DBAHO

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 02:05 PM) I don't think anyone is saying not to have him back next year, not now anyways. Comparing him to the AL Central thirdsackers proves little though. True, but I was just trying to show Crede's worth offensively compared to what other teams in this division have to put up with when he's up and firing, and how it's an advantage.

QUOTE(Frank the Tank 35 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 01:28 PM) Haha... or hey, the Phils are looking to unload some contracts... how about the Venezuelan Bobby Abreu??? We're talking Brian Anderson, Brandon McCarthy and Giovani Gonzalez as compensation for starters. If Philly wants to save cash, trade Thome and non - tender Padilla.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 01:13 PM) I hope this is the Crede we see next season.... what made it encouraging was because most of his hitting was in the ALCS and WS when he was constantly going up against good pitching....Im certainly willing to give him another season to figure things out. I mean let's have a look at the other third baseman in the AL Central. Aaron Boone - He'll make $3M in 2006. Splits of .243/.299/.378. Michael Cuddyer - May be up for arbitration, I don't know. Splits of .263/.330/.422 Brandon Inge - Splits of .261/.330/.419. Mark Teahen - .246/.309/.376. Make close to min again next season. Now compare those stats to Joe Crede. .252/.306/.454. That's the highest OPS out of any third baseman in the division, and would have been 12th best out of all 3rd baseman in the league if he was qualified (wasn't because of his injury). His OPS's in his good months, .824, .871, .893, 1.178. Average those and you get .9415. That would be good enough for 3rd for all third baseman qualified in OPS behind A-Rod and Morgan Ensberg. Just shows the potential Crede had, if he's consistent enough to put those good numbers up for the majority of a season. Definitely worth bringing back with his defense as well.

QUOTE(kevin57 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 12:41 PM) Sorry...he deserves his props for fantastic post-season play, but if anyone tells me they were never frustrated by his offense during the regular season, then he's fooling himself. Hell, even Crede said he did not object to the boos during the season. He said he thought he sucked. Let's not ban because we don't like others' words, please. Crede was terrible for 2 months out of 6. I'm inclined to look at the positive view and say he's turning it around, and we'll see more of the Joe Crede we saw in the playoffs and less of the Crede we saw in May of 2005.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:58 AM) BTW, just cause I disagree with your opinion earlier, doesn't mean I don't enjoy talking about potential transaction things. Unlike some others, you realize that there's no way this whole team will be back next season. Oh yeah, that's what these boards about. You're not going to have 2500 people wholeheartedly agreeing saying "Ooooh yes, let's trade for this guy" "this guy should be re-signed for $$$$" etc. And that's what will make this off-season so interesting, and so tough for KW. There are a LOT of different scenarios that could play out here, and right now, it depends on what Mr. Konerko does. In the mean-time it's just fun to speculate what could happen in the future, although I always like doing that whether it's April, October or December.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:47 AM) Word is the Padres are close to signing Giles to a 3 year/$30M deal. They need to get that done, any word on whether it's front-loaded or anything kalapse? Wonder if it'll impact the Hoffman negotiations as well, although I personally couldn't see him leaving.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:41 AM) Easier to keep Garland for 3-4 years in what should be his peak years than it will be to resign Contreras after this season. Not only that, but who would replace Garland in the rotation? Sure the hell not Duque. Also, if you get rid of Garland, you might be paving the way for Buehrle to also leave in a few years w/o his best buddy. Garland's age and peak years are probably something that's going to help keep him around here. I don't think next season he's going to win 18 games again, he could win around 15, but his ERA will probably be a little higher. We've waited so long for him to see his potential and he finally has, we'll most likely lock him up as you've said. Contreras I think would take a discount to stay around here. If the Sox kept him, would they take the Paulie method of negotiating with him though and see it backfire? No doubt our offense is going to need upgrading if we lose Paulie. Unless we trade prospects, I don't know how we're going to do that without trading a starter, and people won't like Contreras being moved.

QUOTE(Frank the Tank 35 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:35 AM) Is anybody else worried about Brian Giles' age?? Dude's gonna be 35 in January. He just turned down an offer of 3/$21 from the Pads. Would you really want him on the books for $9-10 mil in a couple years? If we were the Yankees, I'd say go for it. Unfortunately we don't really have any room for aging, overpriced OFs in the sunset of their careers in our current configuration. If PK and Frank don't come back, then I could see it happening... but let's hope against that. That's the thing. He's the best replacement offense wise for Paulie, yet he's still a huge risk if you give him more than a 2 year deal (which he's definitely going to get).

