DBAHO

A lot of you have probably waited a lot longer than I for this moment to come, but I'm sure it doesn't make it any more special to any of us. We're finally here, we've done the job so far, we can see the finish line, but there's 1 more obstacle in the way. So let's get it done!!!!

So did anyone actually want to start up this league, because it's looks like we've got enough people to get something going.

QUOTE(Colorado Sox Fan @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 11:23 PM) The two Houston pitchers were going home. Konerko's home is Rhode Island, so the Red Sox are the only ones who get the luxury of a hometown discount. Anyway, let's just win the world series. If that happens I will care a lot less. A lot less. Konerko was born there, doesn't he live in Scottsdale, Arizona during the off-season?

QUOTE(rangercal @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 10:27 PM) If we win it all, Wouldn't a logical answer be to keep the team as is? IF it ain't broke don't fix it. Those ideas would be trading Brandon McCarthy for Russ Ortiz, Aaron Rowand and Jon Garland for Orlando Cabrera and Jermaine Dye for Jay Gibbons you know.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 08:40 AM) That also says something about how well they play at home. But we're lucky too that at Houston our RHH will find it easier to slug home runs over the short Left Field Wall. But they shouldn't go into a swinging for the fences mentality just because of that though.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 04:39 PM) How exaclty is he a risk? It's not like by picking him up they're genuinely at risk of making themselves worse. I mean in the sense that he may not pitch as good as he did, and in that case the Royals cost themselves a spot on the 40 man roster. Doesn't seem much, but still. It's not like the Peralta pick-up, where he can be plugged straight into the bullpen and will perform like he should, if you get my drift.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 04:15 PM) This is from a uk site... but godamn does this list blow. What no Malibu Stacy's?

Sage should retire now. If he was given a shot, Scott Linehan could probably make him look pretty good though. I know Daunte Culpepper is missing him big time.

Where's the Bubble Wrap?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 01:12 PM) Don't forget the awesome .320 OBP. Jonny Gomes is far more deserving than Robinson Cano. I suggested Gomes about 4 months ago as a real good trade option. For some stupid reason, Tampa Bay had this kid stuck in AAA, when he had massive power numbers down there. Unfortunately they saw the light, and now he's a very good player for them. As for Cano, looking at his splits, he only had these at home, .252/.274/.378, while in away games he was quite amazing for a rookie, .335/.358/.525. That's a .883 OPS which would be 4th for all second baseman behind Utley (damn he had a good year), Roberts and Jeff Kent.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 03:21 PM) I get home on the train from college today, my dad picks me up and has a ticket for game 2 just laying in the car. I don't think I've ever been so happy well atleast since sunday. I can't wait. :headbang He should have you doing chores around the house for a month, no wait a year now I think. Have a blast.

The key to getting Konerko re-upped could be that guaranteed 5th year. I have no doubts the Sox will offer him a 4 year deal, he's 29 in his prime, and should still contribute good numbers when he's 33. The 5th year though could be iffy, qwerty's mentioned his injury history with that chronic hip injury before. If a team like the Angels or Dodgers did offer him that 5th year, then I'd be worried. If they don't, I like our chances of re-signing him, since I don't think Paul will play for another team other than us, or someone on the West Coast. As for trade options if Konerko goes, well you know my feelings on Chad Tracy. Looks like the D-Backs want to dump Gonzo or Troy Glaus instead though to save salary. Glaus would actually be an interesting one, if the D-Backs paid a little of his salary. Of course with Crede here, that's unlikely. Erubiel Durazo could be a guy to have a comeback year, and he could be signed cheaply but I doubt that would happen. As for who we would trade, in response to Flash's post, I wouldn't neccesarily feel it would definitely be one of Young or Sweeney. We could trade a starter like Garland or Contreras while their value is at an all time high, or we could trade from our minor league pitching depth like Gio Gonzalez, Ray Liotta or Daniel Haigwood. We've got options at least.

2nd good waiver wire pickup for Allan Baird. Bobby's a risk, but if he can come back and re-produce the form he showed in the 2nd half of 2004, the Royals have found themselves a very nice 3rd-4th starter for their rotation. The Royals have actually got some pretty nice arms now, especially if you look at their bullpen. Nothing great, but it's a good start at least.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) The debate is if you could choose one or the other to leadoff for your team, who would you choose? But you've got to remember, Sizemore is much better with the aspects of play that Podsednik is weak in, such as his ability to play any spot in the outfield, and his .300 with RISP compared to Pods' .237. As randar mentioned, the 132 K's aren't good. But it was Grady's 1st full season in the majors, and that number should come down in the future. His .348 OBP is still quite good with those amount of K's and only 0.03 less than Pods' OBP. And since Sizemore won't be arbitration eligible for a few years, plus he's far younger than Pods, looking at all of the aspects, I choose Sizemore. Yeah Pods is probably a better leadoff hitter, but when you look at the other things, I think Sizemore comes out on top, but it's an interesting argument.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 02:15 AM) They didn't lose a 15 game lead now did they. Meh, I'm not going to argue this, it's been beaten to death before and we all know where everyone else stands on the issue. I'll change lose to "choke" then. Although that was flavour of the month last month wasn't it.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 01:29 PM) But it doesn't count against the cap. That means the Knicks save tons of cash on the luxury tax and have a little bit more flexibility. So what, Isiah can give a max contract to Latrell Sprewell?

