Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 01:17 PM) Taveras is a good CF, but Anderson is better. Anderson is a better CF, but he's not a better hitter. QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 01:17 PM) Taveras and Owens have very similar career numbers. Owens, save for the 2nd half of '07, spent his career in the minor leagues. Taveras has not. You can't compare MLB career numbers to minor league career numbers. If that's the case we should be comparing Joe Borchard and Brad Eldred to Jim Thome. QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 01:17 PM) Pods had a .351 OBP in '05. Taveras has a career .334 OBP. Owens has a career .324 OBP and stole 32 bases in just 356 ABs last year. Taveras is a decent player, but not worth trading for when we have a carbon-copy of him in the minors. Nice cherry-picking. Pods had a .351 OBP in '05 as a veteran. 2005 was Taveras' rookie year. He got on at a .367 clip last year. Taveras has a career OBP of .334, compared to Podsednik's career OBP of .337. Owens has nothing on Taveras and he's not a carbon copy player. Owens sucks. Taveras does not suck. QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 01:17 PM) The Sox are better off keeping Owens in the minors this year. Neither he nor Taveras get on base enough to qualify as a true leadoff hitter. I agree on Owens. As far as Taveras, well that's your opinion but I don't know what you expect our GM to do. I don't think Jose Reyes or Ichiro are available. Our last few lead-off guys: 2008 Orlando Cabrera, .321 career OBP 2008 Nick Swisher, .359 career OBP 2007 Jerry Owens, .324 career OBP 2007 Erstad, .339 career OBP 2005-2007 Scott Podsednik, .337 career OBP 2004 Juan Uribe, .271 career OBP 2004 Aaron Rowand, .345 career OBP 2003-2004 Willie Harris, .316 career OBP 2003-2004 Roberto Alomar, .371 career OBP 2003 D'Angelo Jimenez, .351 career OBP So Roberto Alomar, D'Angelo Jimenez, and Nick Swisher have been the only guys over the last 5 years to feature as lead-off men and have career OBP's better than .350. Swisher is not a prototypical lead-off guy and is best suited in an RBI spot, D'Angelo wasn't exactly a wizard in the field which was why he was traded, and Robbie Alomar was at the tail end of his career. Finding a guy that can consistently get on at a .350 clip with plus speed and contact who can also hold his own in the field is pretty hard.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 11:13 AM) Unfortunately, some people's memories here don't go back further than that. Luis Terrero (another journeyman) looked pretty good for a while last year as well. BA is alright. Still strikes out too much, but has had a number of timely extra-base hits this year in limited plate appearances and is a bad-ass in CF. At the very least, the lineup is stronger with Uribe on the bench and BA occupying his spot. Yeah I don't get all the Luis Terrero hate. He was among our team leaders in OPS for a while. I get that he's not an everyday player, but he was better than most of the other crap the Sox were trotting out there last year.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 10:48 AM) George Sherrill is on pace for over 50 saves. That doesn't deserve any mention, though? While Erik Bedard is one of the best left-handed SPs in the majors when he's right, most of the articles that I have read say that the Mariners gave up too much in that trade (Adam Jones, George Sherrill, and three other minor league pitchers). Only on soxtalk will I read otherwise, though. Lots of experts on here. George Sherrill? Who's that??? Sherrill is a good player, but the package was built around prospects with Adam Jones the centerpiece, which is what I was saying. Sherrill is a 31 year old lefty setup man with good stuff, but he wasn't the main piece in that deal obviously. He's like a Matt Thornton in a closers role. The previous poster mentioned names like Danks, Floyd, and Quentin. There's no way anyone trades young, productive, high-ceiling pre-arb players without getting the same thing in return, see the Garza-for-Young trade. It just doesn't happen anymore. Miguel Cabrera, Erik Bedard, Miguel Tejada, Dan Haren, and Johan Santana all got traded last year. That's two almost shoe-in HOF players and 3 other elite players and not one of them brought back a Danks, Floyd, or Quentin-type player. They brought back high-ceiling prospects that hadn't produced at the MLB level. The closest thing to an exception I can think of recently was the Hamilton for Volquez swap, but Volquez was ready and had big league experience and Hamilton only had 298 AB's in 2007, so they were both pretty much prospects. Josh Fields had almost 100 more MLB AB's than Hamilton did at the time of the trade, and he's still considered a prospect by many.