I can't believe it! For 2 straight days, the Sox have actually merited a front page article in the Sports section of the Trib. Today's piece is just chock full of speculation and salacious rumours about them going after Carlos Beltran and Omar Vizquel. I don't like either of these ideas at all.

Beltran was pretty much unknown at the beginning of the season, toiling in miserable obscurity in a small market until the Astros went after him. He brought some spark to the team, but as they continued to founder going into August, there was already talk about him being traded again to a contender. But then we all know what happened--Houston stopped losing at home, rarely lost on the road, and Beltran turned into a hitting machine. He got really really hot at the right time, and apparently now Scotty Borass says he's entitled to a 10 year A-Rod style deal.

He's a hell of a player, but there's no reason for the cheapass Sox to tie up a little over 1/3 of their payroll on one guy. On top of that, trading Konerko to free up payroll is just ludicrous. This team needs an anchor. Frank Thomas has never been that anchor mentally, and he sure as hell hasn't been that anchor physically with season-ending injuries 2 of the last 4 campaigns.

As for Vizquel--remember what happened last time we signed a veteran Cleveland player? Kenny Lofton came to town, stunk up the place and was gone by July.