why Lee is one of KW's boys?

'The Cubs will NEVER win the World Series.' Oh wait....that one's true.

File signing Rios to a big league deal under failures for this offseason...because I don't think he should make the club. Then again, if KW actually were shopping around CLee or Thomas, then maybe signing Rios to a big league deal was worth it....then again, it may also be the end of KW's career as GM, if he were to trade Thomas. I just don't see the point in signing Daubach and Rios....especially if Daubach's was to a minor league deal and Rios's was not...could that mean we are shopping players around? That just makes me suspicious...either that, or KW is stupid at times....wait a second...

I'll take Ben Sheets For Buehrle? Make them throw in some other good prospects as well...and Royce Clayton and Todd Ritchie are not prospects.

You know...I could say something really dumb right now and make a fool out of myself by saying something like 'you're cashews' or 'you're walnuts' or 'you're acorns.' But that would be really dumb....so I'll just hold back.

Well, I found the answer to my own question. This is from Stark's R&G column at ESPN: DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!! Damn if you're a Twins fan(except for Milwaukee)....I think the Rockies are going to pound the s*** out of the ball this year, circa 1995 when they made the playoffs. They got Wilson, Johnson, Helton, Walker, Hernandez and Cust who can all probably hit 25 bombs and then they have Payton who can hit 15-20....if that series is played in Colorado, I think the Rockies could be in heaven...then again, the Twins are a doubles team, and some of those doubles could be homers. Who knows.

We all know this, so I have to ask... With Lee being KW's guy and Thomas being JR's guy, who stays and who goes in the near future?

Two things....we don't have two SS's....Jimenez would be at 2B Also, with the acquistion of Colon, we are going to have 11 pitchers and a 5-man bench this year....meaning Loaiza's not going to be on the team unless he pitches way better than Rauch in ST. Loaiza will be in the minors, and Rauch will be the 5th starter....meaning Josh Paul will probably make the team out of ST....I hope he can play 1B, 3B, LF and RF as well, and maybe learn CF, SS and 2B as the year goes on. With your roster, if Valentin got banged up and had to miss about 4 games in a row(say maybe he got hit on the wrist by a ball while batting and is out), you'd then have to play Jimenez at SS and Harris at 2B...and if Rowand then got hurt, who would you play in CF? Rios or even worse, Daubach? No....we'll come up with a utility infielder, whether it be Miles, Nunez or Graffy....and I'd like someone else over Rios....probably the most versatile guy we got.

His contract right now is a 1-year deal worth $5 mill with a $1 mill loan....and the possibility of earning another $1 mill or so....and then he can either opt out of his deal after this year or stay with the Sox at $6 mill...if he does neither, the Sox can either pick him up at $8 mill or let him go....and that is a mutual option(which I assume I didn't have to tell you)....the Sox and Thomas has 2 more after this year. The very least amount he can make is $22 million over these 4 years(or $6 mill this year and then he opts out of his deal)...and I believe the very most he can make is about $36-$40 mill or something around that. 4-years, $22 million? It makes sense...but he's not guarenteed to be here for 4-years.

DonkeyKongerko, Milwaukee doesn't have any talent that I want....unless you want Royce Clayton and Todd Ritchie again

You know what would be sweet? Is if when the two presented their arbitration figures next year, Buehrle asks for about $3.5 mill or something like that, and the Sox asked for like $4.5....going way over what he wanted. Think he would get the message?

Jim....you actually could prove whether or not you are right....but it would take a little bit of time. On mlb.com you can click on player statistics and what not....if you go to Carlos's stats, and click on his game by game log, you can see how he faired against good pitchers this past year...or check and see which days he did well on and then check the date on a scoreboard and see who the pitcher was he hit well against. If you want to get really technical, you could go to either baseballreference.com or retrosheet.org and figure out how he did....that'd probably take a few hours, so if you keep score of the games as they go along(I personally don't), you could also figure it out that way....that'd be a lot quicker. Just to point it out if you get a lot of free time on your hands.

