The highest rated guy we reportedly traded is catcher Tyler Flowers (T-Flow, as the tat reads on his bicep).

Great.

Our new Buddy Tab says the Sox are players for Peavy, you know if that whole Konerko for Figgins thing doesn’t work out.

No link because that site sucks

In compiling the Ozzie hit list, Fields probably is on it as well. Ozzie obviously had no confidence in him down the stretch in 2008, and the other guys who fit that description are gone.

Even though I was guessing Lillibridge would be an OF in 2009, maybe the Sox do see him as Uribe with Betemit at 3B. Or, more frighteningly, they might see Lillibridge as a poor man’s Figgins and put him 3B. Either way, his arrival can’t be a good sign for Fields.

i’ve grown sick of his disappointments, too, but i didn’t want to part with him for less than an ideal situation. he’s a valuable piece to any rotation, and if nothing else, you can bank on 200 innings, a lot of strikeouts and an underperformed FIP. this obviously raises questions as to the sox rotation plans for ‘09. i can’t imagine that kw is willing to go into spring training without bringing in a true frontrunner for the 4th spot in the rotation. i can get on board the open tryout for 5th, but 2 spots is risky.

it’s exciting knowing that this move almost guarantees another move. had this been our only trade, i’d be getting pumped for a dye for young starter trade. swish in left, q! in right. lots of youth…moving on. the sox seem to have put themselves in ideal position to take on salary in the form of a FA or trade due to the sudden glut (?!?!) of minor league infielders.

what does everyone think of jermaine dye for a young mlb-ready starter and then a pat burrell or adam dunn signing?

Marquez – Egbert – Cassel – Harrell

it’s a fight to see who can finally reach their fifth starter potential.

C Armstrong (27)
1B Allen (25)
2B Getz (27)
3B Beckham (24)
SS Ramirez (29)
LF Viciedo (22)
CF Danks (25)
RF Quentin (28)
DH Flowers (25)

Rotation:
1. Danks (26)
2. Poreda (24)
3. Floyd (28)
4. Richard (27)
5. Buehrle (32)

For Bailey and at least a C+/B- type prospect from Cincy, they really could use another high reward type arm if they are going to cut payroll and do what appears to be “rebuilding”…

so after debating this trade throughout the night….. I have to say I am not a big fan of it. To get a catching prospect that wants to be a DH and 3 marginal prospects for someone with the talent of Vazquez is disappointing. If we got a Major League ready arm like was rumored (morton or reyes) then maybe I would have thought differently. The only way this trade will be made better is if the sox put the money to use for a big trade or free agent….but I don’t see that happening.

Again it is not the loss of Vazquez that bothers me too much…it is the return we got for him.

they have spent more time arguing over whether Lexi is any good or not rather than talking about the deal.

I could actually see these trade working out.. Javy just wasn’t getting it done. Dude obviously has some weird mental shit

He might not go in winter meetings but he will go for a starter. I like Flowers (a great deal) and it would be fantastic if they could steal some catcher years out of him. (easier if your future rotation has at least 3 lefties, 2 schooled by Buerhle.

I still think we are in for some surprise name added to the 09 roster. Its not like KW just forgets that the Cell is a launching pad.

Stay tuned.

does anyone know what the substance was?

many thanks

Looks like KW is returning the favor for any time during the previous years when he traded worthless prospects for productive players.

I like this trade better than the Swisher deal asI don’t value Vazquez that much, because – wait for it – he’s a punk.

(Heads back to hibernation…)

Call me crazy, but could the Javy deal be the launching point paving the way for Peavy to come to the White Sox? I’m sure there’s no trade clauses and such to be sorted, but I for one would welcome this idea.

I’m sure we’d have to relinquish some of our guys as well (Fields? Poreda? the standard speculation) but if you can turn this into a Vasquez + prospects for Peavy deal (essentially), I say you do it. A right handed, legitimate power pitcher, would profile nicely in our rotation. Peavy/Buerhle/Floyd/Danks/5th is solid.

Furthermore, SD is in a bind…the payroll restrictions are tying up everything they need to get done. They have said they need to move Peavy, so why not us?

Thoughts? Am I nuts? Has this already been talked about extensively and I missed it?

http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68952

can’t get anything past these guys…

?????????????????

Per an ESPN report updated this morning:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3740201

Really just posted this because of how recent it was written.

Can you listen to the score off of your computer or what? I thought you could listen live but now i can’t find the option

I don’t know — I just have trouble believing the Sox would’ve made Flowers the centerpiece of the deal if they didn’t feel he had a good chance to stick at catcher for the ‘intermediate’ (next five years, give or take) future (even if that means he’s below average defensively).

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the trade — then again, a big part of that is the assumption that Flowers will stick at catchers for a bit longer than people here seem to expect. I also like the fact that the Sox are freeing up another $23 million — not that Vazquez’s contract was an albatross, but I’d be pretty surprised if that money doesn’t go to use in the same way that Carlos Lee’s money netted the Sox a few players.

now returned to being interesting. In the aftermath of the Swisher trade I had pretty much stopped looking at anybody not named Poreda. In the last year we have acquired:

Beckham
Danks
Viciedo
Flowers

That doesn’t even count our young MLB acquisitions:
Quentin
Alexei

AA and AAA should be really exciting next year:
Flowers
Allen
Beckham
Poreda
Shelby
Viciedo
and probably Danks
should all be at AA or higher.

Larry’s thread will actually be interesting next year!

So am I taking a “wait and see” approach until I see the team that takes the field on April 1st. The economy in the shitter is a huge wildcard in regards to what KW has been told he is working with and I’m at all sure what JR’s plans are.

I will though be very disappointed if the Sox enter next year with a payroll 5-15% less than last years after what was by most accounts a successful year on and off the field.

It’s not exactly like the Sox are cutting dead weight either — Vazquez and Swisher had market or below-market deals and are quite likely to be valuable players going forward. If anything, the Sox seem to taking the “we won’t field a middling team so let’s just scrap the whole thing and rebuild” approach that most of us thought should have happened last year.

And then of course they made the playoffs.

So yea, I’m puzzled as to the plan and neutral so far on the moves.

Perrotto speaks of whispers of a possible White Sox-Mets blockbuster. The Mets would receive Jermaine Dye and Bobby Jenks and the White Sox would receive Fernando Martinez among others.