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 06:55 PM) Taveras leads off for the Rockies, is batting .248 with a .303 OBP. He is hurting his team more than he is helping. Check his track record. It's not uncommon for good players to have bad years. We've got a few on our team this year. Does anyone think that Eric Hinske is a better player than Nick Swisher? Taveras is a better player than Anderson, Owens, or any CF in our minor league system so far. Also, I just checked and Willy is hitting .324 over his last ten games. He'll be back on track soon enough. While his OBP is never going to astound you, he's capable of getting on as much as Pods did for us in 2005 or as much as Cabrera, our current lead-off hitter, gets on. If you can find a better lead-off option then that's great, he could be a nice #2 hitter instead. Either way he's an improvement over Anderson, who I like btw, in CF for now and likely an improvement in the future. And he's worlds better than Owens.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 06:11 PM) Willy Tavares isn't an upgrade over what they already have in Jerry Owens. No use trading for him, I'd say. If the Angels got Crede, it won't be in a trade unless the White Sox give them a window to resign him. That said, Crede won't be enough to get Figgins. And even if the Angels do fill 3B, I'm sure they'll consider the option of moving Figgins to 2B before outright giving the job to Kendrick/Aybar. Plus, who are the Sox going to offer? Broadway? Russel? Haeger? Owens? Anderson? Their minor league system is a can of soup with no chicken. And KW will hang up the phone if they mention any of Danks, Floyd or Quentin. As far as Figgins being a CF option, he's not. He's barely a LF option. He's also barely average for 3B. He's got a noodle arm, to boot. I understand that filling CF and/or 2B with the proper player changes the dynamic of the offense. But Chone Figgins is a pipe dream. Brian Roberts probably is too. Taveras is a monumental improvement over Jerry Owens. Willy is a fantastic CF. He's got the range, the make-up speed, he gets good reads, he's got an arm, he has proven himself at the MLB level, he has better instincts on the basepaths, and he has more power, even if it's not HR power. For his salary and coming off a down year, I'd love to have him. He shouldn't cost much if he's available, and the 2005-2007 Willy Taveras would be a great addition to the team. I'm not talking about Figgins this year. He won't be available this year, so a trade with Crede would be out of the question. There's no way the Angels bench Howie Kendrick in favor of Figgins, and there's no way they play him at SS. The only possibility I'd see is if they went with Figgins in CF or as a rotating DH once Garrett Anderson leaves, but then that opens the window for Reggie Willits. I just think the Angels, if they add a bat, are going to make a decision between Figgins and Willits as everyday players, because both players are capable of that. I think they'd be willing to move Chone because he's going to make serious bank on the FA market, and also because there's not much of a chance they get a team to take on GMJ's contract to open another spot.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 06:13 PM) What, a top young player? If they don't get that then they have no reason to trade Roberts. a year and a half from now he walks as a FA and they get 2 draft picks that have good value because he's a guaranteed type A person, they like him on their team anyway, etc. If they don't get something of real solid value then they'd be stupid to deal him. From our system, that means Danks, Floyd, or Quentin. Poreda, Fields, Broadway, Richar, you name the person, or even a combination of them, just isnt' enough to get him. The Angels can ask for a top young player for Figgins because they can't afford to deal him since they are in contention. Baltimore OTOH is going nowhere so they're foolish for asking for something they know they won't get. Baltimore