caulfield12

But how can we really say that this Cuban kid for $7 million is clearly going to be better than the lefty we got from the Padres for Quentin (Hernandez)? From everything you read, pretty similar stuff. There's a question about him (our lefty, Pedro Hernandez) ever being more than a loogy or at best, a replacement for Thornton, but that's more money than Joe Borchard and close to Dayan Viciedo territory for someone projected as a back of the rotation starter.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 06:47 PM) Fewer than I expected too but it makes sense with the contracts. Sold high on Santos and sold probably as high as we could on Quentin. Job well done in my book. But next year we hopefully get to sell higher on Peavy, sell Rios somehow hopefully, and AJ will come off the books. That'll give us a pretty high turnover over a 2-3 year stretch counting Morel, De Aza, Lilli, Viciedo, Flowers and Bacon. Add to that these new pitchers sliding into spots. If our kids start panning out we could be young n stocked for a long time. Not ready to send KW to the firey furnaces yet. Let's all just hope Ozzie was holding everyone back and now we are fixed. With that costly buyout, we're not going to get anything but salary relief and a C prospect for Peavy...unless he pitches like the 2007 version, in which case KW would undoubtedly hold onto him if we were within 5-7 games of first place around the ASB. Rios...who knows, and you're assuming Dunn rebounds as well, yes? If Rios plays at the level he did last year, you're looking at a Zambrano-esque distraction in terms of his behavior/attitude, influence on the clubhouse/chemistry...it might be the biggest challenge for Ventura, how to coax better performances out of the non-performers from last year. There's only so much he can realistically do to "motivate" them, but Ozzie being gone gives everyone a clean slate and do-over from 2011.

Based on expectations, it's hard to be upset with either Humber or Santos. Maybe they "upped the ante" so much in the first half, that their fall offs in the 2nd half created the perception they were disappointments, Santos in particular with the two big blown saves against the Tiggers, which started the Marty campaign against him and his eventually banishment. Joking...well, I'm enjoying a beautiful day in Singapore, there's that. My new favorite country.

How in God's name can the Tigers afford Cespedes as well after signing Fielder? Is Little Caesar's Pizza taking off in profitability in the last 2-3 years?

Because you were one of his only defenders and cheerleaders? Sox Ship Headed Into Headwinds?

No, no, Ozzie simply had to play him, he makes the big bucks. (The Rongey/Dunn argument, along with no player can ever break a slump sitting on the bench.) It's KW's fault for acquiring and thinking he could stand up to full-time play at the leadoff spot and be productive at this point in his career. Ozzie bears no blame or fault here.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 24, 2012 -> 01:34 AM) I'm disliked because I back Ozzie big time and back some of the players who are (were) hated. Like Jenks, Jermaine, Wise, Pods, Juan Pierre, CQ, etc. And I don't like Kenny and blast Rios and Dunn a lot. I also praise Rongey and Hawk and Cowley and am disliked for that as well. Jermaine was one of the most popular Sox players during his tenure. We were all frustrated with Jenks' conditioning and "motivation" the last couple of seasons, but he usually got the job done, except against the Twins. Wise (everyone accepted he was maximizing his ability in 2008 with us), Pods and CQ were never hated here. Pierre...once again, frustration, like Jenks, but nobody questioned his effort or work ethic or his leadership. It was obvious he lost his burst with the Sox and was no longer the baserunning threat he once was (we saw Pods go through the same issues) and his defense was pretty atrocious in some key losses early in 2011. He didn't show up when we needed him most in the early months of the season. But hated, no...blindly loved and supported, no again.

Missed that...well, in that scenario, Floyd makes a lot more sense for them than Oswalt. But Oswalt's the sexier pick for the fans in Boston than Gavin. We'll see which way Cherington decides to go.

Oswalt is expected to get $7-9 million, that's pretty similar to Gavin's deal, and then there's the $9.5 million option on Floyd for 2013.

Except the last thing they want to do is move Beckham again, even for just a couple of games. Viciedo, no way. Has to be Lilli, Kuhn, Martinez or Escobar. McPherson with a VERY outside shot because of his ability to play that position.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 23, 2012 -> 08:28 PM) I believe Delwyn Young is not related to Delmon or Dmitri. Just assumed with the same first names beginning with D that they were all related. I stand corrected.

