caulfield12

Should we have a Kierkegaard/Nietszche Thread here now, too, at SoxTalk? Now we've all become philosophers. Well, after sitting in lotus position for 30 minutes of Thai/Buddhist monks chanting yesterday, anything is possible. That's REALLY uncomfortable for a foreigner (farang).

Where have you gone, Francisco Hernandez DiMaggio? Well...that idea bodes well for both Silverio and Jose Martinez. Hopefully they're not the next Dellaero/Caruso/A. Gonzalez.

I want OC to go there and see the Slowest Show on Turf. I just don't want to see them add Blake or Beltre. Both of those would be exactly the kind of veteran leadership they lost when Hunter/Radke/Santana/J. Jones moved on. I really think there's a sense about the Twins that Morneau and/or Mauer are not really fiery enough...the same types of things you hear said about Dye/Konerko/Thome over and over again. I do think having those types of veterans to reign in the likes of D. Young, Matt Garza, etc., are necessary. If the Twins did a better job "in-house" of handling Matt's maturity issues, they wouldn't have had to trade him.

BJ Armstrong (I went to Univ. of Iowa with him)...same thing. Then there's always Dick Clark, lol. He's a kid, too! The funny thing, one of my Thai students saw James Bond/Quantum of Solace and we were talking about cute/handsome and she said Daniel Craig looks old...but that Brad Pitt has a "baby face" and she would still date him even though she's 20, but not Daniel Craig.

What will be interesting is to see if Crede and Uribe can pull the trigger early...some of those FA lists have Crede as high as #10 "most wanted," which I find amazing/incredible to believe. But hey MLB GM's, just roll the tape from September/October 05 and let those guaranteed millions start rolling Boras' way. It will also be intriguing to see if the Twins do get Huston Street, Blake and/or Cabrera...how/when/if KW responds. I'm waiting for the priceless "All this has done is put the Twins in a better position to compete with us..." comments, especially with O-Cab. I'm sure he will have a grin or two on his face, knowing we will get back their draft picks. If we hadn't just traded for Betemit, I wouldn't have been shocked to see him bring in Mr. Nick "Slide Into 1B on every routine infield grounder" Punto

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 04:03 PM) Last I heard Ozzie said that he expects Russell to be a fairly integral part of his bullpen next year. I’ve heard nothing about him falling out of favor. We'll see...I guess Ozzie just completely lost trust/faith in Logan and Ramirez down the stretch, as well as almost forgetting about Russell (you had the sense he was there more to observe in the final 2-3 weeks). I still think Wasserman has a good shot if he pitches like he did in 2007...Carrasco was one of Ozzie's favorites....now you have Nunez/Escobar/Marquez/Broadway/Richard/Poreda in the mix as well for the final guy out of the pen or 5th starter. You also never hear his name mentioned as a future/potential closer. There's been a lot more recent discussion (here and in the media) of Link.

Once again, most are arguing that this kid is probably at least 1 1/2 to 2 seasons away from being ready. He definitely needs to get in better shape. I can't imagine teams like the Yankees or Red Sox are going to pin their hopes on him being their starting RF or 3B as soon as 2009.

I'm the same age as Griffey, almost the same exact birthdays...in fact...so I guess from my perspective he is a kid, lol.

Nunez and Jimenez are giving us some quality arms (like Eduardo Sierra in the past) that may or may not pan out...but the more low-risk moves like this you make on the advice of your scouts, the more likely that one of these "blind darts" hits its target with some big league payoff. We don't have a plethora of high-impact arms who can bring the heat out of the pen at the upper levels, this could turn out to be a very good move or a non-event we totally forget about (like Corky Miller!) Russell seems to have lost favor in the organization, for now, maybe one of these youngsters will come through like Logan did in ST and surprise everyone...and gain great tutors who help get them straightened out.

Not to mention Marquez and Nunez being added to our depth chart as well...and this new signing (Escobar) could be the next Ed. Sierra, for better or worse, lol. Nix almost counts as a prospect in a way, fwiw. Then there's the possibility of bringing in Viciedo or a Japanese starting pitcher.