doesn't have to trade Roberts, but if they want more than Type A compensation they're going to have to, and no team is going to give up MLB players for him. No team is going to make a deal for the sake of making a deal. Roberts will go for prospects. I mean think about it. The best they could get for Bedard, their best player, was a package built around Adam Jones. While Jones was a great prospect, he was still a prospect. Nobody offered anything more than that. Not for Bedard, not for Haren, not for Santana, not for Buehrle when he was on the market last year, and they won't offer anything more than prospects for Sabathia this year. If no one is going to offer more than prospects for those pitchers, no one is going to even think about offering more than prospects for Brian Roberts, who is a very good player, but is basically a complimentary piece. I think if Baltimore balked at Fields for Roberts straight up they should send their whole front office packing. Next offseason, Poreda + Shelby + Broadway for example would be a great package for Roberts. Roberts as a FA would probably sign with a contender, and any rebuilding team that would take say a #20-30 pick and a #35-40 pick or so for Roberts instead of that package is both crazy and stupid.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 05:48 PM) You want Roberts or Figgins? It doesn't happen without talking about one of Danks, Quentin, and Floyd. That's because Baltimore is stupid. They're not getting anything like that from anyone.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 05:46 PM) I don't think they have the means to land Roberts or Figgins. I especially don't see why Anaheim would want to trade Figgins now that they saw how average their offense is without him in the lineup (he was on the DL.) Baltimore is run by a bunch of morons, so there might be reason for hope there... but I still don't think the Sox can put together an attractive enough package to land him. Especially if other teams are asking about him. I agree. I was talking more about next year anyway. I don't think we've got the goods to make a big run at one of those guys this year, and Figgins won't be available until the offseason - and that's if they can pick up another bat, which I think they will this time as they've struck out quite a bit over the last couple of seasons, minus Torii Hunter. I think next year since both of those guys will have only one year left the price will come down a ton, and the price of some of our guys on the farm will have risen. Shelby and Poreda might be the centerpieces of a trade in December whereas now they don't quite have that value IMO.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 05:33 PM) There really isn't a lot of room to make changes given the way Kenny did the contracts with Dye and Konerko. Maybe next year they can DH Dye or Konerko, but that still really only leaves the same two gaps there are on the map today: CF and 2B. Thome isn't going to get enough AB's this year for the option to kick in. Sooner or later he'll be on the DL again, plus the interleague play cuts those AB's down a ton. Even with CF and 2B open, it is very reasonable IMO to see the Sox making some huge moves there. If Crede signs elsewhere the long-rumored favorite has been LAA. If they pick him up at third that means Figgins will likely be on the block. Roberts will be on the block also, but he'll be cheaper than he is now (if he doesn't get moved before the deadline this year) because he'll only have one season left. Orlando Hudson is a FA, as is Mark Ellis, both great options as #2 hitters and both superb defensive 2B's capable of playing the fundamental game. Then as for CF you've got Willy Taveras who should be available for less than before. He could be a steal. Then if the Angels pick up a 3B, Figgins is a CF option. If not, Willits is a CF option who should be open for a trade. Randy Winn has been producing for a while and with his contract would be a cheap, productive pick up (in terms of talent). Those are all leadoff/#2 hitters. So let's say you end up with at least one of Thome/Dye/Konerko gone, which is highly likely IMO. If you pick up any combination of the players above, as 2B's and CF's, you immediately change the dynamic of the team at the top of the order, and as a result it shifts AJ, who as a contact hitter, back to the middle of the lineup to break up the usually all-or-nothing sluggers. It also moves Alexei down to #9 and gives us that speed/contact guy that can act as a 2nd leadoff hitter which managers love.