I don't think it has as much to do with playing for Ozzie or the Sox as it does the fact that each probably wants to stay in the NL and realizes that come closer to the trade deadline they will probably have better opportunities to go to contenders.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Assuming I agree w/ your "Tier 1" (which could use a little adjustment, frankly), I would say "Tier 2" would consist of teams like the Mets, Giants, Angels, Cardinals, Phillies, etc.
The Sox might be in "Tier 3" w/ teams like the Blue Jays, Rangers, Braves. Or maybe not. Maybe they would fall to "Tier 4" with the Mariners.
Which would still be better than "Tier 5" which contains the lowly Marlins, Royals, Pirates, etc.

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the only tier that matters is what team will maximize the future income stream of the player in question.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

The tiers wouldn't matter to Roy Oswalt. He simply said no because there is no way that Reinsdorf is springing to buy him a bulldozer for Christmas.

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What's Oswalt's contract situation? These deals always come down to one thing...money. Peavey would be on the south side if the Sox picked up the 2013 (?) option. I'm sure Oswalt has a club option year at the end of his contract ... and I bet he would've waived the no trade if the Sox picked it up.

Danks, Floyd, Richard and Poreda with Buehrle has some potential to be a good future rotation in the next 3 years.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Just put a snowplow on the front of Buerhle's truck.

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I think so. But I think if you add a guy that's a definitive #1 to the rotation, you go from a perennial contender to a perennial champion...division-wise anyway.

I'm not sure the Sox think Poreda will make it as a starter. He has a plus major league fastball but his 2nd and 3rd pitches are lacking. Those guys usually end up in the bullpen. That could be why they are willing to trade him now for a front line starter.

I don't think Halladay is on the market.

Cain would fit in, and while he'd probably be better than Floyd/Danks, I'm not sure that he makes the team that much better.

Cook is solid, but I always have my doubts about pitchers in Colorado.

Sheets is out for the season, I believe.

Penny is on a 1 year deal.

Perhaps these are leaking because the Sox are trying to find out if these guys are willing to come here?

anyone with a no trade clause is going to say "no" until they are given something in exchange for doing so. that's why its called a "no trade" clause.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

In the last three weeks, overall, they have been fine, but there are still a lot of reason to be concerned. Danks hasn't been that good after a hot start, Floyd may be shaping into form, and then the bottom of the rotation, despite the great pitching from Richard, and the steadiness from Colon, is far from making you over-confident.

I actually like this rotation despite my previous paragraph, assuming Danks and Floyd round into form behind Buerhle. They don't have a guy who's going to lock another team down though and getting a front line starter would make this rotation very tough, and maybe better equipped to win some lower scoring games when the offense goes into another slump.

It's possible that 1) No very good offensive players are available a need position or 2) Kenny believes that the offense will be fine, but I think 3B/2B/LF/CF (LF if Quentin's injury lingers) would be areas that they could upgrade at.

Frank your stupidity never ceases to amaze me! Would Peavy or Oswalt ok a trade to Boston,Yankees,Mets or any team that has a legit chance to win it all. They stupid, are in the catbird seat.On a later post you wrote no one knew about the Corky Miller deal....WHO IN THE FUCK CARED?

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Having to pitch in a park thart is a true "launching pad" is one obvious reason. Having to pitch in the A.L. rather than the N.L. where both pitchers have performed to date (and have to face a DH rather than the pitcher) is another. But I thought Paul Sullivans comments today were interesting. He said that having to play in the A.L. Central, might be a factor. Players have to make road trips to places like Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland and Minneapolis, for a fair number of series, as baseball plays an unbalanced number (greater) of games vs divisional opponants. I never even considered that before. But who wants to go to those towns regularly? Maybe it is a slight factor....but I still think its playing on the wrong side of town, in the A.L. and having to do it in a bandbox.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Actually, according to the monopoly mlb board game, the Yankees and the Cardinals are the "Boardwalk" and "Park Place" of the major leagues...

Mark Buehrle is 12-0 in his last 15 starts at the Cell. I know it's unfair to compare other pitchers to Mark Buehrle but if these guys have any balls in their bags they can have success pitching for the Sox.

Much like Jake Peavy's E.R.A. would've gone up if he had approved the deal to leave the pitcher-friendly dimensions of PETCO Park in San Diego, the same would have happened to Roy Oswalt if he left Minute Maid Park in Houston...As Sun-Times and SCORE White Sox insider Joe Cowley wrote in his latest blog at 670thescore.com, he didn't think an Oswalt trade was all that close.

...and it's not like the guy would be pitching for his first big contract. A guy like Peavey can already count his money. He already has status in MLB.

I'd like to believe it is about money or location, but it sure seems to me that the guy is just afraid of the AL. That is a sad statement about both him and the NL.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.