What next, Tyler Lumsden will win the Cy Young award? LHP Javy Lopez is 10X better than Boone Logan and we should have offered Riske arbitration? Ordonez/Lee/Valentin Our chances of signing Sabathia were about the same as Juan Agosto and Jerry Kutzler being added to the 40 man roster as ST invites. Contreras? Sure...we never should have traded for the guy in the first place? I mean, we gave up someone who ALMOST won the Cy Young for someone who only became the best pitcher in baseball for 4-5 months. Not to mention the Cardinals made a worse mistake with Cris Carpenter, right? I mean, there's NO possibility KW even was smart enough to think ahead and insure Jose's contract either, true? If Cortes would have come into 2009 as the favorite for the 5th starter's job and KW did NOTHING else before ST to address the back end of the rotation, you might have a SOMEWHAT legit gripe. But MacDougal has had more of an impact at the MLB level than Cortes has for the Royals. If you want to argue bad trades, then you can say Sisco/Gload was worse, but, even then, Gload HAD NO PLACE TO PLAY WITH US. WE'RE KIND OF GOOD, the Royals, kind of not so good. Lest we forget, Swisher was so good that DeWayne Wise was playing in the most critical games of the season in front of him. Oh, that's right, Ozzie has grudges against all non-Hispanic players (Anderson, Sean Tracey, Swisher, etc.)

Well, some idiots were suggesting a Lowell for Vazquez deal, but that's never going to happen on KW's watch.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 02:43 AM) Just because a $9 hamburger tastes better than a $12 hamburger doesn't mean that there isn't a $4 hambuger that tastes best of all. Kind of an off the wall analogy, but it holds up. If KW thinks he can get an upgrade in the rotation by trading Vazquez for cheaper, he will. Vazquez is like that 2 pound hamburger (the bun always gets them) that you can get for free if you actually finish it and don't throw up. I think it's served at "R Place" along I-80 southwest of the city, where they also have "Chit Chat" Chicken.

http://www.southsidesox.com/2008/11/14/661...ockingly-low-on http://www.southsidesox.com/2008/11/13/660...-trade-transcri Gotta love those smart-a** White Sox experts who always think they know more than KW about putting a baseball team together. You would have thought we were coming off another 72-90 season with this guy's sarcastic attitude. By the way, I'm sure he has probably been there about 90% of the time to admit when he was wrong as KW's deals have usually turned out for the best, especially when there are "sleeper" players involved that are undervalued/under the radar/struggling/injured.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 03:31 AM) It's not necessarily that they offered less but they offered packages that Kenny didn't like nearly as much. They could have offered very talented players who are in the lower minors, offered worse contracts with more talented players, or tried to get packages built up where the Sox would be including other players, but when push came to shove, this was the deal Kenny felt was best for the organization. I guess I didn't state it as clearly as I wanted to...I guess since I usually try to think from KW's perspective, that the offers were LESS or not as good, for the reasons you stated. Most of the pundits and writers/reporters are bagging on that trade already, I would be really interested to see what other offers were on the table (supposedly) and if many of the board members would have preferred those deals to the one that was made.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post takes a look at the sudden surplus of potentially available closers in major league baseball, a situation that certainly benefits the Mets considering their need to upgrade the bullpen this offseason. Two free agent closers that seemed destined to retire with their 2008 teams, Trevor Hoffman and Kerry Wood, now appear to be more available than was expected in October. That pair, along with Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, give the Mets and other teams several options in free agency. Other relief pitchers with experience in the 9th inning have been recently mentioned in trade rumors. The list includes Huston Street, who may move again before the 2009 season begins, along with JJ Putz, Jose Valverde, and Bobby Jenks, mentions Sherman. Sherman also provides a short list of teams, beyond the Mets, that may need a reliever with closing experience for 2009. The Texas Rangers, seemingly always short on pitching these days, may be a good fit for Kerry Wood; the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and most recently the Milwaukee Brewers, faced with the sudden retirement of Salomon Torres, are also in need of 9th inning help. Sherman suggests Fuentes may be the favorite for the Mets' closing job at this point. from mlbtraderumors.com Couple of interesting rumors...Blake to the Twins (and OC) we've heard, but also that the Twins are very interested in acquiring Street from the Rockies. That would give them a set-up guy to replace Crain/Guerrier in the 8th, and move them forward an inning or two. It's also a replacement, in a way, for the difference-maker that WAS formerly known as Joe Neshek. Who do they have to trade for him? Well, Mijares or Breslow (LHR)...to replace Fuentes. Then someone like Brendan Harris, Buscher, Ruiz or Punto. I also see a little interest in Cuddyer, although he's getting expensive. Of course, the Rockies would prefer Jason Kubel or Denard Span instead.

Which brings us back to the hilarity of Nate McLouth being in consideration for Gold Gloves when a majority of fielding metrics/matrices have him in the 2-3 worst CFers in the game. That award is as much for offense as defense. I just give voters credit for not giving it to JD simply due to his offensive numbers over the last 3-4 seasons.

