DBAHO

Here's a nice animal related story;

There's a good chance Burke could be claimed by another team. The Dodgers could pick him up to split time with David Ross. Burke is a lot better hitter than other backup catchers in this league.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Jan 8, 2005 -> 07:19 AM) anyone that's seen Garden State would remember Frau Frau's "Let Go" big fan of that song right now.... That song was really in my head when the Garden State Trailers started coming out on the net. And so was Love Will Come Through by Travis which was also on it.

If he wants to make it as a reserve infielder, he's going to have to hit .260-.270 because he will hardly take a walk to save his life, which will kill his OBP. He's excellent in the field by all reports though, and Ozzie seems to like him. It all depends on whether or not we'll sign Iguchi or Cora though.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 8, 2005 -> 01:19 PM) Dodgers are going to sign Derek Lowe to a 4yr 32 Mill deal to go along with the Odalis Perez signing. Sounds like McCourt loosened the purse strings. It's even worse than that;

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 8, 2005 -> 12:53 AM) Very odd, it seems like two guys(dye and aj) signed with the sox when they got better offers elsewhere. That's something I definitely love to hear and something I don't recall happening for the White Sox in quite a while, props to Jermaine and aj for not just caring about money. With the current market the sox have signed some very good players for a very good value, very impressive imo. Could it be that the Cell is actually working in our favour (for once) when it comes to free agent hitters.

Still other teams interested in Iguchi according to the Daily Herald;

I thought this was interesting from the Southtown;

Joe Randa, there you go I've said it. A lot of people think around here think Crede can produce next season, or at least improve, I'm not one of them. He's a notorious slow satrter, and if he doesn't get off to a fast start, a stopgap solution will be found, and Josh Fields will take over in 2006.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 04:57 PM) Why do you think the Sox would choose Davis over Burke? QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 04:57 PM) Because I personally believe they feel he's a better backup catcher. I just don't know if Davis is the type of guy you want coming off the bench. Mix that with his little higher price tag and it gives a reason to get rid of him, especially if that frees up enough money to go a little extra on Iguchi. However, considering Burke has now half a season or so in the bigs, my ultimate guess is that the Sox carry 3 catchers into spring training. You may see them deal one of them then depending on how they feel. I also like Ryan Hankins, but if you deal Davis then your getting risky putting the pressure on other guys if Pyrz goes down. I also like Burke's approach at the plate a lot more then Ben's. Ben has a very long swing, although I do see some potential in him still. I also think Burke calls a good game and has good fundementals behind the plate. Davis is solid too, not as bad as some people believe. Another possibility is the Sox actually move Willie Harris. I don't see them moving Timo, but thats possible too. I'd guess that would be a spring training move. One last question is, is the roster at 41 including Thomas and Escobar? Cause those two don't count or something like that if I recall since they are on the 60 day DL. Hankins left as a minor league free agent so I don't know what the status is on him coming back. But if we got rid of David or Burke, Hankins would be an ideal 3rd catcher, as he can also play in the infield.

QUOTE(whitesox91403 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 05:18 PM) Wouldn't Cora be a better fit here because he can also play SS? I thought I remember reading that Iguchi can't play SS anymore? Even if we sign Iguchi there is no back-up SS and no chance of someone like Valdez being on the opening day roster. But so does Miguel Cairo. And I think the positives of Miggy Cairo's game fits our needs better than the positives of Alex Cora's game. But will that mean the Sox choose Cairo over Cora? I doubt it.

To add to the Iguchi news, apologies if posted already;

Gene Honda Civic in the Flying Under the Radar thread about Kobe and how some NBA players are giving up $1000 for each point they score;

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 04:21 AM) It would be the first time all year that Kobe realizes he has teammates and starts passing... I'm sorry but I just saw this, and it's going in the quotes thread.

It'll be Reynoso most likely, the only reason he was put on the 40 man in the 1st place, was to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, because he throw up to 95MPH on his fastball. It won't be Davis or Burke like others have mentioned.

QUOTE(Chisoxmatt @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 02:57 PM) I think we should just play it safe and sign Cairo. We know what to expect from him. What if Iguchi sucks and we waste 2 million on him? This offseason has already been very succesful so ill be happy with either one though. I think it's worth to take the risk on Iguchi though. He's been hitting in a pitcher's park in Japan unlike Ichiro and Kaz Matssui who both mainly hit in hitter's parks. His numbers over the past 2 seasons have really been quite insane, and I think with him hitting at the Cell, and the comfort level with Shingo around, he could put up some good numbers here. Of course, one of things you have to consider is how he will handle hitting the two - seam fastball.

I'm impartial. I'll be happy if they sign Iguchi because I believe he can be a success here, but I'll also take Cairo just because of his ability to hit for a good average and hit well against LHP, plus he's played on numerous winning teams before.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 02:09 PM) Dwayne wade. I wonder how much he would have improved this season, if the Heat still had the same roster as last season. LeBron is still a better all round player though, and all of his stats have pretty much increased. 24.3 points, 7.2 assists, 7 rebounds, 2.4 steals is pretty much insane.

LeBron James anyone? Others that would come to mind for me that haven't been mentioned are Antawn Jamison, Drew Gooden, Raef LaFrentz, Josh Howard and Marko Jaric.

What about Willis McGahee even?

QUOTE(JimH @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 01:26 PM) Cora can play SS as well. But your point is well taken about Cairo's ability to hit LHP, assuming the Sox stick with Harris. It depends on what the Sox would prefer. Cairo will hit for a higher average and will hit LHP better, while Cora is a better fielder and will probably have a little higher OBP.

The Sox should consider themselves very lucky right about now. With the Shawn Green trade falling apart, the Dodgers won't be gettin Dioner Navarro, which means Paul DePodesta still needs a catcher. If we waited another day, we could have missed out on A.J all together. Money wise this is a really a fantastic deal. How someone like Alex Gonzalez gets $1.75 million from the D-Rays and A.J only gets $2.25 million, well I'll never know. He'll bat 6th or 7th in the lineup, could hit over .300, will hardly strike out, is a lefty hitter, and could give us up to 20 home runs at the Cell. The only downside is that he's Konerko like in GIDP. If the Sox are only $600,000 away from an Iguchi deal, they gotta find a way to sign him in my opinion. The guy has had 2 fantastic seasons in a row in Japan hitting at a pitchers park. And it could help our chances of signing Daisuke Matzusuka in the next off-season. And if the Sox miss out on Iguchi, realistically Miguel Cairo should be their next option, not Alex Cora, because Cairo can hit LHP very well, plus he gives you the flexibility to play 2B and SS as well.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:04 AM) I guess I'm not sure why Aj and Iguchi can't fit this yr, and still give Rowand a raise[i'm going by the numbers in the 'Sox 2005 payroll' thread]. Uribe's deal calls for him to make $2.15 mill in 05, $3.15 in 2006 and $4.15 in 07. Iguchi could get $2 mill a yr for 2 yrs. And AJ might sign a 1 yr deal [the only reported offer was 1 yr $2 mill]. The Sox could always trade someone like Everett to a team like Houston or Tampa Bay if they wanted to clear salary. Something could pick up in that regard after the Beltran sweepstakes.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 11:13 PM) From hearing KW and Ozzie talk, they both liked Davis' glove and defense. It was just his stick that was horrible. Coming off the bench, starting occasionally, he'd be fine. Davis doesn't have any problems there, I'm just worried about his ability to call a game, that's the same problems Miggy Olivo had while he was here.