DBAHO

U should get ur name in a differnet color anyways Heather. Talk to Jason or Heads bout it, they'll sort it out for ya. BEGOOD and Heather managing the Help Board, this is gonna be interestin.

He just needs to hav a healthy, consistent year to prove that he can play in the outfield. And we won't need Willie Harris to be a leadoff hitter with Jeremy Reed doin that in 2005 hopefully.

I would be happy just gettin those 2 for Maggs alone. Jackson's stuff is pure nasty, and Miller is prob da best stud lefty pitchin prospect in da game at the moment with Cole Hamels from Philly.

Nice to see more ppl joinin up by the day. We broke the record for most users online yesterday I think which was pretty cool. Shows you the growing popularity of SoxTalk as well.

2 words. Bobby Crosby.

BEGOOD's gonna be a Mod. I sense many Fanny pics and bad spelling coming along.

I'm pretty sure we only had to watch Schindler's List and read Elli for the Holocaust. But that was a couple of years ago.

We all know how much u luv ur fanny's BEGOOD.

Haha, I just listened to that song on Nova FM about 10 minutes ago in my car with a few mates. I do like some Techno Music, but not awful stuff like that. My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard?

Another beauty from Phil Rogers , Mulligan, anyone? Just because the Alex Rodriguez-Manny Ramirez swap-a-rama didn't come off before Thursday's deadline, don't believe it's really dead. No, this thing is baseball's version of the next-door neighbor in a Stephen King novel. It is leaving the cookout when it is good and ready to go, not when some union lawyer says it's closing time. After spending two weeks trying to get rid of some of the best players in baseball, the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers aren't likely to say, ah, forget it. Not until it has been pronounced dead by someone other than Larry Lucchino, the Red Sox president who never skips a chance to take a swing at the Players Association. Dan Evans better hope not. Nobody has more to lose if this historic deal grinds to a halt than the former White Sox assistant who runs the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was positioned to land Nomar Garciaparra on the rebound—a potential job-saving transaction for a good guy in a bad position, forced to prove himself to new ownership. Evans needs Garciaparra. He does not need set-up man Guillermo Mota or prospects Greg Miller, a left-handed pitcher who throws 95 m.p.h., or Franklin Gutierrez, a center fielder with power. Sooner or later, assuming the Rodriguez-Ramirez trade is revived, Evans should admit the obvious. He must pay a high price to get Garciaparra from the White Sox, who are positioned to send Magglio Ordonez to Boston for him. What choice do the Dodgers have? On the one hand, there's Garciaparra, a homegrown superstar who can put a face on a franchise that badly needs one. On the other hand, there are stop-gap free agents like 39-year-old Rafael Palmeiro and the enigmatic Juan Gonzalez. Hard to see how Evans can hit a home run with prospective owner Frank McCourt if he tries to put those kind of Band-Aids on the lineup that saw its run-scoring average drop from a meager 4.4 in 2002 to an utterly feeble 3.5 in 2003. No, Evans needs Garciaparra, no matter how much he may hate doing business with Ken Williams, who was hired over him to run the White Sox. And, make no mistake about it, after all this time as conspirators, the Red Sox and Rangers need each other. That's why Rodriguez, the reigning AL MVP, still could wind up playing alongside Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Ordonez in Boston. Imagine how unpleasant life could be with Rodriguez, Ramirez and Garciaparra if they don't change uniforms after their bosses so publicly tried to relocate them. Ditto, for that matter, Ordonez. Although when you think about it, who haven't the White Sox considered trading this winter? Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko and Billy Koch all have been involved in more rumors than Justin Timberlake. Williams could have avoided much of this by making a simple little trade with Carlos Lee a month ago (to Los Angeles for Odalis Perez, for instance). But he got greedy when he took a hard look at the Dodgers' inventory of quality arms. That could turn out to be wise if the Rodriguez deal recovers from the damage it suffered when the players union's Gene Orza declined to allow Rodriguez to defer $25 million to $35 million of the $179 million he is guaranteed. If the Rodriguez deal collapses, Williams probably will hang onto Ordonez and try to fill his pitching needs with low-cost free agents. He's willing to go either way. But he sees an opportunity to extract a high price for a guy he can't afford to keep beyond 2004 and he wants to find a way to pull off a deal with the Dodgers. For sending Ordonez and an unnamed pitcher (possibly Dan Wright) to the Red Sox, the White Sox would wind up with reliever Scott Williamson and Garciaparra. But there were indications Wednesday the Sox would do their part of this deal only if Los Angeles met Williams' price for Garciaparra. The price, according to sources, could be paid one of two ways: either 20-year-old right-hander Edwin Jackson, Mota and the 20-year-old Gutierrez or the more credentialed (and less valuable) Perez, Mota, Miller, who will pitch in Double-A at age 19, and another prospect. It would be hard for any GM to give up a pitcher like Jackson. He throws 98 m.p.h. and beat Randy Johnson in September, becoming the youngest pitcher to win his debut since Dwight Gooden. Baseball America rates Jackson as the Dodgers' top prospect, followed by Miller, Gutierrez and first baseman James Loney (another name that could figure in talks). But how could Evans explain to McCourt passing up Garciaparra to hang onto Perez (who is seeking a trade after going 12-12), the late-blooming Mota and Miller? Evans handcuffed the Dodgers when he traded for Todd Hundley and signed Fred McGriff last year. He let San Diego beat him to Brian Giles last August and then failed to pull off deals for Richie Sexson and Derrek Lee last month. Sexson, who was traded from Milwaukee to Arizona, might have wound up in Los Angeles if Evans had been willing to give up Gutierrez, a five-tool player with a high ceiling but no guarantees. He had 131 strikeouts between high Class A and Double-A last year and currently is batting .224 in Venezuela. This is a guy you would lose your job for? Evans was popular with scouts during his 20 years in the White Sox organization. It still must be that way in Los Angeles, given how he protects homegrown talent. But sometimes the path of least resistance is the right one to take. If Rodriguez eventually does become the Boston shortstop, Garciaparra should wind up in Los Angeles. This is one deal that shouldn't be that tough.

