caulfield12

They'll never give us Iwamura AND Jackson for Dye. Not going to happen. We'd have to sweeten the pot considerably.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 09:02 AM) I'd give up Fields. I have my doubts that he can succeed in the AL. I think if Jones only costs the Sox Fields, and they only have to pay Jones $7 mil, it's worth a risk. Then who's your leadoff man? Do you stick with Betemit and Viciedo at 3B or go out and acquire Blake, Atkins, Kouzmanoff or Wigginton? Supposedly, Blake is asking for 3 years. Would he take 2, and would you want to block Viciedo at his most natural position at present?

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 08:51 AM) I'd risk Andruw Jones if LA pays at minimum, half of his salary. Buy low, sell high. A five-time All-Star, Jones will receive a $12.2 million signing bonus, of which $5.1 million is payable next year, $2.1 million in 2009 and $5 million in 2010. He will get salaries of $9 million next year and $15 million in 2009, and also will receive a no-trade clause. So assuming the Dodgers take care of the remaining $7.1 million from the signing bonus (OUCH!), what realistically could we expect to get them to eat out of that $15 million for 09? $6 million? $7? $8 million? I can't see them taking care of $9 million and the other $7.1 million due for the bonus and not wanting something pretty substantial in return. Probably Poreda or Fields. Of course, we can't give up Dye in this deal.

A lot depends on what happens with Manny and Furcal...both Torre favorites. Ethier seems set in RF, so they'd have to move him to LF or convince Jermaine Dye to move over to take Manny's spot. The problem is that they have Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones and don't want either one of those guys...if you're the Dodgers, logic dictates you try to re-sign Manny for LF, leave Kemp in CF and Ethier in RF. Would they really give up a potential superstar in Kemp for 1-2 years of Dye (he might agree to stay for two years on the West Coast)...? You'd have to think it would be Dye and Poreda for Kemp, at a minimum...although they might ask for even more than that. Perhaps they would ask for Dye, Poreda and Fields (to replace Casey Blake)?? We don't have a SS to give to them, in fact, they might sign Orlando Cabrera. Or the Giants will sign Cabrera if they miss out on Furcal I think. Would KW be willing to take a look at either Jones or Pierre if they took at least 60-65% of their salaries off the table as compensation? Maybe, but I doubt it...plus Jones and Pierre would have huge adjustments to make moving over to a new league. Let's say they do sign Manny, there's nowhere to put Dye...and Loney's at 1B already. So the best thing I can think of is Dye/Fields/Poreda for Kemp and the best bullpen arm we can get out of them...leading us to trade Jenks. Broxton (doubt we could get him), Cory Wade, Scott Proctor or Brazoban I guess.

Add Rodriguez at MICHIGAN to the list...hot seat getting hotter for Bielema as well. As an Iowa grad, I thought he had the recruiting ability and motivational skills to be a great head coach, but maybe he wasn't quite ready for the big-time quite yet. I think it's 50/50 whether Bobby Stoops could have done a better job at Iowa than Kirk Ferentz has, with the much more limited talent pool, sharing the state with ISU...having no major population centers in the states like all the other B10 schools and having the smallest African/American population as well.

In all honesty, I would rather try Josh Fields in LF and press my luck than give up a pitcher with the stuff of Edwin Jackson for a complementary corner outfielder who doesn't hit with corner power, doesn't have much of an arm and doesn't record stolen bases like he did earlier in his career...in fact, I'd rather have Ryan Sweeney back than trade for DeJesus (because of the salary difference). We shouldn't ever dream of trading a potential 3 or higher start to an intradivision rival IMO. I would rather have Taveras playing CF and hitting 1st and giving up Broadway/Russell compared to Edwin Jackson/Adam Russell for David DeJesus.

I think Cameron, Blanco, Taveras and Bourn would be "traditional" choices as stopgaps and leadoff hitters (no, I don't mean Cameron should ever leadoff for the Sox again!). Blanco, he could be a keeper. There's Edmonds, but I don't see him coming back to the AL. Kotsay would be another Erstad/Mackowiak/Byrnes grinder type. A lot of posters really seem to like what he brings to the table. Ludwick isn't a CFer. Vernon Wells wouldn't shock me, especially if they decided to resign Burnett, keep Halladay AND Rios all together. Rios was on the market this past season, but might not be anymore. Of course, Kemp and McLouth would be great choices, but at what cost??? 1. Nate McLouth, .853, 23 SB's 2. Mike Cameron, .809, 17 SB's 3. Cody Ross, .799, 36 SB's 4. Matt Kemp, .799, 35 SB's 5. Lastings Milledge, .731, 24 SB's 6. Gregor Blanco, .676, 13 SB's 7. Wily Taveras, .604, 68 SB's 8. Michael Bourn Identity, .588, 41 SB's Ryan Spilborghs Jody Gerut more of a RFer Marlon Byrd Vernon Wells (would TOR be willing to eat part of his contract, KW has always liked this guy a ton) Rick Ankiel Scott Hairston Mark Kotsay Lou Montanez, Balt.

