I think KW is lining up something big coming up soon. He has to be confident that he can land either Upton, Gonzales, Figgins, or maybe even Miguel Cabrera. Otherwise, why would he be signing these older veteran guys to fill out the bench. If you didn't think you were going to have a legit shot at winning it, the more likely thing to do would be to integrate the youngsters on the bench and let them get some seasoning. And, i don't even the optimistic Kenny can think the Sox everyday lineup is good enough to compete with the best as it stands right now. I think the first domino to fall will be PK being traded.Maybe to SF for Sanchez who could fill Hudson's potential role as bullpen, 5th starter if Garcia fails. That would allow Hudosn to be moved in a deal for Gonzales and not hurt the Sox future as much. Or it would free up money for a Figgins signing. Either way, with the way this team is being stacked up, something has to be looming on the horizon. The Xbox, way out there,dream scenario would be do the PK trade to SF, send Hudson,Flowers, Morel, etc, for Gonzales ,and then send Jenks and some propects to TB for Upton. Hey, it Thanksgiving a guy can dream can't he?

 

lineup:

LF-Quentin

CF-Rios

RF-Upton

3B-Teahan

SS-Ramirez

2B-Beckham

1B-Gonzales

C-AJ

DH-??? maybe do a late,cheap signing of Delgado,Thome or someone like that.

bench-Kotsay, Vizquel, Jones, Blanco, Nix

 

SP-Peavy

SP-Buehrle

SP-Danks

SP-Floyd

SP-Garcia

 

RP-Linebrink

RP-Carrasco

RP-Sanchez

RP-Pena

RP-Nunez

CL-Thornton

 

 

 

I think KW is lining up something big coming up soon. He has to be confident that he can land either Upton, Gonzales, Figgins, or maybe even Miguel Cabrera. Otherwise, why would he be signing these older veteran guys to fill out the bench. If you didn't think you were going to have a legit shot at winning it, the more likely thing to do would be to integrate the youngsters on the bench and let them get some seasoning. And, i don't even the optimistic Kenny can think the Sox everyday lineup is good enough to compete with the best as it stands right now. I think the first domino to fall will be PK being traded.Maybe to SF for Sanchez who could fill Hudson's potential role as bullpen, 5th starter if Garcia fails. That would allow Hudosn to be moved in a deal for Gonzales and not hurt the Sox future as much. Or it would free up money for a Figgins signing. Either way, with the way this team is being stacked up, something has to be looming on the horizon. The Xbox, way out there,dream scenario would be do the PK trade to SF, send Hudson,Flowers, Morel, etc, for Gonzales ,and then send Jenks and some propects to TB for Upton. Hey, it Thanksgiving a guy can dream can't he?

 

lineup:

LF-Quentin

CF-Rios

RF-Upton

3B-Teahan

SS-Ramirez

2B-Beckham

1B-Gonzales

C-AJ

DH-??? maybe do a late,cheap signing of Delgado,Thome or someone like that.

bench-Kotsay, Vizquel, Jones, Blanco, Nix

 

SP-Peavy

SP-Buehrle

SP-Danks

SP-Floyd

SP-Garcia

 

RP-Linebrink

RP-Carrasco

RP-Sanchez

RP-Pena

RP-Nunez

CL-Thornton

upton and gonzalez?lol figgins is way too over hyped, i dont want him. hes not worth about 10mil for 3,4 years. let someone else give him that contract. gonzalez is just perfect for this team but doesnt appear like it will happen,atleast not anytime soon. oh,and thats an awful bullpen lol

Edited November 26, 200916 yr by Melissa1334

Cabrera? Really?

Your gonna have to give up alot more than that to get any of those guys you mentioned.

 

I don't think KW has to make a big splash. Another bullpen arm and and outfielder is probably be what we get.

I'd say our best shot is at getting Upton. After that don't be suprised if we stop-gap every other position in the lineup. I think we will have a splash, not a tidal wave.

Yeah, that all soounds good. I hope you're right.

 

But, I don't think so. Firstly, I don't think Gonzalez is getting traded right now. Secondly, I'm not sure that Konerko would be easy to trade without the Sox picking up some of his contract so I think he stays.

 

I do think that Jenks would be moved and I would be happy to throw in Tyler Flowers for Upton. Something like that could happen.

 

Realistically, I believe Kenny is trying to get a leadoff hitting outfielder as his # 1 priority. The FA's we know about - Pods, Crisp, Figgins etc. or the trade route like Upton.

 

He's already addressed the bench so all that's left is the bullpen. We'll have to see what Jenks will bring in return.

 

 

As far as adding vets to the bench instead of giving the kids a chance, the Sox did that last year. No playoffs. Lesson learned.

Yeah, but we've also ditched Fields, Getz and a number of busts like Broadway, Anderson....and crafted a very veteran bench, like 2006.

