July 11. It's the last day of the first half and right before a 4 game series at Minnesota (which I will be attending). The Sox should be around .500 and within 5 games (maybe less if the '27 New York Twins continue to play so poorly). A middle of the order bat (preferably left handed) and a reliever (preferably left handed) is what Kenny should target.

Reinsdorf is not going to approve adding payroll this year. That means they will have to overpay even for modest talent. I would not recommend such a move this year.

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

They aren't going to be adding a middle of the bat hitter (assuming this player has a hefty price tag) if the team is hovering around .500 unless they are trading away salary and this hitter is under contract at a reasonable price for a few more seasons. That could be a move Kenny makes to shed some salary this season while also looking ahead.

The Sox were offering Johnny Damon a $6M deal (maybe more) a week before the season started so they have some money in the coffers and Kenny has been able to talk Reinsdorf into adding payroll in the past if it gives them a chance to win.

The economic situation has changed as attendance is down and will probably be dramatically down throughout the year.

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

Attendance is down because the team started terribly. When they start playing winning baseball and make a run at the division the attendance will go up.

Oh... people will come, GD. People will most definitely come.

I'd agree that Reinsdorf would probably allow to add payroll if the team was fighting for the AL. This team is fighting to get back to .500. Completely different story.

Obviously if the team doesn't get to .500 you don't make a trade but I think they will get to .500 (especially if the starters continue to throw well) and a trade will help them make a run in the 2nd half. 13 games left against the Twins.

I haven't paid full price for a ticket yet this year and refuse to do so unless they get red hot.

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^bandwagon fan^

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At least he currently owns Sox gear unlike chas who only bought them after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I highly doubt they are adding payroll to a team that gets back to .500.....They'd have to do better than that, and probably get within 3 or 4 games of Minnesota. All unlikely, and don't let a short winning streak fool you.

I posted 2 weeks ago that I thought the Sox would start playing better and the Twins would stumble so I'm not letting a short winning streak fool me. If they continue to play well I think Kenny will get them the help they need to make a run at the Twins and show everyone this is his fucking team and he doesn't take shit from anyone.

I'm just not buying that Kenny Williams is going to "show everyone this is his fucking team and he doesn't take shit from anyone" and make moves to improve a .500 type club.

Destroy the Nationals and the Sox may both help themselves and put that lefthanded power bat they need on the market. The Sox are getting the Nationals at the right time and I can see a similar game to last night when they face Strassburg.

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

By all accounts, its Ozzie's team. At least in terms of the lineup.

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The Ozzie paradigm has been proven wrong. The only reason for the recent success is the resurgence of the starting pitching.

Ozzieball isn't even Ozzieball. 2nd and 3rd with no one out and he does nothing to get things in motion. Think about it, even a failed squeeze play with Ramirez gives you first and third with one out and Rios coming to bat. That would have been a superior position as they would not have walked Rios.

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

You're preaching to the choir.

I'm not sure Ozzie knows what you just said though.

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Maybe that dope Ivan will translate it for him.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I've been looking for the bats Kenny would target. Outside the ones we knew about coming into the season (Dunn, Berkman, D. Lee) there are only a few other potential deals (at this time):

Prince Fielder- the Brewers laying a giant egg could make the giant frist baseman available. Prince makes $10.5M this season and has 1 more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent. It would take a lot to acquire him (Hudson, Santos) but his agent (Dickhead Boras) makes a deal unlikely.

Jorge Cantu- the Marlins are in 4th place and fading fast. They are always looking to trim payroll and their 3rd highest paid player ($6M) is a good place to start. Cantu is a free agent after the season.

Adam LaRoche- he'll definitely be available but despite his back to back 25 HR's doesn't strike as a 'big bat' type player.

We'll know more in a couple weeks when teams start falling out of contention (I'm looking at you San Diego).

The White Sox are beating up on bad NL teams right now. Give them credit - they are better than the worst teams in the NL, but once they get back to the AL, I don't see a reason this surge to continue.

Buying? Making up ground?

Listen, I hope them playing good baseball continues and they somehow get back into the race. But lets get real here, they aren't even a .500 ballclub yet. They have to get back to that mark (and then continue to imrpove) before we can get serious about this.

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That's why they make a trade. To make the team better for the stretch run.

I don't think there's going to be a stretch run for this team. Beating the Pirates and Cubs is nice, and necessary, but do you really think this team can continue on a stretch where they win 12 of 15 from AL teams? I don't.

But they aren't .500 yet!

This, for the most part, is the team you have. Maybe you get one more bat but I doubt the Sox are going to make some sort of blockbuster trade. This current team has to get back to .500 and then we can worry about what sort of deal to make.

As said, I'm a fan just not a believer. Yeah they are playing well now and beating up on the inferior NL, but they have also lost 8 games this year already to the woeful Indians. Hopefully they prove me wrong, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

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The Sox are playing a little better, but the Twins show no signs of slowing up. They are 11 games over .500 and despite playing better the Sox are 7.5 games back.

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

It's down to 7 games now, and only 6 in the loss column.

"When you get closer to the 31st of July, that's when the buyers come out, and hopefully we'll be a buyer at that time," said Reinsdorf, confirming that the Sox have the resources to add players if they are in the hunt for a playoff berth.

Quote the whole article. It also seemed to indicate that he is not sold on the White Sox being a contender until they keep winning against good teams.

The good thing is, in a suprising twist, the Sox have had a pretty good record throughout the year against teams with good records. Also, they own the Tigers as much as the Twins own the Sox.

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

I'll be happy to post the entire article. I just posted that quote because the prevailing sentiment in this thread is the Sox are cheap and broke (shocking, I know). I wanted to show that the Sox indeed have money and are willing to spend it when the team is contending for the playoffs.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/20 ... illen.html