DBAHO

Just moved the thread to the Trade Winds as we already have a discussion on it.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 11:33 PM) Yeah the draft can still be a very successful one, but from the early looks of it Im not too impressed. A course I was not impressed with our draft to begin with so I guess im a little biased against it as well. I guess it's not like the draft we had 2 years ago when we had lots of early picks and came out with a lot of good SP prospects (of which most aren't with the organization today). But I think the Sox's draft record at least in the 1st round over the past few seasons is pretty good.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 11:02 PM) it is my belief that if the soriano deal goes down, the sox dont have the prospects to do it without including mccarthy....i think they will trade freddy, texas is a logical destination, for a package starting with someone like diamond or danks, and then move that prospect for alfonso with brandon moving to the rotation........the sox are gonna move a pitcher at the end of the year, why not do it now if you can move that pitcher for soriano I was actually thinking a little today about the possibility of moving a SP now like Garcia, but then also moving Javier Vazquez in the off-season to a team like the Dodgers for a Furcal? Then you could go out and sign say a Mark Mulder, who's stock is down (e.g 1 year deal with a few team options). He had a lot of success in the AL with Oakland, and just for whatever reason, it hasn't worked for him in St. Louis this season (think he's been injured). Either way, there are a LOT of possibilites in which KW could go with these starting pitchers in Freddy and Javy, and it's quite fun to speculate about.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 11:46 PM) For a while there yesterday, I thought he was already a goner. I wonder how Brandon himself felt yesterday when he heard the report, and then to go out and pitch last night. Talk about a different range of emotions.

Interesting to see that the 2 main prospects the Tiggies would be have built a trade around Humberto Sanchez and Jurrnitta (I think that's his name), are both injured IIRC. Wonder if that will possibly affect their chances at acquiring Soriano. Apparently some people think Sanchez could have a Zumaya or Verlander like impact next season possibly.

Don't forget that the Sox are 9th in the AL in bullpen ERA either, so replacing a SP earlier with a reliever ain't necessarily the best strategy when your relievers aren't having the best years. And hence why KW has brought in MacDougall and Riske this season so far. Don't know what is up with Cottsy lately, given up a couple of jacks, but before he was showing pretty good form, hopefully it's just a couple of bad games he's going through. Ozzie has faith in his SP's to get the job done. When Jon Garland was struggling earlier in the season, people might have said he was being left in the games too long, but look at Jon now. His confidence will have definitely been higher knowing that Ozzie has faith in him throwing at least 6-7 innings.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:39 PM) Maybe, however he could be much better than that. My problem with it, is that we traded our best arm for a reliever with a very non impressive history. We got very little value for Lumsden imo and I think we could have done much more to improve our team for this season with Tyler than to add Macdougal. He could absolutely, but he'll need to show next season an increased K rate in AAA I would imagine. What do you think is fair value for Lumsden BTW Rowand, if you had to pick an available player that would fit the need of this team instead of MacDougall?

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:21 PM) The Mariners are in the race for the AL West. Why would they trade their best player? They wouldn't now for sure, and they'll need him in the off-season if they want to sign Daisuke Matsuzuka as well I would imgaine.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:41 PM) 10 actually. Ah yes even better. Shows how important shredding that salary could be actually. Paying $10M for a SP with decreased velocity ain't a good thing.

So we won't be seeing any more "Harold Reynolds predicts the Royals to come in 1st in the AL Central this season" Threads!? Dang it.

You have to remember also that trading Freddy now frees up $9M for the payroll next season. That money can be put towards the FA market. Maybe a guy like Frankie Francisco could interest the Sox as well. He was part of the Everett trade and was a very good reliever before that "incident" and then he got injured IIRC.

Rotoworld predicted that Lumsden would be nothing more than a 4th starter. I wonder what various people here think about that prediction?

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:04 PM) The only problem though in my mind is that we possibly just had one of the worse drafts in recent history. Our first round pick is in rookie ball for some reason even though he is a seasoned college pitcher. Our 2nd rounder has been lit up in Low A. Our third round pick has been ok but not that good also in rookie ball. A lot of the guys we took that would of made it a good draft didnt sign..... I think it's a bit early to judge how this year's draft is going to pan out. McCullough you'd think would be up at Kanny for his next start, with Cortes moving on. You have to remember with the college guys like him and Long, they will have thrown quite a few innings already this season, and like Broadway did this time last year could be going through a bit of a dead arm period possibly.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 09:18 PM) Supposedly JD (Danks) is the real deal. I'd make this move as well. Texas have 4 good SP prospects in Danks, Diamond, Volquez and Hurley that we would probably be interested in. They're a good fit in terms of what we're trying to get for a SP.

Just thought I would start this thread, because personally I believe it's definitely more likely that one of these 2 are dealt instead of B-Mac. And I saw this article in the Fort Worth Star - Telegram; If KW could get say a John Danks and another prospect for Garcia, that would be a very good move IMHO, if you can't get the Heilman and Humber package from the Mets. But what other teams would you put down as having an interest in upgrading their SP right now, and of those teams who do you think would seriously consider Freddy or Javy? I'll also post this in here;

Flash will love this, from the N.Y Daily News;

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 04:30 PM) Im sorry but a 4.78 era isnt what id call good... some people hate him 2 much on this board but right now he is pitching like a 4th starter. Kevin Millwood sure would have loved that type of run support last season.

