Williams: Forget deal for A-Rod

[Texsox]

And we believe Williams? Probably true, we believe him, but that doesn't mean another GM will believe it. And would we want Williams believing everything he reads in the newspaper?

[witesoxfan]

He hasn't said anything about ruling out Bonds though.

 

[Dick Allen]

In this situation, I think Kenny's big mouth is a good thing. Its one less GM that Borass can use to try to drive his price up against other people. If more GMs did this, it would make it much harder for this guy to get his big money.

Boras probably wouldn't even listen to KW. He gave him no shot in 2000 and it didn't hurt A-Rod financially. I'm sure Boras already has a pretty good idea what uniform ARod will be wearing, and probably knows almost exactly how his future paychecks will read.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

He hasn't said anything about ruling out Bonds though.

 

 

 

Please no.

[sircaffey]

Bring in both Bonds and Arod.

[Dick Allen]

I wonder if KW is still banking on the "market correction" he had been counting on this offseason.

[greg775]

Fans should b**** and moan about $40 ticket prices for a f***ing baseball game.

Steinbrenner should be remembered as the man who ruined sports.

His overbidding back in the day set in motion these escalating salaries.

What you get are a bunch of fragile overpaid ballplayers as evidenced by the three

World Series sweeps the past four years.

There is no reason ballplayers should be paid like this, no reason.

Ticket prices in all sports are a joke especially in baseball where a team is lucky to have two good starters and hacks like Erstad, Uribe, and all those rag bullpen arms out there

on a daily basis.

 

Welcome to Boston, A-Rod.

 

[WCSox]

An assbag telling the truth.

 

He's absolutely right. Fans are b****ing and moaning about ticket prices in the $40 range and he knows damn straight the pissy whining that would take place if they had to raise prices to $70 - which is what would have to happen to support a payroll that included ARod.

 

Not to mention the fact that giving Pay-Rod another $200+ million would financially-strap the Sox when it came to signing other FAs. Putting that many eggs in one basket, even a HOF basket, is just not a good idea.

 

Arrogance aside, people like Kenny and Schuerholz criticize A-Rod's contract for a reason. And it's not because they're overly-emotional and blurt out whatever comes to mind.

 

[knightni]

Joe Cowley reports the obvious reality.

 

 

Curse you reality!

 

I wanted to held my pipedream for at least 2 more months!

[LosMediasBlancas]

What happened to the "stealth mode" translations? We're gonna get A Rod.

[Texsox]

where a team is lucky to have two good starters and hacks like Erstad, Uribe, and all those rag bullpen arms out there

on a daily basis.

 

Expansion has diluted the starting talent more than salaries.

 

I actually think salaries would have the opposite effect, with the higher salaries attracting athletes to the sport that may have concentrated on basketball or football.

 

I agree with everything else you wrote.

[Colorado Sox Fan]

Very small thinking. This is disappointing and a slap in the face to you fans who filled the ballpark to watch the crap they fielded last year. Give me a break. He's looking out for the average fan?

[Soxbadger]

Very small thinking.

 

How many world series rings does A-rod have?

 

How many world series at bats does A-Rod have?

 

How many post season wins does A-Rod have?

 

This isnt Michael Jordan.

[YASNY]

Very small thinking.

 

How many world series rings does A-rod have?

 

How many world series at bats does A-Rod have?

 

How many post season wins does A-Rod have?

 

This isnt Michael Jordan.

 

This is true. Jordan sucked at baseball.

[Whitewashed in '05]

He hasn't said anything about ruling out Bonds though.

 

KW hasn't, but Guillen has said a few times he doesn't fit. KW gets what Guillen asks. KW will ask around his staff before bringing in a guy like Bonds. He'd probably even ask PK and Thome.

 

Unless bringing in Bonds would mean trading Thome.

Edited October 30, 2007 by Whitewashed in '05

[BigSqwert]

I am baffled that people actually want to see Bonds here.

[LosMediasBlancas]

I am baffled that people actually want to see Bonds here.

 

 

Baffled is an understatement for me.

