DBAHO

Just watched it, perfect weather in Paris for the final leg.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 01:48 AM) Yeah, but, D, if the Sox are willing to increase the payroll and have the luxury of keeping a $7.5M insurance resource on the roster, why worry? If money is really the only thing holding you back, and the Sox are willing to absorb that sort of hit, why worry? I think Lowell could be a god-send. Seriously. He's a veteran hitter having a BIG down year, but getting thrown into the fierce competition of a pennant chase may be all he needs to rekindle that thumping bat of his. My thinking is that Lowell probably won't be needed anyway. I think Joe Crede is going to have a big 2nd half. He's had 3 months out of 4 this season where he's had an OPS over .800. If you are going to upgrade somewhere, it's at SS, to get a guy like Omar Vizquel or even Alex Gonzalez. I'd just rather use that money towards something that will be more important to this ballclub now and next season (assuming Joe Crede does stick around).

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 01:46 AM) I understand that. I think it is a lot more difficult to find a young closer the calibur of Rodriguez, then it is to fill out the front end of the pen with decent arms. Well Francisco Rodriguez was basically Bobby Jenks a few seasons ago, so this time next year that may not be such of a problem for us, if all goes well for Mr. Jenks. And of course don't forget all of the problems we've had with the likes of Mike Jackson, Rick White etc. over the past few seasons.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 01:39 AM) Lowell would be decent insurance, however. Wow, its amazing how quickly I can go from hating Crede to loving him, but he's been hitting lately... one of the few. Not for $7,500,000 or even half of that, and then of course he's under contract for another season. If anything, this lineup needs a good lefty hitter, Lowell doesn't give you that.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 01:39 AM) That back end, to me, is just amazing. I would take those 3 and build off of that over our bullpen. It is not a discredit to our bullpen either. You need a good rotation for that to be effective however. As Jason told me over in Anaheim, the Angels starters have pitched way over their heads this season. Unless your starters can consistently give you 6 good innings of work, then you have to go to the likes of Yan and Gregg, who just aren't that good at keeping you in the ballgame.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 01:37 AM) I didn't realize they were without a lefty. I'm sure if it were that big a deal they have the resources to call one up or trade for one. With your shields argument... Just because he is not closer material does not mean he is not a damn good pitcher. He has a 2.20 era. He is more proven then Politte and Cotts. Who ,on the sox, besides Hermanson; has the stuff and closer mentality to be "the man" ? Quite frankly, I am not all that comfortable with hermanson out there anyway. I'm not the only one. Hence, all the trade for a closer talk. I don't know what you are watching. If I were a gm building a team and I had a chance at any closer. I pick Francisco Rodriguez. How can you say he won't last? Don't get me wrong. I love the potential in Jenks, the turn-around in Politte and the consistent improvement with Cotts. I just don't think at this point all 3 together have the same value of Francisco Rodriguez. Shields has pitched over 170 innings in a season and a half as a reliever, not a good sign for the health of his arm, although from all reports it's one that can take that amount of work. Yes I would take K-Rod over any 3 of those relievers, but you have to get to him first. You can't use Donnelly or Shields every night. The Angels had to Esteban Yan tonight in the 7th or 8th, what happens? Giambi hits a 2 run homer so they have to bring in Shields to set - up K-Rod. Then of course there's the likes of Kelly Gregg (he of the wonderful ERA).

Joe Crede @ $400,000 - .253/.307/.441 Mike Lowell @ $7,500,000 - .236/.285/.366

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 08:48 AM) I think most people would trade bullpens with the Angels. Not the back end of the Angels pen however. Behind Donnelly, K-Rod and Shields, they're just not that great.

Take on Lowell, BWAHAHAHAHA.

Oh and my predictions; AFC NORTH: 1) Steelers 2) Ravens 3) Bengals 4) Browns AFC EAST: 1) Patriots 2) Bills 3) Jets 4) Dolphins AFC SOUTH: 1) Colts 2) Jaguars 3) Texans 4) Titans AFC WEST: 1) Broncos 2) Chiefs 3) Chargers 4) Raiders NFC NORTH: 1) Vikings 2) Lions 3) Bears 4) Packers NFC EAST: 1) Eagles 2) Cowboys 3) Giants 4) Redskins NFC SOUTH: 1) Panthers 2) Falcons 3) Saints 4) Bucs NFC WEST: 1) Cardinals 2) Seahawks 3) Rams 4) 49ers NFC Wildcards - Falcons and Cowboys. AFC Wildcards - Bills and Jaguars

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 01:16 AM) The only names that come to my head for first are Overbay or Hillenbrand. Overbay would cost a hell of a lot. Can't see the Jays getting rid of Hillenbrand when they control his rights, and with the new owners payroll is significantly increasing for them over the next few seasons. Chad Tracy would be my target.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 12:52 AM) Pods gets on base and Iguchi moves him over. Runner in scoring position. Konerko is just not good with runners on or in scoring postion. I think if we had someone who got the job done more often we'd be scoring more runs. But there's also the fact that Scottie can steal 2nd, and then Iguchi can bunt him over, hence the 3rd hitter in the lineuo can hit a sac fly, and Konerko comes up with no-one on base. And of course that's only at the start of games when Scottie leads of the inning.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 12:46 AM) Id rather want want less homers that are more meaningful with runners on a better percentage of the time INSTEAD of htting more, more are solos, and not as clutch. How often does Konerko get a chance to hit with runners on base though, I think that stat would actually suprise a lot of people. He has a WARP1 (Wins Above Replacement Player, level 1) of 4.1, and a Equivalent Average of .275 which is a measure of total offensive value per out. If you have a look at first baseman in the AL with BA/RISP, Konerko is 11th on the list, ahead of Justin Morneau and Dimitri Young. 6 of the 13 hitters however are hitting below .250 with RISP. Take a guy like Scott Hatteberg for example. He has 4 home runs, but is hitting .281 and has a BA/RISP of .306. Would you prefer him instead of Paul Konerko?