Edmonds HAS to be about Option #10 on the big board in KW's office. He will target a younger player with upside/potential before we go through another Mack/Griffey/Swisher year out there.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...o&type=lgns Great article by Wetzel (very sarcastic) about how messed up the B12 is right now...good stuff. Many salient points.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 11:27 PM) I have a hard time distinguishing who the best team is between Texas, USC, Oklahoma, and Florida. I think Texas has to be ranked ahead of OU due to head to head on a neutral field, but a little round robin between those 4 would be nice. Too bad it can't happen. In regards to relevance though, Texas is in great shape to play in the Big 12 title game if BCS expert Brad Edwards of ESPN is right. He predicts Texas will be #2 and Oklahoma #4 in the BCS standings (with Florida #3) tomorrow. I'm not sure I buy that, but if he is right, I can't see any way Oklahoma can jump Texas, and the BCS standings are the 3 way tiebreaker of course in the Big 12 South. That is how it SHOULD be though, I don't care how good Oklahoma looks, Texas beat them on a neutral field and there is no way for OU to dispute that argument. Well, there's some other things to consider...will OU jump ahead of Texas (all the way to #2) in some of the polls? Heck, they might even get some #1 votes as far as I'm concerned. Second, beating OSU on the road has to improve their BCS Standings a lot more than for TEX to beat Texas A&M, and, by the way, the Longhorns have lost those last two games, so that's not a foregone conclusion. Not to mention the fact that it's a 3 way tie...why can't TT argue they deserve to go, based on their head-to-head win over Texas??? A win is a win and a loss is a loss, right? Third, momentum...if OU closes out the season trouncing TT and on the road at OSU, that's a lot more compelling to the voters than the way TEX is finishing out the season. Yes, they won on a neutral field in a game OU choked away, but Texas lost to TT, and TT was blitzkrieged by OU. I think that equalizes that argument in the eyes of many fans. If OU does beat OSU and finishes behind TEX, you will have the most heated argument/s ever about the playoff system and BCS.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 11:08 PM) And the reason for that is actually pretty simple, in the inner cities it's easy to play basketball, all you need is a ball and one other guy to play a pickup game whereas with baseball, you need a ball, a bat, a bunch of guys, and gloves for at least half of those guys, which is expensive and hard to organize. With football you have more or less the same problem since need all the equipment and whatnot but at least it's sponsored in high school. And it doesn't take as long to develop skill as baseball does for most people. Then you have all the marketing, the Air Jordans, the hip-hop/entertainment industry's tie-ins with the NBA, the fact that Michael Jordan was the coolest guy in the world that everyone wanted to be (Be Like Mike). Not to mention it's easier for kids today to identify with Kobe, LeBron and D-Wade or KG than Jackie Robinson. Places to play and equipment are one part of it, for sure...and yet soccer/futbol has never taken off in America. Maybe it will continue to make progress, simply because it's the most important sport in many Central/South American countries. The RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City) program's been around 10 years or so now, it will be intereting to see what, if any, impact that has on bringing more African Americans back to the sport.

QUOTE (Shadows @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 11:37 PM) Why? Thats going to be the National Championship game Oklahoma after tonight will almost certainly jump Texas in the BCS and I don't see them losing to Ok St or Missouri Alabama is going to get wrecked by Florida in the SEC title game, so the #1 and #2 will be Florida and Oklahoma when its all said and done.. So this is what I am seeing.. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP #1 Oklahoma Vs. #2 Florida ROSE BOWL Oregon State Vs. Penn State FIESTA BOWL Texas Vs. Utah SUGAR BOWL Alabama Vs. Ohio State ORANGE BOWL Florida State Vs. USC Of course, thats just a total prediction about how I see it playing out Stoops has had the most trouble against OSU (until going 1-3 against TEX after thoroughly dominating for five years)....of any team he has played, with the exceptions of USC and LSU. The game is in Stillwater, that's a HUGE advantage for the Cowpokes. In fact, Josh Fields was a big part of winning a couple of those Bedlam Series match-ups for the Cowboys. That place is already scaring Sooners fans...like the MetroDome for White Sox fans or kryptonite for Superman. OU will be favored, but a couple of better Sooners teams than this one have lost there in recent years. They will amped up for this game, and they deserve the NC game if they win it....then they still would have to play Missouri (a team they've dominated over the last 10 years), which is another big "letdown" game. But I think Stoops has his team peaking later instead of early and they're not going to take anything for granted like when they lost to KSU 35-7 w/ Jason White at QB. That was the infamous Darren Sproles game.