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 22, 2005 -> 12:54 AM) Is that why their scoring production went through the floor? Because of the pitching? Rowand wasn't talking about our "scoring position" alone, he said this team went down the f***in tubes went Pods was out, and I was simply stating that the Sox not getting the same pitching from the likes of Buerhle, Garcia and Garland probably had something to do with that. Scott Podsednik going down alone didn't cause this team to lose a 15 game lead.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 02:30 AM) You sir, haved not yet seen the fine collection of foods-on-a-stick that we have. I've been to China. They'll put anything on a stick over there and make you eat it.

Cleveland Indianapolis New Orleans Philadelphia Minnesota Kansas City Pittsburgh Washington Seattle Buffalo Arizona Chicago NY Giants Atlanta

knight do we still take away our worst week, since I wasn't around?

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 04:10 PM) http://www.forbes.com/lists/results.jhtml?...ry&passKeyword= Forbes went and did a list of all the NHL teams and their basic financial statistics. The data is from 2004. According to this 13 of the 30 teams were profitable. The Slacks made 9.4 million dollars off team operations and were the 3rd most profitable team in the leauge in dollar terms in 2004 which is the most recent statistics I could find. Im willing to bet that this excludes the money made from Wirtz's ownership of the concessions, liquor, parking and darn near everything else that has anything to do with the team. Wirtz was complaining salaries were too high because he's a cheap prick who wants to pocket as much as he can while paying his players as little as possible. By helping get a salary cap instituted Wirtz brought the salary bar down closer to his level rather than spend more to be competitive. To answer your question about being focused on money their payroll is down significantly even with the additions of Kabibulin, Lapointe etc etc.. Wirtz slashed his payroll, helped cost the sport a season and for what? Money. To answer your question about "Cashin" and the like, I believe that players deserve whatever they can get from the market. If they can convince an owner they are worth X amount of money then that is what the market value currently stands at. The owners set the salaries bar higher by themselves by trying to outbid each other for the top teir players then they have the nerve to whine about spiraling salaries. PUHLEEZE!!! Ok good find on the owners there, of course less than 50% of them making a profit really ain't that good anyways. I can see you'll never like Wirtz and I don't think any of us will. I diasgree about Yashin though. Remember with Maggilo Ordonez, no-one was going to offer him much and more than a 1 year deal until Mike Illitch (who coincidentally owns the Red Wings) just comes in with a massive offer for absolutely no reason at all. This was pretty much the same with Yashin. He got the $$$$, and has chronically underachieved since. He makes so much, that the Isles were stuck with him even after the lock-out because it would cost too much for Charles Wang to buy him out. At least now with a cap, you won't see those type of huge long - term offers again. As for the Hawks, remember in our last season before the lockout, we had what the 3rd worst record. We may have had a higher payroll, but I'll bet you now that this team (even though their record shows it) is a lot better than the 2004 one. You don't have to spend a lot of $$$$$ to be successful. Teams in any form of sport have shown that.

Right now this looks a pretty good trade for Oakland. It becomes more of a win if Daric Barton becomes the player we all think he's going to be. If only Drew Meyer actually pitched like he was meant to though.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 03:15 PM) It's a valid point...just a very, very obvious one. Just figured I'd give you a hard time. And duly noted. Umm let me come up with another beauty. Ummmm......... Ryan Sweeney needs to hit more home runs?

Is that a Bears hat? Bah. And you don't wanna see what Heads whipped up from that pic.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 03:27 PM) Who cares if he wants to go to the mets? If they want him gone he will be going wherever they decide. I still think the sox are not as big of a lock to resign konerko as others do. He will most likely recieve a four year deal with an option and not a three year deal with an option. I also expect him to make on average twelve million a year, which in other words, overpaid. I know there are people here that want him signed no matter the cost... but three years into that deal when he cannot walk, let alone run, they will be regretting it. If his hip is as bad as people make it out to be i am scared by it. Short-term i see him helping us... but down the road i see him f***ing us over ( not his fauly) If the angels end up dumping finley it will not be to the yankees... one of their main goals for this off-season is resigning matsui, centerfielder ( that does not suck), and as always starting pitching. This is where I saw the Manny story. I think it was mentioned on Rotoworld that New York wasn't his 1st option, not 110% sure though. I doubt Omar Minaya would trade for someone who wouldn't want to be on his team, especially when he makes more money in the short - term; The Yanks could get desperate on a center fielder. I've heard Robinson Cano for Torii Hunter (which is actually a pretty smart deal for both sides), and even Aaron Rowand's been mentioned in a deal for Gary Sheffield (but that'll never happened). Anyways, they'll definitely have a new CF, and if they can't get any of tha bove, if they can get Finley for practically nothing, they may do it, and hope he rebounds. The Yanks also have 7 starting pitchers under contract for 2006, with A.J Burnett and Kevin Millwood (who they don't think can handle the pressure in New York), I actually think they may stand pat for once, unless they can work a trade deal. As for Konerko, the contract length will be a very important issue. Of course he could DH in the future, which could help with those injuries possibly. It could end up biting us in the behind like the Tim Salmon deal, but unless the Sox have a good contingency plan in place (Brian Giles or Chad Tracy), I think we've just got to bite the bullet and bring back Paulie.