caulfield12

The main benefit from Hardy is simply continuing the process of getting young and revitalizing the line-up. No, he's not the ideal 1/2 hitter, and the odds of finding that from 3B are minimal...so everything hinges on what we do with CF. Does Swisher or Ramirez hit at the top (probably 2 spot)...? I don't imagine we'll see Swisher at leadoff again, and Ramirez isn't a good fit either (for many reasons)...so the perfect leadoff man exists only in KW's and the Sox scouts' mysterious board.

I guess the question is whether that $5-6.5 million is "new/found" money or part of the $22 million applying to the final three years? Is this "handshake" agreement over the option year, if the Sox so chose to pick it up?

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 07:52 PM) O.K. I am going out on a limb with this one. I say sign Abreu, dump Thome's large contract, trade Vasquez for a bag of balls, sign Paul Byrd as a 4th starter, keep the bullpen the way it is, trade Vasquez and prospects to the Pirates for Freddie Sanchez or Jack Wilson. 2009 2B Freddie Sanchez CF Bobbie Abreu (this guy can hit anywhere) LF Carlos Quentin DH Jermaine Dye 1B Paul Konerko RF Nick Swisher SS Alexei Ramirez C A.J. Pierzynski 3B Josh Fields Please list the teams that want Thome in the AL, and to pay him $13 million? (I guess KW could donate some of the money we're still supposed to get from the Phils for 09) Why would the Pirates want to pay Javier Vazquez $11.5 million when they don't want to pay homegrown Jason Bay that amount of money? Paul Byrd, over the course of a full season, won't be as effective as Vazquez Josh Fields won't be a starter for the Sox IMO Since when is Swisher suddenly good enough to be our 6th place hitter?

He's replaceable if Brandon Wood is ready to play 3B, but that's not clear yet. And, going by McPherson and Kotchmann's struggles, Kendry Morales...etc., you can never be sure about Angels' position prospects. He's blocked (more or less) by Kendrick at 2B and there's still a glut of outfielders, even if they let G. Anderson go. I think Scioscia is smart enough to understand his importance to making their offensive engine go...Aybar's not really a speed player...and Willits rides the pine, so they risk becoming like the White Sox without Figgins in the line-up. I guess they could also stick Wood at 1B (or Morales) if TEX leaves via FA.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 07:30 PM) ah. no big deal. You never know. You could have been legit. Some people have an Anderson hardon. Agreed. Man, it makes me so sad to say the Crede wont be at 3B next year. he had so much potential. Coudl have been a stable here for the next 10 years. But, he just cant hold up. I'd be very happy with Atkins. Is he for sale or a FA? Trade...there was a lot of talk in the 2nd half about the Rockies, who they would keep and who they would shed. I always worry about NL players making the adjustment their first season in the far-superior AL...seems the numbers over there are too inflated to trust in terms of instant translation into AL numbers. The talent and pitching in the AL is just not comparable at this point in time, although I never thought I'd live to see the day where NL teams were averaging better offensive output than many AL teams without a DH. Just a symptom of bad pitching over there, mostly.

In fact, I would argue the opposite. Those comments for next year make me think Swisher will be gone for sure. KW is always, if nothing else, counter-intuitive to the majority of Sox fans in his thinking and methodology.

We better get a really good defensive 2B and hope that Alexei makes a solid transition to SS or we'll be in real trouble defensively with Figgins at 3B. Has anyone watched him this post-season? My concern is what if we do bring in Hudson/Roberts and Alexei has tons of trouble at SS? Do we then have to move Ramirez to 3B and start Rob Valido or Chris Getz. (I'm joking, a little.) By the way, I think Ramirez will be fine no matter where he ends up, he's just a "player" no matter what where you stick him. I think he could also catch and pitch better than Wasserman/MacDougal/Ramirez/Logan.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 07:08 PM) I agree on Richard Disagree on Anderson. He may be a better fielder, but as a hitter Juan is better and we need some contact hitters in this lineup. (PS: I dont want Juan on this team) If this were 2002, I'd take Castillo in a heartbeat. Heck, in 2002 I wanted us to go after him. He's on the back end of his career now. There is no way Uribe and Fields are better than Blake. He's no Crede from a few years back, but he's head and shoulder better than Uribe and Fields combined. I guess I need to start typing in Green Font too. I wasn't being serious...completely. Someone pointed out how my opening topic for the thread...that all those moves wouldn't improve our team. Now, I never said they were "great" moves, just the kind that Kenny normally likes to make, bringing in veterans 3-5 years past their date of expiration (like Chinese milk). For CF, I have Melky Cabrera, CoCo Crispy Bar and Corey Patterson as 5th OF it they trade BA. For 3B, Blake, then Beltre (I think think Beltre would be better, just too high a cost in talent to acquire), then Mora/Kouzmanoff/Atkins. For 2B, Roberts/Hudson/Figgins (who can also play 3rd, making him a bit more valuable and also covering some gaps when Juan Uribe is gone)

