it appears there is a chance that we may stand pat, maybe a couple small moves . who is the most important player (in terms of stepping up and producing) to the offense next year? i would say that a lot is going to be expected from crede, rowand, and dye. crede will need to be a .280/22/85 guy in my eyes to help this team. rowand and dye will both have to be at least .290/25/100 guys to replace what has been lost. posednik will have to bat around .280 with an obp around .350 at least

IMO the most important 2 people if we are standing pat

 

Jose Contreas

and Jon Garland

 

OF wins you fans

Def and pitching wins you titles..Just ask the Twins :fyou

Jon Garland and Joe Crede are the big names that pop into my mind.

 

 

Finally the 1000th post for me, sadly it involves Garland and Crede.

My goodness...so many new-comers.

 

Its getting difficult to stay on top of things.

IMO the most important 2 people if we are standing pat

 

Jose Contreas

and Jon Garland

 

OF wins you fans

Def and pitching wins you titles..Just ask the Twins  :fyou

I agree with that completely. Offense hasn't worked for the Sox in recent years, and every year it's been our ineffective pitching that has cost us a shot at the division.

 

Obviously, in 2004, our 5th starters were incredibly horrible, Garland was very mediocre at best, and Contreras was very up and down after we acquired him. If the Sox want to compete in 2005, we need both Garland and Contreras to have an ERA in the low-mid 4's.

 

Ultimately, it may turn out to be a case like 2000 where everyone had to have a good year, while at the same time staying healthy.

Garland has to step up if he's here

 

Not someone who has to "step-up" but it's critical that Shingo shows last year was not a fluke

The Whole damn Team needs to step up

The Whole damn Team needs to step up

That statement of the year.

Perhaps we should create a newbie training board to teach and guide our huge influx of noobs.

Willie Harris. He could help alot as a good hitter at the bottom of the order. He had a pretty good OBP but only stole 19 bases last year.

Harris, Garland, Contreras, Crede, Pods. Yup.

 

The one who I think will do the best...Garland or Contreras.

Contreras, i have no confidence in him.

im not a newbie , ive been reading these boards for months, just havent had the or need to register. i do not remember a post quite like this one, but since im not on this site every hour of every day, perhaps i missed it. too bad i have a life. i hate to say this but some of you are acting like stuck up, know it all, better than everyone CUBS fans. loosen up.

 

by the way, i dont want to make enemies, we are all sox fans here, so we are obviously all solid human beings. :fthecubs

by the way, i dont want to make enemies,

You sure you are not trying to?

You sure you are not trying to?

Man, just lay off. There's no need for comments like that.

Man, just lay off. There's no need for comments like that.

What did i say? No one is acting stuck up so i don't know why he said that.

Qwerty, just drop it.

 

Raff, welcome to Soxtalk, glad to see some of you long-time lurkers posting for the first time.

 

Anyways, I had no problem with your topic. Good post for discussion, and no one else really posted it anywhere else. Addison and Tony were just commenting on how there's been a lot of new posters coming in lately (which there has been).

 

As for your topic, I think Podsednik needs to prove that he isn't a one-year wonder to a lot of people. I also think Contreras needs to be a consistent pitcher this season. If he pitches like he can, he's capable of domination. My final key is Shingo. If he can hold down the closers role, it won't force us to shuffle our bullpen, and we'll have a damn good bullpen if Shingo is able to succeed.

 

Like you said, we're all in the same boat here. Go Sox!

What did i say? No one is acting stuck up so i don't know why he said that.

C'mon man Give him a break, It was a pretty fair Question to ask.

im not a newbie , ive been reading these boards for months, just havent had the  or need to register. i do not remember a post quite like this one, but since im not on this site every hour of every day, perhaps i missed it. too bad i have a life. i hate to say this but some of you are acting like stuck up, know it all, better than everyone CUBS fans. loosen up.

 

by the way, i dont want to make enemies, we are all sox fans here, so we are obviously all solid human beings.  :fthecubs       

Keep on Posting, I too sometimes give the new posters some hard times, But many of them post stupid things and Run. Everyone has an Opinion I guess and Your Question was a good one. As I said the Whole team has to step up.

 

Anyways, I think a few of the guys are just kinda upset, cause there's been a lot of Trolls around wasting people's time and creating stupid threads and stuff. Feel free to post, even if sometimes some don't agree with ya, Hell it could be me a lot of those times

The Whole damn Team needs to step up

That's what I was thinking. It's not about individual performances but what can be accomplished as a team.

My not so obvious answer here is: Aaron Rowand. Ok before I get jumped on for this let me explain.

 

Before last year, Rowand was an everyday player, I understand his stats for his limited ab's were nice and he hac a nice year last year but it's scary to think that a key cog in our offense will be a player who had one good season and has only been a starting player for a year.

 

I understand a lot of you have confidence in Rowand, as do I, but for this team to be successful Rowand needs to produce as much, if not more than he did last year. Rowand has made players like Mags and Lee "expendable." If he doesn't live up to expectations our OF is below average unless Dye explodes (which is possible) and Scott P. looks more like his 2003 version (not likely).

 

So in my mind the world is on Aaron's shoulders and we don't know what to expect of him with increased pressure. Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of Rowand, I think he's a solid ballplayer, but KW may have jumped the gun on unloading two OF studs when Anderson is a year and a half away and Sweeney may be two years away.

 

Anyways, Aaron Rowand...the ball is in your court. You need to step it up, be a leader of this team, and a bat we can rely on day in and day out in the lineup. Without you, a solid offensive season will be nearly impossible (unless PK, Dye, and Thomas go NUTS or Christ himself takes over Joe Crede's body and turns him into a hitter), and as a result an AL Central pennant will also be nearly impossible.

IMO, Crede is the key. The Sox need him to show massive progress in total offense.

Fotop, you are certainly correct in your assessment. If Rowand goes in the tank, we're screwed. However, I think Aaron Rowand is just too good of a ballplayer for that to happen. Now, if he gets one of those nagging injuries that effects his swing, power or speed, that can be a problem. But if ARow stays healthy, I believe he'll produce.

imho, crede and garland needs to step up