Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 16, 2009 -> 11:31 PM) Exactly, so tell your best friend Ozzie that a fast, slappy leadoff guy isn't always necessary. As everyone knows, we need guys like that if we want to win in the Metrodome.

Pierre will lead off and Beckham will likely hit 2nd. Because Ozzie doesn't like going with 3+ righties in a row, expect Kotsay, Teahen, or (probably) AJ hitting clean-up. L Pierre LF R Beckham 2B R Quentin RF L AJ C R Konerko 1B R Ramirez SS L Teahen 3B R Rios CF R Jones DH Start planning the parade route.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 02:49 PM) Darin Erstad or Garrett Anderson. This one actually wouldn't be all that surprising. Brian Giles is another one of Kenny's long-time favorites. Kenny would get a kick out of those two battling each other for his affections.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 06:20 PM) KHP, you need to stop. I think you're a terrific (although your long-winded as hell sometimes) poster. But don't let emotions take over. You're right, I shouldn't b**** about any of this. That's not what a message board is for. Thanks for letting me know.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 06:16 PM) Look, I don't pretend that KW is the messiah. But after 9 years, if you really believe that he doesn't do whatever is in his power to make this team better, I don't know what to say. We all knew going in our options were limited. I'm not saying he doesn't try or that he doesn't care. I'm saying his moves are awful and his offseason is pathetic, and his ideas of what will make this team better are not suited for an American League team. I'm hoping like hell he magically comes up with a big Gonzalez trade to turn this entire offseason into a bar of gold, but at this point I'm not betting on it.

The Red Sox already offered $15M, and that was probably a 4-year MLB deal similar to the ones we gave Alexei and Dayan. If the Sox wanted Chapmann they'd probably have to offer at least $16 over 4, which would mean we wouldn't have been able to pay Juan Pierre. Clearly then, if the choice is Pierre vs. Chapmann, you go for the guy with the brownest underwear.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 05:52 PM) What incentive does Kenny have to be truthful with the media while he's trying to negotiate FA contracts and make deals with other GMs? I don't know, but he's been operating backwards. Normally the idea is to fill your biggest holes first and use whatever you have left to address other areas. Instead of going the big lefty bat > outfielder > lead-off hitter > reliever > bench direction he has gone in the bench > reliever > lead-off hitter/outfielder > big lefty bat direction. The names out there for the big lefty bat which we may possibly be able to afford are absolutely frightening.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 05:40 PM) Do you really think we are bypassing a prototypical middle of the order in-lieu of these additions? Yes, I do. Kenny's comments said the #1 priority was the bench. Really? There's a hole in RF and a hole in DH, and the #1 priority is the bench? In the AL? Are you f***ing serious? Have you gone mad? But given how they've spent their money, it sure looks like it. Had they made Matsui their #1 target they could have afforded him, and a Beckham-Matsui-Quentin 3-4-5 might not be ideal, but it's certainly better than what we have now. BTW, I imagine the Teahen deal looks all nice and sparkly now because people are expecting him to hit somewhere in the 7-9 range. What if he's 5th? What if we actually go into 2010 with AJ, Teahen, or Kotsay as the lefty to break up the Beckham-Quentin-Konerko trio? Or *shudder* something equally horrible like Jack Cust?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) Thome can platoon though, is the point. Jones can face lefties and Thome righties, for still less than half the price (or thereabouts) that Matsui costs. I could give two s***s where he is hitting the ball if they're not able to catch it at the same rate as they are not able to catch the balls Matsui hits. And damn, I hate those walks and home runs....they kill me! Maybe a Thome-Kotsay/Jones platoon would be pretty nice out of the #6 slot in an American League lineup but I think we need qiute a bit more than that. Kenny is filling this team with prototypical top or bottom lineup kind of hitters, and the only prototypical middle-of-the-order hitter we've got is Quentin ***IF*** he's healthy. I know the idea is that filling the lineup with gap hitters might make it easier to score runs without the longball, but we're not exactly loading up on OBP monsters either. Right now, Beckham, Quentin, and Paulie are the only guys we have who we can pencil in for a .350+ OBP.

Pierre sucks. This trade sucks. The way the Sox have spent their money sucks. Ozzie's rotation of crappy players for a DH sucks. This whole offseason sucks. We're not a National League ballclub and we do not play in a pitcher's paradise.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 05:20 PM) Because he hits to all fields, strikes out less, and is a better pure hitter at this point. He's a much more complete offensive player than Jim Thome. Thome's stats were heavily driven by HR's and Walks but he had major negatives in the fact that he had a poor average and very high strike-out totals. He is by definition an all or nothing player. Look, I realize the OPS is nice. But with two guys on, I'd like to know I have a guy that can hit for good power and for a better average than a guy that will either walk, hit a 3 run HR or strike out. I was just going to post this. Matsui also hits very well against both lefties and righties. Thome is a career .238/.341/.422 hitter vs. LHP.

