Full Court Press

Pull the trigger Kenny! He will be part of what we need! We also need a Carl Everett type. We need more than Ozzie to stir the pot. Sometimes these guys need someone to look them in the face and say "AINT NOBODY EATING TODAY"! "PUT IT DOWN @#%$+*%&"!! And dare anyone to step to him. That is the kind of person we don't have, but we need it. Aaron brought heart and was the face of our team - he gave all. Cant coach that type of stuff.

Big 10 tournament is a forgone conclusion. I think we just came off a superbowl and need to shake the cobwebs off.

Rowand would be an improvement to the current CF picture but like in most cases, people have selective memories on how good players were when they played here. Rowand was awful down the stretch in 2005 for the Sox and as an announcer said, "played pepper with the opposing teams shortstop for about 6 weeks". Rowand doesn't offer any better D than Anderson but is much more likely to hit .270 than Anderson. Also, can any WS fan forget Rowand's brutal baserunning in the World Series? We should have went hard after a CF using Garcia and/or McCarthy..not some other teams' prospects.

Aaron Rowand doesn't have any pride, just like ALL Sox fans. He is also a hotdog in that he runs into walls and other players just for show. You're right, the Bears are losing some decent role players without replenishing them, although it's still early. When the tourney starts for real next week it should be more exciting. At least I hope so since I am going to the games at the UC next friday and sunday with my trusty flask of Crown Royal or Rum since they don't serve booze at a college event.

The Sox need their heart back. I didn't think that Rowand was anything special until my father,an avid sports nut,schooled me on what Rowand was about. Any guy that crash into walls and make spectacular plays without regard to his health is a gamer that every team needs. My feelings for Toub won't be repeated because I already pondered how he was going to react by losing so many players he relied on. "Because I say so" sound a lot better from Skiles than it did from Jones for mentioning that he wanted to be in Miami for the Super bowl so he can drive his Ferrari. Same thing if you ask me. What Big Ten tourney?

I grew up on the southside and I don't like Sox fans. Well, it's not that I don't like them, it's just that I think they're silly. What 1970's Robert DeNiro movie is that last sentence from?

I'm going off topic here but am staying on sports. I just read on espn.com that LSU's woman's basketball coach, who is a female herself, resigned because of a sexual relationship she had with a former player of hers. You gotta like that, and it will bring much needed publicity to woman's basketball.

Jeff redeemed himself with that last email! I will leave him alone!

Aaron Rowand WAS all heart and WOULD BE more heart if he gets a second chance. Brian Anderson is horrible and not worth a minor league contract. I like how cubs fans talk smack like they know anything about baseball... "There's always next year," will always be your mantra.
One

What's up with Todd and Cameron? These guys got less than a million dollars together in signing bonuses to sign with their new teams. Collectively they won't even pocket over the length of their contracts 6 million dollars. Please tell me that they thought these guys were worth more than what Briggs is getting to pout. Those guys are inexpensive and the BEARS still couldn't afford them.

Can we all get off this Rowand "grinder" and "all heart" thing??? The guy is a good defensive player but no better than Anderson. Let's not forget about the suspect drop in power numbers by Rowand after the steroid testing came in...he's one of many who's flown under the HGH/steroid radar over the past few years. Finally, like the blog above, his baserunning gaffe in the WS was made worse by his rationalizing it...HE TURNED HIS BACK ON THE PLAY WHEN AN OF WAS RUNNING BACK TO THE TRACK!! The was really bad.

Be better if they'd bring back Maggs.

I thought everybody finally realized that the White Sox didn't win in 2005 with "grinder ball" or "small ball". That was just a "pr stunt" to get Sox fans to forget dumping Mags and Carlos Lee. The White Sox won by having great starting pitching, good defense and hitting alot of home runs. Thay scored 43% of their runs on home runs. Pods didn't win a WS game by stealing a base. But he did win one with a home run! When Rowand left all I heard was that he wasn't that good. He got bad jumps on balls. Anderson is better defensively than Rowand and at least right now, neither one can really hit. So I don't see the upside in getting Rowand back, except Williams can say he makes more trades than anyone else. Even though he seems to trade and aquire the same guys over and over (Alomar brothers, Gio Gonzales and now Rowand).
Last but not least. A "grinder" is someone who gives you 100% every day. Unfortunately, it is 100% of somebody that is not very good! If they were good people would describe them as a great player and not a "grinder".

