Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 03:28 PM) I can’t understand why anyone would ever want to root for a team that can just go out and buy all the talent. There’ no competitive spirit, no underdog mentality, it’s just we have the money, and we’re gonna put it to good use. That last part is the one that makes it fun to watch. The Yankees don't always spend wisely. They are making their first offer - not final but first offer - 6 years to CC Sabathia. They may end up going as high as 8 without anyone bidding against them. Imagine if the Angels had offered Bartolo Colon 8 years at that price. They're already stuck with Derek Jeter the DH in the middle of their field eating up a ton of money.

BTW, I wonder if the Yanks have looked at Burnett's game log? He's either really good or f***ing horrible, just like Javy Vazquez. He'll either be their next Pavano, or he'll be their next Weaver/Contreras whose contract they'll have to partially eat after about 2 years just to get him out of town.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 10:27 AM) Burnett will be their next Pavano. QUOTE (TCQ @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 10:34 AM) Took the words out of my mouth. Damn, I was going to say that too.

If we take 5 bench players it would be fine. If we go to four, then you have to ask yourself if you are comfortable with having only 1 MIF and having to start Betemit at SS when Alexei needs a break. If not, then you need a SS for your fourth player. Ideally we have a CF who can actually play CF, a quality UT man (Betemit), a backup catcher, and a second IF who can actually play SS. If we have an extra spot on the bench Hinske would be a nice option, but if it were me - and I know this will never happen BTW so don't think I'm suggesting it as a realistic possibility - but I'd try to bring back Frank Thomas on a one year farewell bench deal. Teams aren't going to give him a shot to start anymore, and he might not even be healthy enough to play at all, but I'd love to be able to go to him late as a scary-ass pinch hitter. That won't happen though because Kenny is kind of a major asshole when it comes to Big Hurt. I don't care if he f***ed your mother, he's the Big Hurt god damn it, show the respect.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 01:21 PM) I'd add Hosmer and Melville to the untouchable list at least for the next two years. This Royals team has a bright future ahead of it. I still see us beating them for the next couple of years, but when Gordon, Hochevar, and Butler finally pull it together they're going to come on strong. Those two can't be traded yet anyway. I was talking more of guys they might deal this year, but yeah, they've definitely got some keepers in their system, and they have the overall depth to be able to acquire very good players without giving up the very best they've got.

If we go with 12 pitchers again like most of last year, that will only leave us with 4 bench slots. We need a C (Armstrong?), a UT player (Betemit), and a back-up OF (Anderson or Wise), so that leaves us with one spot left. Instead of adding a bat like Hinske I would prefer we add a defensive-minded SS who can also cover 2B, someone better than Betemit. I doubt we get that though, because if we sign Viciedo or someone else to compete with Fields and that player makes the team, or if the Sox don't pick an everyday 2B between Nix and Getz and opt for a platoon instead, we've basically got Viciedo/somebody else, Fields, Nix, and Getz for 3 spots. Either way I doubt we pick up another bench player unless he's a catcher.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 11:18 AM) Sox could be after DeJesus right now, as that leadoff option who could play CF. What's he like defensively in CF again? Think the Red Sox have done pretty well here. Don't really get what Moore is trying to achieve but acquiring all of these hitters, but maybe he has some sort of plan. But the Royals is much weaker right now than what it was in 2008, and that should be a big concern for them. The Royals have been rumored to be suitors for Furcal for a while now. If they get him, then can run out this team: Lineup: Furcal SS Aviles 2B DeJesus LF Guillen RF Jacobs 1B Butler/Kila Ka'al'a'alala'mala'alla'na'al'alla'hue DH Gordon 3B Olivo C Crisp CF Rotation: Greinke-Meche-Bannister-Davies-Hochevar with other names possibly in the mix, including Cortes The Royals hurt their bullpen by dealing for Crisp and Jacobs, but they're usually a team that looks to pick up rebounding relievers and deal them around the break for prospects/projects. I could see the Royals looking at one of the injured starters like Freddy and Bartolo plus a couple of the former closers like Cordero as one year reclamation projects. In all they will continue building something resembling a Major League baseball team. As we