 

First of all, to quote JR, "Peavy and Rios" were our big splashes.

 

Second, KW's style has almost always been to wait until mid-season to make adjustments, although he should have learned from the LH RP debacle and the Owens/Wise/Lillibridge/Miller/Anderson/Fields one not to start the season with 25% of the roster in chaos or fill-ins.

 

Third, Pods/AJ/El Duque/Hermanson/Vizcaino/Iguchi/Dye...none of those guys were SPLASHY additions, in fact, most were bemoaning the "idiocy" of KW letting Valentin, C-Lee/El Caballo and Ordonez go and replacing them with speculative players at that time. Dye was definitely a typical White Sox rehabilitation on the fly type of signing, far from a sure-thing. Can you tell me that any of those names are MORE exciting than Peavy or even Rios (based on his age and potential return to mean?)

 

Fourth, we've probably reached the tipping point with our payroll...certainly you don't see them adding more than another $3-5 million unless they can somehow subtract creatively Linebrink/Konerko/Jenks.

 

Fifth, we're not going to trade away our captain going into this season, it won't happen.

 

 

 

 

I am certain the marketing splash will be Rios and Peavey for a full season.

Some of you guys really need to look up the word "patience" in the dictionary. This is getting ridiculous around here.

Since when did we turn into the Boston Red Sox?

 

We don't have the money or the prospects (well we do, but do you want to trade Beckham or Hudson?) to get one of those guys you listed, let alone 2...

 

Be realistic people.

Edited November 26, 200916 yr by chw42

I have a feeling that the biggest possible splash we could see is Matsui. I'm suspecting that we'll go more in the direction of a guy like Coco Crisp or Marlon Byrd, however.

Yay XBox.

Since when did we turn into the Boston Red Sox?

 

We don't have the money or the prospects (well we do, but do you want to trade Beckham or Hudson?) to get one of those guys you listed, let alone 2...

 

Be realistic people.

Why wouldn't we have the money/prospects to get one of these guys? I agree acquiring both of them is close to impossible, but it's not far-fetched to think we could get one of them, especially Upton who is coming off a poor season. If the Rays are serious about keeping Crawford long-term, I think they might move Upton sooner rather than later. I also think he might come cheaper than most people think.

KW is going to make 1 big splash this winter.. . Since we have depth in the farm- i can see one big name coming here. Not 2 or 3. Likely one big name with some more mediocre additions to come. I'm guessing the one big name will be a guy we haven't even heard rumors about yet. Hopefully it addresses the leadoff spot. I truly believe we will be able to aqcuire a DH cheaply later on in the winter when the market sorts itself out.

Why wouldn't we have the money/prospects to get one of these guys? I agree acquiring both of them is close to impossible, but it's not far-fetched to think we could get one of them, especially Upton who is coming off a poor season. If the Rays are serious about keeping Crawford long-term, I think they might move Upton sooner rather than later. I also think he might come cheaper than most people think.

 

Are you willing to part with Dan Hudson and Tyler Flowers for Upton? In all honesty, I'm not and I don't think the organization is either.

 

As much talent as Upton possesses, he's nowhere near a guarantee to play up to his full potential given the track record of his past two seasons.

 

This team is already banking on a couple of guys coming off bad years where they did not play anywhere close to the levels that their talent level was. Are you going to throw half of your farm at a guy of similar caliber? I wouldn't do it, not for this season at least.

Edited November 26, 200916 yr by chw42

Are you willing to part with Dan Hudson and Tyler Flowers for Upton? In all honesty, I'm not and I don't think the organization is either.

 

As much talent as Upton possesses, he's nowhere near a guarantee to play up to his full potential given the track record of his past two seasons.

 

This team is already banking on a couple of guys coming off bad years where they did not play anywhere close to the levels that their talent level was. Are you going to throw half of your farm at a guy of similar caliber? I wouldn't do it, not for this season at least.

The way I see it. The Sox are in a position to make a run at the whole prize in 2010. If the Sox are confident AJ can play 3 more seasons, I wouldn't be too sad with trading Flowers- esspecially for a guy with Upton's talent. I would be very hesitant to trade Hudson- but if the Sox are confident in Upton and he plays up to potential- I would pull the trigger. .

One "big"-ish splash (Upton, Gonzalez, or some name we haven't even heard of because KW keeps it under the radar), one DH (Matsui, Thome, Guerrero, Johnson), and one or two stop gap signings (Crisp, Duchscherer, Blanco, Pods, Putz, Mahay, etc.). That's my prediction.

 

KW knows he's not done, but it's not going to happen overnight.

Edited November 26, 200916 yr by Buehrlesque

JJ PUTZ is a "gap" signing? REALLY? Are we now the NY YANKEES?

 

Maybe bringing back LH RP Williams or Sean Tracey, lol. Carl Everett...might as well add Mark Mulder, Penny or John Smoltz to the list, haha. Those would be gap signings.