YES AARON WOULD PUT A LOT OF ENERGY IN THE CLUB AND IN THE SOX FANS, GET AARON BACK KENNY. GO FOR IT !

I think Arron would be what the Sox need. He along with AJ, and Joe Crede really made up the heart of the 2005 Sox (Can't stop beleiving). Lets try it again.

What's up with the Southsiders constantly showing their ignorance. It's funny how Southsiders talked about party atmosphere and cell phone talking at Cub games...Did you notice the same thing at your games last year? It's the price of success. The diehards get pushed aside and you get the yuppie crowd just like the Cubbies did. As for knowledge of the game. I hardly believe it's any deeper on the southside, you all can't get passed putting others down to boost you up. The "C" means Chicago Hickle-billy !
Pathetic

What success has there been on the northside? I assume you are referring to 1906.

Roman responds: I assume you're referring to 1908.

The Sox don't need yet another center fielder right now. Rowand was an important part of the WS team for the majority of the year. In the playoffs, he showed horrible base running and non-existent hitting. Anderson is better defensively than Rowand will ever be. The guy can read the ball better than anyone else on the field, and rarely has to run into the wall doing it. Anderson's awful hitting last year would not have been nearly as pronounced if Sox vets such as Podsednik and Uribe had been hitting in the first half. From what I remember, in the second half of the season, Anderson was batting over .275. I hope the Sox give the kid another shot this season. He's got the talent, he just needs the opportunity and he will shine.

The Sox don't need yet another center fielder right now. Rowand was an important part of the WS team for the majority of the year. In the playoffs, he showed horrible base running and non-existent hitting. Anderson is better defensively than Rowand will ever be. The guy can read the ball better than anyone else on the field, and rarely has to run into the wall doing it. Anderson's awful hitting last year would not have been nearly as pronounced if Sox vets such as Podsednik and Uribe had been hitting in the first half. From what I remember, in the second half of the season, Anderson was batting over .275. I hope the Sox give the kid another shot this season. He's got the talent, he just needs the opportunity and he will shine.

I agree with Jerry. It appeared as if Rowand, Crede & AJ were a big part of the winning attitude that the Sox projected in '05. You can never have enough players who play hard. The more guys you have like Rowand, the more that attitude becomes contagious. From my living room, there didn't appear to be much hustle or sense of urgency from the Sox in 2006.

Bringing Rowand back would be an opportunity for Williams to throw Sox fans a little of what they think they want: a familiar face from successful days or yore. As a baseball move, Rowand will not be a differnce-maker for the team. The Sox have potentially 2 outfield problems, not one. S. Podsednick's continued ability to produce at the MLB level is by no means a certainty, nor are any current CF options the club has a certainty. If the Sox are going to move youth for an outfielder, I think the Sox have got "good-glove, weak arm, no bat" covered pretty well. If Williams is going to make a move to bolster the Sox vulnerable OF, how about making a smart deal for an OF with an arm AND a bat, even if it means adding to the payroll. As things stand now, the Sox could have he worst hitting OF in the AL Central: hardly a selling point to attracting replacements for Dye and Beuhrle come winter '07... not to mention the MLB starting centerfielder they will still be searching for and the leftfielder that can post more than 5-7 OF assists a year, which they will also need.

i wanted elvis night tickets guess what you have to have some kind of season tickets to get tickets for that night. pretty soon you'll need season tickets for all games. what price we pay for a very good team.also the prices for ball games are getting to steep.