know, all it takes is a few well-timed break-out years for them to be legit contenders. If Kyle Davies and a couple of Gordon/Butler/Kila reach their potential then the Royals will be in the thick of the race IMO. I still expect them to at some point begin trading their prospects for young MLB-proven talent. The only possible untouchables IMO would be Moustakas, who beat the s*** out of the ball in Burlington last year, and our former prospect Daniel Cortes who could be ready as soon as this year. I was actually kind of surprised to not see them in on Matt Holliday. The Royals were my dark horse there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 06:49 PM) Where have you gone, Francisco Hernandez DiMaggio? Well...that idea bodes well for both Silverio and Jose Martinez. Hopefully they're not the next Dellaero/Caruso/A. Gonzalez. Silverio until proven otherwise should be considered a 20+ year old scrub who was talked up by Wilder & Friends and given a fat contract so our former con-artists could buy new sportscars. Jose Martinez is still legit I'm sure. It's hard to lie about a guy whose father once played in the Major Leagues. People would know. Hopefully Jose rebounds and shoots back up the prospect lists.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 06:43 PM) I want OC to go there and see the Slowest Show on Turf. I just don't want to see them add Blake or Beltre. Both of those would be exactly the kind of veteran leadership they lost when Hunter/Radke/Santana/J. Jones moved on. I really think there's a sense about the Twins that Morneau and/or Mauer are not really fiery enough...the same types of things you hear said about Dye/Konerko/Thome over and over again. I do think having those types of veterans to reign in the likes of D. Young, Matt Garza, etc., are necessary. If the Twins did a better job "in-house" of handling Matt's maturity issues, they wouldn't have had to trade him. Isn't Blake like 37 or 38 now? I wonder how much left he has in him and how long of a deal he's going to want. Hopefully if he goes to the Twins they give him good money over three years. He can't have a whole lot left at the hot corner. As far as veteran leadership you may have a point, but if they want a fiery guy they're probably not going to want a laid-back type like Blake - or really any ex-Indians for that matter as it seems the Indians are notorious for playing one half of a season and going through the motions for the other. Besides, I doubt that clubhouse lacks fire. Carlos Gomez is a f***ing nutcase who I am sure over the course of a season provides his share of odd yelps and Spanish battle cries.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 03:27 PM) The mild strain probably had a significant impact on his down-season. A year ago people were talking about him being a middle of the rotation starter and now some insiders still believe him to be a potential back of the rotation guy. So yes, I'd trade a guy that couldn't hit .200 for most of the season to get a potential back of the rotation starter that would be cheap for numerous years. I also laugh at how people rip on the other minor leaguer that was traded for and than slurp all over about how great Texeria is. I like Tex, dont' think he should have been included in the trade but the guy the Sox got is closer to the majors and has a skill-set that could help him eventually develop into a set-up type guy. Will he, I don't know, but lets cut the bulls*** (not you Kenny the other poster) when you act like you know more than the rest of the world and that these guys are non-existent prospects and aren't worthy of being major leaguers. f***, if you think the Yanks didn't have some sort of interest in Marquez they wouldn't have sent him to the Fall League where he could get additional innings. Agree completely. Obviously the Sox have faith in him and the Yanks didn't sell him off to Japan like they did with our Rasner's brother. Guys fall off the radar just as quickly as they jump on it, but if a guy does show up on the radar, then he's probably got some kind of talent. Kenny doesn't make his deals according to prospect rankings based largely on statistics; he makes them based off of what he see and what his trusted scouts tell him.