winninguglyin83

A) Amen to AJ leavin TwinkieLand. B) Amen to AJ headin to the NL C) A-freakin-men to not seeing AJ at all this season. And I thought the B thing was only happening to me

Orioles finally have money to spend because they are free of contracts with Sweet Albert Belle, Brook Fordyce, Scott Erickson and Tony Batista. They got some bucks. dunno if Angelos will spend any. they're supposedly talking to Bad Vlad.

gammons piece from espn.com basically goes over stax from 2003 season and trends from last three years sez Bartolo's numbers were outstanding and that he's going to get major bucks from the Yankees http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=1659935 Also sez Frank's numbers have gone up two straight years. So have Carl Everett's. Not so for Robbie and Buehrle. In fact, Buehrle's hits per innings pitched are troublesome.

don't be so conservative and limit him to one in most cities. one per night, per road trip more like it

meanwhile, are the Sox doing ANYTHING?

If Miguel ever learns to hit the breaking ball and lay off the outside pitch, he'll be all right. congrats on the honor.

mariners have been shopping Garcia since July. don't think he gets along with new manager or the pitching coach. I'd guess they would take less, not more. But I doubt they'd be interested in Konerko. You need guys who can run and play defense to score and win in that park.

you gotta figure the Cubs will get either Foulke, Hawkins or Guardado. They need another bullpen guy to make sure they protect those young starters. And with Dusty they're serious about winning. I could see Foulke enjoying a return trip to Chicago to rub KW's nose in it

wow I mean, WOW I'm glad to see AJ out of our division. He's has kicked our butt for three years. and he certainly seemed to know how to pitch our hitters and get under our skin. I know Mauer is supposed to be the next A) Johnny Bench; B) Carlton Fisk and C) Thurman Munson, but I'm glad the Twins did this.

Garcia is worth considering because he's young. But I worry about a guy who had trouble pitching in the best pitcher's park in the America League.

I don't think it will be The Lineup either. just trying exaggerate the point that the Sox sure seem primed to radically overhaul the team we saw the last 2 1/2 months. And if that is indeed the case, you can expect a fair share of guys making the minimum or close to it. Just my guess when fans watch Miguel Cabrerra, Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett, we see exciting young players. When JR sees guys like that, he sees a team beating the Yankees with about one third the payroll. Book that.

If you believe the rumors of the last few days, we're shipping Maggs and either C Lee and Konerko out, too, in deals for pitching and prospects. i''m guessing cutting payroll is job one right now. and, truth be told, it wouldn't bother me if they don't resign Alomar. He's still a solid player, but nowhere close to an all-star. His batting average and OBP were nothing extraordinary. I would't give him a two-year deal unless it was for a small guarantee and driven by incentives. Plus, if you read between the lines in his agents comments, Robbie doesn't get too juiced up to play if the team falls outta the race. Not the best attitude to have around a team that will have a considerable number of younger players.

Agreed. My biggest question about Meaux is his age. Why has he been so slow to move up the ladder? As for Valido, he is obviously a prospect. But he's got to be at least three and probably four or five years away from being ready for the big leagues. We'll need somebody before that. It was supposed to be Gonzalez or Morse, but they seemed to stall last year.

from a story in today's NY Daily News here is the link: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/136284p-121248c.html sez Robbie's agent has called the Yankees. Sez KW is saying the Sox probably won't resign Robbie. And that although Robbie hated the Mets, he loves the Yankees. Would love to play for them. Just like he loves the White Sox. Luv the one you're with, I reckon. if this keeps up, this will be the Sox lineup in 2004. 1 -- Harris CF 2 -- Miles 2b 3 -- Thomas DH 4 -- Gload 1b 5 -- Rowand LF 6 -- Crede 3B 7 -- Reed RF 8 -- Valentin ss 9 -- Olivo C Total payroll of batting order: $11,000,000.25 -- $6 mill for Frank, $5 mill for Jose and spare change for everybody else.

didn't see it on the web site. saw it in the magazine, which I got in mail today.

Baseball America has started its Top 10 prospect lists for every team in the game. They're beginning with the NL East this year. I found it very interesting that Royce Ring, our Number One pick in 2002 and one of the guys the Sox traded for Robbie Alomar, did not crack the Top 10. Either the Mets are flush in the minor leagues or Ring has more questions than everybody thought.

for what it's worth, the new Baseball weekly sez that Everett has drawn interest from seven teams. The top three are Tampa, Detroit and Texas. Also sez the Twins could lose LaTroy, Shannon Stewart and Jacque Jones. And they are reportedly shopping AJ 'cause he is arbitration eligible and it's time to start making room for Joe Mauer. Bottom line: The best thing the Sox have going for them is money woes are going to squeeze the competition even more than us. Just have to trust KW to make some wise decisions.

i'd do Maggs for Percival and Erstad. that would solve two major problems -- left-handed hitting outfielder and stud closer. you'd be rolling the dice that Erstad could stay healthy, but his career seems to reflect that he plays well every other year. plus we could use a left-handed bat. Plug A Row into right and suddenly our outfield defense has gone from OK to very good. Percival has been around a good bit and thrown a s*** pot of innings, but he's a gamer. I love Maggs. But if he wants 15 or 16 million over four years, he's on crack. only a couple of teams that could pay that -- and the Sox are not close to being one of them. And I agree, it's a helluva lot easier to find a serviceable outfielder who can manufacture runs and play D than it is to find effective pitchers. We know KW loves Erstad. Almost had him for Garland and Singleton two years ago before Anaheim did a U-turn.

did any news about a player or two the sox might attract or trade from come out of this? Anything?

If we don't replace Bartolo with a decent free agent pitcher, there will be problems even Guillen can't fix.

any chance the Mets would return Royce Ring?

the link to today's New York Post gossip http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/42540.htm Sez they are interested in Koch (1) and Foulke (2). Not interested in Flash Gordon or Guardado more disturbing reports about Roger CedeNO coming our way. Can't we get the Mets interested in Jose Paniagua?

gotta be Halladay. Just hope Estey finished second, ahead of Pettitte and Petey Martinez. and let's hope Gagne holds off The Savior in the NL

Most of the talk about Sox SS prospects has centered on Valido and Gonzalez. What about Michael Morse? Is he a prospect at all? made 19 errors in 120 games at high A ball. but his OBP is dreadful -- .296, with only 25 walks in 432 at bats. Does seem to have some pop -- 30 doubles, 10 HRs. Anybody see him play at Winston Salem? Sad to say, but I don't think the sox have developed a home-grown shortstop since Bucky Dent.

I believe the general managers' meetings begin in Phoenix today. maybe some real news will percolate.