DaTank

IMO I think Rowand said he wasn't in a rush to decide who to sign with because he wanted to see if the Sox would make him an offer. It's terrible how badly he wanted to come back but of course KW denies him that. Rowand may have even signed 6/55 with the Sox as a discount.

QUOTE(IowaSoxFan @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 08:22 AM) If the Whitesox are going to be competitive they have two options. Option 1 - Spend and spend and spend. Go out and acquire top free agent talent to try to compete. This would mean mending fences with Boras and actually pursuing big name free agents. This is a very unlikely option as long as JR owns the team, the Sox cannot spend at the level of the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, or Tigers. Option 2 - Tear the house down and build it up again. Move the veteran players on the roster for youngsters that are not major league ready to maximize the return value that you can receive. Cut the payroll at least in half and use the money that is saved to sign draft picks, international players, and the rule 5 draft. Grow the team from the minor league system and then add in some free agent veterans to plug in holes. Option 1 cant happen, and I agree with you as long as JR owns the team. And the fact that all of the premier FA talent is gone by now. Option 2 won't happen as long as KW is the GM. It's all about winning now for him

QUOTE(lostfan @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 02:43 PM) Outside of Verlander, the rest of their rotation has a lot of question marks. I am not at all sold on Bonderman, who you don't know from day to day whether he is a #1 or a #5. And Todd Jones is still their closer. I'd be surprised if they didn't develop some holes on that staff. Not that they are the best staff, just that they do have veterans, unlike us with 2 spots filled by very young guys in Danks and Floyd.

Indians dont even come near the Tigers on paper. Theyve got the whole package. Defense, speed to an extent, veterans, veteran pitching, power, a bullpen, and a great backstop in Pudge.

Would have liked to sign Eckstein and Iguchi or Alexi Ramierez if one of them was not able to be signed. Kept Garland. Not waited this long to get outfield help. Picked up another durable starter. Jason Jennings or Carlos Silva? Would have had all 5 starting spots filled and put Danks and Floyd in the bullpen. HIT THE JAPANESE MARKET. I am big on the Japanese market. Fukudome? The 2 relievers who names i forgot as well. I dont even think that M Cab was in our neighborhood. Its just disappointing a division rival got him. As for trades if the Angels would do a Konerko and Crede for Willits, Kochman, and possibly throw in Santana, I would be all over it. I also like Crede and a prospect for a top-notch reliever. This deal may have also eliminated that ridiculous Linebrink deal. Buehrle for a Jacoby Ellsbury or Buchholz? If the Santana deal doesnt work out for the BoSox. Dye for a starter. Maybe Kasmir down in Tampa. Konerko for prospects. Jenks for 2 or 3 good, solid prospects. All of this only in a rebuild mode. Finally, FIRE KW. PLEASE

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:50 PM) There were other options out there -- the Japanese relievers signed by CLE and KC. The Sox were supposedly interested in the guy that signed with KC. The other option is to give Broadway, Egbert, Aardsma (at least he was briefly good last year), Gio, Haegar, and MacDougal shots at jobs and save the money. I would have liked the Japanese way. Wish we would have signed both for 2/9.5 deal. Would have signed them to that without even seeing them pitch. Japanese players are extremely disciplined and have amazing work ethics. And that would have filled 2 relief spots instead of 1 and taken 2 Japanese relievers away from our rivals

QUOTE(joeynach @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:46 PM) I dont think anyone doubted that hes overpayed. He 100% is. But what else was KW gonna do. Trot out Bukvich and Dewon Day again, go bring Riske back. I mean Linebrink might not be Joba Chamberlin what what are other options did we have to improve our pen. Your right but I think this was a pressure deal as well as the Garland - Cab deal. We needed to upgrade the pen and KW obviously has no problem overpaying this guy. We did have no other options but i think a 4/14 would have made a ton of more sense, and saved us 5 mil. to get another piece of the chances we let go earlier this offseason.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:45 PM) How many 2nd basemen does one team need. The cubs have like 17 of them. It still would have given them some chemistry with the Jap players though lol.

