Pastime

Yes he was. And he took it up the ass sideways - much like Millwood, Pudge Rodriguez, and others will take it this year. The guy used to be awesome at overrating his clients and their abilities, and he used to be awesome at playing "chicken" and bluffing with his poker face to get killer contracts, however, he's now been figured out. I can honestly see many of his clients telling him to go scratch - itch or not.

Any news on Jon Rauch? I have been waiting and hoping for him to really be a part of our rotation for about 3 years now. Is he going to be a good MLB pitcher, or just another "overrated prospect flop" like Scott Ruffcorn, James Baldwin, Larry Thomas, etc?

On a side note, I don't know why, but I hate that The Sporting News and Fox Sports are together now. I really liked it when TSN was a separate website. Agreed 150%. As for the Red Sox and Texas "supposed trade," I could give a crap one way or another. I don't root for either team, and Manny and ARod are disgustingly overpaid, so I really am numb to it either way. However, I really am envious at teams who have owners who care and "give a s***." Thanks Jerry. :fyou Jackass.

Boras is too stupid to realize that the "market" of 2 or 3 years ago is dead. The owners have made it very clear - they want the market to be lower-priced. If he and his clients are too dumb to realize that, then I hope they all rot. Before it's all said and done, you'll see a ton of Boras clients come crawling and begging for contracts a hell of a lot lower than they expected. GOOD.

If we can acquire Colon/Ponson/?? and shore up the bullpen, I think we'll have enough offense. Plus, we play in a really horrid division that is certainly winnable with possibly 85-88 wins. Detroit? Well. they're Detroit. Cleveland? Not ready for prime time yet. Kansas City? They fell back to Earth, and they won't have that hot start again - it happens once in a blue moon. Minnesota? Roster depletion just keep on comin'. And their pitching staff is really iffy.

Maybe the Sox should just change their philosphy. Instead of trying to outscore the opponent every game in slugfests, maybe they should just try to shut the other team's offense down to a minimum and "grind" out enough runs to win. Hey, it's not exciting to watch sometimes, but I'll take ANYTHING that will help the team win.

Kenny is in a Catch-22 situation. If he trades Maggs, even for good players, fans will be pissed. If he trades Maggs for garbage, just to trade him so we get SOMETHING in return, fans will be pissed. If we keep him and he leaves after next season, fans will be pissed. I guess Kenny will have to just consider the lesser of all evils, and make a decision based on that. I don't see a winning scenario anywhere in this except for them signing Maggs to an extension, and I have a better chance of jumping out the window and flying than that happening, IMO.

Larry Horse says Paul Konerko is too GIDPY LMAO!! Well played.

I can't find the numbers at the moment, but we were a lot better than in seasons past. I know the lineup won't be as "explosive" as last year, but the Cubs (GAG!) showed that if you have really solid defense and good pitching, you can win even with a marginal offense.

I think his pricetag is scaring a lot of people off. The owners seem to be "taking a stand" the last 2 years, and they're trying to decrease the salary scale. However, Maggs isn't some marginal player - he's a bonafied All-Star. His pricetag is all that's keeping Kenny's phone from ringing off the hook. If Maggs made 8 million a year, or something like that, he would already be wearing another uniform. (If we were still "shopping" him around, that is). What's sad that is if we DON'T trade him, then he's as good as gone next season, and all we get is a stupid draft pick. Whoopee.

Agreed. When he first started playing left field, it was almost like watching a really bad bloopers film. However, I give him a ton of credit. He has worked his ass off to become better defensively, and all that hard work on defense hasn't affected his hitting at all. He's a good player, who could potentially be a great player. He's not Jacque Jones or Barry Bonds in terms of defense, but he's not bad. His defense is the least of our problems, IMO.

Just keep him away from dirtbikes!

If only Paulie was more of a "grinder," Kenny would smooch his rear end. I still want to know what Kenny considers a "grinder."

Considering the payroll restrictions, Colon is the "best bang for the buck." Sure, it would be nice to go out and get some stud pitchers, but we can't afford them monetarily, and we are running out of prospects to trade for them as well.

Frank Thomas had a decade+ of proven seasons to back him up - Konerko doesn't. He's had two good halves in 5-6 seasons. Honestly, if Paul was making 2-3 million a year, I don't think anyone would say anything about him. However, every dollar counts when we're talking about the Sox. Thanks Jerry. :fyou

It's only a shame that his cellmate isn't William Ligue. Serves him right. At least he'll have 6 long months to really think about what he did. Idiot. I hope his "10 minutes of fame" was worth about 260,000 minutes in the clink.

If you've read any of the numerous articles about the supposed trade, you might have stumbled upon a few nuggets about now Perez is a mouthy guy who complains when he doesn't get his way. Paul Loduca called him "gutless" for crying to the media.

I haven't given up on Koch yet. But when it comes to Konerko, his career season averages end up around .275, 21 HR, 81 RBI. Those are decent numbers, but not good enough for 8 million a year. Plus, he's average at best defensively, clogs the bases terribly, and grounds into more double plays than some entire teams. We have enough slow plodding right-handed hitters in the lineup already, and I would rather have Thomas, Ordonez, or Lee than Konerko. And don't forget that Paul has a tendency to go into prolonged slumps, and has a questionable hip.

The only way I would move CLee out of left field is if we were signing Shannon Stewart, or someone like that.

I think it would take a 3-team deal for Beltran to come here - normally, GM's will not trade players to their division rivals.

I just hope that if there is a deal in the works, it happens soon. I can't think of a better Christmas gift than GIDPaul being sent packing. (Judging by the description of the thread, I'll assume that RibbieRhubarb is a fan of Larry Horse - he likey.)

Like winningugly said, the Mets have very little to offer in return. If we're trading Maggs, then we're getting some great players in return. Otherwise, NO SALE.

So, we would trade our staff ace for 3 hitters? You win more games (including PLAYOFF games) with pitching, pitching, pitching. All the hitting in the world can't offset a solid pitching staff. Have we learned nothing over the last 4 years?

Welcome! If you need anti-depressants, I'm sure many of us can advise you on what to take.

Thank you, Jerry. :fyou