winninguglyin83

The latest Baseball Weekly has several Sox tidbits * The Konerko to the Dodgers trade is alive -- but for prospects. NO mention of Perez or Mota. Sez the Sox want to free up money so they can pursue Ponson, which seems like a long-shot now, so I guess the saved money will go into player development, US Cell enhancements or lower ticket prices. *In fact, they predict a number of free agent signings and have Ponson signing with Balty. The only guy they have coming to the Sox is Julian Tavarez. Jay Payton to the Dodgers, Raffy to the Angels, Ellis Burks to the Royals, Maddux to the Cardinals, Urbina to the Rangers, Osuna to the Royals. If true, the Royals certainly seem to be loading up on vets to make their move. *They also rank the Top 25 players in the game. The sox have one -- Maggs, who is Number 17. Paniagua and Daubach failed to make the list.

if he's healthy, he can help as a set-up guy. No word on another starter?

my take: 1. KW likes Willie Harris. He made the Singleton deal to acquire him and he wants to see if he can play. Guillen likes to run so he probably agreed to take a serious look at him. And JR likes Willie 'cause the price is right. 2. Flash priced himself way out of our budget. The Yankees (and maybe the Red Sox) who would be willing to pay an old, injury-prone guy $7 million to be a set up guy. That was a money deal. 3. My guess with Graff is that he just wanted to go elsewhere. Why KC, I dunno? He's from New York City and came up in the Braves' farm system. So I don't know the connection. 4. Sully is a guy who has thrown a ton of innings the last four years. No way the Sox were going to pay him $2-3 million to be a set up guy. 5. Bartolo was about the money. 6. Carl Everett also too expensive, especially when the Sox have cheaper alternatives in Rowand, Borchard and Reed.

Robbie might play a bit better than last season, but his days as a stud infielder are over. He has really dropped off as a right handed hitter. He's great on balls that he gets to, but his range is wayyy down. For a million, I guess he'd be OK, but I'd rather see Willie Harris get a chance to show if he can play or not.

Sox have to hope that several guys from this group of players -- Borchard, Reed, Rowand, Harris, Rauch, Diaz, Cotts, Ginter -- step up. With the dynamics and direction of the payroll, it's essential.

below the Tigers, Brewers and Devil Rays. Puh-leese.

i'm still holding out hope for Ponson, I guess. and maybe we'll get something from a rookie

hope so, but I'm not surprised by that analysis on Estey. All the numbers' gurus are going to project him to revert to 12-15 or 13-11 because that was his career track until last season. Hopefully that criticism -- and the final year of his contract -- will keep him motivated for another big season. Winning 20 for this team won't be easy -- unless we add some better players. But I think Loaiza can continue to pitch well because the difference last season was he threw that 'cut' fastball and he threw it for strikes on both corners.

As a sure sign of Spring, found the Rotisserie League Guide edited by roto guru John Benson and others at a bookstore today. They analyze every player in the big leagues. There's too much info to report it all here, but I'll break it down to the Sox players (current and 2003) that they like for this year, those they don't like and the ones they seem a bit blah about Like Joe Borchard -- shocked me because he was dreadful last season, but they insist he will hit if given a chance in the big leagues. Joe Crede -- project .280 and 25 home runs this season. I'll take that. Carl Everett -- project 25-30 HRs and 100 RBIs -- for the Expos, of course Paul Konerko -- will bounce back with 30 HRs and a .300 average Carlos Lee -- finally maturing as a hitter. Maggs -- as solidly consistent as they come Frank -- praised him strongly for his offense last year. Juan Uribe -- made strikes at the plate and they love his D Jose, Jose, Jose -- good offense for a SS. Seem to suggest he'd be best as a Tony Phillips type utility player. FLAT Sandy Alomar -- he is what he is Graff -- Never be a regular but he's solid a couple of days a week. Miles -- bad baserunner without power who should start the season in the minors. Olivo -- No better nor worse than the average big-league catcher. CRITICAL Robbie Alomar -- can't turn on the fastball any more and lost a step in the field. Not going to turn around the decline. Brian Daubach -- a platoon player who can't play the outfield and is a below average first baseman. Willie Harris -- Can't hit left-handers well enough to be a big-league regular. Aaron Rowand -- Has to show more patience at the plate to be an everyday player and his career numbers show that he can't do that. PITCHERS PRAISE Buehrle -- expect his ERA to drop under 4 and him to win 15-18 games. Bartolo -- will win 20 with a solid offensive club behind him. Garland -- will eventually blossom into staff ace but probably only 12-14 victories again this season. Koch -- figures to bounce back if his arm and shoulder are healthy. Marte -- very productive reliever Wunsch -- deserves a chance to be more than a left-handed specialist. BLAH Politte -- will never close in the big leagues but could be a set-up man Rauch -- might be helped by a move to the bullpen. (never heard that suggested with him.) CRITICAL Danny Wright -- Only pitched more than 6 innings four times and must eventually head to the pen. Flash -- High injury risk. Loaiza -- No chance to come close to 20 wins again. Jose Santiago -- Jose Mesa without the notoriety. Schoeneweis -- Easy for right-handers to hit so he probably will end up a left-handed specialist. Sullivan -- Showing signs of breaking down because he was overworked by Cincinnati for the last four seasons. There's a ton more material than that. But I thought it would start the conversation flowing.