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 05:30 PM) I wonder what the availability for David DeJesus from KC is. I can't comment on his fielding (anyone know if he is good out in CF?) but he has a career line of .284/.358/.420/.778. Might be a decent stopgap to put in the #2 hole and allow the team to push AJ back down in the line-up where he belongs. Or even Mark Grudzielanek at 2B from KC. .290/.332/.395/.727 career line. He's your prototypical 2 hitter with enough experience to bat first. (Would KC want to deal within the division? The Sox too?) Other than that, it gets pretty thin. Mark Ellis? Or the dreamers: Brian Roberts, Ichiro. I'd like DeJesus (who wouldn't? He's a good player) but I don't think the Royals are serious about moving him. Grudz is always a nice fit but I think the Sox are either going to go in-house or will make a play at a younger player in his prime, like Mark Ellis or Hudson, or try to put together a package for Roberts or Figgins.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 05:05 PM) I don't know that the Sox have an affordable line-up anymore. There is defferred money in there, yeah, but they're around the 100 mil mark. Also, I don't think when he says a balanced line-up he means 9 Carlos Beltran's. I think he's talking about hitters that can play situational baseball to support the middle order guys that they can afford. Like a Kevin Youkilis, or one they already have but is struggling, Nick Swisher. I think there's a good chance Thome is gone after this year, so that's something like $12 million off the books. And let's say the Sox can work out an extension for Crede, or can sign him on the market. If he gets a raise around $7-8 million or so, then the Sox could bring up Fields to DH, or they could try experiments at 1B or LF (I still think Josh can learn LF if the Sox commit to it and are patient enough with him). This opens the door to a possible Konerko/Dye deal, which would cut some more money off the books. Contreras is probably gone after this year if he can put up an ERA under 5.00, so that's another $10 million off the books. I think Cabrera is getting something like $9 million and he'll walk, with Alexei sliding over to SS and Richar/Getz probably taking over at first. Subtract $4.5 million for Uribe and that's more money coming off the payroll. Toby's option should be picked up but Ozuna could be gone, so that's another $1 million gone if that happens. A team of... C Pierzynski 1B Swisher 2B Richar/Getz 3B Crede DH Fields LF Dye CF Anderson RF Quentin Vazquez-Buehrle-Floyd-Danks-Broadway Jenks-Linebrink-Thornton-Dotel-Logan-Masset-Russel Hall-Richar/Getz-league minimum back up CF-league minimum back up SS ...is not all that expensive. There's enough left over money to go after a couple big name players on the FA market or take on salary in a trade. *Edit: Also, the $100 million dollar mark doesn't mean a whole lot these days with all the inflation. The Sox should be prepared to spend $110 million plus if they want to seriously contend.

Neither Anderson nor Wise put us over the top. Neither of them are going to be starting a whole lot once Paulie comes back. The reason you play Anderson over Wise is because Anderson still has the chance to cement himself as an MLB player, either as a starting CF or a 4th OF. We're not even halfway through the season yet so there's a lot of baseball to come. Remember Brian was hurt much of the 2nd half last year and in the 2nd half of '06 he did a lot better. Who knows, a nice 2nd half by Brian this year and maybe the Sox suddenly have an internal option for CF. The bottom line is that Anderson still has the potential to change the way the Sox approach their OF situation over the next few years, and you don't throw that potential out the window in order to play a quad-A player like Wise who may be a marginal improvement if he's an improvement at all. If injuries continue to be a factor and the Sox want someone better offensively than BA, the answer isn't going to be Dewayne Wise. Kenny will have to bring in someone via trade or FA. Randy Winn and Willy Taveras could be options, although hopefully KW doesn't feel he needs to go that route because the availability of Coco Crisp scares me.