I don't want Carlos to hit 65 homers....I want him to hit right around 40...that is perfect trade bait. If he hits 65....he'll start yelling at teammates for turning down his music and he'll double his size and start showing up late for ST and will flip out on Rick Reilly for simply accusing him of taking steroids and will sprint out to LF and the Sox will suck and he'll have $20,000 stolen from him and most of it is in a towel that he left on a counter and he'll start hitting his wife with a rum bottle and the Sox will suck...and worst of all, he'll start getting called C-ME! Oh god...that is a scary thought. Did I mention the Sox will suck?

Jas....I don't think so...if Graffy isn't ready, then Nunez comes up....who plays 3B if Crede gets a little banged up and has to miss a game or two? Jose? And then you're counting on Jimenez playing SS and Harris playing 2B....that's a hell of a lot different from Crede-Valentin-Jimenez from left to right...and then say Rowand isn't ready and Borchard is god-awful in ST....and Harris has to play CF. Who are we gonna use at 2B, Gary Glover? If Graffy isn't ready....we'll use either Miles, Hummel or Nunez for his spot until he is. Daubach and Rios will battle out for the OF/1B lefty hitter role....and I figure that Daubach will get that role. He's proven it in the past and hustles his ass off(from what I've seen of him). I figure our bench will look something like this... Alomar Daubach Harris (these are the only 3 I feel are a given) Nunez/Miles if Graffy isn't ready...otherwise, Graffy the last one is tough...do we use 3 catchers right away, or do we maybe use Brumbaugh or Burke or whatever his name was that was a good utility player that we just signed....personally, I'd go with our most versatile guy...because as it is, with the 4 guys I have listed, we have 1 that can catch(Alomar), 1 that can play LF, RF, and has played 1B before(Daubach, but anyone could play 1B....it's a matter of fielding and catching the ball as well as holding a guy on base after he gets on base....it's harder than this in reality, but anyone could really play 1B...hell, Willie Harris could play 1B)....two guys that can play 2B(Harris and Nunez/Miles/Graffy) and Harris can also play CF, and Nunez/Miles/Graffy can play SS and 3B....that's all 8 positions...and we have 1 guy for each. We have a very injury prone backup catcher, but that's what the DL and minor leaguers are for...if he gets injured, he goes on the DL...regardless of whether it is risky or not...we don't even want to bother trying to make him go out playing hurt, because he's practically already doing that. I believe it is Burke that can play a bunch of different positions, including catcher....I'd use him as an emergency player.....it is always good to have those type of players on your team, regardless of how well they can hit. That is the reason the Twins have kept Denny Hocking around so long....he can play all 9 positions(though he won't be pitching in the 8th inning if the Twins are up by 1)...but not because of how well he can hit. Speaking of guys being able to play all 9 positions...wouldn't it be cool as hell to have 2 guys play all 9 positions in 1 game? That'd be a Veeck-like move....almost like announcing that you are going to have a midget come up to bat. Announce about 2 weeks prior to it and basically say "we're going to do something on such-and-such a date that we will have 2 guys play all 9 positions" assuming there is not a race at all....I mean, that kind of thing would get national coverage....it would make stars out of two very ordinary bench players...I don't know how the media would respond, but I can't imagine it would be too badly....can you imagine the laughs that would come out of the clubhouse if Jamie Burke and Josh Paul both pitched on the same day?

The past two years he's done this....said he's not going and is then it's announced he'll showup just a week or so before the actual event. Is this an annual event of his?

I'd agree....on MTV's show, Ozzy will be mumbling whatever the f*** he is mumbling, and then he'll say f*** or s*** or something like that and it will bleep out....so it's just like "murmermum BLEEP mururm." Madden will be talking and then he'll just say bam really loud or pow or something....so it's just like "anthemumumnamuan BAM! an POW! anmumermum" I never considered that...though Ozzy's funnier. Madden's just f***ing stupid.