Maybe it would be better to put Dye at 1B and Swisher/Quentin on the corners...although, if that's the plan, Jermaine needs to start the adjustment ASAP. He can't wait until February 20th. Assuming a Konerko deal might actually happen. You know Moreno absolutely has to be P-O'ed in LA. The Angels win in 2002 with a much smaller payroll, and Moreno's invested millions into the club. However, they're the West/Left Coast Yankees now and the Dodgers are still playing on in a relaxed, care-free way that might lead them to the WS title. Just goes to show you, a team of stars doesn't always get it done...and a team like the Marlins in 2003, White Sox in 2005, Cardinals in 06, hopefully the Rays in 08, can take it to the big boys and make them look silly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fieldi...mn=totalChances This is another interesting stat. The problem is, Johnny Peralta is something like 5th in total chances, but he's essentially a statue at SS and will be moved to 3rd, probably to begin next season...so Asdrubal Cabrera can play there and Barfield theoretically will stop playing like Richie Weeks. Jason Bartlett, who is a MUCH better SS than Cabrera at this point in their respective careers, is middle of the pack...because the Rays' pitching staff is so good and not dominated by ground ball/sinkerball pitchers. They have more K's, and there are so many balls hit on that turf that nobody can stop...those plays are usually made on a grass field like US Cell. Michael Young is a "meh" SS IMO, but he's second...largely because the Texas pitching staff is historically/traditionally so bad. Tejada is pretty horrible too. So definitely, there's no be-all, end-all defensive measurement that's easy to quantify. We all go off our "qualitative" observations. This reminds me of numerous arguments about Clayton's glove versus Valentin's arm and "bad glove." It can never measure Valentin's better range and how many outs he got that Clayton didn't with his arm...just like Uribe and Ramirez.

Which I'm sure BA will do again (probably to no avail, because OG knows he's a great 4th/5th outfielder and defensive substitute) when KW goes out again and gets yet another new CFer.

My point was if there's not a "clear cut" reason to play someone (like Griffey versus Anderson) and you could make legitimate arguments both ways, then Ozzie almost always goes with the veteran player and is more comfortable with that decision. Or Fields versus Uribe. Whether you agree or disagree, there's always baseball logic behind every decision he makes usually. Mackowiak versus Anderson, etc. Same thing with the bullpen guys...although I think in the end he gave Boone Logan 2-3 too many chances, we still managed to make the playoffs and Boone had NUMEROUS opportunities to redeem himself. Same thing with Ramirez...until Ozzie had no choice but to go with Clayton Richard (which is an example where Guillen chose a rookie over a more experienced player). Erstad versus Anderson...etc. People keep treating Wise like he's a rookie, but he has more overall playing experience than Swisher in baseball. He's 4 years older and maybe Ozzie feels he's "hungrier." I don't know. Or maybe he just likes to go with the hottest hand available? I've been arguing around here the last month WHY Ozzie isn't dumb or a bad manager...check the threads.

The problem with trading Dotel is... 1) He actually looked like he had better stuff down the stretch, at least in the playoffs. 2) We have very little RH depth if Linebrink goes down again... 3) Unless Adam Russell is trusted to take this spot 4) Wasserman, Carrasco, etc. are better as 5th-7th inning guys or situational relievers I'm all for getting someone like Chad Bradford. Dude is unscored upon in 17 playoff appearances with 5 different teams (I think he did allow an inherited runner to score against us in 2000 in the SEA ALDS). But would you have rather have Bradford at $6.5 million or Dotel? I guess if you don't have enough trust/confidence, then you say Bradford. However, other GM's are more enamored with "stuff" set-up guys, and even though Dotel's lucky to touch 94 these days, he will have had one more off-season to recover from all his injury problems, and a relatively healthy full-season to build off of. The strikeout/IP ratio is a killer one...with some of his late-inning debacles, you wonder when he racked up all those impressive stats sometimes.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 10:49 AM) Does anyone think the Angels will try to resign Teixeira? Because if they did there's no reason for them to want Konerko. I don't know what Garret Anderson's contract is like, but he's basically Mr. Angel. Hunter just signed a deal last year, Guerrero will still be there. I think Matthews still has a contract going into next year. I would guess there's about an 85-90% probability that Garret Anderson is gone...the club has that major issue in the offseason, along with losing K-Rod and Tex probably. They have Mathews, Jr., still long-term, Hunter long-term, Guerrero, Willits and Juan Rivera for depth. I think they will either cut his salary 20% or let him go...will be interesting to see what happens, he's obviously a very popular player in the Tim Salmon/Wally Joyner mold in Angels' lore.