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:34 AM) Have some faith man. Minnesota are going to be improved offensively in 2006. Cleveland you know are only going to get better. Detroit could go crazy and sign A.J Burnett this off-season. You lose Konerko, that's 40 HR's and 100 RBI's you're losing right there. Unless you sign Brian Giles (already rejected 3/21 from SD), we're losing some massive offense from the middle of our lineup. And with Everett pretty much a shoe in to leave as well, that's 2 spots that then need replacing, whether 1 in house with Anderson (who'll in his 1st season) probably be around Everett's numbers. That leaves who's going to replace Paulie. If Jermaine moves to 1B, that person will be the DH. It could be Thome, Overbay (although then maybe Jermaine would DH), Tracy etc., but whoever the Sox have to trade, it may just not have to be prospects (although that would be the best option), they may need to give up someone from the major league team.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:19 AM) I think I saw the Intelligent Design of Joe Crede at the hands of Greg Walker and Samsung. Carl Everett, however, does not believe in evolution. Improving is for non-believers. Yeah Carl believed in the "Let's aim for China" with each swing he took progressively in the 2nd half of the season.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:23 AM) Heck yeah. No need to make drastic changes like that. I have never heard someone suggest trading an 18 game winner 2 days after they won the Series....wowza. If Konerko leaves, how is this team going to win a World Series in 2006 without making some changes?

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:18 AM) No offense, but if all that stuff happened, we'd get 3rd place in the AL Central next season. Our offense would be worse, as would our pitching. C'mon fathom, you've been mooting trading Contreras while his value is at an all time high. Look if the Sox could possibly find a replacement starter in the FA market, it's an avenue they could take a look at (but I'd doubt it). Does anyone think Garland's definitely going to win 18 games next season? A lot of people are worried that 2005 may have been a year out of blue for him, hence don't lock him up to a 3-4 year deal. All these are things KW's going to hav to think about.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 11:21 AM) Hmm, I recall a few saying we should get rid of Pods because he "lacks power in a power position." Heh, feels good to be right. Did you read fathom's post. If those moves that I said happen (which they may if Konerko leaves, which right now doesn't look good because he wants at least 65/5 and we've offered 48/4), our offense is going to suffer dramatically no matter who we bring in to replace. I know Pods is valuable as a leadoff hitter, it's just annoying he can't play at say 2B or SS where it'd then be easier to find a big bat at LF than at 2B or SS, if you get my drift.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 10:23 AM) Brian Anderson isn't going to be the 4th outfielder, I'm just going to say that for now. I'll post what some ideas within the next few days. Thank you, that's the 1st thing that jumped out at me from this thread. You're hurting the development of Brian Anderson if he's going to sit on the bench. He's done in AAA, he produced there. He should be starting for some MLB team in 2006. If that's not going to be with us (which I doubt because apparently KW loves him), then trade him while his value is quite high. Most likely I think Paulie is going to leave, Dye moves to 1B and Anderson to RF (even though I think he'll be the everyday CF starting from 2007). The big bat the Sox want is going to come at the DH spot. So I don't think Thomas is going to be back, too much of a risk. You've got trade options. Maybe the Sox could look into the possibility of a Jon Garland for Chad Tracy type deal? Arizona would probably throw in a Cintron or a prospect or 2 as well possibly. Garland would be a good sinkerball pitcher at their park (Brandon Webb people), and Tracy gives us the big bat we need, yet he can also play 1B/3B/OF if needed.

If Joe can get that AVG up to .280 consistently for a few seasons, and keep hitting those 20-25 HR's, his value will be very good indeed. If he keeps repeating what he did in the playoffs, not swinging at the first pitch, not popping it up every AB, I think he can do it. Remember, right now he'll be the most confident he's every been at the major league level. That said, I still hope he's working out in that batting cage he built at his house in the off-season.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Oct 29, 2005 -> 05:18 AM) I would use Frank and Anderson to play DH. I think Frank can get back to health, but Anderson is a wonderful insurance policy there. A DH is the easiest thing to trade for midseason because you can add any good bat to that spot and not mess with your defense. Anderson's defense is too good to have him playing DH. He should be either playing everyday in the OF, or he should be traded IMHO.

Carl Everett after the ASB - .228/.305/.386 He'll be getting his $1M contract with the Yankees to replace Ruben Sierra. There's just much better options out there. You don't want to bring back Everett as a bench player because he can't play defense. If Frank isn't going to be back, sign a guy like Erubiel Durazo to DH who'd come cheaper, and is a much better bet to have a good comeback season in 2006.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 05:34 PM) Good. We had no shot (or need for that matter) at him now, but in a few years it should be a different story. Also, He's been throwing an ungodly amount of innings since he was 19 and even younger. He's going to be a big risk for whoever gets him. Yeah what was the record for him throwing pitches in the one game again? He's got some great stats, but he's gonna be a risk for sure, but he'll definitely be hotly pursued once he comes over. I can see the Mariners really going after him.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 04:05 PM) Frank had a pair of monster blasts in almost back-to-back games, both of which won games back in June. I think it was during interleague. There's the game in Colorado where it was a blowout and he pinch hit and hit a home run. That was a good one.

And I thought Ozzie was going to take em all on the Jerry Springer Show to show em what all the fun's about.

I blame Bob Pulford.

Guys we've had a few of these today, just make sure if you're posting a topic, that it hasn't been posted already, on any baseball section here.

Jon's complete game at Oakland was a good one.

That would be Ed Olzyck wouldn't it?

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 01:51 PM) Let me guess...the chicken pox are getting to you?? :rolly You freakily know me too well. I'll try my hardest not to giv em to you.