DBAHO

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Jul 31, 2006 -> 07:58 PM) I didn't know Blalock was available. Yep, the Rangers have been shopping him for the last couple of days to try and get Tejada.

Unfortunately those Humber and Heilman pipedreams for Garcia aren't going to pan out;

Call me crazy, I think someone like Justin Huber who Kansas City have mishandled TERRIBLY, could also be am option for the Red Sox. He'd cost less than Shealy that's for sure. But I can see why'd they'd do this. I assume Scott Linebrink could be off to Colorado and the Pads get Lowell right?

Really, really good to see Whisler had a very good 1st outing. He's making his way up in terms of our SP prospects.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jul 31, 2006 -> 06:49 AM) Zito's not available for anything we're offering. And we need 4 more to improve the team as much as it will require to make the playoffs. Unless you wanted to offer B-Mac. But trading for 2 months of Zito really ain't a good idea when you know he'll be pitching for the Mets or Yanks next season.

Any thoughts if the Angels did this, of possibly trying to make this a 3 way, by giving up Garcia and getting back Daniel Cabrera + a prospect?

QUOTE(TLAK @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 10:35 PM) Brandon might be just a little bit iffy but the rest should all be good to go today. While we all would prefer that Mac had covered 2 or 3 innings, I don't see how it is any fault of Ozzie's that he used up 36 pitches to cover 1. David Riske has not been used for 3 days. Considering the beer league softball game played yesterday, the pen is in as good as shape as could be hoped for. Riske can certainly go for about 2 innings if we need him to, and Thornton certainly should be able to for at least an inning, so I think we'll be alright. It'll be a BIG boost if Javy can just have a good outing though.

QUOTE(shoota @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 08:13 PM) That's a ridiculous argument. If the Sox were likely to win more games with each man's role switched, how could you not support the change? Since the trading deadline is two days' away, your second point is irrelevant. And your first point is false groupthink because Vazquez has never been as good of a pitcher as Contreras pre-2005. Don't look only at the starting performances of both men. Also look at how Vazquez would perform in the bullpen. Since he dominates hitters the first two times through a lineup, his numbers suggest he'd be an excellent long man. Vazquez could likely be the better bullpen pitcher than McCarthy while McCarthy could likely be the better starting pitcher. The Sox could upgrade their starting rotation and bullpen by adjusting their current talent. You also have think about the long - term and not only the short - term here. Like YAS said if you move Vaz to the pen, you're stuck with him there for the next few seasons and his confidence will be shattered. And how often would you actually use him out of the pen? Look at how Ozzie uses B-Mac right now. We didn't trade Chris Young just so we would be stuck with a long reliever with a terrible contract. If Vaz is going to be out of this rotation, it'll be at the end of the season as part of a trade to open up a spot for B-Mac.

Yikes for the Angels;

QUOTE(Felix @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 09:49 PM) This thread is the greatest. That's the 2nd time Ive heard that in 2 days.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 06:46 PM) How's that NFL Coach game? Didn't get many great reviews from what I heard. A lot of micro - management.

QUOTE(shoota @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 04:54 PM) What makes you believe it'd be a bad decision to switch the pitching roles of Vazquez and McCarthy? Because you don't pay around $10M for a guy to be basically a long reliever who's hardly used.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 04:44 PM) What I dont understand its ok to "pass the crack pipe" to ask for Buehrle.... but not ok when we offer Pods and a prospect. If you ask me which of the 2 are most likely to happen Id say the 2nd one 100%. Especially when you look at their splits; Crisp - .275/.328/.396 Pods - .271/.347/.394 But I'm on crack BABY!!!

The Nats are still tryin to re-sign Alfonso;

Abreu to the Yanks ESPN believes;

QUOTE(toasty @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 03:52 PM) pitt is likely to package casey or burnitz with hernandez in a trade Yeah but even if they did that, why would they then want to acquire someone like Gload who's over 30 and doesn't fit into their rebuilding plans?

Nice to finally see one of our W-S callups to B-Ham finally have an ok-ish start.

What happened to Berry Zito? Peavy's been having arm problems most of the season. San Diego is desperate for offense, but I couldn't see them trading their best starter who's about to come healthy when that division is still wide open.

What teams would be interested in him for a starting spot? Most non - contenders like Pittsburgh have the likes of Sean Casey anyways.

QUOTE(shoota @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 01:14 PM) I don't know what ERA+ means. ERA measured against the league average, and adjusted for ballpark factors. An ERA+ over 100 is better than average, less than 100 is below average.

QUOTE(shoota @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 01:06 PM) Using that formula, Vazquez's three best seasons would translate to AL eras of: 4.32, 4.81 and 4.14. I determine that Javier Vazquez's history in no way suggests he will become a dominant, ace pitcher like Jose Contreras. Vazquez also had an ERA+ of 135 in 01, 106 in 02 and 154 in 03. For comparisons sake, Contreras had a ERA+ of 122 in 2005, and 132 so far this season. Looks pretty similar there to me.

QUOTE(Jake @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 12:51 PM) As far as I know, the big inning has always been his problem. Just moreso this year, with no dominating starts in between. Just like Jon Garland in 2004 really isn't it. Hopefully we can see the same improvement in Javy that we saw with JG in 2005.

QUOTE(Leonard Zelig @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 12:39 PM) Who are the guys in your sig? IIRC there's B-Mac, Gio Gonzalez, Liotta, Broadway and Haigwood. To say it needs updating is an understatement. QUOTE(Jake @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 12:39 PM) Vazquez still hasn't ever dominated. Returning to mediocrity would be a nice step, but he's never achieved anything near his limitless potential, which is one of the sadnesses of sport. I would say what he did from 01-03 is pretty close to dominating, especially when you can throw over 220+IP for those 3 seasons and average over 200 K's for those seasons. Not saying he's going to get back to that, but it shows what he's capable of when he's on and doing everything right.

Nice to see our offense come through with a big day. Was unfortunate for Jon to have an outing like that, because he's probably been our best SP for the past month or so. Hopefully he'll be back to where he was before today's outing in his next start. And we're back on top of the wildcard standings by .5 now as well.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 12:33 PM) What's the decision? To pick up his option. We'd be insane not to, considering what he could get on the open market.