Who in God's name are we going to trade to get the franchise player (along with Longoria) of the newly-popular Rays??? Crawford for our entire minor league system? I know he's not THAT good, but I think Rocco Baldelli or Johnny Gomes are much more realistic targets....especially Baldelli. I think if the Rays won the WS, getting Crawford would be more difficult than trading for Ichiro or A-Rod. The only way we could do that is if we traded them Jenks...and made Thornton or Dotel closer. Our best trade pieces (Quentin...well, he's also a LFer, Poreda, they have five starters and David Price already...Fields (Longoria, nope) and Ramirez (Iwamura, nope again)...maybe if the offer was Jenks and Dye (to move to DH/RF), they would do the deal. That puts Swisher in LF, Crawford in CF (where has he a weak arm), Quentin in RF. Or Swisher in RF, Quentin in LF and Crawford in CF. Or Crawford in LF, Swisher in CF and Quentin in RF. The problem is that none of those are perfect combinations, the first one being the best option IMO. It also gives us the speed we need at the top of the order and another LH bat. But we're paying a HEAVY price to give up Jenks with no obvious replacement and just hoping Dotel/Thornton/Linebrink can get it done.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 11:06 AM) You know what I found odd, I sit in a part of the park where you can see the Sox dugout. OC keeps all of his stuff down in the corner by himself, helmet, bat, etc. I found this odd, I am not sure why, I just did. OC kind of grew on me though. He seemd ot have Jose Valentin type mental lapses and made some stupid plays. I am really neutral on him and realize there may not be better alternatives. He seemd to be a guy that had a personality defect and may have been misunderstood. While I know nothing of his psyche he just seemed to be different in his personality. Sprinting out of the dugout on the Ramirez slam was cool and flew in the face of all I thought I knew of him. He seemed kind of like an outcast or someone that has trouble fitting in with people......he also seemed to be.....not sure how to put it......a little slow. Although that is simply from watching him on tv so I could be way off base. Boston gave up on him in a heartbeat so I am not sure what to make. Since baseball began, all the Hispanic players (especially those who have trouble with English or have just arrived to play baseball) have bonded closely on every team, whether it's the majors or minors. I just think the other Hispanic players have a huge amount of pride and "brotherhood" for each other to see another succeeding, especially someone like Alexei, who seems to be a nice guy on and off the field. It was this way in 2005 with the Sox and always will be...these players usually come from poverty-stricken backgrounds and they can relate to each so much better than players from other countries can...and when their quotes are misinterpreted or "phonetically" captured or the English isn't corrected (this happens to Guillen constantly), they tend to rally around each other, an island in the middle of the team. He's not slow in a John Rocker type of way...he's just someone who has learned English as his second language, and is not always as comfortable using it or speaking with the press due to incidents in the past that soured him on dealing with the media.

You're dreaming. Imagine the Tigers offered Curtis Granderson (who's about twice as valuable as Dye at this point because of the position he plays, his age, and contract status) for Alexei Ramirez, Aaron Poreda and another prospect. What would your reaction be? While Alexei (this season at least) is a better player than Figgins, past performance is not always an indicator of future returns. Would ANY White Sox fan want to make that deal? Well, that's basically what you're asking the Angels for "renting" a player for one year at age 35.

I've spent a lot of time in Cartagena. Cabrera is like a god there....he paved all the streets in the neighborhood where he grew up and he built a luxurious high rise apartment near the Caribbean for his parents and him to live during the offseason, when he's not in Miami or the States. I actually considered renting a unit from OC...just down the street from where Diego Maradona had gastric bypass surgery, lol. Now Renteria, he hates OC. And vice-versa. Edgar's from Baranquilla, hometown of Shakira and Sofia Vergara (google her, she's foxy). I worked with Renteria's brother to put together a baseball camp while I was down there in 05-06.