Once again another article from da trib, Jose Valentin's agent resisted the urge to call the White Sox Thursday afternoon to inquire about the fate of his client, which he thought might be tied to the Alex Rodriguez-for-Manny Ramirez deal. "There's nothing they can tell me," David Elston said. "We're all just waiting." The waiting game ended Thursday at 4:20 p.m. when baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced the Rangers and Red Sox had to cease their negotiations on the proposed trade. Or did they? Although two baseball sources told the Associated Press talks continued after the deadline, Selig's office denied that. Red Sox President Larry Lucchino seemed to put the matter to rest shortly thereafter when he called the trade talks "dead" and blamed baseball's union for rejecting a proposed restructuring of Rodriguez's contract. "The players' association's intransigence and the arbitrary nature of its action are responsible for the deal's demise," Lucchino said. But Rangers general manager John Hart took a different tack, saying the deal was still alive. Maybe. "There is a likelihood the deal is dead," he said. "But at the same time, we haven't issued a statement that it's completely dead." Texas is so eager to trade the game's highest-paid player for the second-highest, Hart said Rangers owner Tom Hicks probably would talk to Red Sox officials to try to work out a deal. Unless Boston agrees to take the remaining seven years and $179 million in exchange for what's left on Ramirez's deal ($97.5 million over five years), the seven-time All-Stars appear destined to remain with their current clubs. And that means the rumored deal that would have sent Nomar Garciaparra and Scott Williamson to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez and either Jon Rauch or Dan Wright is off the radar screen. Agent Scott Boras said Rodriguez proposed that his overall contract be reduced $12 million, but that he be given better marketing and logo use rights. But, Boras said, the Red Sox estimated their proposal would cost Rodriguez $28 million, and the players' union objected. "We're going to be in communication with the Rangers as to their discussions with the Red Sox," Boras said. "Every indication we had was that the parties would continue to talk." Boras told the Boston Globe Thursday night that he was still talking with union officials and Hicks about a possible compromise solution that would allow the deal. The Globe was reporting that a deal still could be reached Friday. Even if the A-Rod-for-Manny deal had gone through Thursday, sources said there were still several obstacles blocking a Garciaparra-for-Ordonez trade. Now all that appears moot. But while Valentin is slated to return as the Sox's everyday shortstop, Ordonez's near future remains unsettled. The Dodgers still covet Ordonez and want a big right-handed bat for their lineup. The fact Garciaparra might not be available any more could push Dodgers general manager Dan Evans to meet the Sox's asking price, believed to be lefty Odalis Perez, reliever Guillermo Mota and at least one top prospect, likely pitchers Edwin Jackson or Greg Miller. Or perhaps Sox general manager Ken Williams can convince Evans to pursue a smaller-scale deal for either Frank Thomas or Paul Konerko. The Sox also still could acquire Williamson, a hard-throwing reliever whom Boston is looking to move after signing closer Keith Foulke. As for Rodriguez, he and Boston reached an agreement on a restructured contract Wednesday, only to have union official Gene Orza reject it because it lowered the overall value of the $252 million deal. The union apparently dug in so other players wouldn't be pressured to alter their contracts in the future to play for a winning team. "I recognize the principle involved," Rodriguez said Wednesday in a statement, "and fully support the need to protect the interests of fellow players."