Would I trade Poreda, Fields and Shelby/Allen for him? In a heartbeat. Of course, the Brewers will get a better deal somewhere if Texeira is really going to get a $200 million contract to play 1B. I just think sinking in that kind of young/affordable talent into a trade for someone not named Pujols...at a position where unless you are a huge difference maker...the ROI is marginal. Back to Moneyball, and the idea of playing the likes of Hatteberg and Dan Johnson at 1B with the big money instead going into the starting rotation and key position players like Tejada and Chavez. If you start out with the idea of having above-average performances out of catcher, SS, 2B, CF and the rotation, then you can build outwards from there. With Beckham, Ramirez and AJ, we're pretty darned solid...although AJ will need to replaced eventually or eased out (like Varitek in BOS) and the CF/leadoff position addressed as priority #1 over 3B, 2B (unless it's Roberts or Hudson) and the 5th starter's spot.

While it would tempting to bring in Fielder, I wouldn't think about it very long. You can't give up that kind of young pitcher, especially a lefty. Theoretically, you could trade Konerko and get something decent in return, but I sincerely doubt you're going to identify another Danks or Floyd so easily in another organization. Teams are going to be wary of giving up starters to KW with much more potential than Marquez from the Yankees, who's more of a Slowey/Guerrier/Fogg back of the rotation guy than a pitcher with the arm/stuff to be a 2 or 3.

Rumors are the Indians want to sign J. Cruz and Jeremy Affeldt and let them fight it out for the closer's spot. Good luck, Shapiro, on that one. Although, all things considered, a better idea than having Joe Borowski as closer, bringing in Juan Rincon or starting Jason Johnson 30+ games per year. As long as the Indians are limited budgetarily, I think our main competition will remain the Twins and Tigers (if their pitching is healthy and performs up to expectations).

No to Dunn, no to Abreu, not at the prices and amount of years they're going to be asking for. I would rather have Abreu than Dunn, simply because he still has some tools (but not like 3-5 seasons ago) and he'd give our line-up some diversity and a little more athleticism...but it's not worth in the vicinity of $15 million per season. I'd rather have Ryan Sweeney in RF at the league minimum and invest that money into other areas (CF, 3B, 2B, 5th starter, bullpen) than give 30-something/declining Abreu 3 years at that type of salary.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 09:40 PM) Sox shed salary and get nothing in return.........Glad we traded Gio for nothing now! Just give KW time...it's only a day or two into the FA signing period, for heaven's sake. Gio Gonzalez wasn't going to be a frontline starter for us, period, end of story. As far as the Swisher trade goes, it just means there were four other teams that offered KW EVEN LESS for Swisher than what we wanted to receive in return. It also tells you a bit about how desperate Kenny was to dump him on another team. Like the Pods/Vizcaino for C-Lee deal, let's wait and see the composition of the Opening Day roster before we jump to premature conclusions.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 08:05 AM) Furcal is the guy I think KW will go after because he can fill the lead off void from an infield position. Roberts will cost too much via trade. Alexei can stay at second where we know he can play well. KW will worry about making a spot for Beckham next off season after he recovers from another Grant Park Championship Ceremony. Furcal SS Getz 3B TCQ LF Big Jim DH Konerko 1b Dye RF Alexei 2b AJ C Anderson CF Still not enough speed. I think JD will be traded and the Sox will have a younger faster RF with less power. I will be shocked if Chris Getz is starting for us on Opening Day at 3B.

Just saw where the market for SS Rafael Furcal seems to be in the neighborhood of $40 million over 4 years. With Alexei moving over to SS, Betemit's acquisition and the slight possibility Beckham could end up there...I doubt KW invests money in this position. I think it has to go to 3B, 2B or CF (and a leadoff hitter from 2B/CF).

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 02:58 AM) We've got Link, Thornton, and Dotel who could all be potential closers, even Linebrink or McDougal in a pinch. There's lots of options for us on that front so that if we get a great offer from another team for Jenks we might just jump right on it. MacDougal was the shakiest 21/24 I've seen in my life with KC one year...or half year...but his velocity isn't what it once was, consistently 95-98 MPH. I will be surprised if Link even makes the team...you have a bunch of guys like Carrasco, Russell, Wasserman, Logan, now Jhonny Nunez....all in the mix for one or two spots. Maybe they'll give Link a legit look, we'll see. I will believe it when I see him on the Opening Day roster. I don't think Linebrink should be moved out of set-up. It would be okay to try Dotel, Poreda or Link in the spring to see how they'd respond. There's a lot of conjecture and speculation about Thornton and how he'd do as a closer, but I'm not convinced yet.