Springfield Soxfan

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 07:23 AM) At this point, his only competition is Threets, who hasn't exactly been uber-successful. Williams has the inside track, and will probably make the team. Why do you hope he doesn't? It just comes back to that Yankees series last August for me, he was terrible.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 08:46 PM) They don't necessarily have to add him to the 25-man roster, but if he is not added, he'll immediately go back on waivers. If he proves he's completely incapable of pitching at the major league level, and the Sox send him down, it's very possible he'd pass through. There are pitchers with raw talent all over the place, but having them actually be able to harness that talent is a completely different beast unto itself, and teams may not want to chance him figuring it out at the MLB level. Thanks!! I just hope Randy Williams does not make the team.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 11:24 PM) Well.. he's out of options. So the sox are going to give him every opportunity to make the big club, because they like him alot. I wouldn't be surprised if it was another Masset/Wassermann situation as far as Masset making it cause of the no options reason. We'll see who pitches well in ST. (ala the "Wassermann" guy) Since Santos is out of options, we have to expose him to waivers, does that mean a team has to put him on its 25 man active roster or can a team claim him put him on the 40 man and send him to the minors? To be more direct, if he does not hit a another team's 25 man roster, can the Sox bring him back?

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 04:13 PM) This would be my vote. But since he's not an option I'll go with Damon because he'll be playing every day. Damon hands down, KW seemed pretty pissed that spring training in Florida seemed to be one of his demands.......

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 06:01 PM) If Damon's only a one-year rental, I don't understand why a NTC would be a deal-breaker. Because if the Sox fell out of the race, you know we would shop a guy that had a one year rental, he might end up on the Rockies or Cardinals or something else and he wants to control his own destiny.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:45 PM) Was it posted that Damon got a NTC? Yes, and that is probably what sent Damon to Detroit, KW will not give no trade clauses any more.

I bet the no trade clause is what made Damon go to Detroit and we know KW never would have given that. I'll take a shot with Blalock.

Is this one of the most popular threads of all time, we are all starved for the season to start. This group has made the winter much more bearable, thanks to all.

Look, I really wanted/still want Damon to come, but if he doesn't, you know that KW is still going to look to improve/make a deal to help this team!

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 09:05 PM) Well said Double and triple agree, we must hold our optimism until this is totally official. As someone else said, we thought we had Hunter before he signed with the Angels as well. Boras is cunning, these public negotiations will bring another team into the mix.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 04:11 PM) Play-off hopefuls. World Series long-shots but you never know once you get into the post season with that rotation. Ditto, completely agree.

Let the baseball world continue to underestimate our starting pitching and our team, that plays right into Ozzie's hands. Sure the Twins have boosted their payroll, but that is temporary.

Interesting topic, I want Mauer to play for a National League team.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 13, 2010 -> 02:07 PM) my bet is on a trade for fielder early in the season My gut feels the same way on this, but not sure we have the horses to pull it off

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 11, 2010 -> 07:00 PM) Yeah, and if you're comprehension skills were any better, you would have taken note of the word "usually", besides, if it was a bidding war for Konerko, the Sox wouldn't have won. KW is just teasing us on this one, I think there is no chance.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Feb 7, 2010 -> 03:53 PM) Anyone who pays that would be a fool. As good of a prospect as this guy may seem, he's not as advanced as Strasburg is/was and isn't a pitcher. He'll get above average #1 money, but I don't think a team is going to give him into the stratosphere unless he hits .500 in juco. Honestly, how much of a difference does it make? Player evaluation is so tough in the MLB draft I can't say I would mind the Sox taking a guy a couple spots lower on their overall rankings to take a pitcher instead of a hitter. Unless there is a Porcello type slide (which we know the Sox won't pay for) the difference between top hitter and top pitcher at each spot is going to be so small that it's a waste of energy to complain about taking position instead of 'best available.' If anything you should hope the Sox do well at finding out who the best available is instead of worrying that they will select by position instead of ability. I think there is a lot of strategy in the draft so as to not show your hand too much as which player you might be seeking, but sometimes there are not secrets and things went down as predicted last year, but KW was sweating bullets that Mitchell would be there. Interesting point to debate.

^^Really, you think A Gon would command $180 million?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 7, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) Strasbourg money isn't that scary; his contract wound up being fairly reasonable for that level of draft pick. The $50 million he was talking about was scary. I thought someone said that the Sox are focusing on pitching this draft at SoxFest, but I hope that we just take the best available players period. I also think that showing our hand by going after pitching is a smoke screen.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 4, 2010 -> 11:08 PM) Very good post MD. Hell we just heard of a top prospect pass up the opportunity to go to the big leagues and go into priesthood. (Yes I know it's not the same as a real big leaguer, but the end of the goal is) It isn't uncommon for athletes to walk away from the game early. If Mark wants to do that, then you have to respect that decision. I hope he is Coop's successor.

This is just crazy. I try and get to Spring Training every year and there is no way I should have to pay to keep the Cubs in Mesa. That is just crazy, look at all the teams in Mesa right now and the Cubs think that they run the Cactus League. Hang tough JR!! http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,3569767.story

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Feb 6, 2010 -> 09:27 AM) If AGon is rakin in July as all indications point to, and the Sox as expected are in the thick of the race I would hope KW would have that trick up his sleeve to at least try to dangle a package of players in front of Hoyer. Who knows if the most mentioned prospects are raking in A/AA/AAA, then we have more leverage. But another thing I hope happens if (Huge IF) by some miracle we can pull this off would be for KW to convince JR the need of signing AGon to at least a 4-5 year extension. That is gonna be at least 20-22 million per year range. One has hopes. I would be so happy to get him, but we are just teasing ourselves with these threads. I'm sure KW could make a trade work, but nothing is imminent.

QUOTE (scenario @ Feb 1, 2010 -> 07:02 PM) I sure hope not. Reading this clip from the AP story on the trade today only reaffirms my opinion about Taveras... The Reds thought they’d filled their long-standing hole at the top of the batting order when they signed Taveras to a two-year deal, but he struggled with injuries last season, batted .240 and had an on-base percentage of only .275 with 25 stolen bases. A free swinger, Taveras drew only 18 walks in 435 plate appearances. Wow, I didn't realize that he only had 18 walks, horrible and not what we need!!

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 1, 2010 -> 03:08 PM) It's also a bit ridiculous to think that a guy really would retire over the difference of a few million $'s. It's petty. The man isn't going to retire unless he loses the ability or desire to play. I wonder if Tavares is coming now that that A's have cut him.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 09:01 PM) I don't think anyone really knows because of the concerns about his back. I read something about the Indians possibly being interested, but only if he came at a very, very inexpensive price tag. My guess is somewhere in the $4-5 million range? Last week, I would have said that is high, but when Xavier Nady who is still hurt and not sure when he will be back, commands $3 million plus, how knows.

QUOTE (DaveBrown85 @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 06:02 PM) ---news flash--- Johnny Damon is not going to come Chicago even if we do email him I agree, it's wonderful to speculate and I would love to have him, but we are really wasting our time thinking this is a possibility.