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I'm sure at least Ramirez and Soriano were available already. Soriano in particular was one of the worst contracts in baseball and completely hindered that team from doing well. I think the Cubs are one of the more poorly run organizations in the game. They have a loyal fanbase, a tremendous city, and are in desperate need of a champioinship. In 2003 they were close, since then they have been nothing worthy of excitement. The players they should go after they don't, and they players they shouldn't go after, they do. Hopefully a new GM will get things straightened out... I wonder which of Theo's proteges will be the next to go...

If that's the case, then we're talking about a list of maybe 6 guys over the last, what, 7 years? I think it supports my point. There's plenty of overpays during that time and many teams regretting their signings at this point (Sox included, I think).

Matsui is old, left handed and not a particularly good fielder. That gets a meh from me.

Sabathia, definitely. Damon, probably but he would have been another LH OF on a team with too many of them. Holliday--you probably remember that I wanted them to sign him too and would have prefered that this lineup have Holliday playing LF over Crawford. Matsui, meh. Even that list is pretty unimpressive after Sabathia and Holliday if you ask me. I tink it is safe to say that most high priced FAs don't end up being great investments.

I agree here (sorry, late to the party). Middlebrooks is a good looking prospect. Really nice frame that he will grow into more, probably will be an athletic 3B. Solid offensive and defensive skills make him appear pretty well-rounded. That said, his offensive numbers don't just jump off the page (to me at least). A guy with .347/.515/.862 at AA is nice but we're not talking about Evan Longoria here. I actually like the Travis Fryman comparisons (5 time all star). SP compares him to Scott Rolen. That would be a really, really nice upside but seems a bit hopeful to me. :dunno: As for the David Ortiz discussion, I think a lot of what the Sox do depends on how they do this year and what Ortiz wants. If the Sox manage to win the WS this year I think that buys the FO some freedom to do what they want to do. I suspect the issue will not be Ortiz asking for 2/20 vs. 2/30, I think it will be him asking for 3/30 and that will be too long. He will huff and puff about his loyalty to the team and they will not want to go 3 years. They do have Lavarnway, Kalish, Middlebrooks, Youkilis and Gonzalez who can all take some time at DH and I think they would be wise to open up a spot if the price is too high (long) for Ortiz.

I think it's a non-issue. Gonzalez is fine.

Probably a solid reason for us to not demand that he sign every big FA that is out there moving forward, no? I can't think of too many FAs who have been worth a lot more than their contract over the past few years. I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of them... Teixeira... ummm.... Cliff Lee, maybe... others? There's a reason that Theo likes to develop from within and trade prospects for established players. Much, much less risk.

Obviously we're all hoping for the best. I don't think that a700 and Jacko are being overly pessimistic, but there's really no need to state the obvious in this case. Anyone who knows about Westy's surgery knows it will be a miracle for him to every have a meaningful MLB career. That said, he's blessed with the body and congition of an elite athlete and I'm not going to write him off without knowing the whole story. Honestly, would anyone have a problem with the Sox pushing him through the system to see if he can hit/run over the next 4-5 years? If he's able to go out there and show any ability at all I would be fine with him seeing an inning in the field or getting an AB in a meaningless game at the end of the season. If there's ever a player who deserved a single AB it was Westmoreland.

Fangraphs lists Granderson as the 5th most valuable CF in baseball (by WAR) behind Ellsbury, Kemp, Victorino and McCutchen. Sorry, but defense matters in CF and Granderson is below average as WAR measures it. I actually think that Pedroia is making a really good run at the award again. It isn't hard to argue that Pedroia is having a better year than he did in 2008. He's drawing more walks and has an OBP near .400 with a pretty solid slugging percentage. Watching most of the games, Pedroia just doesn't seem to do anything wrong on the field. He makes tremendous defensive plays, puts up some of the most difficult ABs of any player in baseball, runs the bases well, and helps his team win games year in and year out. If the season ended today he would get my vote.

We could be comparing this draft to the 2005 draft in a few years. Any team that gets Brnes and Swihart in the first round would be very pleased. Add Bradley jr and Owings and we should all be very pleased. That doesn't even mention the rest of the draft. Also I agree about Barnes. He looked impressive in the one start i saw in the CWS. Nice addition to ranaudo among the top Sox pitching prospects.

There are rules here? I know about the gamethread one and that we shouldn't become barbarians with no sense of common decency, but otherwise it seems pretty free for all. 6 years in and I haven't needed a rules thread. I agree with Emmz.

Federowitz, Fife, Chiang and Rodriguez.

I don't HATE this deal. I'll give it a solid B-. Of course, when you need a pitcher and end up with Bedard it could be worse. It's comparable to getting Harden, but I like that he's LH better. If I had Bedard I WOULD offer him arbitration so I could get picks or keep him as a #5. Mostly I'm just pissed that the M's got back two good prospects for a guy they never should have signed in the first place. THey traded Adam Jones for Bedard in the first place, and got a back a comparable prospect in Robinson. That's a save if I've ever seen one.

It took awhile, but I found Erik Bedard's ranking as of July 27th, 2011... He is NOT a Type A. He is NOT a Type B. He is a "none", right there with Brad Penny, Bartolo Colon and Jeff Francis.

Seattle has no use for him, so yes.

Sox moved guys they might have lost due to Rule 5 anyway, according to Pete Abe. I still don't get why the M's got two legit prospects for giving up Bedard... Robinson and Chiang... I hope this Fields guy is worth something because I'm not sold on Bedard.

Spier is saying Bedard and Fields. Don't love that. Why not Robinson? What the hell did the Mariners give up here?

Not Lin, Chiang.

This Robinson guy looks like a prospect somewhere on the caliber between Kalish and Reddick, but a switch hitter. That's not a bad thing to add...

Can Abraham and Edes just have a fight to the death to see who officially gets to tell us what the hell is going on?

Completely agree. This is wrong. It has to be.