 

Byrd, Crisp, Matsui, Damon...we speculated all last off-season about Bobby Abreu and also O-Dog, Abreu in particular became uber-cheap, and we still didn't get him. God forbid, Milton Bradley if the Cubs eat 80% of that salary, or Soriano. That can't happen though, it would be too embarassing for them to send Fukudome/Bradley/Soriano, PAY for either one of them, then watch him lead the White Sox to the post-season. Same problem with DET eating the contract of Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, etc.

 

What would be incredibly awesome would be getting Edwin Jackson for a cheap price from the Tigers, but even DD isn't that stupid. They would try to dump Robertson, Bonderman or Dontrelle Willis and KW would have none of it...well, maybe he would be intrigued by Bonderman or Willis with the right amount of money to subsidize either deal, say 85-90%!!!

 

For some reason, having Adam Dunn or Nick Johnson here isn't very exciting. Perhaps we'll keep hearing some "newer" old names arise, besides Upton, like Cody Ross, Francouer or Hermida.

First of all, to quote JR, "Peavy and Rios" were our big splashes.

 

I agreed with the first post til you reminded me of this.

JJ PUTZ is a "gap" signing? REALLY? Are we now the NY YANKEES?

 

Maybe bringing back LH RP Williams or Sean Tracey, lol. Carl Everett...might as well add Mark Mulder, Penny or John Smoltz to the list, haha. Those would be gap signings.

 

Byrd, Crisp, Matsui, Damon...we speculated all last off-season about Bobby Abreu and also O-Dog, Abreu in particular became uber-cheap, and we still didn't get him. God forbid, Milton Bradley if the Cubs eat 80% of that salary, or Soriano. That can't happen though, it would be too embarassing for them to send Fukudome/Bradley/Soriano, PAY for either one of them, then watch him lead the White Sox to the post-season. Same problem with DET eating the contract of Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, etc.

 

What would be incredibly awesome would be getting Edwin Jackson for a cheap price from the Tigers, but even DD isn't that stupid. They would try to dump Robertson, Bonderman or Dontrelle Willis and KW would have none of it...well, maybe he would be intrigued by Bonderman or Willis with the right amount of money to subsidize either deal, say 85-90%!!!

 

For some reason, having Adam Dunn or Nick Johnson here isn't very exciting. Perhaps we'll keep hearing some "newer" old names arise, besides Upton, like Cody Ross, Francouer or Hermida.

 

Um, huh? Dunn's averaged 41 HR and 101 RBI the last 6 years. That definitely would excite me if he were available.

 

 

JJ PUTZ is a "gap" signing? REALLY? Are we now the NY YANKEES?

It'll be interesting to see what kind of attention he gets, he's been hurt the past 2 years, terrible last year and bad in '08. He can't be considered a big time reliever at this point. 1.6+ WHIP the past 2 seasons combined with a BB/9 of 5.6. Though he's definitely not a scrapheap guy.

Um, huh? Dunn's averaged 41 HR and 101 RBI the last 6 years. That definitely would excite me if he were available.

 

 

I was saying this more from the standpoint of watching the same kind of 3 run home run and a cloud of dust offense the last decade. It's just that the names have changed from Valentin, Ordonez, Thomas and C-Lee to what's left, Konerko and Co.

 

Guess I'd be okay with Dunn, much moreso than Johnson, knowing Johnson is ten times more likely at this point. Certainly, you'd have to pick him over Thome, but then again, that's arguing apples to oranges with payroll being the most important number, not who's better or younger.

 

2005 proved we could win with a very different offensive mix, although I think the missing presence of Dye will be understood more fully this season. He was so underrated around the baseball world, but not by die-hard White Sox fans.

 

It's just that with Dye and Thome seemingly gone, it would be a nice change to have a different offensive approach take hold in this organization. Of course, 100%, homers will always be important at USCF. That said, finding the equivalent of the next Chone Figgins (but NOT him or Pods) would excite me a lot more.

 

 

NOTE: AJ will not be our catcher for 3 more seasons...maybe 2, but three is hard to imagine at this point, unless Flowers is really gone.

 

Also, Thome has averaged 32+ homers and 90+ RBI's (not even adjusting for missing 2 months with us this year) in a much more difficult league, but nobody's exactly clamoring to bring him back.

Edited November 26, 200916 yr by caulfield12

re you willing to part with Dan Hudson and Tyler Flowers for Upton?

Not both, but either plus Jenksy. B.J. Upton is a special kind of talent.

Guess I'd be okay with Dunn, much moreso than Johnson, knowing Johnson is ten times more likely at this point.

 

Uh.. so? I'd be ECSTATIC if we picked up the OBP machine in Nick Johnson.

Uh.. so? I'd be ECSTATIC if we picked up the OBP machine in Nick Johnson.

Until he got injured in the third game and was out until August.