bighurt4life

For all those hating on Willy- please tell me who else we can get to play CF and lead off. I don't think we really have too many options, we can get him on the cheap and he can keep CF warm while we see if Danks has the goods. If Danks jr doesn't get it done in the minors then we look elsewhere. Bottom line is that Willy fills two big needs for this team, he's an everyday CF and he's a legit leadoff hitter.

You absolutely have to offer arb to Cabrera. It would be silly not to. Considering the teams looking for a SS we probably end up with a first round pick and a sandwich. Getting an extra first rounder is just money in the bank. You can't go wrong with it. Also, there's almost zero chance that Cabrera would accept it. He's gunning for one last big contract, if he takes arbitration then he risks an injury this coming year and loses big time bucks. All things being equal, he'll probably get a 3-5 year deal worth about 10mil per. That sounds a hell of a lot better than a one year deal for 10 mil.

We're all forgetting that the Braves have a glut of CF prospects, most of whom are highly regarded. I would have to think that any trade with the Braves would be centered around whichever one Kenny likes best or is the closest to the majors.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 04:12 PM) Yeah, a bit more meaning one other player. Dye is 35 years old and according to this board is below avg in RF. He is an injury risk and is at close to peak value for the rest of his career. This is the time to trade him, and getting one of the top prospects in baseball a year or two ago is good for me. Dye hasn't been injured since we signed him away from the A's. The only time he has been hurt that I can remember was a freak accident with the A's when he fouled a ball off his shin and broke his leg. Not sure why people always say that he's an injury risk. BUT, I do think that his value isn't going to get any higher than it is right now so we should ship him out for the best haul we can get.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 06:48 PM) Javy shines when the stakes are lowest. His best season with the Sox by far and away came in 2007, when we were out of it by June. The best season of his career came in 2003 when the Expos were out of it, I don't know, two weeks into the season. I'm sick of Javy's tired act. I think Ozzie is sick of him. I think Kenny is as well. But he obviously has to act like he really believes Javy's the s*** to get somebody to bite on a trade. And what's the difference in a proven loser and a guy, as you say, doesn't step up in big games? Sounds like the same thing to me. Not saying that he's an elite pitcher or anything but he does get us wins and I think that his fantastic streak in august and early sept helped put us in position to make the postseason. That being said I want him gone just as much as the next guy. His act is getting tired, I don't really have any respect for him. I was just playing devil's advocate, he does have some positive attributes.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 06:22 PM) Yes, he's a dependable loser. I don't think any team is taking a huge chance or risk as you say. There's no mystery whatsoever regarding Javy. He's going to get you innings and strikeout a lot of guys. And he's also going to be wildly inconsistent and go dookie in his pants whenever he's faced with a legitimate challenge. I don't see us getting some ridiculous package, such as I'm sure Kenny is asking, for a proven loser who's overpaid. Doesn't help that the guy refuses to go to a west coast team, either. I hate when average dudes got that kinda power. That kinda pull should be reserved for star players only. Wasn't he our best pitcher for the entire month of August??? Also he has a 127-129 career W-L with 6 of those seasons being on very bad Expos teams. he's 48-46 since he joined the Sox. So I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's a proven loser. He's just someone who doesn't exactly step up in big games.

Don't forget the Million Dollar Arm competition that was recently held in India to find some pitchers over there. It seems like the MLB is trying to get their foot in the door to get some publicity and hopefully tap into a 1billion population.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 10:01 PM) I've been saying you trade Jenks now if the really amazing package comes along. He's not an exceptional closer. He's been very solid, but he doesnt make the team SO good that you turn down a restart of the farm system. agree. plus he was a lot more fun to watch when he lit up the radar. 93mph doesn't get me hot like 100 does

I am all for trading Bobby if we can get top quality return for him. Saves are one of the most overrated stats in baseball and closers i think are the most overrated positions in baseball. I read an article recently that analyzed pre and post closer era game results and it showed that teams going into the 9th with a 2 or 3 run lead won the game about 95% of the time, this was in the 40's 50's 60's etc... before teams used a specialized closer, and the numbers for 70's 80's 90's were almost identical. this tells me that the use of the closer hasn't really altered the typical outcome of games. Honestly, is it really a big deal when a guy comes into the ninth inning with a three run lead and doesn't let the other team win? I think that's something that just about any guy in an average bullpen could do on a pretty regular basis. If you can't get three outs before giving up three runs more often that not then you don't belong in a major league bullpen. jmo

This is from an article written by a scout for ESPN.com Also, something to consider is that he isn't even playing every day and that makes hitting pretty difficult because it's tough to get your timing down.

QUOTE (G&T @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 01:47 PM) Not necessarily true. He'd be under control for a couple seasons and we've seen Uribe and Danks change agents. If not, then he could be moved for good value later. That said, you're probably right. In any event the Brewers would want younger pitchers than Javy. Like Danks and Floyd. Interesting question RE your post. Would you trade Danks for Fielder straight up? Fielder has already shown he's got super stud status. Danks looks like he's quickly heading that way but is still an unknown having just one good season.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 08:00 PM) We see this rumor talk going around about trading Bobby Jenks and commenst about the Sox thinkig a kid at AA (Link) can step in and become the big league closer to replace Jenks. My thoughts on this is someone must have alot of time of their hands to dream, this stuff up. The Sox can'tg really be that far out are they? We've got Link, Thornton, and Dotel who could all be potential closers, even Linebrink or McDougal in a pinch. There's lots of options for us on that front so that if we get a great offer from another team for Jenks we might just jump right on it.