Bringing Rowand back is a great move for the team and the fans. He is way better than Brain Anderson on defense and offense. And I bet Crede and AJ would love to have Rowand back. Rowand was always one of my favorite players because of his hardcore style. So I hope Williams brings him back.

yea , id like to see rownad back patroling centerfield. can you put a price on heart ? last statistic i saw on arron when he was with the whitesox was 346 against lefties

Love to see Rowand back in white sox gear! As far as Rowand having no pride as one blogger wrote I strongly disagree. Rowand doesn't run into walls & break his grill for show.As far as fans go, sox fans show allot of pride. Apparently that blogger was asleep in 05?

Rowand batted .222 against lefties last year. As a Cub fan, I hope you get him back.

I stand by my comments that Slops fans have no pride. I just don't like them, and I am trying to amp up the intensity between Cubs and Slops fans with the season fast approaching.

I agree with bringing Rowand back. What we do in LF is the real key. Put Anderson in LF. His OBP is comparable to PODS with more upside. His power is better with far greater potential. Defensively there is no comparison. While PODS has a SB advantage. His SB% suggest that he is a wash on the basebaths, when factoring in the lineup behind him he might actually be costing us runs by running. OF of Anderson, Rowand, and Dye would be the best defensive OF in the league saving several runs.

How about another trade. Since Danks (lefty) looks so good with Floyd, Haegar, etc looking decent, and plenty other young options should one of them struggle; Buerhle an dhis ever increasing OBA is expendable. Package him with Fields (who deserves a starting job) for AROD. when you factor in what Texas his paying on his salary and Buerhle's salary, payroll wouldn't go up that much. Yes he can opt out of his contract, well Buerhle is gone anyway, plus at $25M/year he might not opt out. From NY's point of view they pick up a SP and still have 3B covered. We would move AROD back to SS where he was more comfortable.

The two trades would allow us to split up the slow goes in the lineup. Also, move Anderson to leadoff in front of AROD, Thome, and Dye; they will have to pitch to him and that will increase his OBA.

CF Anderson
SS AROD
DH Thome
RF Dye
1B Konerko
CF Rowand
3B Crede
2B Iguchi
C AJ

Average and power through out and less double plays by splitting the slow guys (i.e Thome, Konerko, Crede, and AJ.)

Although I think it's a bad idea, I am not going to criticize anyone for wanting to bring Aaron Rowand back. He was a fun guy to watch and definitely possessed the qualities we love on the South Side. But I always regarded him as a guy that would be shopped by Kenny Williams when he had the chance. And I supported the logic that it was a good idea to deal him, just like it was a good idea to move Freddy Garcia as well. But that's a different topic for a different day.

I liked Aaron Rowand, but he was just not that good of a player. As a lot of people have pointed out, he was a good CF but not any better than Brian Anderson is right now. I actually think Brian Anderson may already be better than him and if not, he certainly will be soon. Rowand really struggled offensively in the second half of 2005 and I didn't think he was the type of player that was going to take his game to another level. Despite his likeability, he always struck me as a guy that beat himself up a lot and you can see a lack of confidence at the plate when things aren't going well for him. Even if Brian Andersen does not work out, trading Rowand was still a good move. But I really think Brian Anderson just needs to show consistent improvement at the plate and patrol CF like he did all of last year. I wouldn't be at all surprised this year to see him post a .265, 15 hr, 50 rbi. Given his offensive upside, good defensive play, and low salary, I seen no reason at this point to explore options to bring another CF in, especially at a position where Sweeney or Erstad provide insurance. I would be shocked to see Kenny Williams try to upgrade at CF before the season started.

Hey Jeff, I'm a bit unusual I like both teams in Chicago to do well.I guess its good to build up the rivalry ! Fans in Chicago deserve another champion even if it comes from the north side!Sox even with Rowand will have to score runs in bunches in order to win in 07. The sox pitching not exactly CY Young so far in the spring!It's funny when I now live 2200 miles away I like both teams!

I think Aaron Rowand should be brought back to the chicago white sox. He is an awesome outfielder, he will do what he has to do to catch that ball!!

i'd put him back on the White Sox any day.

Is Aaron Rowand coming back to the White Sox as center fielder for the 2008 season?

Roman responds: Doesn't look like it.