caulfield12

I get that we would be selling "low," but how many times has KW gone out of traded one of our best players (on the major league roster) in the prime of their career, down year or not? Aaron Rowand? Well, 2005 wasn't his best year, not even close. Garcia was coming off a so-so year and was injury-plagued and had diminished velocity when we dealt him for Gavin. He very rarely makes trades with our core players (from the starting line-up)...with the exception of Carlos Lee, and that was mostly about payroll, but also about changing the "me first" attitude of the team offensively, along with letting Magglio go (and we all agree, coming off hernias and Swiss doctors and the mystery that it would have been insane to sign him for the money and length of contract the Tigers did). Recently, the only other players that come to mind are probably McCarthy and Chris Young, although there were question marks if they were ready to be regular contributors for the Sox in the following seasons...

Logan, I could understand why he might want to escape, but that's not exactly the best way to get out of Ozzie's doghouse, by further separating yourself from the rest of your teammates. MacDougal was never really a part of this year's team...but he is under contract for next year, unfortunately. Broadway, I don't really get. If KW doesn't make a move (unlikely), he would go into ST behind Clayton Richard but probably in "second place" amongst all the minor leaguers for that 5th starter's spot...maybe even first, if the White Sox are determined to fill Logan's spot with Richard, feeling he just can't get through the second or third time facing the line-up with his particular assortment of pitches.

QUOTE (beautox @ Oct 5, 2008 -> 02:22 AM) If i were KW these would be the moves i make in the offseason. Trade PK to whom ever misses out on TEX(NY/LA) for prospects move Dye to First Base Pick up Thome's opition Sign Furcal and Blake in the offseason Trade Fields and prospects to the A's for Buck and one of Casilla, Devine or Street Try to buy low on Homer Bailey Resign Uribe for the bench S Furcal SS L Buck CF R Quentin RF L Thome DH R Dye 1B S Swisher LF R Blake 3B L AJP C R Ramirez 2B Maybe if we agree to pay the injury-plagued Eric Chavez $23 million the next two seasons will BB part with Buck AND Street. By the way, "During certain games throughout the season, GM Billy Beane must care for Eric's 2 dogs" is perhaps the most interesting contract clause in baseball. Would KW go for that? Does JR want dogs in the owner's box? Only time will tell. I think you might see Dye move to 1B, but I doubt it will happen with the White Sox in 2009. If he is to play first, the team needs to give him more advance warning than when he arrives at Spring Training on February 20th. He's still a pretty good athlete and a big target, but the speed of the game on the infield, reflexes, throwing the ball to the pitcher covering first, bunt rotations, there's a lot to learn for someone who's played RF his entire career. The thing is, I can't imagine Dye being any better than Thome would be at first, and probably worse. We can go after someone like Bailey, Hughes/Kennedy (NYY), Kershaw, etc. Doesn't mean any of those teams are close to ready to give up like the Phillies were with Gavin Floyd. To get Danks, we had to part with our best pitching prospect in McCarthy...

By trading Dye to the Angels, are you assuming they are going to DH him or Guerrero? Neither one of those guys wants to sit on the bench the majority or even half the season? Or I guess you're thinking they would move Dye to LF? Generally, not the wisest move to include top young pitching prospects in trades for position players. Keep in mind, the Angels probably won't re-sign Garland, so Adenhart will be given every chance to be the fifth starter IMO. Adenhart has been perenially ranked in the Top 30-40 players in baseball...and, once again, he's a young/affordable pitcher (which is the single most valuable commodity in the game). Many fans here would not even be convinced we should accept a Figgins for Poreda deal...and Poreda isn't even a consensus member of the Top 50 MLB prospects list, probably closer to 75-125. But you want them to give up Adenhart too? I just doubt, with their history of holding on to most of their prospects, that they would contemplate such a move. It also makes them too old...they have Guerrero already getting into his 30's as well, along with Hunter. They would become more like the White Sox, and I don't think that's Scioscia's goal. Of course, that style which has led to the highest winning percentage in baseball has failed to even get them into the World Series once during that time.