Here it is, There is a forlornness to the White Sox, and although some people believe it has to do with being No. 2 in town, I believe it's due to a strand of DNA that carries the genetic message, "We are, like, so doomed." Where there should be a feistiness to the franchise, there's a heaviness. Where there should be an energy, there's a look that says 14 hours of sleep just isn't going to cut it. But it's more than that. It's that things don't go right for the Sox. Even when their intentions are good, as they seemed to be in the recent Magglio Ordonez-for-Nomar Garciaparra trade-that-wasn't, they get a lump of nothing for their efforts. Trading for David Wells was a great move two years ago, but it turned into a catastrophe. Billy Koch was a nice acquisition last year until he turned into a fraction of the closer he used to be. The Sox gave Paul Konerko a big contract extension after the 2002 season and he responded with a career year, the only problem being that it was Mike Caruso's career year. Is all this misfortune a function of not being shrewd enough or is it simply that fate has decided the Sox have been put on earth to be kicked around? A little of both, with a lethal dose of cheapness added. If you prefer that your losers be loveable, the team on the North Side is a magnet for people drawn to three-legged puppies. There is nothing loveable about these Sox, unless you're into bruised shins. They are beyond the concept of "whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Everything already has gone wrong. Now it's all reruns. Maybe that's why this feels so much like the White Flag trade of 1997. Say goodbye to Bartolo Colon, Carl Everett and Tony Graffanino. And say hello to subtraction by subtraction. The Sox believe Ordonez, who is scheduled to make $14 million next season, is too expensive. Then again, it was the Sox who gave him that contract and the Sox who decided on a middling $57 million payroll for 2004. There doesn't seem to be a long-term plan here, other than to dump contracts. Right now, the Sox have four players (Frank Thomas, Ordonez, Koch and Konerko) on the line for $34 million of that $57 million. You won't be surprised to learn the Sox were willing to move all of them. The only way the Ordonez trade would have worked is if general manager Ken Williams had planned on trading Garciaparra to the Dodgers for pitchers. Otherwise, the Sox were trading one guy who would play one season in Chicago for another, and that made absolutely no sense. We'll give Williams the benefit of the doubt that he was trying to make something out of nothing. He was trying to get pitching. These are the Sox, so of course the Alex Rodriguez trade that would have sent Garciaparra to Chicago on Thursday didn't happen. Allow me to wander for a moment, though the wandering will lead us back to the problem with the Sox, which is their inherent cheapness. This is the franchise that got a ballpark built with public funds and then, after finally acknowledging years later that the design it picked was poor, auctioned off some of its history to pay for renovations. They dumped the name Comiskey Park in favor of U.S. Cellular Field for $68 million over 20 years. Jerry Reinsdorf fix the park with his own money? Are you nuts? (The renovations, by the way, don't solve the upper-deck problem. The Sox are lopping off the top eight rows of the deck, but the remaining 21 rows still have the same 35-degree slope. It's just as steep, folks. Welcome to the renovated optical illusion.) Reinsdorf's message to the fans always has been the same: or else. Either show up at the park in large numbers or else he's not going to spend large numbers on better players. The thinking is so backward that it beeps like a truck in reverse. Consistently field a playoff-caliber team, Jerry, and people will come. Field an underachieving group, as you did last season, and the discerning fan will realize it's more of the same. Go cheap, as you are now while prettying up the stadium, and fed-up fans will stay away. They would have come to the park next season if the Sox, say, had gotten into the bidding for Miguel Tejada, the way resurrected Baltimore did. Then again, that would have cost money, the non-taxpayer kind of money, the kind of money Reinsdorf hates to spend. His own.

Hav a good time Greasy.

Stan's Dad: Stan when u r on a winnin streak, u don't stop bettin. Oops.

The episode we had on Monday was when the Indians gav the ppl of South Park sars. But the one where the boys became Cops was on the week bf, and that was far funnier I thought, especially when Cartman went off at his Mom afta a long hard day at work.

Hey a drunken Canadian in my home town. They must hav not had Candaian Club Whisky on the Plane obviously.

SoxFans hav got to do sumthin in the offseason.

An Aussie on the White Sox, so hence i'm a Moss fan as well.

That's what we're all hoping. I don't think any1 around here wants us to lose Cotts.

From this Baltimore Sun Article talkim mostly bout Sidney Ponson returnin. I wouldn't mind see us signin Moss if we don't get Perez or Washburn. Baltimore Sun Article

But in this Sun Times Article, it says we'll be givin up Dan Wright as part of the deal. SunTimes Article

Any1 else seen this Boston Globe article. Says we're only gonna giv up Maggs for Williamson and Nomar. I sure hope so. Boston Globe Article

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I was talkin to BEGOOD. But I wouldn't mind doin a mega blockbuster trade invovlin Bertuzzi and Khabibulin.

I'm really suprised that Terence Newman or Charles Tillman didn't end up bein selected. Those 2 r some really damn good CB's.