[Vance Law]

It's comments like these that make me hate KW. He's just too candid for his own good sometimes and ends up sounding like an ass-bag.

 

 

I don't understand your reaction there at all. I don't find anything he said to be remotely overly candid. He's saying Rodriguez costs too much money. The only way to come up with that money would be to increase ticket prices very sharply.

[NorthSideSox72]

Baffled is an understatement for me.

Fortunately, Bonds isn't coming here. I'd bet on A-Rod over Bonds coming to the Sox, and A-Rod is a huge long shot anyway.

 

[max power]

Very small thinking. This is disappointing and a slap in the face to you fans who filled the ballpark to watch the crap they fielded last year. Give me a break. He's looking out for the average fan?

I think he means signing arod would price tickets out of their range.

 

My bad, steff already said that.

Edited October 31, 2007 by max power

[witesoxfan]

I am baffled that people actually want to see Bonds here.

 

Why? Bonds is still one of the best hitters in the game, is one of the best hitters of all time, and is a huge fan draw, regardless of whether they boo him or cheer him. And don't use the steroids BS on me, because ARod could very easily be on it too, and that's an even bigger investment that would go down the drain; him, or any number of other free agents right now. He's never failed a drug test, so he's clean enough.

 

Besides that, I made the remark tongue-in-cheek; I'd love Bonds, but I'd be surprised as all hell if the Sox are even mentioned in any rumors about him.

[gosox41]

It's comments like these that make me hate KW. He's just too candid for his own good sometimes and ends up sounding like an ass-bag.

 

 

Would you rather he lead you on and then we hear how the Sox unofficially finished in second place for A-Rod and now the whole organization is too cheap.

 

Tell it like it is. Why give Boras more negoitating power. There will be some sucker that signs him, and hopefully he won't be the complete sucker Hicks was when Boras used the Braves to drive up the price.

 

The fact is, the more money A-Rod gets from any team, the worse it is for the Sox and most other teams. Ultimately it raises the bar on the sucky players.

 

Last, if you believe in conspiracies (I don't in this case) then KW is posturing and flying under the radar.

 

 

 

Bob

[Lillian]

Even though K.W. publicly dismissed any notion of trying to sign A-Rod, I wouldn't necessarily assume that he isn't interested. It may not take $30 million a year to get him here. If the Yankees and Red Sox aren't players, then that only leaves the two L.A. teams as other realistically potential suitors. Perhaps it wouldn't require quite that much to get it done. Isn't it likely that A-Rod opting out of his contract had more to do with some factors other than the dollar amount? Maybe he is more concerned about extending the contract out several years beyond the expiration date of the old contract. His desire to leave N.Y. and the fan abuse, may also be involved.

Then there was always the issue of the tension between him and Jeter.

At any rate, isn't it possible that an eight year deal at the same $25 million a year might be enough to acquire him?

 

I'm not sure that I think A-Rod is even the type of guy that we'd want in the club house, however that aside, he would be a huge asset, as so many have stated.

Couldn't we fill the rest of the holes without signing another expensive free agent, if we spent the money on Alex? We certainly wouldn't need Konerko anymore, and he could probably net us the players we need to fill the holes at lead off, and in the pen. The Angels would seem like the best fit, as we have discussed many times. Figgins in left, and batting lead off could fill that need. They have a couple of relief pitchers we could really use. The Angels covet Konerko, and they have guys we could use to fill the holes in the pen, and at lead off.

Moreover, if we had a good lead off hitter, we could afford to let Owens play CF, and bat ninth. Fields could replace Konerko at first. Trading Paulie would be as much about saving the money, as the players you would get back.

Crede could be signed to a reasonable one year deal, keeping our infield defense in tact.

We could then keep Garland, giving us a potentially solid rotation.

Now if you could just exchange those big contracts on Furcal and Contreras, you could finish filling all of the big holes. In that scenario, you could move A-Rod to First Base, and let Fields platoon with Thome. I think that A-Rod is probably destined for First Base down the road anyway.