As far as the poll, I voted for Dewayne Wise. Let the other guys stay in the minors and continue to get regular AB's. If Paulie goes to the DL, put Anderson in CF with Swisher moving to 1B. Call up Wise as an emergency OF and pinch runner, nothing more. Let him take Anderson's role only without the starts. Bringing in a guy with speed or better contact isn't going to do a whole lot for this club. It's still going to be as one dimensional as it has been, and it's going to take a major overhaul to change that. I think Sox fans need to realize that, even though a lot of the preseason predictions about this team have turned out wrong so far, the one thing that has been said all along and has held true is the fact that this season is a transitional year for the franchise. With Floyd, Danks, Ramirez, Anderson, Swisher, Quentin, Logan, and Jenks the Sox are building a new core right now. Thome might be gone next year, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Sox trade Contreras as well as one of Konerko/Dye due to the emergence of Quentin. I think this offseason is the time to think about changing the complexion of the offense, but right now, nothing really can be done except b**** about Greg Walker, listen to Ozzie's rantings, and hope the offense stays hot for longer than a week once it gets going again.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 16, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) Right, but we that player in the organization right now, and is in your sig. Given the lack of speed with this club, along with Ozzie love with speed, I don't doubt Owens would be matching the numbers Taveras is putting up right now, which isn't much of an accomplishment. I know you're trying to say they are similar players because they're both fast OF'ers, but comparing Jerry Owens to Willy Taveras is laughable. Taveras is 100X the outfielder that Owens is and he has probably just as much speed with better instincts. Taveras can actually play the game while helping you in the field and maybe a couple times on offense, versus Owens who sucks all the time in the outfield and sometimes helps on offense. Willy's downside is a 4th OF; Jerry's upside is a 4th OF. Offensively, again, just because Taveras is hitting .239/.294 right now doesn't mean Jerry Owens is anywhere near that ballpark as a Major League ballplayer. Taveras in 2005 hit .291/.325, hit .278/.333 in 2006, and hit .320/.367 last year. That's an MLB track record. Owens cannot come close to sniffing that. If Willy Taveras is available for pennies on the dollar because of a down year combined with the Rockies' sucktitude, Kenny will make a very serious run and he'll probably pick him up. It would be stupid not to; in fact I'd be pissed if we had a GM that was afraid to take a cheap gamble on a young proven player that plays a premium position. Given the fact that the lowest he's ever hit in a full season was .263, and that was going all the way back to his age 18 season in rookie ball, I think it's pretty safe to say Taveras will start hitting again, and when he is hitting, no one will even mention Jerry Owens as a comparable in any fashion.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 05:13 PM) IMO, there are two possibilities for that role. Lofton or Owens. The last thing we need is a bench guy running his mouth off in the papers about how he's not playing enough.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 06:02 AM) Only thing wrong with your thing is that Jenks was never really a bust, his arm was never the problem it was his actions that led to him being cut. But yes, Coop obviously knows what he is doing and the cutter is definitely the pitch he knows best. That's why Jenks was called that. He didn't have the attitude and work ethic to back up his talent. It's the same thing they said about Contreras after he started getting killed in New York out of Cuba. He still had the arm but people claimed he was a bust signing. Ditto Floyd, as his case was all mental too. And Thornton. I just have to wonder how much money Coop has saved the Sox organization. Whatever he makes he should get more. If the Sox had to sign free agents every time they needed to get the type of production they've gotten from a Coop reclamation project they'd have never won a damn thing.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Jun 1, 2008 -> 03:42 PM) i guess if you want walker to take all the blame, you have to say cooper is responsible for all of the positives w/ this pitching staff in my opinion, i think cooper has done a decent job, but other than Gavin, Danks and the reclamation project with Thornton, the other guys have pretty much pitched to their ability. just my opinion Jose Contreras was horrid in New York. They called him a bust, a huge disappointment, and the Yanks even ate a large chunk of salary when they dealt him to us. Well, Coop gets Jose back to the way he was in Cuba by allowing him to pitch from different arm angles and untangling the mess that the Yanks' pitching coach got Jose into. Contreras turned into an