Pastime

3rd largest city in the United States - 24th lowest payroll. Can anyone else see a flaw with this?

He is special. I'm glad we agree on something for a change.

But Ozzie is still not of that mindset. I still think he believes that he can create "The Marlins II." Whether that is feasible or not doesn't matter. I truly believe that he thinks he can just put players of the same "style" in the same lineup as he had in Florida and they will perform just like what he dealt with. Yes, that mindset is flawed and unrealistic on several levels, but Ozzie is a "green" rookie, and I don't know if he can cleanse his mind of that outlook.

I may be overinflating his worth or what I expect of him, but I truly think that Joe Crede will be "Scott Rolen II" next season. He won't hit the same amount of HR's but he will be our "diamond in the rough." Or as some people call it - a "sleeper." Now if only Joe Borchard could remove his head from his ass and cut down on his swing .......

IMHO, Ozzie is going to try to have a team very similar to the one he just left. I personally think he'll give Willie every chance to fail or succeed in CF. I think that Ozzie looks at Rowand as a 4th outfielder, not a starter. That being said, we will still need a 2B. Willie would be brutal as an everyday 2B, IMO. In CF, he would have less chance for failure. And I think that is just where we will see him next year.

We will lose Maggs, probably Frank, and Jose V after this season. The White Sox, as we have known them for the last 5 years, are going to get a facelift. Our manager is different than what we're used to, and our team will be different than what we're used to. As long as it equals a World Series in my lifetime, I'm okay with it.

If I am reading pastime right, what the two of us are implying is that Kenny needs to dump the guys that make big bucks on offense for younger guys that can be productive and then use the free payroll to add pitching, pitching and more pitching. Holy Crap. My wife is the only one who ever read me right, and now you too? I'm becoming too predictable.

Steve, Look at our lineup, and then look at the Dodgers lineup. We are much better, even in our worst moments. At least, IMO. Plus, we play in the worst division in baseball, while the Dodgers play in the arguably best division in baseball. We have Frank, Crede, CLee, Maggs, and Jose in our lineup. Plus, we have the luxury of a DH. Give our lineup to the Dodgers last year, and they would have won 98 games, IMO. Their team lacks HR and doubles potential, while we have a lot of it. Just my thoughts.

He has never cared about his physical conditioning or cared about his health. That was fine about 10 years ago, but it's catching up with him now. He broke down and amounted to s*** for us, and he did the same in the World Series. The Yankees were f$cked after he broke down. He cost them that game, and possibly the Series. He's just a risk now. He could go 25-5 for some team, but what if his out-of-shape fatass breaks down? I would rather spend money on "lesser" risks than a wild spirit who doesn't give two craps about his health or conditioning. Let him rot away in mediocrity, which is the perfect backdrop for his career.

I really liked what he brought to the clubhouse. He was a great teammate, a great spokesperson for the team, and a decent player. His intangibles are great, but clubs don't pay for that stuff, they pay for "numbers." So, his 10 HR, 37 RBI's, and intangibles in 2 months as a Sox player mean nothing to the powers that be, I guess. The problem is not just that we have very little money to spend - it's that we spend our little money very POORLY. 8 million to Konerko is the biggest joke since "Why did the chicken cross the road?" And neither is funny or even remotely amusing. Kenny f*cked that up, much as he has done on MANY levels of many things.

If the Sox offered Everett arbitration, he would probably get about $8 million or thereabouts. Is he worth that? I don't know, since I'm not an agent. However, this is a "depressed market" according to ESPN, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, etc., so who knows. I would love to have him back, but I'm not holding my breath one way or another.

I agree. Just for the sake of argument, let's assume that the Sox are only able to spend another 10 million the whole rest of the offseason. Just 10 million. I would spend that whole damn enchilada on the pitching staff and not allot $1 to the lineup. Pitching, people. That's what gets it done. Even if your lineup is laughable, weak, and pathetic, if you have a great pitching staff, you have a fighting chance. PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING. Oh yeah, and if it's available, PITCHING.

It sounds good. It's just that we have a lot of holes to fill, and we only have enough money to buy a small bucket of spackle. That being said, a lot of ugly patching will occur.

Don't be cheap on the pen. That is so key in this era of baseball. You got to have a strong pen to go deep if you ask me. For two reasons : 1. You need guys to hold down the opponent, since not many starters go past 7 innings anymore. 2. We have Garland and Schoenweiss possibly as two of our starters, and we will need a strong bullpen to clean up should either of them get rocked early in games (which I can see happening, as you can too, I'm sure).

We should just offer him $1000 and a lifetime pass to Old Country Buffet - that might just do it.

This thread was started 8 months ago, and it's still living and breathing? Can you say "Euthanasia?" I knew you could.

Gload is a typical AAAA player, and we have two of them (Rowand and Harris) probably slotted into our lineup already. No way I want to go into the season with a weaker lineup than the Detoilet Tigers. Gload - a nice bench player. A starter? No way in hell.

Is he better than Scott Schoenweiss and Danny Wright? YES. Enough said.

Right on.

Just get someone who has a proven track record as a big league starter. If we go into the season with the pitching staff as is - we are screwed. Schoenweiss or Wright as our 5th starter? Just shoot me now and put me out of my misery. PATHETIC.

If the Royals spent that money on Tejada, then the fans would have to bring their own toilet paper and seats. They can barely afford the scrimpy payroll they have.

Good luck to Eric. If he just positions himself the right way in his cell, he can get the sun to shine on him just enough to give him that "Bleacher Bums" tan. :fthecubs

That's not worth 8 million in my world. It was worth that much 2 years ago, when inflated salaries were the norm, but in today's baseball, you have to really get the most bang for your buck. For 8 million, I would expect a lot more.

We'd better hope that old Coop can figure out Koch's glitch, or we're in some bigass trouble.

Yeah, those are nice numbers - for some journeyman making 2 million a year. He's being paid 8 million to be mediocre. Money well spent, isn't it? Meanwhile, thanks to contracts like his, our team is being gutted and "cheapened down." Defend that.