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 06:33 PM) What will be interesting is to see if Crede and Uribe can pull the trigger early...some of those FA lists have Crede as high as #10 "most wanted," which I find amazing/incredible to believe. But hey MLB GM's, just roll the tape from September/October 05 and let those guaranteed millions start rolling Boras' way. It will also be intriguing to see if the Twins do get Huston Street, Blake and/or Cabrera...how/when/if KW responds. I'm waiting for the priceless "All this has done is put the Twins in a better position to compete with us..." comments, especially with O-Cab. I'm sure he will have a grin or two on his face, knowing we will get back their draft picks. If we hadn't just traded for Betemit, I wouldn't have been shocked to see him bring in Mr. Nick "Slide Into 1B on every routine infield grounder" Punto I'm not really worried about what the Twins do. At most they'll add some good veteran complimentary players. At worst (for them) they'll find another Tony Batista/Livan Hernandez/Ramon Ortiz type of "bargain." Either way, it's their core that is going to kill us. They won't get anyone better than anyone that is a part of their core, unless of course they deal Delmon Young. So yeah, I really don't care, and if they want to sign OC and give us their first round pick then that is perfectly fine with me. OC is an overrated defensive SS and as a hitter he is nothing much to worry about unless he's on a hot streak.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 06:08 PM) I'm the same age as Griffey, almost the same exact birthdays...in fact...so I guess from my perspective he is a kid, lol. Not just any kid, Griffey is the Kid. He still looks like a kid to me anyway. He definitely doesn't look his age, at least not in the face. I bet he still gets carded by people who aren't baseball fans.

QUOTE (MAX @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 04:17 PM) I find it annoying when someone refers to a grown person as a kid. It screams ego, as if to say, "I am more experienced than this kid. I've been through it all before" when really no one really knows anything about life. We are all the same amount of clueless. Go ahead and tell me exactly: How did the universe begin and why? Who created it? What happens after we die? Is there a heaven and what is it like if there is? What is it like to be free from aversion and desire? What does one base their actions on having attained enlightenment? Then you can start calling other people "kid". Then again, if you were that wise, you wouldn't. I don't know anything about life or Corky Miller, but both Corky Miller and I know you need to see a therapist.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 01:27 PM) This I don't agree with at all. The Sox will teach Marquez a cutter I would have thought, and with the impact it's had one some of the pitchers we've had (Danks and Loaiza to name a couple), who knows what that will possibly do to Marquez's numbers as a whole. Also I don't know you can definitely classify Teixeira as a better relief prospect than Nunez, by hey, that's just me. From the scouting reports and write-ups I've seen posted here and elsewhere, it appears Marquez, in the span of one year, went from the #7 prospect in the Yankees' system (which would have included Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain among others) and a potential future #2 starter to a nobody who sucks and isn't worth the letters on the back of his jersey. So what happened that one year that took him from a very good prospect in a great system to a nobody? A horrible year and a mild shoulder strain, of course. Yeah, there's no way Kenny saw anything in this kid...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 01:52 PM) Yeah, we even let you on! You should let him stay so he can continue to get blasted for siding with armchair GM's and statsheets over the opinions of actual, proven baseball people.

QUOTE (Raf @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) Wow. The analysis is spot on. The Sox DID sell shockingly low on Swisher, AND gave up the best pitcher in the deal on top of everything. The chances of Swisher rebounding are much better than any of these former Yankee scrubs ever amounting to anything. There's a reason why South Side Sox is regularly linked to by other, respected publications. It's a great site with extensive analysis and scouting predictions, which is more than I can say about Sox Talk. I'm sure I will be kicked off now, so I will leave you all to bicker amongst yourselves. Just because you put up some video of prospects and make your little predictions doesn't mean you can get away with writing a bunch of amateur horses***. Case in point: The Swisher Trade Transcript. Any single person finding that amusing or even roughly based in truth should consult their nearest chiropractor and have their head removed from his or her ass. Anyone can post video and do write-ups, and I'm glad they do it at SSS, but the fact that they do it does not validate their opinions. Kenny Williams and his scouts have proven themselves, and they actually know what the f*** they are doing, so if they think the players they received back made for the best possible package of all those offered, then I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I too could look at Marquez's K/9 last year and b****, but I already learned my lesson after b****ing about Gavin Floyd in '07. Real GM >>> Armchair GM.

