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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 04:23 PM) I've got to be honest, I think we are looking at a trade, and I honestly think we are giving up an impact player. I really think KW is shopping Quentin. How much value would Q! have right now?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 04:21 PM) At the end of the day, its all good. I know people respect the site and if someone hasn't heard of us or doesn't trust us, that is their loss, imo. I think back to a day where I was the only person reporting something about Brandon McCarthy, everyone else in the media was saying one thing and I was saying the opposite. Little did they know, I was getting the info straight from the horses mouth, haha. We try to do things in as honest and ethical manner as possible and will always do that. If we don't have a basis, we won't report it as a rumor, if we haven't heard anything and someone else is reporting it, we'll publish the info so our readers can see it and link to the source of who is reporting (ie, Cowley/Gonzalez/Whomever) and give our take. Most of the time we won't have the scoop, but that doesn't mean we don't have some scoops. Clearly we don't get paid to do what we do so we aren't always around or chatting with our contacts on a regular basis. But when we do hear something juicy, we try to pass it on and depending on the significant it might just be a blurb in a post or twitter or it might be an article. Just think back to some of the stuff I've b****ed about Swisher for, ahahaa. This is really the only site I look into for Sox info. Even when what's posted here isn't true, it usually makes sense. Keep up the great work.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 04:17 PM) You heard anything about the names? Reading between the lines of what I heard, I expect it to be a young player that will cost a lot. I know we just did a deal with the Dodgers, but they have a ton of holes and a need in the rotation and no room to really add payroll. I wonder if the Sox could find a way to put together a massive package to acquire Andre Ethier. D2, Hudson, Morel + some?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 04:10 PM) I'd like to confirm that I heard the same thing, just sayin.. You've been 2 for 2 on your last couple posts like this, I'm getting a little bit excited here.

Didn't Rock call this one? I remember him saying that KW has been working on a bat.

Sucks to lose Ely, but it's still a good deal for the Sox.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 12:14 PM) A leadoff hitter who coincidentally enough, doesn't walk or get on base. This offseason has been very disappointing, IMO considering this move, and the year year deal to Teahen. Why wasn't the money ponied up for Figgins? Better player by FAR. Oh come on, the guy is cheap, plays good D and stays healthy. Figgins and Pods both have injury issues and Pods is a terrible defender, Figgins cost the M's 9M and probable would've cost more if we got into a bidding war with them. Pierre upgrades the LF defense and gives us a .280/.340/.375 guy with tremendous speed. He can score from 1st on a double, and Becko is going to hit a ton of those behind him. He fits for this team and is cheap enough to allow us to still pursue a decent DH option.

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 08:15 PM) Matsui wouldn't make the offense much better than last year, but as it stands this offense is much worse than that. I hope the Sox stay away from Vlad. Why would you want to stay away from Vlad? He kills RHP.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 13, 2009 -> 06:58 PM) It actually makes a bit of sense because versatility can be a bad thing if said player's defense is that bad If the player's defense is at a point to where it is that much of a detriment, I don't think we can consider them versatile.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 12, 2009 -> 08:46 PM) I dont get it either...he must have told the sox either offer me a several mil or multi years or cut me loose. Otherwise this makes no sense. They were only a few hundred thousand apart.

If they REALLY like Santos, I could maybe understand non-tendering DJ, but they have to add another bat with that money.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 12:23 PM) Here is a thought... all things considered, would it be better for the Sox to lose Bobby Jenks or DJ Carrasco for either nothing, or a trade where we receive a nobody minor leaguer? I wouldn't be opposed to picking up a decent-upside young arm for Bobby like the Braves did with Soriano, the salary relief alone puts us in a great position to pick up a more important piece.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 10, 2009 -> 06:30 PM) Thornton also was mainly used as a starter in the minors and didn't become a reliever until his first season in the majors. I haven't looked at any of Casilla's PitchFx's, but I would also be surprised if his stuff is as good as Thornton's. I know how good it was when he came up, but I don't know how good Casilla's stuff is now, and he's only had a K/9 of over 8 once in his career (9.2 in 2007), whereas Thornton has never been below 8.2 in his major league career and has been phenomenal the previous two seasons. 94.5 mph on the fastball, 84.8 on the slider, 86.6 on the change.

Can't believe that they'd do that, D.J. can't be asking for too much and I honestly believe that he was more important to us than Jenks was last season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 07:52 AM) I said offensively. IMO Getz has as much OBP potential as Gardner. Getz got slammed around here. People said he had no power, wasn't exactly young for a rookie and wouldn't get better. You can say the exact same thing about Gardner. If he is such a stud waiting to happen, why are the Yankees, a team cutting payroll, bringing in expensive pieces to play in front of him? He's not an everyday player. He wouldn't be a bad guy to have off the bench, but leading off every day will make the fire Greg Walker threads grow. Well then he replaces what we lost in Getz + Mark Teahan. I like having Becko's bat at 2b instead of Getz and Gardner has a good chance of outperforming Pods next season, so it looks like an upgrade across the board.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 07:42 AM) Exactly what does Gardner bring offensively that Chris Getz did not? Plus defense at a premium position and OBP potential.

QUOTE (Chisox88 @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 10:19 AM) Sooooo..... Who is going to hit home runs on our team? Seems to me that we're going to be going with a lot of guys who are more 20 HR hitter types. Becks, 'Lexi, Rios, Teahan.

Sox Talking with Drays About Jenks, Crawford for Quentin Swap What.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 09:31 AM) And who would be our everyday 1B? Kotsay? Probably Teahan.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 4, 2009 -> 08:54 AM) Thank you. And if the guy running that site actually knew a little something about the Sox, he'd know immediately to question this on its face. You can't expect the guy to know every grudge between every team/player.

They're going after Bay, Harden and Lackey as well. That could be one hell of a club.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 01:35 AM) Danks is decent: Career: 31-33 - 4.06 ERA - .258 AVG - 1.33 WHIP That is 3rd or 4th starter material on an average MLB staff. So, if this is your logic, you must think Gavin Floyd is pretty horrible as well, right? Career: 36-29 - 4.67 ERA - .259 avg - 1.37 WHIP

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 2, 2009 -> 12:01 PM) Adding Vlad as our dh just makes a ton of sense to me. I feel the same way, Vlad is a guy who will hit near .300 and produce around 55 XBH. He doesn't strike out (he has never struck out more than 95 times in a season) and he smashes righties, which is something we need with our lack of LH power (.311/.354/.477/.831 against righties last year, .316/.376/.526/903 w/ 53 home runs against righties the past 3 seasons.)

Viciedo had never played as much as he did this year. The Cuban season is shorter and he participated in Spring Training, his arm got fatigued.

Very nice article, it hits everything on the head. I had no idea that Vizquel was going to get extra AB's in April. One little problem I had with it though, the Sox have said Mark Buehrle is going to be the 4th starter next year, and Jake Peavy is really the Ace of the staff.