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 12:33 AM) Again, how many have been clutch. Seems like he always hts the homers when we dont need them. i.e We're down 8 or up 8 and he hits one outta the park. When we need one or just a base hit, when its a one run game, runner on first, for example, he almost always chops it to third, into a DP, and ends the rally. So would you like a guy who doesn't hit many homers at all, but hits one every now and then when it's important? He has 8 double plays this season. He is our cleanup guy for a reason, and compared to other 1st baseman in this league (whether they make more money like Jim Thome, or just plain suck like Eric Hinske), Paul Konerko is well better.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 12:25 AM) I hope not. He should be the first baseman until Konerko can suck it up and help the team. Maybe this would wake him up. Meanwhile Ozzie should platoon Konerko and Everett at DH. BTW...Ross is on HIT AND RUN on 670THE SCORE. Leading the team in home runs and having an OPS of .839 isn't helping the team?

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 12:23 AM) I don't understand, after what Ross did as a hitter last year, why Ozzie didn't put him in the lineup the first day he came up? We've had 3 games and all he's done is put him in defensively in the 8-4 "blowout" win. Timo Perez isn't half the offensive player that Gload is, and Everett probably hits better when he plays the field. So why didn't Everett start these games in RF, with Gload at 1B, and Konerko at DH (for a semi-rest)? C'mon Ozzie. USE GLOAD! With Frank on the DL and Dye hurt (and cooled from his great June), give Gload a shot. Probably because Timo is hitting .348 this month, hence Ozzie wants to ride out his hot hand. But we should be seeing more of Gload yes.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 12:17 AM) Konerko sucks, plain and simple. He should not be on this team. Why is that?

QUOTE(The Critic @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 11:22 PM) When I visited Phoenix a couple years ago, it was at least 104 every day that week. When I got home, it was 85 and I was sweating worse than I ever did in Phoenix. ....it REALLY IS the humidity!!!!! I really liked the Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale area a LOT, and the red rocks in Sedona were awesome. I want to go back there someday. I played golf up in Sedona and spent a weekend there, definitely a beautiful place. We didn't get to go to Tempe or Scottsdale though, since we were in Glendale for the most part. Only get's up to to 70-80's in Sedona as well.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 10:55 PM) Yeah, how dare someone bring up the notion of obtaining someone who's a legitimate offensive weapon. Soriano, who's not even know for drawing walks, would still have a higher OPS than anyone on our active roster. And you know what, Iguchi is striking out at a much greater rate than Soriano is this season. 71 in 307 AB for Iguchi, compared to 73 in 375 AB for Soriano. I guarantee you would have predicted that Soriano strikes out more frequently/AB. Ok so we acquire Soriano and trade Iguchi. Where does Soriano hit in the lineup? Who hits in the #2 spot, and does all the little things like sacrifices that Tadahito does? Soriano has an OBP of .318. The only Sox players in our lineup to have a lower OBP are Joe Crede (.307), Carl Everett (.302) and Juan Uribe (.264). Do we want to become a power hitting team again with an all or nothing approach?

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 10:43 PM) I don't think there's a chance AJB would want to resign here. Thus, please don't do this trade KW> Teams like Detroit who are desperate to win now would offer him a Tim Hudson like deal if he hits FA, hence why he doesn't want to re-sign with a team now.

And also, got various reports here on who's being offered; Miami Herald - the White Sox offering pitching prospect Brandon McCarthy and right-handed starter Jose Contreras, New York Daily News - and whose agent has made clear that he'll be seeking Carl Pavano-type money (four years, $40 million) as a free agent after this season. That would appear to make the White Sox, who are prepared to offer top pitching prospect, 6-7 righty Brandon McCarthy (94 strikeouts in 78-1/3 innings at Triple-A) and lefty setup man Damaso Marte, the frontrunners for Burnett. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf refused to take Lowell and wouldn't make any effort to sign Burnett either, at least until he knows what the righty's real market value is. But as one source familiar with the Sox's stance said: "Jerry sees this as the White Sox's year and he's willing to let it all fly in an effort to win, even if means trading a top prospect just to rent Burnett to get him to the World Series." My guess where he's gonna end up....... Toronto.

Good to see KW sticking to his guns, and not making a trade if he can't re-sign A.J to a long - term deal. Doesn't sound like Burnett wants to anyway, hence why I think this ain't gonna go down.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 08:58 PM) A few guys who might be available with good stats to help the sox migth be Ron Villone, Scott Erye or Matt Wise. Villone or Eyre are perfect as lefty LOOGY's, and can be used in the 6th or 7th. Makes perfect sense if we aren't going to go after a closer, and decide to "improve" our bullpen.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 08:55 PM) But Soriano rocks. He's the answer to all of our problems. :rolly OOPS, he has 26 doubles, 1 triple (1 more than Mr. Konerko), and get this, .274 with RISP!!!!!! HE ROCKS!!!!!