Ichiro and A-Rod have been discussed a lot around here the last five years. I wouldn't be opposed to it...it all depends on the costs involved. To start with, they would ask for Swisher, Fields (assuming they traded Beltre) and Poreda. If you're willing to trade Swisher, Fields and Poreda for Ichiro...then you have yourself a deal. It's actually not a horrendous trade, UNLESS Poreda becomes a stud down the line. It's relatively easy to find players out there to replace Swisher and Fields. The concern is Ichiro playing CF everyday...his advancing age. Maybe it would work. It would also really blow our budget in terms of doing much else in Free Agency, including 3B, 2B, a 5th starter and some more help for the bullpen. Certainly, a splashy move that would create an incredible amount of excitement in the fanbase and the media. I'm just not sure if KW would pull the trigger on that, because of the lack of depth at the back of the rotation, the issues with Vazquez, the possibility that someone like Buehrle could finally succumb to wear and tear and go on the DL...Poreda is the only pitcher we have in the minors that has the ability to be a 3 or higher (possibly 2) starter in the majors, at least of those pitchers that are realistically within 2 years of the big leagues (High A and above).

Uribe was one of the key reasons we won in 2005. For that reason, I would never call him a "dog" or disrespect him. He's limited offensively, is a streak hitter, and has virtual no patience. He is what he is...which is a good back-up, but not a starter for 75-85% of the teams in MLB. I also think he's been exposed a little defensively at 3B on turf. He doesn't have the quick first step that Crede used to have...don't get me wrong, he's made some great defensive plays to save us down the stretch, and we wouldn't have made the playoffs with Fields playing 3B, but the time has come for KW and Uribe to part company and say thanks for the memories, particularly that catch down the line going into the stands in the final game of the World Series, and the first two months after we acquired him, when he was hitting about .400. The thing about Uribe, no matter what, he consistently drove in runners from 3rd with less than 2 outs, he always managed 20 homers and 70+ RBI's, and those are respectable numbers from a SS. Put that together with his defensive ability and arm, he has nothing to be ashamed about as a player.

Well, there's no way we'll get Adenhart AND Figgins for Dye. The thing you have to always take into consideration is that Dye leads all MLB RFers over the time he's been in Chicago with homers. Second, we play in the most homer-friendly park in the majors. Maybe Swisher can get the job done...maybe. But all the other teams in the league know that Dye is advancing in years, has very little range in the outfield and is close to being a full-time DH. His contract is fairly reasonable at $11 million, but, once again, other teams must be thinking the same thing...age, take him out of Comiskey, it's a big risk. He's one of the big reasons we have such a home field advantage playing in Chicago. And, he is signed through only 2009, so another team won't part with a starter and a pitcher at this stage in his career. Not going to happen. And the Angels already have Guerrero, Rivera, Hunter, Mathews and Anderson for their OF/DH position. Not a fit to get Dye there. They would be much more likely to consider trading Figgins for Swisher and maybe a Tier B prospect in our system. Second, I don't think KW goes into 2009 looking to defend the AL Central title with Getz envisioned as a starter. Getz and Fields, at best, are back-up plans for KW. Or trading chips at worst.

Kent's a horrendous defender at this point in his career. and I still think we need to focus more on speed/defense at that position to balance out our offense....the weird thing is that it seems like Kent is in the playoffs almost every season.

FWIW, Toby Hall had a very good (even excellent) season as our back-up catcher. He hasn't hit for much power, but that's what happens when you don't get regular playing time or at-bats. He's not a throwing catcher, but neither is AJ. Even with Johnny Bench, I-Rod or Mauer, we wouldn't be able to prevent many steals until Javier, Contreras, Floyd, Jenks and Danks to a lesser extent prioritize it. But Widger wasn't a very good defender, either. As someone mentioned, Blanco would be perfect. Redmond in MN is a very good back-up catcher as well.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 09:53 PM) I wouldnt want any of those 3 guys, they are all over the hill. Also, I dont think Casey Blake helps this team in any way... his defense is below avg. and he is a similar hitter to what we have now. Yes, he is better than Uribe offensively but thats true of almost any 3B. Well, Beltre and Mora would be more logical, since they're familiar with the AL already...and Blake. Beltre is going to be option #1 for every team out there, and I'm not convinced the Mariners have decided to part with him unless they can get an outstanding package in return. Actually, I think they would rather get rid of Ichiro, it's just that they can't do it because of their fanbase. Kouzmanoff and Atkins are wild cards.

