Jamie Navarro is not Mark Buehrle's equal in any sense.

 

I never said that he was. My point was that JR won't give a big-money, five-year deal to ANY veteran pitcher, ESPECIALLY after the Navarro fiasco.

I never said that he was. My point was that JR won't give a big-money, five-year deal to ANY veteran pitcher, ESPECIALLY after the Navarro fiasco.

 

My point is that the Chicago White Sox got exactly what they deserved when they signed Navarro to that contract over Clemens and Navarro blew up. Navarro had a history of putting up 5 and 6 + ERAs and then he has a couple of good years with the Cubs and we say, "Hey, let's sign him!"

 

Buehrle is the complete opposite situation.

 

It may stand that the Front Office will stand by their rule but I think that's idiotic, especially when all the circumstances are looked at.

What does Mark's personal life have to do with his trade talks?

 

From a business stand point none. I was referring to the post that they should trade him and go after him in the offseason.

 

If Buerhle does not want to leave and they trade him my thoughts are that he would be less inclined to resign with the Sox in the offseason if he left and felt he was treated unfairly in the dealings. If the White Sox have no intention of of resigning him, trade him.

 

By trading him the "hometown discount" is gone and the Sox would have to possibly be higher then another team thus there can be no option ot let him walk and try signing him later.

My point is that the Chicago White Sox got exactly what they deserved when they signed Navarro to that contract over Clemens and Navarro blew up. Navarro had a history of putting up 5 and 6 + ERAs and then he has a couple of good years with the Cubs and we say, "Hey, let's sign him!"

 

Buehrle is the complete opposite situation.

 

It may stand that the Front Office will stand by their rule but I think that's idiotic, especially when all the circumstances are looked at.

Navarro at 24 was throwing 234 innings for the Brewers all while posting 15 wins and a 3.92 ERA. He followed that up with a 246 inning season with 17 wins and a 3.33 ERA. The following year was a down year for him (still well over 200 innings) and than he suffered some setbacks and went to the Cubs where he posted two consecutive 200+ inning seasons with sub 4 ERA's. The guy was 29 and pretty much sans a season and a half had been a consistent 200 inning, sub 4 ERA guy.

 

Lets not act like Navarro was some bum, this guy was pretty damn good prior to signing with the Sox.

My point is that the Chicago White Sox got exactly what they deserved when they signed Navarro to that contract over Clemens and Navarro blew up. Navarro had a history of putting up 5 and 6 + ERAs and then he has a couple of good years with the Cubs and we say, "Hey, let's sign him!"

 

Agreed, but let's not pretend that Clemens was a hot commodity on the market back in the winter of '96. Many GMs thought he was done. And his very sudden return to glory has been attributed to chemical enhancement by some. Schueler was definitely an idiot for signing Lamie, but I don't blame him for not being able to predict Clemens' career taking a sudden (and suspicious) 180-degree turn in '97.

 

Buehrle is the complete opposite situation.

 

It may stand that the Front Office will stand by their rule but I think that's idiotic, especially when all the circumstances are looked at.

 

I like Mark a lot, but I'm not going to confuse him with Randy Johnson circa 1998. I don't know what kind of numbers have been discussed between KW and Mark's agent, but I have to believe that Mark isn't going to take anything less than 5/80. And with all due respect to Mark, I wouldn't pay him that kind of money.

Navarro at 24 was throwing 234 innings for the Brewers all while posting 15 wins and a 3.92 ERA. He followed that up with a 246 inning season with 17 wins and a 3.33 ERA. The following year was a down year for him (still well over 200 innings) and than he suffered some setbacks and went to the Cubs where he posted two consecutive 200+ inning seasons with sub 4 ERA's. The guy was 29 and pretty much sans a season and a half had been a consistent 200 inning, sub 4 ERA guy.

 

Lets not act like Navarro was some bum, this guy was pretty damn good prior to signing with the Sox.

 

Navarro wasn't a bum but he wasn't an ace, either. He was a huge risk and didn't merit the kind of deal we gave him at all, and it was an easy call to make, IMO. His bad numbers said more to me than any of his other numbers.

I think JR would allow Buehrle as an exception. At this point, I think this is where the owner needs to step in and just ask Buehrle what he wants and negotiate with him and the agent from there.

Does anyone else just think it was an accidental miracle that the staff of this club actually put together a World Series Championship team in '05? Because after so many dumb decisions for years, it really felt unreal that the Sox won it, and it still does. I'm just glad I lived to see it.

Edited June 25, 200718 yr by TheBigHurt

So I happen to be in Boston this week on business, and I'm surrounded by Red Sox fans. Four of them have already asked me about MB - they are fairly drooling over the idea.