QUOTE (G&T @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) If the Sox could move Thome or even PK, Fielder would be perfect move. Jenks and Javy would be a start, though I'm sure they would want Poreda. This list of Scott Boras clients is one of MLBTradeRumors' best contributions to the world of armchair GM's. Prince is on there, so no dice. The Sox won't give up the talent required if there's no hope for an extension. Boras is the reason the Brewers will trade him in the first place.

No way I'd give that much money to Abreu. I think if we go for a big lefty bat we need to be looking at Jim Thome's replacement for 2010. Raul Ibanez might be a cheaper option and with Quentin sliding to RF, I think he could be OK in LF for a year until we move him to DH. Or, if we're going to be spending big money, go get Adam Dunn. Put him in left for a year and then make him the DH. Dye and Konerko are future DH candidates, but I like the idea of a lefty stick there since big bat lefties are harder to find. Also I don't see either Konerko or Dye as being part of this team after 2010, and I think there's a pretty good chance one of them is gone before this year ends.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 03:17 PM) Baseball Reference's Stat of the Day featurs Nick Swisher in 2008. He has the 6th highest OPS in the last 20 years while batting under .200. Rob Deer is 1 and 2 on the list. The 2004 version of Jose Valentin ranks 8th. http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/ Off topic, but pretend the Sox had both Valentin and Swisher on the same team last year. Does Swisher's parasitic "influence" over hair and hair care products lead to a giant pink mustache on Jose?

I wouldn't put the situation of the farm system all on Kenny's shoulders for these reasons: 1. Kenny has a great eye for talent. He was the Sox director of minor league operations from 1995-1997 and then VP of player development from 1997-2000 before he became Sox GM. So yes, Kenny had a big hand in the Sox developing one of the best farm systems in baseball at that point. Kenny gets criticized for depleting it through trades and not rebuilding it, but there are some possible explanations for some of that as well. 2. Kenny cannot be in every place at every time. His duties concerning the Major League team which deal with trades, contracts, free agency, marketing, player evaluations, and whatever else he has to do take up his time. The guy has a job that is I'm sure much harder than some fans think. It's not like Kenny sits around with a video game controller trying about potential trades on X-Box or reading Baseball Prospectus. The guy has a lot of s*** going on and he can't be in the minor leagues watching all these guys. 3. Kenny did not agree with the old regime left over from Schueler. It all depends on whether you believe him or not, but Kenny said he let the minor league people make decisions for the most part until the '07 draft where he took over and selected Poreda. Poreda >>>>>> McCulloch and Broadway who were taken in the first round in the two years prior. 4. You have to trust people. Kenny trusted people and then got burned by Wilder and his asshole companions. When you have someone who you feel has a great eye for talent and is also one of your closest friends stab you in the back, it has to be hard. Thankfully Kenny now understands that Wilder is a cocksucker and now Kenny can move on with real baseball people in place instead of liars and thieves. The impact Wilder had on Latin American scouting will probably never get the attention it deserves, and none of us know just how serious that impact was. All I know is that the Sox went from finding guys like Maggs and Carlos Lee to signing Paulo Orlando and Juan Silverio. Talk about a drop-off. 5. There has to at some point be word coming down from the very top not to make a habit of going way over slot in the draft against the wishes of the commissioner's office. Other teams like the Red Sox, Angels, Yankees, and Tigers seem to get away with this but most teams steer clear. Given Kenny's eye for talent and willingness to use highly rated prospects as resources for the Major Leage team, I have no reason to suspect this is all Kenny's call. When you look at some of the farm systems out there, there is often a common theme: either they suck a lot and get high draft choices or they spend a s***load on the draft and through international free agency. Kenny's goal, and rightfully so, is to be like the Braves, who scout well and are active in Latin America but don't just hand out s***loads of money to whoever is supposed to be a good player. I just have to say that I really love the job Kenny has done with this team over the last several years as he has grown into his role, and I feel strongly that the revamping of the farm system will make us an elite organization in the future. These last two drafts, but especially the last one, have me extremely hopeful. It's not because of the name players either, like Beckham, Danks, etc. but it's because of the finds. If you look down the list we've got some interesting guys already pulled out of the later rounds of the draft for the last couple of years. I really think that we'll end up having some very productive drafts; maybe we won't draft and develop a ton of our Major League players, but I think we'll add a lot more depth to the system and it will result in trades for better Major League talent.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 01:13 AM) As a Mr. Perfect fan, I say Lesnar can die of gonorrhea and rot in hell. What the hell did he do to Mr. Perfect?