Watching the Cubs' game, I wonder if KW would think about trying to add Pierre, Kent or Garciaparra (if the Dodgers would eat big percentages of their salaries)...or Andruw Jones? Pierre was an often-mentioned name 2-3 years ago, but he's been off the radar screen for a long time. It's pretty amazing the Dodgers have become so young while they have four veterans like that on the bench or injured...and that Torre has negotiated the rapids to get this team at least to the NLCS.

QUOTE (gosox41 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 09:30 PM) I feel the same way. I hate the losing but I remember not being able to sleep in 2000 and 1993 when the Sox lost in the playoffs. I was livid after 2003 (and was one of the "classless" people who booed Manuel at the All Star game. That being said, I'm pissed when we lose now, but it's easy to see the teams gaping holes as they been problems in most of the KW era. In 2005, there was just relief we survived the Indians' onslaught...and then the team relaxed again and started playing and pitching like they were capable of. This year, the feeling is that our playoff games started on Sunday...not that we were content just to get there, but we all know the team's problems playing on turf and domes, the inability to skip Vazquez in the rotation due to the 3 days' rest issue...I think we can take Garza down (he's a former Twin, after all) but that Sonnanstine will give us fits. I'm just happy for Danks and would also be happy to see Floyd get a taste of post-season play...to whet their appetite for the future. Then KW can pick up the pieces and put together a more balanced team for 09. This team had balance in the pitching staff, until Linebrink and Contreras went down. But our offense has been consistenly inconsistent and sometimes offensive, especially in the second half of the season, and specifically, after Quentin went down and Ramirez started to wear out a little bit from the long season.

Ooops...I guess I need to spend more time in the US paying attention. These two playoff games are the first time I've actually seen this team play with my eyes (everything else has been from Stone and Farmio and Gameday Audio). That's what happens when you live in Thailand, the Philippines, China and Colombia (actually, with DirecTV and other means, I saw every single playoff and WS game while there in 05/06). I'm really scared that I will go crazy if the White Sox advance, trying to follow the team. I will be leaving Bangkok on the 15th with my Japanese friend on a two week trip through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. It will be a strange sight to see a "farang" trying to find Internet cafes to listen to a "silly" baseball game in those countries. At least my friend understands how important baseball is and won't think I'm 100% crazy. In fact, my fondest memory of 05 was finding an I-cafe in rural Colombia, looking up Game Center and finding that the bases were loaded (thanks Marte) and that El Duque was coming in. That was so stressful to follow on-line!!! http://www.soxprospects.com/players/carter-chris.htm