If i was a Cub fan I would have wanted this for them. Especially with the signing of Fuku. This would have added a bit more chemistry for them and giving Fuku someone to learn about the MLB from along the way.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:36 PM) Any free agent signing from now on sets the franchise back. We aren't a free agent away from winning. Please don't sign Rowand. If you do, for the love of god, do not give him a no trade clause. You mean sets the franchise even FURTHER back.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:32 PM) Has nothing to do with trends. The quote clearly implies pitching in PETCO has improved his career line, when that is in fact, false. A simple glance at his career home/away splits shows EVERYTHING has been better on the road. ERA, WHIP, BAA, H/9, K/9, BB/9, HR/9. Don't use that as your argument for 2nd worst FA signing if it isn't even true. Your forgetting to think about the money. 4.25 mil a year for a reliever coming into the AL and to one of the most hitter friendly ballparks in U.S. Cellular. And he is past his prime.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7542024...P&GT1=10734 Linebrink listed as the 2nd worst signing of the off-season behind Kaz Matsui by FoxSports. Hunter for 5/90 listed as the 4th worst.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:08 PM) Anyone else think we might trade Crede tomorrow, prior to the arb deadline? I know this is about Fuku, but it's the happening thread. It would make sense, but I really don't see it.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:57 PM) I hadn't heard that Nathan was involved, but yeah, they'd be getting nearly every Boston top prospects. I hadn't head it either, I'm just saying IF he was included in a BoSox deal...

Just throwin out an IMO, but I think vets like Thome and Kong and Bobby and Buehrle and Vazquez should teach the new guys how to become better hitters, starters, and relievers, as I have not seen much of this as of late. Show them the mechanics it takes to compete as a big league player and become clubhouse voices like Rowand was.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:51 PM) I agree. Also consider that they will get more top minor league talent for Nathan, and this is a team that is potentially loaded once these guys get some experience in the majors, and we know their solid reputation for developing talent. If Nathan was included in a BoSox deal they would probably include Ellsbury and Lester/ Buchholz plus 1 or 2 mlb ready players.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:46 PM) I don't think there's any way Santana is resigned there. He has turned down a few offers already. I'm still expecting him to be traded before spring training. They don't want to resign him for how much he wants now and its not like he would give them a discount. Plus why not get 1-2 amazing prospects and 1-2 major league ready players for him?

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:40 PM) Makes sense. If they aren't going to win in 2008, and Santana isn't going to re-sign, they might as well get players that will be there for 5 or 6 years for him. It still boggles my mind Boston was hung up on not giving up Ellsbury in a trade for him. Santana, Beckett, Dice-k and Bucholz would be tough to beat. Not to mention Curt Schilling as an inning eater for at least one more season.

QUOTE(Mr. Showtime @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:36 PM) That type of stuff doesn't matter when we're talking about this amount of money. Cubs came in with the most, and got him. The money alone shocked me on this one though. As some other people said earlier they will probably regret this within the next 2 years.

Fukudome to the Cubs really surprised me since, IMO, he is overpaid for someone who hasn't played 1 game in the MLB yet and since the Cubs really don't have to history with Japanese players for as long as I can remember. The Sox had signed Gooch and Shingo in recent years.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 04:07 PM) and his stuff is deteriorating all the same And the last time he was in the AL, 2006, he put up an ERA of 4.48 and a WHIP of 1.46; what would make you think that 2 years later he's going to improve upon that? He wasn't a good option and may well end up getting DFA'ed by July. I agree that his stuff is going downhill. But a one year deal wouldn't be bad. One year to let some other guys develop and send him packing after 08'.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 04:03 PM) You mean 5 years ago when he was still 29/30 years old and throwing in the upper 90's? It isn't like he's 40 or 42 or anything. A one year deal for a 34 year old wouldn't be the worst thing the Sox did this offseason.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 03:55 PM) Just because someone puts up mid 3 ERA for one season in the national league west doesn't mean they can consistently retire AL Central hitters. There's a reason why no one is willing to guarantee him 2 years. Now a days he pitches to contact but his stuff isn't nearly good enough to get away with it. The last 2 seasons he was with the twins he posted a 2-something and a 1-something ERA before moving to the Cubs where he has a 2-something

His ERA last year was 3.40 ish(?) and it would definitely be an upgrade over a few of our bullpen guys. While Aardsma's ERA last year was 6.40.

I mean come on he is decent and reportedly close to signing a 1 year 3.75 mil deal with the Yanks. This would have been a huge upgrade from many of the guys we have now so why was there no talk about bringing him to the Southside?