DBAHO

Just knew that Jerry had to have his MARQUEE player.

So Gonzaga not doin so well.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 01:48 AM) It is crap. Crap that he wouldnt practice hard enough, crap that Skiles couldnt push him to play, crap that the bulls got stuck with a 14 million dollar contract, crap that he was a throw in for Antonio Davis, crap that he sat on his ass for half the season and did nothing. The whole thing is crap. Thats all there is to it. You can be mad at everyone in this situation, I know I am. 2 words. Cap Space. Why do you think we traded for Penny Hardaway when he's probably Brian Hill's most hated player of all time (he did get him fired back in 97 or 98 ya know).

How ironic if this actually happens; Castro pitched 1 inning today, 0ER, 2BB's and 2K's FWIW.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 09:35 PM) DBAH0, No problem. Yeah looks like I got one again as well. I assume it'll be the same for everyone else.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 08:37 PM) He said it: "There is no more passionate owner in sports than Bill Wirtz and the Wirtz family," Bettman said. "This is just going to be a question of getting back on track. They were a little unlucky, and they have acknowledged they made some mistakes." And in related news, Gary Bettman just received a $3M donation from Bill Wirtz. Again, Wirtz is crying poor that his team will be losing money again this season.

Thanks again for the heads up there RME JICO. I'm sure Jason and Alex will probably suss out what's going on with this in the morning.

Get Eric Moulds or trade for Javon Walker. Just say no to TO Bill and Jerry puh-lease.

I ended up pretty happy with my draft anyways.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 10:55 AM) I'm rooting for him to keep raising his trade value so we can get a decent reliever for him. I'd still rather trade Gload, if Borch or Ross were going to get the same value in return. And I know probably most people would disagree with that.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 11:14 AM) Dont the dolphins still have AJ Feeley or whatevr the dude they got from Philly... or was he released. Got traded to San Diego. He'll be backing up Phillip Rivers (AKA A.J Smith's lovchild).

Conrats Alex on your acheivement.

Yeah they want to try and make sure people can't burn the games that they're going to release. Of course if Halo 3 comes out then, it's a pretty good idea from the folks at Sony.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 11:17 PM) I think that if KW was going to go that route and trust an unestablished guy with good minor league numbers he would have just kept Bajenaru. I think that if KW makes an acquisition, it will be for a more proven reliever with MLB experience. Besides, Boston already optioned Jermaine Van Buren to AAA Pawtucket a couple days ago so there is no numbers game for them to worry about. I think that Boston will probably want to keep Van Buren down at AAA to serve as insurance in case they have an injury to their bullpen or if one of their relievers tanks. Afterall, remember how putrid their bullpen was last season? It's a pretty good idea though. Van Buren has put up some sick numbers the past few years in the minors. The Cubs should have just kept him. Boston's also got Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen in the minors as well, and they're probably ahead of him at this stage in case there's an injury in the Boston pen. Baj is a fairly good comparison, except that even though he dominated in AAA he never really grabbed his oppurtunity with the Sox when he was up with the big lub. Trading for a guy like Van Buren who hasn't done that yet, makes sense. But you're probably right on Boston wanting to hang onto him, but it's definitely worth enquiring about. So all in all, get Osuna in on a MLC, hope that Urbina gets out of jail so that we can sign him to a 1 year deal with a team option for a 2nd, and for KW to keep working th phones to try and get another reliever. That's the best we can hope for at this stage.