Is he worth $30 million for 3 years at his age? I don't think so. Would I rather have Omar Vizquel finally? No! I just think it's best for both Orlando and the White Sox to part ways, and hopefully the scouting department makes the right moves with the draft pick/s in 2009. He's done about what I expected coming into this year, although his defense and range (overall) have been a disappointment, compared to the expectations one usually has for a Gold Glove fielder in that position. I won't compare him to Royce Clayton, he's just a better fit for another club IMO.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 06:46 PM) Wow, this thread has really brought out all the "arm chair" GMs hasn't it? First off, Konerko has a FULL NO TRADE CLAUSE in addition to still being owed about 25 million dollars. There are probably a handful of teams he would even consider going to, possibly the Cali clubs since he's a Cali native. He's expressed a desire to stay with the Sox for the duration of his contract. He's about as untradeable as it gets. Secondly, Casey Blake is a mediocre 3B who will be 35 years old next season -- this is the answer at 3B? Coco Crisp hasn't managed to play over 120 games since 2004. He's constantly injured and when he's healthy he's a mediocre option in CF. He's been a huge bust with the Red Sox, no other way about it. No, there are no easy answers. A quick rundown of the roster finds that these spots are covered: 1B: Konerko SS: Ramirez LF : Quentin CF: Swisher RF: Dye C: AJ DH: Thome None of those guys is likely to go anwhere. Now filling 2B and 3B is going to be a huge concern. Brian Roberts is a frequent mention and there is little doubt he should be at the top of the list as far as everyday 2B that should be available. He's still plenty young, although not ideal young, and he swings a good bat and plays solid defense in addition to adding some speed and good baserunning. 3B is going to be harder. Any trade that arrivers at Brian Roperts probably wipes out the farm system (again). There isn't much to start with. But KW is a good GM and he'll make some trades this offseason as his style. But there are no easy answers for 2009. One thing is clear though and that is that the team is much better positioned then seemingly last offseason where they had no young building blocks outside of a shakey John Danks. The addition of Ramirez and Quentin and the emergence of Floyd gives this team some good young building blocks even as there other key players age. 1) Blake is a winner 2) He's had a consistent .782-.819 OPS through his career, this season...and in the post-season 3) He would relish the opportunity to come back to the AL Central and face his former team, the Indians 4) He's already familiar with all the pitchers in our division...acquiring players from other teams in the division already is much more difficult 5) He gives you an OPS about 125 points higher than Uribe 6) He's not going to be as expensive as many players out there that might be better options than Beltre 7) We don't have to surrender any talent to get him CoCo Crisp is a question mark. You're right. That's why it's a high risk/reward move, like if we, for example, traded for Milton Bradley. Same thing with bringing in Carl Everett. The risk is greater, but we don't have to give up as much to pry him lose from Boston, especially with Ellsbury's emergence. Obviously, Boston won't trade him to the Yankees, Blue Jays or Rays. It would be more acceptable for them to deal him to the White Sox. And Theo Epstein owes us, lol!!! Look how good Javier Lopez has done for them! And they now have Chris Carter, who is supposed to be the equivalent of Carlos San Quentin. Also, if BA is on the roster still, he's around for insurance. And if Crisp does go down, maybe Anderson goes out and finally wins the job for good. Although I'm not counting on that happening, not with Anderson's swing looking so big again. With everyday repetition and chances to play, maybe he can tighten it up and become more compact (he has to, he's not a 25+ homer guy, he can't strike out 100+ times as a regular). It worked for Crede and somewhat for Fields....definitely not for the likes of Borchard.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 06:51 PM) great thread caulfield! I hope we don't have to really think about this stuff for another month, though. We'll see. Question, should beckham come up, people see him as a #2? And there doesn't seem to be a leadoff hitter in our system. So unless we get Furcal, we are looking for a short term leadoff hitter, but eventually we'll need to find that long term guy we haven't had since Ray ray. Some see him as a 3 hitter, some as a 2...hopefully he learns (and has learned) to play the game correctly (and the SEC is probably the best baseball conference in college ball). Or maybe starting out 7-9 like Ramirez and then eventually moving up to 6.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 06:49 PM) I really thing KW needs to address the top of the lineup in the offseason. My ideal off-season would be to sign Orlando Hudson, trade for Figgins and trade for Beltre. Figgins goes to CF, and bats leadoff while Hudson bats in the 2 hole. Beltre would help boost the middle of the lineup. The only problem is one of Swisher/Konerko/Thome needs to go. If he would agree I wouldnt mind dealing Thome and DHing Dye, I love Thome but I think that we would be more balanced without him and since he cant be count on as an everyday 1B have to give the edge to Konerko. I dont know what to do regarding the pitching, Ideally Id like Richard in the bullpen though and someone outside the organization brought in. I thinking trading for Figgins AND Beltre is going to be prohibitively expensive. We don't all the major league talent or minor league depth to do both. There are a number of options (Kouzmanoff, Atkins, Beltre, Blake, Mora) and I think KW will explore each and every one, but in the end, Blake's the most logical due the numbers involved and not having to give up any talent to bring him in. He's the kind of player who probably would embrace playing with the White Sox. I don't think Figgins is good enough defensively to play CF or 3B everyday. He doesn't have the arm for 3B...and I know we'd miss a number of DP's that Ramirez and Uribe pick up having him completing the throw from second. That would be harmful to Buehrle and also pitchers like Garland (in the past) or Baldwin that didn't strike out many batters and pitched to contact.