QUOTE (DABearSoX @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 03:06 PM) guess i'll just throw this out there. JD to 1st...Paulie to DH That would be sooooo much better than signing Jack Cust. Sometimes the grass isn't always greener.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 03:18 PM) As of right now, this player is Jayson Nix. The 40man roster is at 40, and there is no place for any additions. On the other hand a trade might be happening soon, to mix it all up. Agree Nix is probably that guy now, but the Sox will make him compete for it if they don't bring in somebody else. The 40-man isn't a big deal. The Sox could always hand Mr. Marquez his walking papers. Armstrong and Torres are on there too, so no big deal if we want to sign someone.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 03:03 PM) Jones and Pierre are the back up CF I would guess. Kotsay backs up 1B and Vizquel backs up 2B, 3B, and SS. So, basically they need to go out and get a DH and a bullpen guy. You're missing the point. Let's say Beckham gets hit with a pitch and has a sore thumb. He's day-to-day, so we don't want to DL him for 15 days retroactive to the incident. That means Vizquel has to become the everyday 2B until Beckham comes back and we have nobody to cover the IF should someone else go down or need a day off. To pick up that extra IF we would have to send down a player, meaning if he's out of options we would have to expose him to waivers. Let's say we have Hudson on the team in this scenario and we send him down to call up Lillibridge or someone like that. Then if Beckham comes back pretty soon we have to wait on Hudson before we can call him up again, because there is a minimum number of days a player has to be active on a minor league roster before he can return. IMO there's no way that is happening. We'll have a secondary IF.

I say we'll trade Bobby in a deal for Luke Scott as a means to afford Juan Pierre. Putz will be the closer on paper. Our lineup will suck and our bullpen will be shaky as hell.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 02:43 PM) I'll pass on Branyan. Aging one-year wonder with a long track record of suckiness. Wouldn't mind LaRoche, though. He could be our 1B of the future. lol

Position players: 1. Konerko 1B 2. Pierzynski C 3. Beckham 2B 4. Ramirez SS 5. Teahen 3B 6. Pierre LF 7. Rios CF 8. Quentin RF 9. Vizquel IF 10. Jones OF 11. Kotsay OF 12. ??? Backup C Starters: 1. Peavy 2. Buehrle 3. Floyd 4. Danks 5. Garcia Bullpen: 1. Jenks 2. Thornton 3. Putz 4. Linebrink 5. Pena 6. Williams We have no DH, no backup CF, no secondary IF, and no LR. We simply cannot go into the season with only 1 IF option because then if an IF gets hurt/taken out of a game you have to either DL someone or send a player down (meaning you have to expose him to waivers if he's out of options) to call up another IF, so I imagine we'll be getting another one of those or else we'll have another exciting Nix/Lillibridge/etc. battle in ST. I would guess the Sox are one of the teams interested in Alfredo Amezaga since he would be a backup CF and a secondary IF. After that there's one spot left, meaning we either go with Hudson as a LR and a Jones/Kotsay vomitfest at DH, or else we have no LR (maybe we bring in Linebrink to "keep us in games?") and pick up a cheap DH.

