beck72

With Frank out, the sox will need someone to replace his bat [or at least his OBP, or someone who can hit for a higher avg] One name struck me as I was looking up VORP's from Baseball Prospectus---- BJ Surhoff. His VORP: 11.2 Yet both your choices were decent as well. Zaun: 11.0 Catalanotto: 9.4 BTW, Frank's VORP is 36.3, 2nd in the AL

Looks like this will necessitate a trade. No way can the Sox get by w/o Frank's high OBP with Joe Borchard or anyone else in house. Joe B. could fit in nicely in RF and Maggs DH for a while until he gets completely healthy. Though Maggs should be back in RF after the break. People have talked about a few people--Carl Everett was one. Another person who could fit the bill at DH and help the Sox after Frank gets back is BJ Surhoff. A good avg, OBP, veteran who can hit from the left side. Cheap too.

Whatever careers both players turn out to have, it's clear Sox mgmt believe Anderson is the future sox CFer. So Anderson has more power, better speed, probably covers more ground in CF. I liked Reed. but anderson seems to have more tools than Reed. That's one reason why Baseball America ranked Reed at #25 after his stellar 2003 year, projecting him as a corner OF rather than a CFer.

If the Sox lose most of their games for the 6 weeks Frank is out, it won't matter if Frank comes back strong. The sox will need another bat if Frank is out for any extended time, esp. someone who can get on base.

Stranger things have happened. Biggio would fit the mold of a guy who could help after Frank got back. I guess Hou. has to decide what they're going to do. They'd have a lot of selling to do though before they got to him--Beltran, Clemens, etc. But I don't even know what his best position is. LF he just started playing. CF he's not that good. 2b?

I can't see Hou. getting rid of Biggio. Anyway, where would he play? Zaun would be a decent pickup playing a few days a week, near the bottom of the order. Yet the top of the order guy is still missing.

The key should be getting a guy who could help when Frank returns [6 weeks if he needs surgery]. The only true "open" position would be C. Everett would fill the vacancy at DH. And 6 weeks is a long time. But he'd be on the bench when Frank's back. [Not a bad guy coming off the bench though for the post season]

Joe Borchard is the short term answer for Frank. What's needed long term [the rest of this year, even if/ when Frank comes back] is an OBP guy. The Sox needed a top of the order guy to get on base even before Frank was injured. Now its critical. Then Uribe and Harris could drop down in the order and be more successful there. There aren't many options out there. 1-Frank Catalanatto [injured on DL for his hamstring; coming back in the next week or so] Could play LF, Lee could DH. Frank could play other positions as well [2b, 3B, RF, 1B]. If he was completely healthy, it would be a no brainer. But his injuries this year show he may not be of much help 2-Jason Kendall -Could C and DH when Sandy was playing. Get Pitt. to pay 30-40% of his salary and the sox have a C for 3 years. 3-Finley. Probably going to SD. 4. Carl Everett. I hate to even think it, but Carl would be OK. He could DH or even play LF. At this point, Lee is the better LF. [never thought I'd say that] But Everett's signed for 2 years. At least he'd come cheap in terms of prospects. The best bet would be Kendall, as he could still play everyday when/ if Frank gets back. Whoever the Sox get, they must have a high OBP.

With Frank's status up in the air, and the bullpen in need of an arm, the Sox don't have the players and the cash it would take to get RJ. The Sox could fill multiple holes with what it would take to get RJ. Not to mention Maggs would be gone next year as well, as RJ's contract would be $17 mill.

Harris is a major league 2b man. He proved it. He even was hitting .300 when he was playing completely out of position in CF. He'll be back. His LH bat is needed. He's one of the few who can hit RHP. Roberto Alomar? No thanks

Anderson won't go anywhere. Reed was deemed expendable because of him.

Guardado would be a nice pick up. Shingo could go back to set up and the bullpen would be stellar. Cotts or Rauch, and a bullpen guy from AA like Jeff Bajenaru, Josh Fields, or Matt Smith might be enough for Eddie. But like Brando said, a top of the order guy should be tops on the list [Kendall if Pitt pays a lot of his contract to get his salary in the 6-7 mill/ yr range]. But not many guys are out there. Maybe only a big trade [PK, Lee, Maggs] could get the Sox the guy they need here, though. A team that wants to win now and won't settle for prospects.