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 12:15 PM) You make some good points, but with Hardy as the SS, Alexei would be at 2B. Where does our OBP at leadoff come from? That would leave only CF or 3B with the roster as presently constructed. I don't see any legit options in FA, so the Sox would have to trade using our logjam in OF/1B/DH as the bait. I'm not against the move, I'm just not sure if it is the "best" move KW could make. The only FAs that really fit the leadoff bill are Furcal (definitely) and Hudson (a little better than OC but still not "typical" at leadoff). As much as we, as Sox fans, want him gone, Javy is probably the best trading chip the Sox have, especially on a FA pitching market that gets thin after CC. Javy is guaranteed production - you know what you are going to get. He'd be an ideal #2 or #3 for a lot of NLC or NLE teams. I'm not defending Javy - I wrote a 3 page email to my Sox fan friends outlining why I want him voted off Sox island this winter, but I do want to see KW get appropriate value for him in a way that really helps the Sox. I think we would be fine with CoCo Crisp leading off. I think he would really take off again if playing in the AL Central again. And it strikes me as the most typical KW move, not very splashy, but solid, and logical the more one chews it over. I'm also thinking that Crisp/Ramirez or even Ramirez/Crisp would be a much better way to spark the top of the line-up than what we presently have. A lot of this depends on Ramirez becoming a bit more patient and raising his walk totals/OBP. BUT, he has all the tools as a hitter for the position. He's a very smart baseball player, has lightning quick hands, I think he could make the adjustment...he certainly can bunt as well as any player on the team and he's usually pretty good at execution. I have a lot more faith in him at 1/2 than Uribe or Brian Anderson, FWIW.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 12:03 PM) Speed will keep an offense balanced and consistent. The Twins are a prime example of this. Speed also changed the entire dynamic of how the opponent plays their defense. (Watching this White Sox team play, this is no secret.) Power added into this equation will make an offense elite. I'm not a big believer in the stolen base, but I am a believer in going 1st to 3rd on a single. The Red Sox at least had a number of runners that could apply pressure on the basepaths, even if it wasn't via the stolen base. That said, I don't think the decision needs to be between Konerko and Swisher. I think they need to make a decision between Dye and Thome. If you keep the core of Konerko, Thome, Dye, AJ, they're not much better off speed-wise no matter where they improve unless they can find a 3B who can burn the basepaths. I agree that Swisher can't carry the load at first base; this is traditionally a power position with players that don't run very well. It's one of the four positions on the diamond where I'm openly willing to sacrifice speed for power, defense or other intabgibles (the other three being C, 3B, DH.) Dye doesn't fit the bill as a right fielder anymore. He's slow, can't cover the gap or line very well, and he doesn't limit doubles to singles and won't often keep a runner from scoring from 2B on a single, or a runner from going 1st to 3rd on a single if he has to move to get the ball. Carlos Quentin can do this and has the arm to play the position. Move Swisher to LF permanently because that's where he fits on the field best. He doesn't have the arm to play RF, nor the power to play 1B, but has enough speed to patrol the corner OF positions. Then, obviously, decide whether they want to keep Dye in the line-up as DH or not. If so, don't bring Thome back. I don't like the idea of Figgins at 3B. It'll keep Dye in RF which will hurt the OF defense. He also has a noodle arm which won't translate well at a position that requires a power arm. I'm all for putting him at 2B. Which brings me to my next point: the Sox cannot go into 2009 with the idea of playing Uribe every day. His above average defense at 3 positions gives him value as a bench player as does his power, but he has no plate discipline what-so-ever. Automatic outs in an American League line-up are not a good thing. As we all know, CF should be one of the main priorities for KW in the off-season. They simply can't go into next year with the idea of Swisher/Griffey in CF. They can't play the position the way it needs to be played. And last, Figgins/Roberts need to be the main targets for KW this off-season. Without them and without Cabrera, they don't have even a decent lead-off hitter. Swisher is the only potential candidate, but I'd rather not see him there. I believe that just shifting Quentin to RF and permanently moving Swisher to LF vastly improves their overall defense and paints a clearer picture of where the holes are. Quentin/Dye/Konerko or Quentin/Thome/Konerko is enough power. All four together in the same exact spots next year is a bad idea. Swisher, all though he had a poor year at the plate, is not the problem. The main difficulty with what you want to do is that we're really locked into Thome's contract now, and it's a hefty one for another team to take on, and it obviously has to be an American League team. Not to mention that he's our main LH power source. If you let him go, then who are you going to rely upon in the middle of the order, Swisher? Well, it seems you want him to bat first or up in the order because of his OBP. Swisher as LF? Hmmmm...here's the way I look at it. The corner outfield spots and corner infield spots (LF/RF and 3B/1B) are where traditionally teams have the most power. If you can get "plus" power or an offensive edge at one of those positions, that makes your team all that much tougher to beat. That's why Ramirez is so key to our team, because he has pop most middle infielders simply don't possess, especially shortstops. Pierzynski also gives us a "plus" offensively, although defensively, he undercuts some of that overall advantage. Some have suggested DHing Dye, but I am not sure he is quite ready to do that at this point in his career, nor how it would affect his offensive game. He takes a lot of pride in going out to play everyday and he still possesses at least an above-average throwing arm. At any rate, my "main" targets are Roberts, Blake and Crisp. Roberts is probably the splashiest move, if for no other reason than that the Cubs also wanted him for a couple of years. Crisp and Blake are those "under the radar" type of moves that KW likes to make that don't generate huge headlines. All the other players commonly mentioned here, such as Figgins, Hudson, Grudzielanek, Furcal, etc., I'm so-so about, either because of the prohibitive cost versus their perceived value, their age or their injury history. Because of Swisher's youth and relatively favorable contract status, I think he's an easier player to move still. Also, as far as KW is concerned, Swisher isn't one of Guillen's favorites. I think it would be more difficult for our manager to see either Thome, Konerko or Dye traded, since he still has and continues to have so much faith in those three in particular. So it really depends on what other GM's out there are thinking...if Konerko or Dye can better get us back what we need, then trade them, particularly Konerko. However, Dye has given us a huge "net plus" in RF over the past 3-4 seasons in terms of him homerun numbers in RF versus the rest the league average in RF. Konerko and Thome have been much closer to the "normative" levels for those positions. So the question is, to an opposing team, who is the bigger bargain? Konerko? Dye? Thome? Swisher? All of them have their pluses and minuses, and I still believe the most interest will be in Swisher and Konerko (especially if the Angels lose Tex to the market). With Thome from Peoria and how much he enjoys the proximity to his family after one of his parents passed away, I think something special/amazing would have to come along for KW to go to him and ask him to consider a change of address again. Agree on Uribe. He can't be our starter next year. I can, I suppose "live" with Fields, but I would much prefer a Blake, Kouzmanoff, Atkins or Beltre over there than Josh. But we're not going to just give Fields away either. At the very least, KW was able to get a very valuable piece in Thornton back for Borchard instead of just releasing him.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 11:19 AM) Disco nailed it, but I'll add just a bit. Vazquez obviously had a terrible end to the season, but still has a lot of value to teams, especially on the open market. He takes the ball every 5th day, has posted around an 8.30 K/9 the last 3 years, and all the while doing this in a much tougher league. You write like Vazquez has an unmovable contract, but if he were a FA this off-season, he would be looking for a dollar amount higher than 11.5 a year. I would add a bullpen arm to the trade, (Wass,Russell, Link) but thats about as far as I would stretch it. I'd like to see him go out and get more than $11.5 million from someone...at any rate, the Brewers are a "small market" team trading a young/affordable player for a very expensive (by their standards) one. If they get swept out the the playoffs and lose Sabathia and Sheets, would they want to add someone like Javier? I just don't know. Normally it's not good to trade position players for starting pitchers (as pitchers are, as a rule, more valuable), but I wouldn't mind this one at all. I just think Javier needs another change of scenery, we'd have an everyday SS again and we'd have basically the money saved on Vazquez to invest in another starting pitcher who more than likely (going by KW's track record with acquiring talent outside the draft) have a much bigger impact than Vazquez has on the South Side.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 11:07 AM) I like the idea of shaking up the team and returning to speed, defense, and pitching. We are way too slow, especially in the middle of the lineup. Sheer power doesn't work for this team...it really doesn't work anywhere. Look at Tampa. This is an energetic, fast team with good pitching. A lot like the Sox in 2005. I don't have a lot of information handy where I could conjur up some trades, but there are certain players we need to keep and certain players we need to rid of. I guess Konerko, Dye, and Thome are here for 2009. That's fine. Konerko should return to form, Dye is solid, and Thome is an okay DH at this point in his career. I like Swisher. He brings an energy to the team that we need. Problem is, he's better at first than in OF. Could be an issue. Cabrera...he gone. He was an experiment that didn't work out. His defense is okay, but we didn't trade for okay. As much as I like Uribe at third, I think he's gotta go. We can find a better hitting third baseman out there. So who do we target? Roberts, sure. Crisp, why not. Do we keep Anderson? I'm on the fence. I think he might actually be better if he got to play all season. Like I said, I can't really serve up some trades or come up with a new lineup, but something has to be done. Hitting the most homeruns in the majors go us to the playoffs...barely. I don't think it will get us much farther. Hey, is Pods available? Pods as a regular again? Are you joking? April Fool's? If we want the 2009 version of Pods, then we might trade for Tavares or Figgins, but I don't think either of these is very likely.