Walter "No Neck" Williams "King" Carlos May Tommie Agee Ken "the Bandit" Berry Don Buford Charles "Buddy" Bradford Joel Horlen Ed "Supe" Herrmann Hoyt "The Good Doctor" Wilhelm Rudy Law Tom Paciorek, the Wimpmeister

do tthe sox actually have Politte? never seen official confirmation

sounds good, but ... there aren't many teams out there willing to take on a $14 million salary of a player they're sure to lose after one season. And if they know the Sox are desperate, they're not going to rush to give King Kenny fair market value.

hasn't seemed to hurt the Diamondbacks to train at the same facility the Sox use. excuses, excuses, excuses.

excellent historical post. Long time Sox fans know that they traded away a chance to battle the Yankees for control of the American League in the early 60s by dealing Callison, Battey, Romano and others for aging, past-their-prime players. And Dick Allen, Chuck Tanner and, yes, Harry Caray, pumped adrenaline back into the franchise in the early 70s. the Sox were pretty good back then, but, unfortunately, Oakland was flat-out great.

Then I guess I'll stick with Bonilla for Jose DeLeon. That was right before Bonilla got really productive for the Pirates playing with Bonds

he overpays in trades, too. No reason we had to give Pittsburgh Wells and Fogg and Lowe for Ritchie. Wells and Lowe should have been enough. And those dump deals he made in 2002 have yet to bear any fruit. All we have to show for Durham, S. Alomar, Lofton. Howry and anybody else we dumped are Adkins (very marginal), Pachecho (jury still out), Diaz (ditto), Meaux (longshot), Hak An (longer shot) and Fransico (?????). pretty annoying when you consider the Sox gave up Ring, Rupe, Webster and Bittner in their deadline deals last summer.

no mention of Borchard. I still have hopes that the time off this winter will help him relax and get back on track to be a productive player.

too many bad ones to count: Bobby Bonilla for Jose DeLeon. Sosa for Bell. Ray Durham for Jon Adkins. whatever the Sox got for Brian Downing, Terry Forster, Goose Gossage, Looie Aparicio, Don Buford, Johnny Callison, Earl Battey and a million others.

has this been reported anywhere other than the Denver Post? I haven't seen it in the Chicago papers.

I'd project Rauch over Cotts for the Number Five starter spot. More experience at a higher level. Much better command. And, if you believe the hype from three years ago, a higher ceiling. But there is little doubt that somebody -- Cotts, Rauch, Wright, Diaz, Pacheco -- has to step forward as a starting pitcher or WE GAWN

Does that mean we're making the Maggs' deal, or have we wisely reconsidered and chosen to keep him?

good. by the time all these 2004 picks are developed, JR will be ready to trade away Honel, Wing, Valido, Anderson, Young, Nanita and Reed because they're too expensive. We're in great shape for 2008.

Another trade that leaves with with nuttin to show for it. Somebody will give Schoeneweis a chance because he is left-handed and can start or relieve. Guys like that are valuable and hang around forever.

Frankie always seems to fall in and out of favor in Oakland. He'll probably show up there again as a backup -- somehow. doesn't seem like Guillen's type of player. Rather have a utility infielder who can run a little and play more than one position.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Outfielder Carlos Lee agreed Friday to a $15 million, two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox, who also agreed to an $800,000, one-year deal with pitcher Kelly Wunsch. Lee gets $6.5 million next season and $8 million in 2005. Chicago has an $8.5 million option for 2006 with a $500,000 buyout. Lee, 27, hit .291 last season with 31 homers, 113 RBIs and 18 steals, all career highs. He led the team in RBIs and steals. sorry if this duplicates anything because I know the rumor was posted earlier in the day. finally, some good news..