ace the following year and helped us win a World Series. The guy we traded Contreras for, Esteban Loaiza, was a journeyman starter that had spent 8 years in the league with three different teams. Loaiza was just trying to make the ballclub. It was Coop's suggestion of the cut fastball that turned Loaiza into an ace that year, winning 21 games and almost winning the Cy Young. He also went over 200 K's for the only time in his career. This is where Coop's legend began. And don't forget about Javier Vazquez. This guy was traded to the Yanks after his ace 2003 season and was expected to dominate in New York. He struggled, was sent to Arizona, and still kept struggling. He became a disappointment, an underachiever, and basically a waste of talent in many people's eyes. So, he gets traded to the Sox, who play in the most unfriendly ballpark in the major leagues considering it's a launching pad where you have to face AL lineups, and Coop makes some changes in his delivery. 2007 was the best year of his career except for 2003 in Montreal, but considering the differences in park, league, and quality of competition, I'd actually have to say that last year was the best all-around year of his career. He's become the ace he was supposed to be under Coop. There are tons of examples. Remember how awesome Damaso Marte was under his watch, or how Flash Gordon rejuvenated his career under Coop's watch? Gavin Floyd (called a bust), Matt Thornton (called a bust), Bobby Jenks (called a bust) and company are just the latest examples of Coop's magic combined with superb talent evaluation. The only recent marks against Coop IMO are MacDougal, Sisco, and Aardsma, as even Cotts and Politte who were terrible in '06 were amazing in '05. Politte was out of baseball shortly afterwards, Cotts hasn't done anything but get hit hard. With the other three, MacDougal though just seems like he's a wreck mentally, and even though Gavin Floyd and Jose Contreras were supposedly head cases just the same, there at least has to be some inner foundation for a pitching coach to build upon mentally. I don't think MacDougal has that. Aardsma is still walking everybody in Boston and his ERA is deceptively small. You can't keep walking everyone and expect not to get hit hard, no matter how great those two pitches you throw are. Still, Coop really didn't get a lot of time with Aardsma anyway. And then there's Sisco, who was supposedly throwing much better in ST but had to have surgery. Coop could still fix him if he comes back healthy and stays within the organization.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 06:29 AM) Looks like Bureau was wrong about Regier getting fired... Didn't he get reassigned though? That's the nice way of saying fired from your position and slotted somewhere else. And if that's true, Bureau did leak that before the press did. On topic with the thread though, I just hope we get a guy with a star ceiling and none of this "might be a solid regular" s***. Anyone who compares to AJ isn't the type of guy you take 8th overall. Let's not forget the Sox signed AJ for next to nothing after he got non-tendered, and there are always capable backstops with decent bats looking for starting jobs at small salaries. I don't want Alonso either, so I hope he's not seriously being considered.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 29, 2008 -> 11:35 AM) With the cost of even a middle of the rotation starter reaching into the eight figure range in MLB today, I wouldn't be so quick to write off the value of Lance (give my regards to) Broadway just yet. He is a guy who in his short time here seemed to have a ball that had a lot of movement on it. The walk totals of prior to this year tell me he either is overthrowing his pitchers, or he isn't getting a consistant arm slot to be able to repeat his delivery in. I think this kid is going to be solid for us. Not great, but #3 to #4 starter material. He should come along at the right time to replace Contreras and his $11 million per year salary. That 2-seamer he was throwing against the Royals in his only start last year was pretty nasty. His work ethic and attitude certainly seem to be there, so maybe he's an overachiever type? That would be nice.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 28, 2008 -> 03:18 AM) I don't really think any of those ideas do a hell of a lot for the Sox. What would you expect? We can't afford to give up any significant piece of the team and with our minor league system in shambles we probably only have enough for 1-2 big deals, if that, before there's nothing left at all. I think if Kenny makes any moves this year he's going to give up a bench player or a decent prospect or two but not the best we've got. If he wants to get a player that can help in some fashion without giving up much he's probably going to have to go after a guy that's either on the downside of his career or saddled with a bad contract. If Konerko has to go on the DL I think Kenny gets creative. Otherwise I'd expect maybe another reliever and a lefty stick off the bench.