Randy should've retired five years ago? Why? He beat Sylvia and Gonzaga just over the last couple of years. I'd take Randy to beat those guys again and I'd take him to beat most of the UFC HW division except Nog, which would still be an interesting fight, and pretty much Affliction's whole roster sans Fedor and Barnett. Randy is still around because the HW division not just in the UFC but in the sport as a whole is so weak, one-dimensional, and untrue that a smart, well-rounded fighter with great cardio can beat most guys. Two of the three best HW over the last several years have been Randy and Fedor, both natural 205lb fighters. The difference between Randy and Fedor is that Randy gets s*** on for being old and incapable of competing at 205 whereas Fedor gets his nuts sucked by everyone even though he'd rather maul the garbage at HW than actually cut down to his natural weight class and fight in the deepest division in MMA. Then you've got Nog who is basically like a HW Nick Diaz - pretty good boxing with a little power, excellent BJJ, great off his back, great cardio, nearly impossible to finish - but even Nog P4P isn't the caliber of the top contenders in other weight classes based on skill alone, just like Nick Diaz at 155 or 170 is no Kenny Florian (who really broke out as an elite 155er with his performance last night IMO) or Josh Koscheck, much less a BJ Penn or GSP. Basically the HW division is a bunch of guys with giant holes in their games who appear to be more like tweeners than true 265 lb athletes, and you've got a couple well-rounded natural 205lb fighters in there destroying them. It's not that Randy and Fedor are amazing, it's that the HW division sucks compared to those guys. Rampage would be in there f***ing guys up too if he fought at HW right now. Watch Mark Coleman cut to 205 - yeah he'll look cut, but the difference in skill will be f***ing ginormous and Coleman will get smashed at 205. And now Lesnar is here destroying these guys, and it's because he's a legit 265 lb fighter. It looks like a joke because it is a joke, but the joke is not Brock. The joke is the rest of the division. Eventually there will have to be a 225lb or 230 lb division called the HW division with the 265 division called the SHW division. They'll have to break this up and Brock is one of those guys who will force it. Eventually you'll have some of these poorly talented fighters like Herring and McCully and Eddie Sanchez - who P4P couldn't even cut it in WEC's MW or LHW divisions when they had them - forced out of the top organizations for good, and the guys who fight at like 240-250 or so, they'll have to round out their games and decide whether to cut to 225-230 or try to bulk up to 265. Basically Brock is what they call in pro-wrestling a transitional champ, meaning someone who is meant to carry the gold in between two major draws that people actually care about. With Brock, he's the transition between two different eras. In the current era guys with very limited skillsets (compared to the rest of MMA) can get by because they are very good at one thing, and guys who walk around at 240-250 can just step in without having to cut weight and still compete because of their size and the overall weakness of the division. Brock right now is the new Matt Hughes of the HW division, mark my words. That doesn't mean he won't lose fights as he continues to round out his game, but eventually Brock will dominate all these ranked fighters the way Matt Hughes ate people alive until the WW division evolved and GSP came around, followed by guys like Alves, Fitch, Koscheck, Diego, etc. The next era will be f***ing crazy. There will be an influx of top athletes like Brock is who have been training for a lot longer than Brock has been, and they will get their experience much sooner than Brock, and as a result the next era will end up looking like GSP's compared to Brock's Matt Hughes. Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez could be part of this transitional phase as well, and those three guys I predict would beat the majority of Affliction's "superior" HW division right now, and will eat them alive in due time.