First of all, Torii Hunter hasn't led the Angels anywhere. We did just fine beating Minnesota without him, and that contract will be a noose around their necks as he morphs into an average CF whose stat line is much closer to Mike Cameron than Grady Sizemore. I don't know who is our equivalent of Jair Jurrgens, but let's just say it would have cost us someone like Danks, McCarthy or Floyd (before they emerged). Actually, I wouldn't be totally shocked to see Renteria end up with the White Sox next year after DET declines his 2009 option for $12 million. We didn't have the players to make the Cabrera deal work like the Tigers...certainly no minor league equivalent of Cameron Maybin. Undoubtedly, it worked out for the best, for while Cabrera is an excellent offensive player when properly cajoled and motivated, he's a train wreck defensively and prone to getting overweight and sulking. But how these can be "typified" as blown deals is beyond me. While you're at it, add Aaron Rowand Kosuke Fukudome to the "blown deals," as we SUPPOSEDLY whiffed on those players as well. Imagine how fans would be all over KW if we owed Fukudome $38 million or something like that for the next three years? KW has never made a deal like that which broke so badly over the length of a long-term contract. You might argue that Vazquez or Contreras deals weren't great, but they were at least semi-logical and still could look again okay in the future. While we're at it, we should approach the Cubs' brass about taking Fukudome off their hands (if they subsidize about 50-65% of the contract) and put him in CF for the Sox in 2009.

