Because he would not get a ring if the Dodgers win, silly.

 

(Apparently we will give him a ring if we win even though he will no longer be on our team when we win).

Most teams give any player that spent anytime on their roster that year a ring. Like we did in 2005. Shingo Takatsu has a 2005 world series ring.

i have mixed feelings on the trade. i do like it when organizations do nice things for players and i'd love to see jim thome get a ring. his chances are better with the dodgers, no doubt about that.

 

at the same time, kw's job to to put the best possible sox team on the field, not do favors for good guys. as soon as they traded him a bad sox team got worse. this strikes me as a more impulsive move than i'm used to seeing out of kw.

trade don't make too much sense.. i just think he is fed up with dye/thome/konerko as 3-4-5 and thome was the easiest to move at the last minute with the dye's/pks contract.

 

I guess you missed the entire first page of this thread.

at the same time, kw's job to to put the best possible sox team on the field, not do favors for good guys. as soon as they traded him a bad sox team got worse. this strikes me as a more impulsive move than i'm used to seeing out of kw.

 

Would getting some other players ABs to see what we may have for next season while being out of it for this season change that?

 

There is no reason to have a 39 year old DH when were done.

 

A ring is a ring I guess, but how much is Jimmy really gonna play and actually contribute to that ring.......if it happens?

He'll be the DH in the AL park in the WS if the dodgers get that far.

Would getting some other players ABs to see what we may have for next season while being out of it for this season change that?

 

There is no reason to have a 39 year old DH when were done.

 

i like the idea of getting flowers more at-bats. sure. flowers is who we're really talking about. none of the other guys who are recalled to this point are part of the future. whether or not d-weezy or fields gets a lot of at-bats is somewhat besides the point. off the top of my head it's escaping me who else we are going to see who it would be worthwhile to evaluate other than flowers.

 

that said, flowers was getting recalled regardless. so he was going to be on the club and get some major league looks this year one way or another. but it's not like he's taking all of what would have been thome's at-bats so how many extra at-bats are we really talking about?

 

at any rate, i don't want to belabor the point. like most here i think we're done. i guess i'm just not hugely comfortable giving away a key offensive player with a month to go when we've got a fair amount of games against the teams ahead of us. that's all.

I'm sure Jimmy loved (loves) the great city of Chicago, but can you imagine how happy he is to get the hell out of Dodge? After this road trip in which his team simply laid down and got creamed?

He has to be the happiest man alive arriving in the Dodger clubhouse.

I still can't fathom however him wanting to pinch hit. He's still capable of whacking some big home runs and it's impossible they play him at first base.

As sad as I am to see the big lug go ... I'm happy he doesn't have to endure September with this Sox club that hopefully will be rebuilt and ready to go in February.

I'm sure Jimmy loved (loves) the great city of Chicago, but can you imagine how happy he is to get the hell out of Dodge? After this road trip in which his team simply laid down and got creamed?

He has to be the happiest man alive arriving in the Dodger clubhouse.

I still can't fathom however him wanting to pinch hit. He's still capable of whacking some big home runs and it's impossible they play him at first base.

As sad as I am to see the big lug go ... I'm happy he doesn't have to endure September with this Sox club that hopefully will be rebuilt and ready to go in February.

Not sure who but one of Konerko or Dye said that yesterday was the first time they've ever seen Jim Thome down in the dumps after he accepted the trade to L.A. he loves it here and really didn't want to leave.

Not sure who but one of Konerko or Dye said that yesterday was the first time they've ever seen Jim Thome down in the dumps after he accepted the trade to L.A. he loves it here and really didn't want to leave.

 

Kal,

What exactly are the rules regarding Thome re-signing here? So assuming the Dodgers don't offer him arbitration, does that mean we can sign him without having to surrender a pick?

Kal,

What exactly are the rules regarding Thome re-signing here? So assuming the Dodgers don't offer him arbitration, does that mean we can sign him without having to surrender a pick?

If the Dodgers don't offer him arb then any team is free to sign him without relinquishing a pick. If he's offered arb and declines then we'd have to give up our 2nd round pick in order to sign him, since we're going to have a top 15 pick we wouldn't have to give up a 1st rounder (the top 15 picks in the draft are protected). If they offer him arb and he accepts then they'll have to pay him $10M+ to come off the bench next year (or find a trade partner).

I don't think the Dodgers will offer him arbitration. He would just accept it and force the Dodgers to find a trade partner, or have 10+million sitting on the bench. Jim is a class act and I dont really think they will play these games with him.

If the Dodgers don't offer him arb then any team is free to sign him without relinquishing a pick. If he's offered arb and declines then we'd have to give up our 2nd round pick in order to sign him, since we're going to have a top 15 pick we wouldn't have to give up a 1st rounder (the top 15 picks in the draft are protected). If they offer him arb and he accepts then they'll have to pay him $10M+ to come off the bench next year (or find a trade partner).

Ok, that is what I thought.

So basically, we will be free to sign him without relinquishing a pick, unless Ned makes another, well, Ned-like move this offseason...

Im predicting the Dodgers will be extremely happy they acquired Thome when he blasts clutch homers in the playoffs and possibly WS.

Its not the sox weren't trying to trade em all. Its just that Contreras and Thome drew attention for whatever reason.

cuz he sucks and he's slow and his high K rate kills any and every rally since 2006.

cuz he sucks and he's slow and his high K rate kills any and every rally since 2006.

 

He'll be the DH in the AL park in the WS if the dodgers get that far.

 

I hadn't thought of that. That would be cool.

 

And, pondering the future, no one has mentioned if he was to win the ring, retirement may be on his mind. There are probably 600 reasons why he wouldn't, but still, it would seem tempting at this point in his career.

KW knows that we will be facing the Dodgers in the World Series, and this way Thome will get a ring no matter which way the series goes.

 

 

Good one! But, I think a 50th anniversary reunion in the WS is probably out of the question. Not completely mind you but unlikely

It wasn't a trade; it was basically a release.

 

 

No doubt we would not have re-signed him in 2010

No doubt we would not have re-signed him in 2010

 

If anything this move makes it easier, because we don't have to do the arbitration dance with him, plus there is zero chance the Dodgers offer it to him.

hmmm...and what if the Sox face the Dodgers in the World Series?

hmmm...and what if the Sox face the Dodgers in the World Series?

That's a chance that I'm willing to take.

hmmm...and what if the Sox face the Dodgers in the World Series?

The Dodgers will have a solid DH.

The Dodgers will have a solid DH.

They did Thome a favor and saved $1 million. Now if the impossible happens and the Sox go on a roll and make the playoffs and play the WS vs. the Dodgers and Thome DH's against the Sox and helps the Dodgers win, KW will never be able to live it down. However, odds are pretty long that scenerio plays out.