LittleBears Suck
12-27-2003, 01:06 PM
So here's what I would do if I'm Kenny Williams the
day after the World Series ends...
*Get Frank Thomas back (done).
*Sign Mark Buehrle (done).
*Sign Rafael Palmeiro.
*Sign Carlos Lee (though not with the money they
paid).
*Sign Miguel Batista.
*Pick up Loaiza's option (done).
*Sign Rich Aurilia.
*Sign Luis Castillo.
*Sign Kenny Lofton.
*Sign Sandy Alomar.
*Trade Magglio to the Yankees for Karim Garcia and
Antonio Osuna.
*Trade Konerko to the Dodgers for Odalis Perez.
*Sign Curtis Leskanic.
*Call up some choochy third catcher.
Now, you have a lineup like this...
L Lofton CF
S Castillo 2B
R Frank 1B/DH
L Garcia RF
R C. Lee LF
L Palmeiro 1B/DH
R Aurilia SS
R Crede 3B
R Sandy/Olivo C
As that is a very fluid lineup, there are probably a
dozen legit lineups that can win there.
You then have a rotation of:
R Loaiza
L Buehrle
R Batista
L Perez
R Garland
I'd be curious to see how much better the White Sox
are with Jon Garland as a #5, where's he's belonged
for years.
The Bench would be:
B Olivo/Sandy
B Some Catcher (Kelly Stinnet?)
B Rowand
B Harris
B Borchard
And the bullpen would be:
R Leskanic
R Schoenweis
R Koch
R Osuna
L Marte
L Wunsch
I love Marte and Wunsch.
Most importantly, the salary structure of this team:
(in millions)
Frank 6.5
Buehrle 6
Castillo 5.5
Palmeiro 5.5
Lee 5.5
Koch 5.5
M. Batista 3.75
Loaiza 3.5
Schoenweis 2.75
Aurilia 2.75
C. Leskanic 1.725
Lofton 1.25
Sandy 1
Garcia 0.9
Wunsch 0.9
Marte 0.9
Borchard 0.5
Rowand 0.5
O. Perez 0.5
W. Harris 0.475
Olivo 0.45
Osuna 0.45
Garland 0.45
Crede 0.375
Some catcher 0.375
TOTAL: $58 million
Bench, bullpen, lineup, and defense are all
dramatically improved. Losing Konerko and Maggs
sucks, but losing their contracts provides some
muchneeded flexibility.
This would involve the humility of trading Konerko for Odalis Perez and Magglio to the Yankees, plus the clear PR hits that would happen after that. But there's no doubt in my mind that a team as good as the one I'm suggesting is possible, if only the Sox had some flexibility.
day after the World Series ends...
*Get Frank Thomas back (done).
*Sign Mark Buehrle (done).
*Sign Rafael Palmeiro.
*Sign Carlos Lee (though not with the money they
paid).
*Sign Miguel Batista.
*Pick up Loaiza's option (done).
*Sign Rich Aurilia.
*Sign Luis Castillo.
*Sign Kenny Lofton.
*Sign Sandy Alomar.
*Trade Magglio to the Yankees for Karim Garcia and
Antonio Osuna.
*Trade Konerko to the Dodgers for Odalis Perez.
*Sign Curtis Leskanic.
*Call up some choochy third catcher.
Now, you have a lineup like this...
L Lofton CF
S Castillo 2B
R Frank 1B/DH
L Garcia RF
R C. Lee LF
L Palmeiro 1B/DH
R Aurilia SS
R Crede 3B
R Sandy/Olivo C
As that is a very fluid lineup, there are probably a
dozen legit lineups that can win there.
You then have a rotation of:
R Loaiza
L Buehrle
R Batista
L Perez
R Garland
I'd be curious to see how much better the White Sox
are with Jon Garland as a #5, where's he's belonged
for years.
The Bench would be:
B Olivo/Sandy
B Some Catcher (Kelly Stinnet?)
B Rowand
B Harris
B Borchard
And the bullpen would be:
R Leskanic
R Schoenweis
R Koch
R Osuna
L Marte
L Wunsch
I love Marte and Wunsch.
Most importantly, the salary structure of this team:
(in millions)
Frank 6.5
Buehrle 6
Castillo 5.5
Palmeiro 5.5
Lee 5.5
Koch 5.5
M. Batista 3.75
Loaiza 3.5
Schoenweis 2.75
Aurilia 2.75
C. Leskanic 1.725
Lofton 1.25
Sandy 1
Garcia 0.9
Wunsch 0.9
Marte 0.9
Borchard 0.5
Rowand 0.5
O. Perez 0.5
W. Harris 0.475
Olivo 0.45
Osuna 0.45
Garland 0.45
Crede 0.375
Some catcher 0.375
TOTAL: $58 million
Bench, bullpen, lineup, and defense are all
dramatically improved. Losing Konerko and Maggs
sucks, but losing their contracts provides some
muchneeded flexibility.
This would involve the humility of trading Konerko for Odalis Perez and Magglio to the Yankees, plus the clear PR hits that would happen after that. But there's no doubt in my mind that a team as good as the one I'm suggesting is possible, if only the Sox had some flexibility.