The Sox must project Reed to be a corner OFer, with Brian Anderson in CF. Hence, Joe B and his power.

My comments were directed at the people who pay his salary, whether at the sun-times or ESPN 1000. Sports fans should ignore him, sure. No one takes him seriously. But I don't know how Mariotti helps their businesses. He continually shows he's an ill-informed fool who does nothing for Chicago sports.

Locking in Garcia for 3, 4 years should be the sox top priority, so that MB, Garland and Freddy can be set for a few years. My guess is this is the first offer, and will be improved upon to probably $9 mill / yr.

Would you rather have the Sox get swept by Minn or the Cubs? Last time I checked, the cubs aren't in the AL Central. You talk like a person who'd rather have the Sox win the season series vs the Cubs than get to the playoffs. Did the Sox show sign of not being a playoff team after being swept by the Cubs, a team with the 2nd best record in the NL and playing very well, and at home? No. The Sox only lost the first game. the 2nd didn't count with the rain shortened game. The 3rd the Sox had chances but beat themselves. Now if the sox got battered all around Wrigley for 3 games, then you might have a beef.

I completely agree. To think this loss is Ozzie's fault is silly. The Sox faced a pitcher who they tried to play homerun derby off instead of just trying to put the ball in play.

Any manager gets 2nd guessed. But if you are saying Ozzie did all this in last night's game, I didn't see it. Was he wrong in bringing Shingo in for the 8th? No. To start the 9th? He had an easy 8th. Was he wrong to bring Marte in? No. Marte can get a K in that spot, nad also LH hitters were like 5 for 40 off him. Used the bench improperly? over the course of a season, guys can take a seat for any numbers of reasons that fans have no clue why. Ozzie uses all the guys on the roster, and it will pay dividends in the 2nd half. Can't make a decision? Like.......? It sounds more like a laundry list of complaints from other games rather than from this game.

One thing overlooked is the fact that Willie was playing out of position in CF. I give him a lot of props for hitting as well as he did for as long as he did while playing in CF. With Rowand hitting well, and Uribe coming back down to earth, don't write off Willie just yet. I think Willie will see a lot of playing time at 2B in the coming months. Uribe's avg. may drop even further. With the time off he's had to rest, Willie may provide the spark the Sox need come Aug, Sept. and into Oct. These summer months will take a toll on all players [young guys who haven't played this much before, and veterans who are getting up in age]

Good point about Minn's schedule. I haven't looked at who exactly they play but I know the haven't faced the NYY yet. They also need a SP and some offense. It's hard to get on a nice winning streak when they're having trouble scoring runs, having starters who can't keep them in games, and playing tough teams [Doesn't this sound like the SOx pre-Garcia?]

I'm just saying Anaheim is coming into town on a down note, having lost 5 of their last 6 games. They aren't playing like they were the last time we faced them. I'd take 2 of 3 sure. But the key to the 2nd half for the Sox is stringing together some nice win streaks [5+ games]. But why wait for the 2nd half!? A win tonight is important. Mostly because the Sox have the pitching edge with MB over Rusch, and to keep in 1st place.

It's obvious the sox have struggled on the road during interleague games this year. The Sox are down Maggs and either Frank or PK. Getting back to some normalcy playing AL teams certainly should help the Sox stay consistent.

With a win tonight, the Sox could very well go on a 7-0 streak going into the all star break. With Anaheim coming into town, losers of 5 of their last 6 games, and Seattle, having lost their last 5 road games, the sox could start another nice win streak. Something the sox haven't been able to do that often in the 1st half. With a solid 5 man rotation, with Schoeny due back Wed. the Sox are capable of putting streaks together. The hole in the 5th spot really hurt their momentum. The Sox could put some daylight between themselves and Minn, with a few nice runs. Here's to them starting one with a win tonight!

More importantly, the Sox need MB to win to help his team stay in 1st place.

Maggs isn't dragging his feet coming back. When he had surgery june 4th, the timetable for his return was 4-6 weeks. July 2nd was 4 weeks. Give the guy some credit. He hadn't been on the DL for his entire career and people now think he's Juan Gonzalez.