DBAHO

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 1, 2005 -> 01:45 PM) That was like 14 hours ago... get a clock Heads! Actually it was 18, but hey who's counting. And if it was the Apocalypse, I'd be looking at a giant tsunami coming towards my direction.

Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Realistically payroll could be up to $80 million if both of those moves happen. Pierzynski and Iguchi together could cost from $6 to $8 million, while Rowand is going to get a raise in arbitration as well. It all depends on what JR wants to do, and whether or not he's willing to go with this, if he thinks these extra moves could help put us over the top in the division.

New York is paying $9 million of the remaining $33 million of Vazquez's 3 year deal. That means he would cost about $8 million a season if he then traded from the D-Backs. For an extra $2 million over Contreras, it would definitely be worth it if we could trade Jose and Anderson or Everett in a possible deal, but I doubt Arizona will do that, especially after seeing what the Orioles offered.

That's what Scot Bora$$ will do for you.

That would be Daisuke Matsuzaka, Gene and I are very high on him. He re-signed for the 2005 season in Japan but will be a free agent in the next off-season. He was with the Japanese Olympic Baseball Team this year as well. He's only 24, and if there's an opening in our rotation for 2006, he'd be an ideal guy to look at. Here are his stats for the past few seasons. 2003 - 16-7, 2.83 ERA, 63 BB's, 215 K's, 13 HR's given up in 29 games. 2004 - 10-6, 2.90 ERA, 42 BB's, 127 K's, 7 HR's given up in 23 games. Also found this from the same article I was looking at on ESPN about Iguchi;

Contreras just won't be dealt for the simple fact that KW wants to see what he can do for half a season under Coop. If he's struggling, then there's a good chance he could moved ALA Esteban Loaiza, especially if El Duque is still healthy and B-Mac is possibly ready to jump up as the 5th starter.

Atlanta got Tim Hudson and John Smoltz moves into the rotation. They'd be top 5 at least.

What's to say Clement doesn't break down before El Duque either? Clement's arm could be hanging on by a thread if he throws too many of those nasty breaking sliders. That was always going to be a risk for the team that gave him a 3 year deal.

So you wouldn't mind sending out Jason Grilli and his 8+ ERA every 5th day then? Like it or not, El Duque was realistically the only starter still available in free agency who was going to be in our price range so that we could still fill other needs if we had to. Odalis Perez is going to get over $7 million from Seattle, the Mets or Washington, Millwood got $7 mill a season from the Tribe, and you saw how much Eric Milton got. The problem with Willie wasn't his OBP or average. It was mainly two things. 1 - He was too god damn inconsistent, 5 for 5 one night, and then 0 for 5 the next. If the Sox are going to play small ball, they need consistent production every night. 2 - Willie just can't hit LHP. It's a fact of life, it could change in the future, I don't know. Will the Sox wait and see for that to happen? Probably not. That's why it's likely Miggy Cairo or Iguchi is going to be here instead.

New York New England Philadelphia Washington Carolina Baltimore Houston Buffalo Chicago Detroit Seattle Arizona San Diego Indianapolis Jacksonville Dallas

I'm not sure what the deal is for the playoffs next week, but we did something last season 1 point for the team who won and 2 points for predicting the final score, or something like that. And Spiff, if you can't add up all the standings and points, I'll try to take some time next week to do all of that if you want. SUNDAY: New York @ St. Louis San Francisco @ New England Cincinatti @ Philadelphia Minnesota @ Washington New Orleans @ Carolina Miami @ Baltimore Cleveland @ Houston Pittsburgh @ Buffalo Green Bay @ Chicago Detroit @ Tennessee Atlanta @ Seattle Tampa Bay @ Arizona Kansas City @ San Diego Indianapolis @ Denver Jacksonville @ Oakland Dallas @ New York

So long as he passes all physicals then I'd have to say yes. At his best, Wolf would be a #2 guy in their rotation and he's very Mark Buerhle like.