QUOTE (Shadows @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 11:57 PM) Oops, yeah your right I didn't even think of the Big East because of how lame their auto bid is My corrected BCS bowls would be as followed then NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP #1 Oklahoma Vs. #2 Florida ROSE BOWL Oregon State Vs. Penn State FIESTA BOWL Texas Vs. Utah SUGAR BOWL Alabama Vs. USC ORANGE BOWL Florida State Vs. Cincinnati Remove Ohio State, add in Cincy.. Of course, if Oregon State loses that would put USC/Penn State in the Rose Bowl and I would then slide Ohio State back into the Sugar Bowl I wonder how many millions of dollars the OB will lose substituting Cincy for OSU? Many, I bet.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 11:33 PM) I'd actually say there is a pretty decent chance we do see that game. I'm not sure what the tie breaking scenarios are that make OU win the big 12 South over UT but the reason the Long Horns wouldn't get in because of their win over OU is because of the fact there is a 3 way tie right now, not just UT and OU. The BCS standings decide who will play in the B12 championship game...I guess this change occurred after NEB or another team backed into the BCS by not even playing in the Championship game when the favored team that had advanced lost out. I guess this makes a little more sense...I would imagine if OU beats OSU on the road next week, they will be ahead of TEX in the BCS Standings because they crushed TT so badly and Texas Tech beat Texas in a very close game. And I guess there's a good chance UF beats Bama to win the SEC Championship. So it at least can happen, about a 50% chance I'd say. I doubt USC will factor into the puzzle, there's a big dropoff to them from #5 to #6.

Yep, they just need one Yao Ming or Yi Jinlian....the Red Sox or Yankees signed the first two Chinese players this past year, there was the focus on the Olympic games, MLB sent a big delegation over in March and then there were the exhibition games played there as well. There is a baseball presence in Taiwan, which is technically part of China...just like Tibet. The first player will be from Chinese Taipei, FWIW. The other reason is because more young Americans are playing basketball (especially African-American), but also individual sports like golf (Tiger Woods phenomenon kicking in) and tennis. I really doubt we're losing too many future All-Stars to NASCAR and Ultimate Fighting though.

I think it was also public knowledge about Hunter, Aaron Rowand and Fukudome...but those weren't trades. But the White Sox certainly had eggs on their faces AT the time, little did we know how things would work out. FWIW, I don't think KW really made a serious run at Rowand, that was more for PR and placating the Aaron Rowand "niche" of jilted Sox fans.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 10:28 PM) i dont care what anyone's arguement is...theres no way texas tech makes a BCS bowl now....oklahoma will go to the big 12 championship, and texas will likely get an at large, even though they lost to tech....this game is 52-7....you can't lay an egg like that and make the BCS still IMO looks like itll be...Florida, Bama, Oklahoma, Texas, PSU, Oregon State, USC, Utah, + whoever wins ACC and big East in the BCS...i doubt boise pushes USC out, but who knows....though that is all assuming oregon state beats oregon next week I think the best two teams are Florida and Oklahoma...unfortunately, we'll never get to see that game.

Are you sure Texas wouldn't play Missouri over OU because of head-to-head victory in Dallas? It seems that the winner of the Big12 South sometimes is the team that DOESN'T have to play an extra game and expose themselves to a loss. FWIW, I think there's a good chance that OSU can beat Oklahoma, just because that game is always a toss-up no matter how good Oklahoma is...then again, the way OU is steamrolling TT today, you wonder how they blew a lead against TX. But I've been there before with Stoops teams, they were undefeated and got rolled 35-7 by Kansas State in the Championship game about 5 years ago. Shout out to my Iowa Hawkeyes and Coach Kirk Ferentz for resurrecting that program a second time in a decade...this time more do to off-field problems and recruiting stagnation. 55-0 over Minny, the 2nd worst loss at home ever for the Gophers. Wonder if the Outback Bowl would take Iowa over MSU and NU? It will be interesting, NU beat Iowa at home, but that now seems like a fluke because Iowa was in control until fumbling right before the half...and MSU was torn apart by PSU, who was just beaten at home by Iowa. I just don't see Northwestern travelling well to any game, let alone the Alamo Bowl, which has hosted the Hawkeyes many a time. Iowa lost four games this season by something like 12 points. Not saying they are a BCS team at all, but they are definitely on the way back up, although I don't think Shonn Greene has anything to gain by returning for one more year. Stoops is about to put 70 up on the board...vindication for all the doubters and bulletin board material ripping OU's defense over the last 4-5 seasons. This is a no-doubt statement game for that program, playing without their best DL.