Wonderful.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 04:48 PM) you can't just ignore the bench. at least $5m of that HAD to be spent. especially considering fields would have been our 3b option under those circumstances. Yes you can. Just bring in a s***load of invites to spring to fill out your bench. Who really cares? I'd like to know how any combination of this all-star bench lineup we've got is going to make up for what a hitter like Matsui would have provided as a starter. I'm done with this. The moves themselves, in a vacuum, are not bad moves at all. The overall idea however of blowing our payroll flexibility on a bunch of Adrian Griffins is. We're not a National League team playing in a pitcher's park. We do need some actual offense here.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 04:23 PM) 1. KW spent his money for next season on Peavy and Rios at the end of last season. I don't know what big money move you were expecting but the expectioins should not have been very high. 2. I see you don't care for the contracts of Jenks, Linebrink and Konerko and think they are weighing down the possibilites of KW making a move. Most GMs seem to agree with you and nobody wants them and their contracts. If KW were to make a trade with any of them, he would need to eat so much of the contract it would n't give enough salary relief to be of any benefit. So again I'm not sure why you would have expected any big off season acquisitions when it was pretty obvious KW did most of his big acquisitions at the end of last year. Well, we've spent $2.75M on Teahen considering the $1M from the Royals; $1.5M on Kotsay; $500k-$1.5M on Jones; $1.375M for Vizquel; $3M-$6.25M on Putz and that's apparently what we had to work with. So that's $9.125M-$13.375M on bench players and reclamation projects. Matsui is signing for $6.5M. Call me crazy, but I'd glady give up all of those guys and take Carrasco and league minimum bench fodder if it meant having a real DH.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 03:40 PM) lol wut? Worst offseason you have experienced? How many have you experienced? We've bolstered the pen, and now have a pitching staff that may be the strongest (on paper) in baseball, or close to it. We've got a bench full of guys who are exactly what you want - Vizquel's glove and tutoring of the middle infield, Kotsay being a perfect 4th OF and 1B, Jones and his high potential for uber-cheap. You have the Sox waiting on a DH with the glut hanging out there, which is exactly what they should do. The only negative I see so far, is the missing outfielder, and its still early. Seriously, you are being absurd. What's not to like here, other than the OF spot, and oh by the way its not March yet. Or February, or January, or even late December. Have you seen a whole bunch of teams signing all the good OF's? Because until the couple big trades that came up very recently, seems to me KW was moving faster than most teams were. This team, today, is better than it was on 10/1, and far better than it was on 4/1. With the OF and DH decisions yet to come. Seems to me its been a pretty good offseason so far. Jenks has all his health issues, Linebrink is Linebrink, Randy Williams has never done anything worth mentioning, Pena is still a highly-talented work-in-progress, Putz is coming off surgery. The only virtual certainty is Thornton. Yes, we have some nice bench players. The problem is we do not have any starters for RF or DH. We've blown our wad on bench players and reclamation projects. You can even make the argument that we have actually downgraded from our already pathetic 2009 offense. The only way that wouldn't be the case would be if both Quentin and Rios perform up to their expectations and Paulie doesn't regress. Who is going to replace the 1st half Dye had, or Thome, or Pods? This offense as currently constructed is terrible. Jones doesn't have hardly any potential anymore. He has slowed down a ton. It's not like if the 2009 Texas version of Andruw Jones got regular playing time he would have been good again. The guy needs to come up with a time machine. The time of year really doesn't matter if we're out of money. We're stuck with Paulie and Linebrink, and Kenny has already said Jenks will be the closer. Where are we going to come up with the funds to sign anyone good? We've blown our resources on luxuries. That's why the offseason blows. I realize this will be very unpopular among the "it's only December!!!" crowd but I don't care. So far, Kenny's offseason grade should be no better than a D.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 03:30 PM) This was supposed to be green, right? Why would this be sarcastic? It appears we've blown our payroll room on bench players and reclamation projects. Kenny has been more under the influence than under the radar at this point. I really hope this changes because this is the most disappointing offseason I've ever experienced, given what the expectations should be knowing our starting rotation.

Cowley is probably making light of Kenny's absolute failure of an offseason so far. Every other contender is doing big things while Kenny is loading up on complimentary players. The Sox are out of money already and there's still no RF or DH, but don't worry because Jenks, Linebrink, and Konerko are all still here sucking up salary.

A sweater to put on your dog A holiday-themed flood light to put on your lawn that somehow attracts hippies looking for a place to crash "The Art of Songwriting" by Kanye West A 7-day cruise with Dane Cook and Tony Robbins A cage full of ferrets The talking Susan B. Anthony alarm clock A membership with the O'Douls Beer of the Month club A box set of every movie David Spade has ever been in without Chris Farley

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 08:06 PM) In May and June last season he had 100 AB and hit .330. The rest of the year in about 150 AB his OBP was below .300. I really think people should take a closer look before saying he's the answer at the top of the order for a team that is trying to win a championship. Linebrink has a NTC. I really doubt teams are willing to pick of the freight of his contract. We're not really looking at any "answers" though. Matsui has been getting the love around here, and he's a great hitter, but what if he wants 3 years guaranteed and time in LF? That would absolutely blow. Coco Crisp? Better than Pods, but no sure thing and not much of a solution. Jordan Danks? Hell no. At least Gardner offers 5 years of control including 2 pre-arb years plus defense and speed, and has the downside of a cheap 4th OF. He shouldn't cost a ton either, so at least if we go after him we're attempting to add a cheap piece that could prove beneficial both now and in the future without giving up one of our best prospects. Agree on Linebrink. We either have to eat lots of money or take on a similar bad contract or worse.