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I'm heading to Milwaukee to see some real baseball.
That said, Reinsdorf is incredibly loyal and will no doubt give Kenny a really long rope given 2005. Look how long he let Krause screw up the Bulls before he finally had enough (and Reinsdorf didn't really care about the Bulls as a team). Unfortunately, I fear that Kenny will be around for a loooong time. I guess the upside is that my season ticket seats will improve and I will again be able to park in lot C.
In terms of players, Dye is a hot weather hitter and is already coming out of his annual spring slump. Konerko has no marketability for his salary; the two that I wouldn't mind getting the gate are Uribe and Iguchi. Uribe is a jerk and has a short attention span - less than nine innings. If Ozzie wasn't a good personal friend of his, he would have been gone before this spring. I can't figure out why Iguchi has fallen off, other than being bounced all over the batting line-up, but he is clearly unhappy and under performing.
I agree that Kenny Williams deserves blame for the minor league teams falling off, but he is now addressing that. We all know that he gave up some good prospects for the 2005 banner year. Replacement good prospects take time to develop.
The question is: can the team still bounce back in 2007. Recent history suggests that teams can bounce back after weak starts, as late as late June. After the Cubs debacle, I have to conclude -- no. So trade one of my favorite players, Mark Buehrle, for two good players and a prospect and aim towards another pennent in 2009 or 2010.
- Get rid of Dye & Uribe
- Get Michael Young from the Rangers.
- Get Torri Hunter from the Twins.
- As much as I love Crede, I think it's time for Fields to get third. Crede can't stay healthy. He should've had surgery after the World Series.
- Sign one of the Alomar brothers...just kidding
This team can be good again soon. There's a lot of good young pitching talent in the minors (Gio Gonzalez has a wicked curve, and the team's stocked up on pitching the last three drafts) and the bullpen should rebound under the leadership of Jenks and a fine young lefty in his second year. Josh Fields has power and Ryan Sweeney might be the answer in center. If Crede recovers and Fields moved to one outfield corner, the team might rebound quickly with the addition of a productive outfielder (Ichiro? Dunn?) and second baseman. The Sox may have played over their heads in 2005 and most of 2006, but the team is not as wretched as it looks now.
If anyone's going to get fired, it's Greg Walker. Whatever a hitting coach is supposed to do, he hasn't helped this year's team.
pitcher who is just brought up. teams
seem to do this lots to them. so, there
seems to be some other kind of scouting problem.
I think the recent scouting firing is just the tip of the iceberg.
the injuries are problematic, the bullpen needs help, although the last two games were oh so much better. so, both are on the mend.
uribe.....get rid of him now when he is hitting
ok. crede....we have fields, yes, we will lose
some in defense, but, time to move on.
i want to keep Buehrle, Paulie, and A.J. the rest can play whatever part in trades.
Ozzie, come on, he's a great baseball mind who
probably should take a couple games off. he's tired. if he does go, they will be in good
hands with Cora.
LOCK HIM UP FOR THE NEXT FIVE.
After you do that, you can do what you want with the rest of the team. You know that Konerko, AJ and Crede aren’t going anywhere. Crede maybe down for the count, so you can’t trade him, which is why he is on this list.
Get rid of Dye, Iguchi and Uribe if you can and get what you can for them. Go young, take on expiring contracts, do whatever you can to get something in return for these guys.
One guy who could go AND fetch a lot is Jon Garland. He is doing well on a bad team, is still young and could command a player ready to go now and a top prospect. The Mets are always in need of pitching and might give up Lastings Milledge.
- Get Torri Hunter from the Twins.
I have a friend who is a big baseball fan from MN. He says Hunter's lost a step since his injury in '05. His defense has been slipping (that inside the park homer in the playoffs would've been a catch before). He's having a great year this year, but he's a terrible bet to repeat that performance. Get him and you get his decline. Singing players in the early 30s is what the Cubs have done for the last 20 years. Fat lot of good it's done them.
In terms of players, Dye is a hot weather hitter and is already coming out of his annual spring slump.
Wait a sec, looking at the splits info at baseball-reference.com, Dye was better in the first half of '06 than the second half (.318 with 25 HRs vs. .313 with 19 homers). He was about the same in the halves in '05 (average 9 points higher in the first half, but 19 of his 31 homers in the second half). In '04 he hit two-thirds of his homers in the first half & hit fifty points higher.
Actually, the Mets have really good pitching this year. Everyone but Glavine has an ERA under 4. Three of their starters have ERAs under 3.20.