Sorry, I can never tell which ones are legitimate trade proposals around here. Oops.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 09:21 AM) What about Vasquez,Thome and Contreras for Lincecum and Rowand? We would get a pitcher who has the potential to be a CY young contender for the next 10 years. Rowand would look better on the basepaths than someone like JD. I'm not sure what the Giants needs are. But, Thome is the Slugger they are lacking since Bonds , Vasquez would be a better fit for the NL and Contreras is the real wild card here. our team can look like this Hudson 2b Ramirez SS CQ LF Dye DH Swisher RF Konerko 1b AJ C Rowand CF Fields 3b Lincecum Buehrle Danks Floyd Who Cares I applaud your enthusiam, young man. Thome's too old to play 1B everyday, an injury waiting to happen, and the Giants are in the process of getting much younger, not older. Lincecum and Cain are pretty much untouchables. Contreras won't pitch again before next August, and maybe never again. Retirement is a possibility. You can't trade a player that's injured. They've already sunk too much money into Zito, they would have no interest adding Javy. Vazquez is the type of pitcher a contending team with a $100 million plus payroll can afford to add to the roster as the 4th/5th starter, as long as he doesn't have to start a game in the post-season.

That Halladay/Rios deal might be the worst trade in the history of not only the Blue Jays, but the entire American League East. While they're at it, they might as well give us Snider and Vernon Wells for Getz, Richard, Jose Martinez and Juan Silverio.

Brad Penny Juan Pierre Luis Castillo Casey Blake You can argue about Pierre and Anderson, but I think taking a flier on Penny isn't the worst move in the world, and has a definite upside. These seem to be the type of moves that KW typically makes, maybe not THESE specific moves, but it's his style. Not the big signing of CC or Dempster. Castillo's a better fit for this club than Getz in 09, and Casey Blake is a solid, .800 OPS 3B. Maybe Nomar wouldn't be a better "supersub" than Uribe, but he can play every position on the infield...not unlike Ozuna.

The .805 OPS thing would be true, if he played CF, 2B, SS or catcher. But a corner infielder or outfielder, he's not quite as rare as you are making him out to be...I agree, unless KW got something good (another team assuming he could/would also have a bounceback year at a corner OF spot or 1B/DH and out of the limelight/pressure of Chicago), it wouldn't make sense to move him, just because he had one bad season. Any more than it would make sense to "banish/exile" Vazquez to the National League because 95% of Sox fans strongly dislike him right now.

I think it would only happen if he publicly (moreso than he has done up til now) expressed his displeasure and desire to play on a contending and not rebuilding team...just because his teammates supposedly wanted to jump him or beat him up doesn't mean he'll be traded (anymore than KW could trade OC in the middle of the season, or Ozzie could bench him), but I think it's going to get some serious consideration, simply because of his age and the fact that his skills are slowly beginning to decline a little bit each year.

ZONE Rating and Total Chances Per Inning (Carlos "The Franchise 2" Gomez first in both categories) TC/IP 1. Carlos Gomez, .356 2. Aaron Rowand, .331 3. BJ Upton, .321 4. Curtis Granderson, .316 5. Adam Jones, .311 6. Carlos Beltran, .305 7. Michael Bourne Identity, .302 Near Last, BA, .228 (I know, I know, he usually comes in for the late innings, where the relievers dominate and there aren't so many fly balls, and our pitching staff was above average, so fewer chances) Other interesting names to keep an eye on...(not qualified) Ichiro Suzuki .332 Marlon Byrd, Rangers, .360 (bad Texas pitching or great defender?) Carlos Gonzalez, A's, .345 (lots of chances will all those terrible pitchers the 2nd half) Cody Ross, .301 Corey Patterson, .310 Rajai Davis, .323 ZONE RATING (just listed players we might realistically have ANY interest in) 2. Melky Cabrera 5. Corey Patterson 9. Mike Cameron 10. Chris B. Young 11. Rowand 12. Hunter 14. Taveras 16. Lastings Milledge 17. McLouth 18. Bourn 19. CoCo Crispies To summarize, the best speed/defensive players we should THINK about getting are: Ichiro Corey Patterson (no go on that one) Mike Cameron (but he's like BA offensively now, and aging) Michael Bourn (anemic OPS) Melky Cabrera (most interesting name so far, in terms of realistically getting him and not giving up something huge) Taveras (anemic OPS) CoCo Crisp Cabrera and Crisp are good possibilies... Ichiro for Swisher, Getz, Fields and Poreda (then we go out and find someone in the 2nd or 3rd round with OC's compensation pick/s and give them first round money to replace Poreda, sort of what we did with Reed, Sweeney and Danks)??? If we took on Ichiro's contract, we would definitely have to move Konerko or Dye. But I wouldn't mind an outfield of Quentin, Ichiro and Melky Cabrera. Pretty good, in fact.