What could/should Bell have done? Gone out with his own personal checkbook and scoured the Dominican? We've brought Santos, Sale, Beckham, Morel, Lillibridge, Viciedo, Reed, DeAza, Axelrod, Kuhn, Flowers, etc., to the majors under his tenure. Guess I have to be willing to overlook Teahen, that was one big miss on his part, advocating for that particular deal. That's the goal of a minor league system...to promote its players internally and/or trade them for major league ready players.

Seems the AL Central is stuck with the Young brothers for now.

Kate Beckinsale=pretty hot, not much else to say about the rest of Underworld. Felt about as memorable as your typical computer game these days. At least SUCKER PUNCH stuck with me, for better or worse. Watching TERRI and TRUST, two indie favorites.

Not very much mention of Jake Peavy and Chris Sale. To me, those guys are just as much key as the Axis of Evil Offense last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 23, 2012 -> 04:01 PM) MDGonzales Mark Gonzales The 10 players within the sox's org. invited to ST are longshots, but it will be interesting to watch their development, especially (cont.) RHP Jacob Petricka, C Michael Blanke, Kuhn, and OFs Jared Mitchell, Trayce Thompson and Jordan Danks. Why is Jordan Danks still interesting, Mark? You'd have to think Martinez would be favored over Escobar due to his overall positional versatility...or even Kuhn over Escobar. Better to let Escobar play everyday in the minors and keep trying to get incremental improvements out of that bat, which is looking Caruso-Esteban Beltreish for the moment.

Listen on Crain, but prepared not to be bowled over. (And he's needed for Reed "insurance/depth.") With Oliver and Rhodes two of the best LHR FA's previously avail on the market, he's moveable without eating any of that contract. More FA signings of Cubans/Latin players. Hire the Marco Paddy of the Asian baseball world...as well as being on the cutting edge in Brazil and India to develop Sox academies there.

At that price, for those years, the White Sox were better off with Danks than Buehrle. Unless you're going to take the position we should bring back Crede, Jenks, Uribe and Rowand...just because. If they kept Buehrle but lost Danks, they would be even worse off, because Danks is a valued commodity at those rates, whereas Buerhle will need salary going with him somewhere in order to be dealt in the event of a total Marlins collapse.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 22, 2012 -> 10:55 AM) Because Bost has Gonzalez at first and Ortiz at DH. If you trade Alexei, what's the point in keeping Konerko on the roster? There's no way they compete in 2012 or 2013 with Escobar, Martinez or Lillibridge at SS. http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7...cash-roy-oswalt Maybe Marty believes we can compete with Nick Punto or Michael Aviles as our starting SS...

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 21, 2012 -> 06:18 PM) I think the Red Sox could afford Ramirez and Floyd or Oswalt, but I don't think they have enough prospects to make it worth the Sox while. Ramirez to Boston, Floyd to Toronto would be intriguing. why keep Konerko around then? what's the point?

QUOTE (Cali @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 06:58 PM) Snydergaard? Deck? Do any of the Jays prospects have real names? Isn't that the Swedish actor who plays the malevolent Vanger brother in DRAGON TATTOO?

Guess he's going to often be confused with the former Sox closer unless he goes by Heredia, like GIL.

The report I read said that Carlos got a belt notch or two above $7 million.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 04:12 PM) I would be willing to bet my life savings that the sox will open this year with a payroll right around $100M, give or take a few million bucks. Every single thing any representative of the sox, or any writer, or any move the sox have made all points to one direction, a lower payroll of around $100M. There is no one else to move, there is no one else to acquire and we are at $103M like I said. The sox have lowered season ticket prices by about 20%, usually we see ticket price increases/decreases proportional to the amount at which payroll increases/decreases. There are no indications to think my statement that keys in on a $100M major league payroll are erroneous in any way shape and form. You can wait for official word and opening day reports, and Ill use intuition, logic, and facts to deduce a reasonable answer in the meantime. Floyd Thornton Crain Ohman AJ Any of those guys could easily be sold to the highest bidder before the season still, particularly Floyd and Matty. Those are the five top candidates, along with Peavy and possibly Konerko or Alexei in the unlikely case of a disastrous 36-56 start and abysmal attendance numbers.

After all, he’s (Prince Fielder) done his time in the market where everything must go right in order to contend. And he has his suitors in Seattle, Washington, maybe Chicago (North Side), Miami, Baltimore and Toronto. Through no fault of his own, it appears his timing is simply crummy. The Yankees and Red Sox are both set at first base and perhaps diving for the luxury tax threshold. The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets are utter wrecks financially. The Chicago White Sox are, well, I don’t know what they are. The Angels opted for Pujols. Passan/yahoosports.com