 

Here's the lineup:

 

LF Figgins

1B Fields

SS A-Rod

DH Thome

RF Dye

3B Crede

C AJ

2B Richar

CF Owens

 

Under Plan B, you move Furcal to Short, bat him second.

Fields platoons with Thome at DH

A-Rod plays First.

 

That team has very good speed, and the heart of the order would be among the best in baseball, maybe even rivaling Boston's.

My biggest question mark is whether or not A-Rod can still play Short. If not, then you might have to leave him at third, and then you have to figure out how to move Crede, and replace him with a short stop. I prefer moving him to First, and finding a slick fielding short stop.

The other short coming would be the weak arms in CF and Left. Maybe the speed out there would offset enough of that weakness, to afford sufficient outfield defense. The exception of course is Dye, who has slowed considerably, but at least still has a good glove and a very good arm.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Even though K.W. publicly dismissed any notion of trying to sign A-Rod, I wouldn't necessarily assume that he isn't interested. It may not take $30 million a year to get him here. If the Yankees and Red Sox aren't players, then that only leaves the two L.A. teams as other realistically potential suitors. Perhaps it wouldn't require quite that much to get it done. Isn't it likely that A-Rod opting out of his contract had more to do with some factors other than the dollar amount? Maybe he is more concerned about extending the contract out several years beyond the expiration date of the old contract. His desire to leave N.Y. and the fan abuse, may also be involved.

Then there was always the issue of the tension between him and Jeter.

At any rate, isn't it possible that an eight year deal at the same $25 million a year might be enough to acquire him?

 

I'm not sure that I think A-Rod is even the type of guy that we'd want in the club house, however that aside, he would be a huge asset, as so many have stated.

Couldn't we fill the rest of the holes without signing another expensive free agent, if we spent the money on Alex? We certainly wouldn't need Konerko anymore, and he could probably net us the players we need to fill the holes at lead off, and in the pen. The Angels would seem like the best fit, as we have discussed many times. Figgins in left, and batting lead off could fill that need. They have a couple of relief pitchers we could really use. The Angels covet Konerko, and they have guys we could use to fill the holes in the pen, and at lead off.

Moreover, if we had a good lead off hitter, we could afford to let Owens play CF, and bat ninth. Fields could replace Konerko at first. Trading Paulie would be as much about saving the money, as the players you would get back.

Crede could be signed to a reasonable one year deal, keeping our infield defense in tact.

We could then keep Garland, giving us a potentially solid rotation.

Now if you could just exchange those big contracts on Furcal and Contreras, you could finish filling all of the big holes. In that scenario, you could move A-Rod to First Base, and let Fields platoon with Thome. I think that A-Rod is probably destined for First Base down the road anyway.

 

Here's the lineup:

 

LF Figgins

1B Fields

SS A-Rod

DH Thome

RF Dye

3B Crede

C AJ

2B Richar

CF Owens

 

Under Plan B, you move Furcal to Short, bat him second.

Fields platoons with Thome at DH

A-Rod plays First.

 

That team has very good speed, and the heart of the order would be among the best in baseball, maybe even rivaling Boston's.

My biggest question mark is whether or not A-Rod can still play Short. If not, then you might have to leave him at third, and then you have to figure out how to move Crede, and replace him with a short stop. I prefer moving him to First, and finding a slick fielding short stop.

The other short coming would be the weak arms in CF and Left. Maybe the speed out there would offset enough of that weakness, to afford sufficient outfield defense. The exception of course is Dye, who has slowed considerably, but at least still has a good glove and a very good arm.

Thanks for the well-thought out post. But I don't think A-Rod can be had for 8x25, nor do I think he would play 1B. If he could be had for 8x25, I would HOPE the Sox would jump on it. And that's not a bad lineup, though 8-9 isn't great.

 

[Steff]

It would be silly to think the Sox (and the other 29 teams) aren't "interested" in Alex. However realistically and finacially it makes no sense. Unless Alex agrees to a deal grossly less than what his current "market value" is... he will never wear a White Sox uniform as an employee.