The D-Backs don't have a lot of options for CF besides Luis Terrero. Anderson could be roaming the BOB outer fields by 2006 if he can continue his upward ascent through the minors. Contreras would be the dominating arm in the rotation, and the D-Backs have shown they like sinker ballers with Brandon Webb. But also the Dodgers have to come into consideration as well. Will Vazquez be included along with Dioner Navarro for Shawn Green? If I'm Paul DePodesta, I gotta say yes.

There goes the Wolf-Pack. He's a pretty damn good pitcher though, especially for a lefty. It suprises me a little that they'd offer him, but they must value Vazquez fairly highly, even if they have payroll issues. Could force a Lieberthal or Polanco trade perhaps?

Wouldn't you consider Vazquez to be an upgrade over Garland or Contreras though? Imagine a rotation of Buerhle, Garcia, Vazuez, Hernandez and Garland 1 to 5. If the price is right, it could help put us over the top in the division.

If the Sox do sign A.J for about $3 million I'm guessin, with a 2nd year or option for about $4 mill, it'll be interesting to see if KW is still allowed to go after an infielder if JR loosens the purse strings just a little more. Payroll could be above $75 million and close to $80 million once you factor in Rowand's raise in arbitration as well.

No way Konerko gets dealt, unless there's another deal in turn where we get another power hitter in return. And yes, I would trade Contreras before Garland. He's about $2,800,000 more expensive, and far more of a risk as far as I'm concerned. Whether Arizona would go for that, I doubt it. Somehow I see the name Brian Anderson getting mentioned a lot considering he's an Arizona native and went to the University of Arizona. I thought yesterday Garland and Anderson would be the starting price, and unless the D-Backs will take Everett instead, that's what I think they're going to ask for, although one of Cotts, Adkins, Munoz or Diaz could be thrown in as well.

The Sox would love to sign an infielder cheaply who can fill in and really hit well against LHP. The only guy I can see out there besides Iguchi who we don't know how we would hit out here, is Miguel Cairo. Now by all reports St. Louis was the favorite to sign him, and they still might, even though they gave Robbie Alomar a non guaranteed 1 year $500,000 deal. But for about 1.5 to 2 mil for a couple of years, this guy will fill in at 2B and SS, and hit about .280 or better for you, and will give you great splits against LHP. Cairo should be our next target if we miss out on Iguchi, but you never know what KW's thinking especially with Alex Cora still out there.

Beck's made an important point though. It's important that we need young relievers to step up and post good numbers and be an important part of the bullpen which is exactly what Minnesota have done. Crain and Balfour are 2 young guys the Twinkies can control for the next few seasons quite cheaply, and that gives the team more payroll flexibility. I'm not saying the Sox shouldn't have signed Hermanson and traded for Vizcaino, hell no this bullpen needed upgrading, but it's important that guys like Baj, Diaz and Munoz step up and grab their oppurtunity IF and WHEN it comes their way.

My thinking is that Iguchi is going to have to sign some sort of backloaded contract after the year Kaz Matsui had for New York, where he really struggled in his 1st season. That could set the precedent for Japanese infielders wanting to come over and sign him. I think he could end up signing a multiyear deal for about $3 to 4 mill in his 1st season 5 to 6 mill in the 2nd season, and then a 3rd year option for about $7 mill in 2007. But we've got a lot of factors working for us in this situation that should give us an advantage over other teams possibly looking at him. US Cell is a wonderful hitters park, and Shingo had great success here, and by all reports the lifestyle and other important factors etc. impact favourably on the city of Chicago.

Anyone else notice how even though the Yank$ increased their payroll, they eventually missed the playoffs, I got a kick out of that. And there's no way Konerko's going to get $14 million when he hits free agency, if the likes of Sexson and even possibly Delgado aren't this offseason.

FWIW I think A.J and his agent are still definitely waiting for a better offer out there from some team, probably the Dodgers. It all depends what happens with the Dioner Navarro situation though, and whether the D-Backs trade him to L.A in some sort of package for Shawn Green. There will be other teams out there looking at Pierzynski, but whether or not he wants to play for them or whether they can beat the White Sox's original offer, I just don't know, but I don't think they can.

Ok this is what I've found on A.J.

I'll try to find as much stuff as I can on Pierzynski and his clubhouse issues as well.