Pastime

Yas, ESPN News had a small mention of Seattle's interest in Jose Valentin earlier tonight. I was heading out the door to work when Mrs. Pastime mentioned it to me as I walked out. I don't understand it, except that Seattle has a nice lineup with hitters who hit for nice averages and pretty good OPS, so maybe they think they can be okay having a guy like him in the lineup and batting 8th - his "pop" and leadership can offset his .238 average and sometimes-suspect glovework. He would give them some power from the SS position, and that team desperately needed power down the stretch last year. Just a thought.

That's what I love about this place - the weird transitions. Now if we can only get Josh RP to post, then we're set!

I think KW, ever since the Ritchie/Kip debachle has done a damn fine job in keeping this team semi-competitive with the restrictions he is given. That stupid trade tarnished his image forever. He might have just set the franchise back 3 years by that move. That's why people feel the way they do about him. Many people can't overlook that, because it was a huge f***up. Almost as bad as Larry Himes letting Greg Maddux go for Candy Maldonado, Dave Smith, and Jose Guzman. His previous history meant CRAP after that debacle. In other words, you can be great 90% of the time, but if you really make a huge mistake, you won't ever live it down. And rightly so. That's the way of the sports/business world.

Welcome. PLEASE don't bring those ridiculous WSI rumors over here. You know, the rumors that come from someone's bad acid trip.

I should most certainly win the award for "Most Cynical Sox Fan." It's not much of an honor, but an honor nonetheless.

I only wish we had a solid 4-man rotation like they do. We could have had that, but we wanted Toad Ritchie instead. Pfffft. Kenny will NEVER live that down. NEVER. When you send a retarded monkey to do a man's job ........

If any deal involves us picking up salary, forget it. Won't happen.

Sitting in the corner of a room, thinkin' of you. Wonderin' what you're doing now we're apart. No use cryin', tears can't reach you now. Memories, fulfilling dreams. You used to be, so good to me, I can't live without you. I'd like to be, in your fantasy baby, Part of you is me. Walking across the clouds, hope I see you there. Be it day or nightime, I don't really care. Hope you see me too, before I meet my end. Someone stole my life away, I can't pretend. Journey - "Next" (the last album before Steve Perry joined the band)

It's only been a year? Damn, I would have thought you were here back when you had a Commodore 64 or a Speak "N" Spell. Congrats, you old timer!

Well, when we grew up and went to school, There were certain teachers, Who would hurt the children in any way they could, By pouring their derision, Upon anything we did, Exposing every weakness, However carefully hidden by the kids. But in (but in) the town it was well known, When they got home at night, Their fat and psychopathic wives would thrash them, Within inches of their lives. Pink Floyd - "The Happiest Days of our Lives"

When the ebbing tide retreats Along the rocky shoreline It leaves a trail of tidal pools In a short-lived galaxy Each microcosmic planet A complete society ...... A simple kind mirror To reflect upon our own All the busy little creatures Chasing out their destinies Living in their pools They soon forget about the sea... Rush - "Natural Science"

Every day I wake up not being a Cubs fan is a better day than the one before. I am a day older, but also a day wiser, a day smarter, a day more educated by life, and a day happier that I don't root for those assholes on the North Side. I don't see the downside (besides maybe a few more lost hairs and a few more wrinkles). But I'm married, so who cares how I look anymore? I sure don't! The wife isn't exactly aging with the grace of a fine cheese or wine, so the hell with it!

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery."

I've seen it many times, and it always sticks the "we have to trade him" team up the ass. I can remember the NBA's 76'ers trading Charles Barkley for Jeff Hornacek and Clarence Weatherspoon because they "had to." They stunk for years while the Phoenix Suns went to the Finals - only to lose to my beloved Bulls. That's the only example I can come up with, but there are others. No, Wait. How about Seattle trading Randy Johnson to the Astros? Yeah, they got Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen in return, but Guillen always seems to be hurt, and Garcia has finally been figured out. Plus, he may have a suspect arm. Have either of those guys ever made the impact on their team that Randy did for Houston? He got them to the NLCS, while Garcia and Guillen have never even sniffed that. And now Garcia is such a "keeper" that his team is trying to dump him, and Guillen is such an "impact" player that his team tried to sign Miguel Tejada. You just never get in return what you traded away, IMO. Unless Dan Evans finds some brain cells for sale in a store, then stand tough against him. He'll either collapse or sell Mota and Perez for garbage, and we'll at least have a borderline superstar in our lineup next year. We hold the extra "ace" in this poker match, not Evans.

In Chicago, we call it the "Chicago Cubbune." (And for obvious reasons). If we could pull off Williamson for Rauch, I would be ecstatic, much like many of you. I used to have really high hopes for Jon Rauch, but I don't anymore. I think he's possibly already reached his ceiling, and he's hardly made a big splash over the last 2 years. Look at this scouting report from Rotoworld (take it for what it is): Rauch, one of the top prospects in all of baseball following a brilliant 2000 season, isn’t yet back to where he was before hurting his shoulder in 2001. Still, after a strong finish for Triple-A Charlotte, he deserved a look at the end of last season. The 6-foot-11 right-hander throws in the low-90s and has a solid curve and slider. He remains a good bet to make it as a fourth or fifth starter and he could be something more. Despite their pitching problems, the White Sox don’t seem to be including him in their plans for 2004.