The cardinals reportedly weren't willing to include Rasmus in a trade for Peavy. If that's true then there's no f-ing way they'd move him in a deal for JD and JV

That's great to hear. He deserved some kudos for his fantastic season. I agree with all the other picks except for Derek Jeter, no f-ing way jeter deserved it over lots of other SS's in the league.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 10, 2008 -> 09:00 PM) Actually, we might be better off if he's in so-so shape/condition, because we know what he can do, but other teams might be scared off by the rumors of his work ethic and attitude being lackadaisical the last couple of years in Cuba as many have argued that he has regressed a bit from the Omar Linares comparisons. Wouldn't that simply confirm the reports of his being a bit lazy if he isn't in shape for such an important workout. He's had months since he defected and should have known that he'd eventually have to work out for mlb teams, if you can't get yourself in shape in that period of time then there should be some major concerns about the kid's work ethic.

Cole Armstrong was 3-5 with 2 2B today. He's really been swinging a great bat in the AFL. I for one consider the AFL to be a pretty good league in terms of talent. Teams send their top prospects to the AFL for the most part so it's good to see some of our guys really succeeding there. I would say the level of play is probably close to AA considering there are some younger guys with great tools there but there are also plenty of guys from AA AAA and even guys who have spent time in the majors there.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Nov 9, 2008 -> 12:48 AM) The other: Sorry Lisa.... Not. Even. Close. OK, then what does he have? Is he just getting low level hitters out with offspeed junk or what. Also, it's great to hear that Shelby 3 has such a strong work ethic, he's obviously got the physical skills. He could be Chris Young v. 1.0 for us. Not sure what his defense looks like but he definitely has the speed and the power. He looks to have a little better contact skills than Young with the higher average but much like CY he does strike out a lot. Still, nice to see that we've got a CF in the system with real star potential.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 02:11 PM) http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...--+Red+Sox+news I believe that they have a stud CF in their organization who is 19 or 20 and played very well in AA last season. He would have to be the centerpiece of any deal involving Jenks.

Danks played CF today for Peoria Saguros. He went 1-5 with 2ks

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 28, 2008 -> 05:10 PM) You mean Yu Darvish? He's talking about a different guy. Yu Darvish has already been in the Japanese pro league for a few years and probably won't ever come to the states as he's a multimedia mega superstar in Japan. There is an amateur who is signing or trying to sign in the states by using a loophole in the system that the Japanese leagues are probably going to close.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 28, 2008 -> 12:45 PM) I'll never forget him throwing out Cuddyer. word

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Oct 23, 2008 -> 05:42 PM) On the Score today.... saying that some things are in the works that might surprise Sox fans. Again, I think most shocking KW move would be the most expected or natural one (i.e. Hudson). What may these surprises be? It wouldn't exactly be a surprise or shocking if it is the most expected move. Shocking would be a trade of one of our team core like Buerhle, Konerko, Thome, or Dye.

It would be great if the needs of the organization and the desires/wishes of it's employees were always in line with one another that would be great but the bottom line is that the sox are in the business of winning baseball games, if they cease to do so the business suffers. The needs of the employees are always a close second to the goals of the organization and that is how it is in just about any business that I can think of. That being said, if a player has the talent to play at the major league level he will find a way to get there one way or another. If the organization chooses to just let him rot in the minors then they probably are a team that it out of touch with the talent that they have. For example, if next year Brandon Allen starts in AAA and kills the ball all season showing that he's ready for the majors what do the sox do because he is blocked by not only PK but also Swisher. We can a. do nothing, let him stay at AAA b. move him up and let him sit on the bench c. move him up and move pk/swish to the bench d. trade pk/swish and make BA the starter at 1b e. trade BA to a team in need of a 1b and fill a hole that we have on the team if somebody really has the skills the team will either to options d or e because otherwise you are not taking full advantage of the talent you have and are not maximizing the team's ability to win. recent example of this happening was a few years ago with ryan howard. we was in the phillies organization but was blocked by jim thome. the phils decided that they wanted howard at 1b so they moved thome to a team that had a hole at DH, us. To repeat, if a player has the goods, he'll end up in the show one way or another.

Just looking through the rosters we don't have many players in mexican or dominican leagues. So far I've seen Jason Childers in the mexican league, Franklyn German, Santo Luis, and Francisco Hernandez in Dominican league. That's all i've seen so far, nobody to really get excited about.

The Sox just don't really spend that kind of money on FA players, not to say that we don't spend but we're talking about a big money long term deal. I think that KW and JR see those deals as handcuffing an organization with somewhat limited resources if it doesn't work out. Look at the Giants and the Zito deal or Seattle and money they spent on Richie Sexton. If you guess wrong it can really hurt your team's ability to compete for many years.