daggins

Free up the money now and get what talent you can. Just hope the pitching doesn't crap the bed next year, sign a high level free agent and some bargain guys and pray like hell. There isn't much else this team can do short of going in to full blown tear-down mode.

I'd certainly consider Ramirez but i'd think the Sox would need to get something useful in return for him since he is cheap and fairly good. His range is a biiig plus and he gets to a lot of balls most guys can only dream on.

Hopefully Threets establishes himself as being capable of getting guys out. Embree clearly was not.

playing percentages is a manager's job, and the percentages favored Jones/Nix over Omar. In that situation, not pinch hitting is basically tantamount to forfeit. can't disrespect the veteran though.

Too bad Horacio Ramirez didn't pitch 18, he would have been a force on those lists.

Yeah we pretty much just get to not pay AJ something like 4 million dollars. In fact I would guess we get crap for all those guys, given their salaries. Saving money is a big deal, though, so i'm still for it. Use that money on draft/international scouting/free agents.

Yeah, it's done. I don't know if firing Ozzie will help anything, it would almost assuredly be just a token gesture - some accountability I suppose. I think we are more likely to see KW in a new position and Hahn or someone else as GM. I don't agree with signing Lee or Crawford, but it is becoming more clear that KW's method of plugging holes - find a bargain and pray - isn't working as often as it has in the past. So while I don't think that he has the right guys (and he must be joking about Uribe - he is gonna make more than we should give him next year) I do think the Sox need some top-tier free agent talent. Werth, Carlos Pena (should be cheaper after a down season), someone of that ilk.

A battle of badness...

More like Ozzie's weird obsession with the hit and run is really predictable.

I got the impression that Konerko won't be back because he will (rightly) be looking for a multi year deal. I think the Sox will try and get a one-year guy (bridge to Dayan) or a long term solution before signing Konerko for 2 years. If Kong will come back for one year then hey, everybody is happy. It could happen, or not.

They'll probably play Quinlan there for a few weeks/a month, and when that inevitably fails, they'll sign or trade. Unless they're 10 games back or something, they will look to upgrade.

It's hard to think of a system with less potential impact players, really. Cardinals and D-Backs, Houston and Toronto are close... anyone else?

I think it is just an instructional league this fall and not the AFL that is the goal.

Kong, AJ, Putz, Freddy, if he pitches well the next couple starts, maybe Jones, basically all the expiring contracts have a shot. Past that, they might look to salvage some value from Quentin, and some schmo team might take Bobby if we chip in some (most) salary. If KW is going to blow s*** up he might as well do it right.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2010 -> 02:36 PM) I bet PK won't make it. Teixeira will get voted the starter, and then Morneau/Cabrera will be the other two. I hate that you're right, since Tex has done nothing to deserve it so far. It won't last but screw that guy.

I would think Danks, Rios, and Thornton should all make it. Paulie is having a great year but Morneau and Cabrera deserve to be there.

Realistically the best I see happening is coming out of June a game or two above .500. Keep in mind that the Twins and Tigers are also playing wimpy NL teams, even if their schedule isn't as soft as the Sox.

You'd have to hope for a guy that is talented but far away still. A low-A ball guy. Failing that, just adding depth.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ May 17, 2010 -> 11:41 PM) Please explain, because this doesn't make sense to me at all. Why is it wrong to trade an unproven commodity at high value? Because it isn't a smart way to run a business? Cost control is an important part of every major league team, and the really good ones are able to develop talent internally while acquiring major league vets to complement a young, talented core. If you want to say that Sox prospects tend to fail more than other teams, that's fine, and it may be true, but that says some pretty awful things about the way this team is run and points toward needing major restructuring. A proven MLB player. I think you'll find that the returns for players with question marks, especially MAJOR RED FLAG question marks like Danks, are minimal. D2 could maybe net us a bench player or middle reliever, and not a particularly good one. Flowers could get a marginal MLB starter. Meanwhile, Flowers himself could become an All-Star. Well, lots of things occur in the minds of the 30 GMs in baseball. However, things like market size and payroll play big parts in what becomes reality. Lots of teams *have* to deal with unproven players, hoping they turn out, simply because they cannot afford to pay the proven ones. That's why, when you're a team like the Sox and you can afford to pay the proven players, you do so. Trade the guys who likely will not pan out for players who already have. It's what Kenny Williams has done his entire career and it's why people in our organization have rings. Payroll is a major issue for this team, because despite being in a large market, it has lost the lions share of it to the crosstown rivals. The Sox are, in essence, a mid market team stuck in a large market city. They have attendance issues every year, even when they win, and while they had some wiggle room coming in to this season, there was a definite limit to what they would spend. As to Kenny's MO, I think we're starting to see the logical consequence of his actions - Marginal major league talent, very thin minor league talent, and 100 mil in payroll. Certain teams simply feel like they *have* to trade productive veteran players for cost concerns. In return they ask for prospects, hoping that at least one of the prospects will turn out. This usually doesn't work out all that well, and moves like the Bartolo-to-Montreal and Tex-to-Atlanta deals are the rare exceptions, not the rules. Kenny should shop Flowers, D2, all these guys, and look to get proven pieces that will help now and in the future. As far as what is out there we can only speculate at this point. Certain teams DO have to trade vets for prospects. This includes small and mid market teams and teams without a lot of payroll flexibility. The Sox fit into the second category right now because of the Rios and Peavy pickups. They can make those moves work for them but if they want to maintain payroll or, god forbid, have to trim payroll because of poor attendance, they are going to have to do something. That means trading vets, or non tendering underachievers and replacing them with average guys. This team doesn't need average players, they need good players, but they don't have the money to sign them nor the minor league talent to trade for them. Trading vets for more possible pieces, at least, makes a lot of sense for this team. Otherwise they are getting into Astros country.

It's true that prospects fail often but the idea that you should trade them while their "value is high" is pretty ludicrous. What would you expect in return for him, or a package based around him, anyways? If it is obvious to you that he is going to fail, don't you think it might have occurred to 29 General Managers of the MLB as well? The fact that you still think they would give up worthwhile players in return for a guy who could bust just indicates why we shouldnt deal him - he might bust, but if he doesn't he provides a boatload of cheap talent for 6 years.

Well we are out of April, and this team is really bad. Last year the situation was different because there wasn't any one good team in our division, but the Twins are substantially improved and the Tigers seem to be on a hot streak. This season might not be over but its definitely on its last legs. Whether KW decides its worth it to get some marginal return on expiring contracts or not, we'll see.

So its more than a bit worrying that Flowers is striking out something like 36% of the time right?

Yeah, I saw a link to an article that claims the Pads already won the Jake Peavy trade... while this team surely misses CR, if you can trade an ok starter and two average-to-below average pen arms for a top of the rotation starter, you kind of have to make that trade. I understand the cost issue, and that is a big deal, but tonight seems like it might be a pretty typical Peavy outing. Lots of k's, a couple solo dingers due to the park favoring hitters, and going deep into the game. I can live with that for 3 more years.

Blame em both if you like. He's always been durable and reliable, but he seems a bit slower and his "game" doesn't translate to the AL without blinding speed.

His game sucks