I'm overloaded with Sox stuff every day as it is, so I can't even remember all the potential trades. However, if the Dodgers are balking at trading Mota and Perez for Maggs, they can go jump in a lake with cement shoes on. Perez is a mediocre starter with a big mouth, and Mota has had ONE good season. Maggs would immediately improve their lineup, and possibly give them enough scoring to win some of those 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 losses, especially with Shawn Green's nagging injuries now in the rear-view mirror. I keep hearing about how good their farm system is (supposedly), so they should be able to replace Mota and Perez a hell of a lot easier than we can replace a perennial .300, 30 HR, 110 RBI, 46 doubles, high OPS player like Maggs. I just hope this isn't another stupid attempt by Dan Evans to "stick it" to the Sox because of his still-festering bitterness. If it is, then piss on him. He'll probably be fired after this season anyways, and I'm surprised he wasn't s***canned already. He's made some really questionable moves at times in L.A., and he's certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I know that we have some salary albatrosses on the team and all, but I don't want to trade them just for the sake of trading them. We have to get something decent in return for them, or it's just another exercise in futility. And when it comes to Maggs, I don't want a bag of balls and a bucket of urine in return. Unless we can get something decent in return, forget it. Yes, he will be a free agent after next year, but whatever team we potentially trade him to will immediately be getting a borderline superstar and increasing the firepower of their offense. In other words, I don't want to get hosed or taken advantage of. If that means that we're stuck with him, then I guess we are, and we'll just have to make the best of it. I do think Kenny overestimates the value of a lot of his players, but whatever he thinks about Maggs is probably very similar to what we think.

I know that as a society, we love "dirt" and "juicy stuff" to just rile up the masses, but can't any columnist have even the slightest sliver of integrity? I truly think that this guy just wanted to stir the pot. When I read a column that has no sources or quotes, I tend to just want to wipe my ass with it.

I don't think he has much left in the tank, and what he does have left could possibly be nothing but "fumes." I don't think he's worth no $3 million a year, sorry.

Robbie's washed up. What does his hygiene have to do with anything?

Wow. Can you imagine the Twins replacing Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins with Jose Mesa and Antonio Alfonseca? All of a sudden, any fears I had of that Twins team are quickly fading away. I think Alfonseca blew 6 saves last year - he can count them on one hand.

No manager, no matter how power-hungry, drunk, or insane, would want to get rid of a team's 4 best hitters. I truly have to doubt any credibility that this writer has. I can understand Ozzie wanting to get rid of Frank, but the other guys? This has to be the biggest pile of feces I've read in months.

BY LAWRENCE ROCCA - Star-Ledger Staff Guillen sure to be a pain for 'Big Hurt' - Sunday, December 14, 2003 NEW ORLEANS -- White Sox slugger Frank Thomas hates his new manager and former teammate Ozzie Guillen so much that he has asked GM Kenny Williams to trade him, something Guillen would also like to see as part of the sweeping changes he has recommended to the team's management. Guillen, hired by Chicago after helping the Marlins win the World Series as their third-base coach, has told Williams he should try to get rid of Thomas, Paul Konerko, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee because he wants more athletic, faster players who are more adept at getting on base. Basically the kind of players who propelled the Marlins this past year. Guillen also wants to alter the White Sox's clubhouse culture and he believes removing the perpetually grousing Thomas would go a long way toward doing that. When they were teammates, Guillen regularly clashed with Thomas and Guillen has made no secret of his plan to ride The Big Hurt every day if necessary in order to get him to play hard. The Dodgers need a first baseman and GM Dan Evans seems obsessed with players from the White Sox, his former employer, and has been talking to Williams about trading a pitcher for one of those hitters, but Thomas might be too expensive. Thomas will make a relatively modest $6 million next season but holds player options for each of the next two years worth a total of $18 million. The Dodgers are going to use starter Odalis Perez as a trade chip to get a hitter and have dangled reliever Guillermo Mota to everyone they've talked to, so it's conceivable they could package Perez and Mota to get Ordonez. Several teams are after Mota, who was pursued all over the field and then in the clubhouse by Mike Piazza during a bench-clearing brawl in spring training. ---- Lawrence Rocca

It's very simple. Two people that have "colliding personalities" can still co-exist if they are going for the same goal - the success of the company. I worked with a co-manager for 3 years. He hated my guts, and I hated his. We almost came to blows a few times. Okay, about a hundred times. However, as much as we couldn't stand each other's presence, we still had a common goal - the success of the company and the success of our department. And we won awards for that, and had some great accolades from the upper management. As for Frank and Ozzie getting along, I'm not saying that it's PROBABLE - I'm saying that it's POSSIBLE. If not, then ship Frank's ass out of here. I personally think Ozzie will win us more games this year with his philosophy, fire, intensity, and knowledge than Frank will win us this year with his quickly-fading bat.

Detroit can get all the hitters it wants to. It won't help much at all. 'Their PITCHING was their major problem, and yet major league teams still overpay for hitting, and devalue the importance of pitching. I just don't get it. GOOD PITCHING BEATS GOOD HITTING 95% of the time. Just ask the Red Sox.