I can see Sabathia...but there's not a law in the world that could/should force a team to give AJ Burnett/Lowe/Sheets 4-5 seasons and $15 million plus per season. As we're seeing in the political/government arena, there has to be some form of regulation that controls a completely unfettered free market, lol.

Yep...about 10-12 years ago, the numbers of Hispanic players passed African American MLB players and now it's about 30% of major league players that are born in Spanish-speaking countries, maybe even 35%.

Since we've been talking so much about Fernando Perez recently, why not another Perez? It's kind of funny, all the talk about not drafting Porcello and we're handing out money now like the Salvation Army after the holiday bell-ringing season is over. It will be interesting to see where this kid ends up, and if he does, in fact, get a major league contract. There are also Arguellez (P) and the SS among Torres' clients that remain unsigned. The White Sox are becoming like the UN...although we probably need to get another Japanese/Korean pitcher back on the roster to further diversify. We have Betemit, Viciedo, Ramirez, Contreras, Vazquez (Puerto Rico), Cora (PR), Guillen (Venezuela), Carlos Quentin sounds Hispanic (lol)...before that Uribe, Ozuna, El Duque, L. Vizcaino, Marte, Olivo, Carlos Lee, Ordonez, Colon (DR), Loaiza (PR), Iguchi, Takatsu...I think there were a couple of times in the last decade the White Sox even had an all African-American and Hispanic starting line-up and pitcher. Just shows you how international the game has become over the last 10-15 years. I've also heard rumblings that the Dodgers made a serious run at Viciedo, too. When's the last time we beat the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers out for a player that those teams were seriously interested in obtaining?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...eals/index.html Good stuff. This really supports JR's and KW's philosophy about signing pitchers to long-term deals, the obviously very difficult decision made to re-up Mark Buehrle, and the reason why Jaime Navarro and David Wells are just a couple of examples of pitchers blowing up in our faces. Also, not trying to keep Garland looks to have been a wise decision...yeah, I know a lot of Sox posters think the White Sox should have signed Clemens when they had a chance, but everyone felt he was at the end...until the performance-enhancing drugs kicked in. Can't fault KW or Schueler for not taking a risk there.

I think Huston Street also figures into their plans b4 Jenks as well...at least at present. The obvious move for us is a Taveras and Street "mini-blockbuster," although KW taking on another big contract down in the pen might arguably give us the most expensive bullpen in baseball, right? I'd have to think Jenks would be moved in that scenario, simply because of the money we'd be paying Street, Thornton, Dotel and Linebrink, not to mention MacDougal. We've gone from one of the cheapest bullpens in the league in 05-07 to one of the most expensive. As far as Joe Nathan goes, he showed signs of being human/fallible for the first time last year...mostly in the final three months, but especially on the road. He blew two games against the Mariners (of all teams) alone.

Ummm...without Contreras, we probably wouldn't have made the playoffs in 2005, let alone won the World Series. That alone is a reason to appreciate him. He actually pitched pretty well last season until he became hurt and tried to pitch through it without telling Ozzie and KW. He's a bull and a strong competitor. I'll just cross my fingers he can make some positive contributions to the ballclub next year, whether as the fifth in mid to late season or out of the bullpen, a la El Duque in 2005. http://www.670thescore.com/topic/play_wind...audioId=3118084 Fairly interesting interview with Cuban baseball "expert" on the Score. Nothing we haven't heard so far about the kid...I guess the news, if any, is that his defense is "adequate" at 3B but I'd take that with a grain of salt because Bjarkman has seen him play maybe a dozen times in person. That said, we couldn't really expect Ventura/Crede over there at his size and age...let's see how he does this spring. Apparently, it's going to take something like 1-2 weeks for him to get his visa to fly to Chicago or Miami from the Dominican Republic. Hopefully he won't have any visa problems in the spring, because he needs as much time in Glendale as possible.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 06:18 PM) Caufield made a few points. Jenks is also 6 years younger, has thrown in and won a World series, and has shown he can handle the pressures of pitching in a large city. Fuentes is also going to want a 4, 5 year contract. And he has a lot more innings on his arm than bobby. New York demands a winner. Bobby is a winner, if he stays healthy. Fuentes is more of an unknown Good article by Merkin with lots of good stuff from Don Cooper has all the compelling arguments one needs for BBBJ. should be a good link http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws