August 26, 200421 yr Jerry Hairton Jr to platoon with Willie at 2B (righty-lefty OBP thing). Carl Pavano to slide El Defector and Judy to 4-5 spots. Guillermo Mota to magically transform the pen as a set-up man. Hairston is cheap. Pavano's injuries and past inconsistencies lower his value to 7 M per or so. Mota will look for Hawkins money. If we're losing Magglio, might as well get those 3 quality upgrades using that money. Garcia, Frank, Shingo, Caballo, Mark, Konerko, Garland raises as well as Davis, Everett salaries will be covered by the $$$ that were ill-spent on Koch, Loaiza, Politte and Valentin in 2004 . I fully expect a 75-78 M payroll next year thanks to revenue increases in 04 and comcast dough rolling in '05. As it stands, it's at 68 M. So, other additions could and should be made. Todd Hollansworth and his 940 OPS would look nicely on the bench - who knows, if Everett is unable to pefrom in RF, Rockstar might find himself in the starting line-up. Korey Koskie is at 3B, after Uribe moves over to SS. That's it, payroll is maxed out and Sox are in business in '05.
August 26, 200421 yr Jerry Hairton Jr to platoon with Willie at 2B (righty-lefty OBP thing). Carl Pavano to slide El Defector and Judy to 4-5 spots. Guillermo Mota to magically transform the pen as a set-up man. Hairston is cheap. Pavano's injuries and past inconsistencies lower his value to 7 M per or so. Mota will look for Hawkins money. If we're losing Magglio, might as well get those 3 quality upgrades using that money. Garcia, Frank, Shingo, Caballo, Mark, Konerko, Garland raises as well as Davis, Everett salaries will be covered by the $$$ that were ill-spent on Koch, Loaiza, Politte and Valentin in 2004 . I fully expect a 75-78 M payroll next year thanks to revenue increases in 04 and comcast dough rolling in '05. As it stands, it's at 68 M. So, other additions could and should be made. Todd Hollansworth and his 940 OPS would look nicely on the bench - who knows, if Everett is unable to pefrom in RF, Rockstar might find himself in the starting line-up. Korey Koskie is at 3B, after Uribe moves over to SS. That's it, payroll is maxed out and Sox are in business in '05. I think the Orioles would rather trade Roberts instead of Hariston, but they want some good pitching in a trade. Maybe a 3 way deal. I've heard the Yanks or Red Sox will definitely give Pavano probably at least $8 million, Derek Lowe could be a sleeper guy to go after if he comes cheaper maybe. KW said his main guys to go after for 05 are a starter and reliever and I like the idea of Mota coming to the Southside.
August 26, 200421 yr Lowe might be an interesting fit for the southside. The ideal pitcher for Chicago is a guy who throws a ton of groundballs. It is the fly ball pitchers who suffer here.
August 26, 200421 yr Lowe might be an interesting fit for the southside. The ideal pitcher for Chicago is a guy who throws a ton of groundballs. It is the fly ball pitchers who suffer here. That's why I suggested him, he's a sinkerballer. Teams like us and Philly in hitter friendly parks will probably hav a long look at him.
August 26, 200421 yr Mota ain't coming, Pavano ain't coming, Lowe ain't coming. I expect the signing of a never was pitcher with "Great Stuff" like they did with Loaiza and a reliever who was good and isn't anymore like they did with Jackson. I wouldn't expect this organization to put up any big bucks to sign anyone.
August 26, 200421 yr Mota ain't coming, Pavano ain't coming, Lowe ain't coming. I expect the signing of a never was pitcher with "Great Stuff" like they did with Loaiza and a reliever who was good and isn't anymore like they did with Jackson. I wouldn't expect this organization to put up any big bucks to sign anyone. Go root for the Cubs then.
August 26, 200421 yr i like those ideas especially mota. Benitez is also a free agent after this season I think, you'd think the Marlins would sign at least one of those two to be the closer.
August 26, 200421 yr Derek Lowe is from Michigan and there are rumors the Tigers will go after him. Not a good fit IMO. You don't want to be a groundball pitcher in a park with a lot of open space. That will be interesting though.
August 26, 200421 yr Derek Lowe is from Michigan and there are rumors the Tigers will go after him. They are DESPERATE to go after a #1 starter this off-season though. Should be interesting to see who they get.
August 26, 200421 yr I think that they are acticipating in there being a payroll increase because of the increased attendance. Myself i'm not holding my breath.
August 26, 200421 yr Author Maggs' money has already been spent people! Konerko 8.7 Lee 8.5 Garcia 8.5 Thomas 8 Pavano - ? Contreras 6 (+ yankee $$) Buerhle 5.5 Mota - ? Everett 4 Garland - ? Shingo 2.5 Marte 1.7 Davis 1.5 Everybody else makes peanuts. Maggs, Koch, Valentin, Loaiza, Schoeneweis, Politte, Jackson, Sandy (totaling almost 34M are off the books.. Based on 2003 revenue, 2004 OD payroll came at around 65M. With Garcia, Alomar and Everett added, it went up to 68-70M. We know ticket, concessions prices all went up coming into the season. On top of that, 2004 attendance and ratings are up by 15% as compared to 2003. Likewise, luxury tax/revenue sharing will bring in a little more than last year. And then you have Comcast $$ next year. So really, anything short of 75-78M OD payroll in ’05 will be criminal. I wouldn’t rule out 80M at this point. As long as Pavano and Mota’s demands are within reason, they can be easily fit into the budget. Hairston, too If healthy, the team will win the division in '05 by a good margin.
August 26, 200421 yr Author Forget Koskie at third base, how about Placido Polanco? No thanks. We don't need Koskie that much if other pieces are acquired, anyway. Joe Crede is one small off-season adjustment away from being a decent 3B. I'll take my chances.
August 26, 200421 yr Author Palanco can play second too. As Willie's platoon mate at 2B, he could prove to be quite valuble given his ability to smoke southpaws and good defense. His salary is a problem. 4 M for a part-time player who is more suited for 2-hole than lead-off spot? I don't know. I guess.
August 27, 200421 yr Author Polanco's splits against LHP: 2002: 390 OBP, 490 Slug 2003: 364 OBP, 521 Slug 2004: 351 OBP, 490 Slug I am confident Willie can put up 370 OBP, 400 Slug against righties next year. Before Ozzie benched him in mid-June, he was right there (420 OBP, 400 Slug against RHP) this year, and I fully expect him to improve a little, maybe cutting down on warning track power and leveling the swing a little more. A better walk rate, too. Plus the steals. And the stellar defense. With some intelligent platooning, 2B won't be a problem (and might just be a big asset) next year. And seeing Uribe murder the ball lately, SS/3B might be taken care of as well.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.