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 10:33 AM) I mean look at what the last 6 world series champions have in common? 2001 Diamondbacks small ball, 2002 Angels small ball, 2003 Marlins small ball, 2004 Red Sox small ball, 2005 WhiteSox small ball, 2006 Cardinals same 2007 RedSox same Does Kenny and Jerry understand this? It works, why change it? I almost start thinking sometimes it's about money..What draws more fans?? Homeruns so kids can try to catch a ball I don't think you can make an argument that the Red Sox are anything approximating a "small ball" team. When they were at their best, they mixed in great starting pitching (in the playoffs) with a good bullpen, timely hitting and Ortiz/Ramirez raking in the middle of the order. Marlins and Diamondbacks will be remembered for their starting pitching much more than for being "small ball" teams. Also, if you look at overall winning percentage, the LA Angels have been the best team in baseball with their "small ball" approach and huge payroll but haven't reached the World Series in six years, despite having one of the best managers in the game. The White Sox played fundamentally-sound baseball the first 2-3 months of '05, but it was the pitching that really made that team. I don't remember if we led the league in homers, but we were pretty darn close if we didn't. The only aspect that was truly "small ball" was the execution and precision fundamentals of Pods and Iguchi for 2 1/2 months. We also had a lot of sacrifice bunts and flies to generate 1-2 run leads which the bullpen invariably held, mostly accounted for by Iguchi and Uribe.

Thought this was interesting...MLB's winningest teams since the beginning of 2005 1. LAA Angels +108 2. New York Yankees +102 3. Boston Red Sox +96 (won WS) 4. New York Mets +66 5. Philadelphia Phillies +56 6. Chicago White Sox +51 (won WS) 7. Cleveland Indians +48 8. St. Louis Cardinals +47 (won WS) 9. Minnesota Twins +43 10. Toronto Blue Jays +24 11. Oakland A's +17 12. Houston Astros +13 (lost WS) 13. Milwaukee Brewers +10 14. Detroit Tigers +8 (lost WS, 3 of top 14 teams in AL Central) 15. Chicago Cubs +7 (the most "average" team the last four years, overall) 16. TIE Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks and LA Dodgers +2 19. San Diego Padres -13 (but 2 playoff appearances) 20. Florida Marlins -15 21. Texas Rangers -20 22. Colorado Rockies -35 (lost WS) 23. Cincinnati Reds -50 24. Seattle Mariners -56 25. SF Giants -59 26. Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays -66 27. Washington Nationals -79 28. Baltimore Orioles -85 29. Pittsburgh Pirates -110 30. Kansas City Royals -124

I guess the only disagreement we're going to have is between Swisher and Konerko. I just don't think Swisher is good enough offensively to play 1B on a regular basis. If you could guarantee he would hit at least .250 with 30+ homers and 90+ RBI's, I would think about it, simply because the money saved on Konerko's deal (and we could get much younger and a bit faster) could be wisely reinvested in improvements/changes at 2B, 3B, CF, 5th starter and set-up/bullpen.