A couple ideas: 1. This one is pretty sane I think. Brian Anderson to SD for RP Cla Meredith. I don't know if I'd make this trade, but I think it would help both teams. SD needs a CF and Anderson would be great for them in that park, meanwhile Octavio has been shaky facing multiple batters, especially lefties, and the Sox are going to need someone to give Linebrink a break here and there. They can't keep running him out there day after day. 2. A crazy idea. Go after Milton Bradley, who should be out on the market. DL Paulie, move Dye to 1B, Quentin to RF, and put Bradley in LF. That's highly unrealistic and I know fans would probably be very against putting Dye at 1B, but he should learn that position eventually if he's going to stick around. Still, penciling in Bradley at the top of our order right now would be sick. 3. An even crazier idea. Orlando Cabrera, Mike MacDougal, and Chris Getz to SF for Omar Vizquel, Ray Durham, and Randy Winn in a sort of our-crap-for-your-crap deal. Cabrera nets the Giants the draft picks they would get for Randy Winn a year early and they also get out of his contract. MacDougal gives them an arm with still some upside and they can try to get some worth out him of during a crappy year. Chris Getz gives them Durham's replacement. Meanwhile for the Sox, you DL Paulie, move Swish to 1B, put Winn in CF, Vizquel at SS, and Durham at 2B. Our defense takes a hit at 2B and perhaps there's a slight downgrade in CF from Swisher, but Winn could also end up as an upgrade there defensively too. I don't know how well he still plays CF. But in terms of the lineup, you can put this lineup out there: S Winn CF S Durham 2B R Quentin LF R Dye RF L Thome DH S Swisher 1B L Pierzynski C R Crede 3B S Vizquel SS We'd add a little more speed overall but a lot more contact and OBP. The only offensive hole in the lineup would be Vizquel, but if he becomes a major problem the Sox have both Uribe and Ramirez to turn to. He's a veteran though so even if he doesn't hit he should be able to at least make productive outs when the situation calls for them. It's a crazy idea but I think it would definitely be a win now move that wouldn't hurt the team since Omar and Durham are FA after this year while Winn is a FA after '09 and, even though he makes $8.25 million next year, he's a good enough hitter and versatile enough to be a valuable 4th OF.

Is there a contender out there that would be willing to deal for a SS? The Blue Jays? The Rays? The Red Sox? If this causes KW problems I don't know what he can do. I wouldn't be at all opposed to a MIF of Alexei at SS and Richar at 2B since that might be our future anyway, but you can't deal Orlando without getting what you'd consider fair compensation, i.e. something worth close to the picks that Type A status brings. Kenny isn't the type of guy who will put up with a whole lot of s*** from his players though, and from his quotes he doesn't exactly seem thrilled with Mr. Cabrera. With Richar and Uribe both on the come-back trail, if this keeps up it won't be long before Cabrera is on the block.

As a writer, Phil's not all that bad. He's nowhere near Scoop Jackson for example, but he's not all that bad. As a baseball mind the guy is f***ing terrible. That's all there is to say about that.

He's hurting us at the plate and he's not exactly playing stellar D in the OF, although he hasn't been bad either. You have to get Swish his AB's because he is going to come around sooner or later, but it's a tough decision over Anderson right now IMO because Anderson is going to hit .200 without a problem but also give you much better defense. Right now we're not scoring runs very well at all, so it makes sense to put Anderson out there to have the best defense on the field, but again, you could always make the argument for Swisher because when he does come around he's going to be a significant piece in this lineup. What I would do is give Anderson 3-4 starts per week in center with Swish on the bench as a PH or subbing for Paulie here and there, and I'd keep that up until the Sox start hitting again. From there, I think it's easier to put Swish back in the lineup because if those around him are hitting he should find it easier to get back to where he was in Oakland. Additionally when the Sox are hitting you don't have to worry as much about his defense in center, and in the meantime, hopefully Anderson will have a bit more time to show whether or not he can hit enough to be a starting CF. Thoughts?

It was a good trade for both sides. Let's also not forget that we signed Javy to a below-market contract, so it's not just that we ended up getting a great starting pitcher, we ended up getting a great starting pitcher on a sweet deal.