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 05:21 PM) "Evaluating GMs is really subjective. I strongly disagree with the idea that Kenny is a top three executive in baseball, let alone all of sports. I just don't see eye to eye with the guy. I vehemently disagree with many of his moves, probably due to his distaste for players that come through his own minor league system. I'd without question rather have all the following guys as a GM: Beane, Epstein, Cashman, Josh Byrnes, Andrew Friedman, Doug Melvin, Mark Shapiro, and Shuerholz." Original quote... You're drinking some serious Kool-Aid thinking Shapiro is better. Andy Marte? Jason Johnson? Going into the season with Borowski as a closer? Josh Barfield? What have the Indians done, exactly, the last four years? Not much, considering their overall talent level. Sure, there's Sizemore and Lee, but that only gets you so far, and KW's deal for Colon was pretty sweet too? Or you like like Michaels/Dellucci so much in LF? Cashman and Epstein can't be compared...it's like saying what could Phil Jackson do without Jordan or two superstars paired together? Not very much. What has Cashman done that's so great over the last five years besides loads of bloated pitching contracts and idiotic deals like Carl Pavano...Jose Contreras for a washed-up Loaiza and eating a big part of the future best pitcher in baseball's contract? Brilliant! Brian Cashman is one of the worst GM's in New York Yankee history. He rode Gene Michael's roster to three Championship rings. The major acquisition was Roger Clemens, who George Steinbrenner had wanted for years. When Michaels' guys started fading, there was no one on the farm from Cashman's early drafts. He's butchered one free agent signing after another; spending tons of money on big names with ZERO chemistry. Cashman put the emphasis on power hitting; over pitching and defense and situational hitting. He was handed a successful blueprint by Gene Michael (who is a genius), and he put it in the shredder. As a matter of fact, it was the Red Sox who wanted to make Gene Michael their GM but was rebuffed by Steinbrenner. The Red Sox have been using the Gene Michael blueprint, and have two Championships to show for it. Ptiching, defense, OBP, situational hitting. The blueprint was copied by Theo Epstein. Give him credit for witnessing true genius, and duplicating it. Unfortunately, Cashman isn't that bright. Brian Cashman has quite possibly THE WORST RECORD OF ALL-TIME in signing free agent pitchers. He passed on Johan, to protect his apparently over hyped prospects. I wanted to trade Robinson Cano, Melkey Cabrera and Ian Kennedy last off season for Johan Santana and Pat Neshek. Almost every Yankee fan was too afraid to deal Cano following a strong second half of 2007. I felt Cano was severly overrated. And it was overlooked that Cano never seems to put in a full season. Now this off season, rumors say the Yankees are considering dealing him to Joe Torre's Dodgers. We could have had Santana without giving up Phil Hughes. Brian Cashman kept his job because his butt buddy is the younger, Hal Steinbrenner. Big mouth Hank may be an idiot, but at least he's right about Cashman, and was right about Johan. The Media keeps protecting Cashman (he must know somebody) because he protected the young prospects. But of all those prospects, only Joba Chamberlin looks legit. And Cashman, with his overrated Manager Joe Giardi, want to make him a reliever again. Idiotic. I hope Joba gets 'enough innings' to be a stud starter sometime before he retires. Phil Hughes is beginning to look like a 'David West' situation. Melky was nothing more than a fourth outfielder, if that. Cano showed that he's not the player that Cashman thought he was. Ian Kennedy is a disaster, and has Scott Boras as his agent. Why couldn't Cashman deal him? I was happy to see Cashman acquire Marte and Nady last season. One of the few times he did something right. But today he acquires Nick Swisher. This guy is poor defensively at TWO