QUOTE(T R U @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 07:07 PM) Or he could try LESS power since it would be easier to hit HR's resulting in a few more points on the batting average.. Also, if we can get this deal done for Pods and 2 prospects none of which are named BMac.. I will be very pleased! Depends if he has the swing for the fences mentality in him, which many Soxtalk posters will have seen before. His splits at the Cell albeit a small sample size, ain't too encouraging; 64 AB's, .219/.254/.375. 3HR's and 18K's. And yes I echo the thoughts on a deal involving Pods and 2 prospects. Even if Soriano leaves as a FA, we'll get 2 draft picks, which should be better prospects than the ones we traded I would imagine.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 06:46 PM) I've got it bookmarked and check it every day. BTW, question for illinilaw since he's a Chelsea fan...how bad was Kezman when he was with the Blues? IIRC on Kezman he was a total flop at Stamford Bridge, and didn't end up scoring for quite a few months, and then was sold after his 1st season there. I think Zigic may possibly end up at Portsmouth Soxfan1, so it will be interesting to check the giant out, and see if he is better than Peter Crouch.

Phil Rogers reported that the Sox were working on the Soriano for Pods and prospects deal. Who would the prospects be? Probably Lance Broadway and maybe a Wes Whisler? The 1 thing I am a little worried about Soriano is actually how he will hit at the Cell. He had terrible home / away splits last season for Texas, but now he's hitting at a pitchers park and has massively improved. How will leaving that for a hitters park affect his swing possibly? Would he try for more power in exchange for a few more K's perhaps?

James Milner is probably going to leave Newcastle for West Ham for about 3M. Excellent deal for us, another good young quick English midfielder who can play on both wings. I'd expect Sorin to go a bigger club than Bolton. Other teams are starting to show a lot more interest in him. Apparently Chelsea bid $16M for Cole, but Arsenal are holding out for $25M. In fact, maybe I should start posting the English Gossip in the papers every-day if there's enough interest.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 09:20 AM) Dbaho once said, "Where's our Tyler Lumsden?" It was a good laugh then, but now, it's quite sad to think about. Our minor league pitching is nonexistent. If it weren't decimated before, it's completely destroyed now. Is there one legitimate arm remaining in our system? If anyone here says Lance Broadway is now our top pitching prospect I'm going to die of laughter. Tell me Heads and company, what do we have to look forward to? Who's the closest to contributing? Where would we rank in comparison to other clubs? Where's our Liriano? Nice of you to remember that Flash. Flash just have faith that our minor league system will be back up in the top half of the league, sooner than you think. In the draft 2 years ago, the Sox selected Lumsden, Gonzalez, Liotta and Whisler. The 1st 2 are gone, being moved for parts to help this team win now, the latter 2 are still here. Who is our best SP prospect? Ok I'll say Broadway. But don't forget, we've got Harrell who's still very young who is now at AA, Whisler should be up there now, and other arms like Brooks and McCullough. We'll stock up again on pitching, and I think our track record of developing pitching is a lot better than other teams in the MLB. But once again, 29 other teams will be asking themselves, "Where's our Liriano?". QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:46 PM) But for how long, jas? This guy just has such a violent delivery that I basically never think he's going to remain healthy and history isn't on his side either. Like I said in the trade thread, I have absolutely no problem trading our top prospects but I do have a problem trading them for a guy like this. I just don't see Mike lasting more than about 3 weeks before he ends up back on the dl. This trade is going to hurt imo. Maybe Coop will tweak Mike's delivery a bit. At least we control him until 2009 and this isn't a 2 month rental like say a Scott Sullivan. I'm gonna wait judgement on this for a while to see how MacDougall does. Riske and Thornton have done quite well for us since they've been acquired, hopefully Mike can do the same. At least he gives us closer experience as well, in case Bobby ever gets in a slump or injured.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 02:39 PM) Or we could try to develop a Carlos Zambrano or a Liriano or a Peavy or a Beckett. And yet we've developed SP's like Brandon McCarthy who have shown they can successful at the major league level. And other SP's in our system like Gonzalez, Haigwood and Lumsden have brought us back Jim Thome and Mike MacDougall. You can't just draft a power pitcher and expect him to develop into a #1 or #2 caliber starter like that. Look at Adam Miller in the Indians organization, and how highly he was rated 2 seasons ago, compared to where he is now.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 02:08 PM) If we were smart, we would actually draft a guy who has power in their arm. Yes more Nick Lemon's please.

I am addicted to Eastside Hockey Manager 2005 ATM, which is made by the same developers (Sports Interactive) that just made the last OOTP 2006 game. Basically the same type of graphical interface and stats etc. I should probably end up buying OOTP 2006 now.