And Isiah's goin to trade him for Kg right? It's all part of the MASTER plan ya know.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 12:40 AM) Great post. Osuna still looks like the best option to me. He is probably the best reliever out of that list and he would likely only cost a minor league deal, definately under a million dollars. The Sox are supposed to have scouts watching the talent in the WBC so maybe they are checking out some relievers as we speak. It looks like Ozuna only pitched one inning for Mexico with 2 strikeouts. http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/2006/s...t=t_ibp&cid=867 Even if you could bring him in on a minor league deal and have him start the season in Charlotte, it's definitely worth doing (even though I think he would make the bullpen if he was signed). But I think the way the Sox are going to have to go about trading for an arm, is to go for a guy like Jermaine Van Buren who's not yet established at the major league level, but has done very well in AAA and is caught in a numbers game. Boston is already worried about J.T Snow a little (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5412672), and maybe if you offered Ross Gload even though they already have Kevin Youklis, something could happen there. It's going to be hard to trade for someone who's done well at the major league level because other teams are looking for that, and there'll be a high price to pay. If you trade for a younger reliever who hasn't yet proved himself, of course there's a risk involved, but it could easily pay - off.

Pure quality;

Osuna would be a good FA minor league pickup right now. He's doing pretty good in the WBC at the moment as well. The dude had a 2.45 ERA in 2004, and 2 fairly good seasons before that as well. I'll repost who I mentioned in another thread; Other candidates who could be let go or could also be traded for are; Jermaine Van Buren (Boston) - Could be a good option. Stuck behind a lot of relievers in Boston, is only 25 and had a 1.99 ERA in AAA last season. Wes Obermuller (Atlanta) - Hasn't had much success in the majors, but IIRC has a fairly good arm. Jason Bulger, Kevin Gregg, Esteban Yan (Anaheim) - 3 guys competing for 1 spot in the Angels pen. Not sure if they're out of options or anything, but could be worth lookin at if they become available.

The Sox have been improving their scouting in the Dominican Republic over the past couple of seasons. That's how they got Salvador Sanchez (the prospect who Phil Rogers compared to Juan Gonzalez). They also got Anderson Gomes from Japan, which was one out of the blue. The Dodgers got so many good prospects from that region like Joel Guzman that finally other teams like ours are beginning to take notice. If we're going to sucessful as a ballclub in the long - term, we will always need to keep building up the farm system as much as we can, whether they play for us one day or whether they're traded for talent that is ready now is a question for KW to decide. But we're not going to have a lot of high draft picks either which isn't going to help. Hence the need to keep improving the international scouting system. Hell send a guy out down here, the Padres, Red Sox, Mariners and Twins have a mortgage on the talent down here. If we still had Gio Gonzalez and Dan Haigwood, I'm sure most teams would like to have the pitching we have in the minors. Tyler Lumsden will be back from injury, and a lot of people think he could be the best lefty in our system when healthy. Ray Liotta's down well at every stop, Broadway can finally show what he can do this season without being tired etc., there's still some good talent down there.

Too bad he ain't doin jack in the NBA. He's already in Nate's doghouse (hence things must be bad if Steve Blake is startin ahead of ya).

Ken Rosenthal had this to say;

If ever Borchard is going to be dealt, now is the time. A team that is craving for a power hitting outfielder like Pittsburgh, could be inclined to make a move for him still.

He let in 3 goals on 5 shots tonight Critic. Should hav taken the Edmonton package (did you see what they gave up for Roloson!?) Could probably have their 1st, 2nd and Ty Conklin in return for the Bulin Wall I imagine.

Now if the Sox are going to trade for another bullpen guy at the end of ST, here are some possibilities; Scott Williamson - Said he would like to close, could still have that oppurtunity here if Jenks falters. Dunno if the Cubs would deal with us though. Ryan Wagner - Really fallen out of favor in Cinci. Depends how Krivsky likes him. Danny Graves - Doubtful to make Cleveland bullpen competiting with 3 other guys for 1 spot. Given up 1 unearned run in his last 4IP. Zach Day - Now if you wanted to move B-Mac into a setup role, if you needed a long man, Day could be your guy. Excellent groundball pitcher IIRC, but has had arm issues. Brian Shackleford - A lefty from Cinci. Better against righties, and had some good numbers last season with a 2.43 ERA in 37 games.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Mar 13, 2006 -> 11:31 AM) Brand is in the MVP race too... That's why it's good to argue whether Brand would be more of a superstar than Billups. You can make arguments for either player as to which one you'd prefer.