positions. He's a young Jason Giambi, without the advantage of steroid enhanced play. Swisher hit .216 last year. Terrible fit, and I guarantee you that Cashman is planning on Swisher for centerfield. Now that he's re-signed, we can only hope that George Steinbrenner rises from near death, and gives this guy the boot he deserves. HATE is not a strong enough word for how I feel about this pretender. Epstein? Hardly. Comparing apples and oranges. Beane? Overrated and overhyped. He's become successful at creating an illusion based on smoke and mirrors but has never won a thing. He has succeeded in dumping Hudson, Zito, Harden and Mulder before they were totally worthless...but the main reason for his success was the Big 3 pitchers, not drafting and not Moneyball. Nice move to let Dan Haren go, by the way. Blanton looked pretty good to me in the World Series. The one player he decides to hold onto, 3B Eric Chavez, is now basically without value. Byrnes, Friedman (let's wait for some sustained success there, how many Top 10 picks can any professional franchise have without blindly stumbling into a diamond or two) and Melvin aren't consistently great...they've made mistakes, too. Schuerholz...I won't argue with. But he's not a MLB GM anymore, and the Braves only won one World Series in 14 years. If you want to argue the best, Terry Ryan/Smith are/were better, but KW is catching up. Other than that, you can make plausible arguments that he's #3-5 in the majors now...Jocketty and Gillick are up there too, so no worse than 6-7-8. You put KW in charge of the Yankees or Red Sox over the last decade, or the Dodgers/Mets, I guarantee he'd have multiple championships working without financial constraints. I think you're a little hard on Beane actually. The guy did do a lot and with a Boston/New York type of budget I think he'd do a great job overall. They certainly know how to spend on the farm system over there. Cashman... yeah, he's not all that great. The Johan thing was stupid and I thought it was stupid on the part of the Red Sox as well, even though the Red Sox were reportedly offering better players. I don't care what prospects you have, if you can acquire Johan Santana in his prime, and if you have the green light on extending him, and if you can make that deal and still have a lot left on your farm, and if you can pencil in that kind of salary knowing it will not hurt your ability to make other significant additions to the Major League team payroll-wise, then you f***ing do it. It's Johan Santana for Christ's sakes. I'd but Terry Ryan up there I guess, but not Bill Smith as of yet. Ryan is another one of those guys that if he had a budget to work with, and if his owner wasn't a cheap piece of s***, then he could have done some wonderful things (for Twins fans) during that last run they had with Hunter, Santana, Radke, and the like. The problem I have with the Twins is how they can go into an offseason being 2-3 players away from WS contenders and then show up in ST the following year with the same basic team, except now they've got a couple more veterans off the scrap heap who aren't good enough to start and only block younger, better players. But, that wasn't Terry Ryan to me. That was ownership.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 05:26 PM) Yeah, but we had to give up studs Anthony Webster and Josh Rupe to get him and he (Everett) thinks "The Flintstones" are live programming from Burbank. Webster and Rupe are the greatest players to ever set foot in Texas. Future Cy Young Jon Rauch was sent away for garbage because Kenny Williams is a home-wrecking asshole who couldn't understand that sometimes it's important for rookie pitchers to leave their teams during the game to go have dinner with their families. Damn Kenny Williams and his Crazy Carl trades! They've cost us like 42 championships, and the one we did win partly because of it, well... that one doesn't count.

Don't worry fathom, Link has a proven man-slider. Jokes aside, I'll be pissed if the Sox don't give the guy a look in ST. He had a fantastic season last year.