OT: Baseball Winter Meetings - A tale of Two Sox

Okay, so while I stare at the Bears/Pats game and obsess over the first week of the UPL - Who the F-ck Is Anne Frank? playoffs I figured I'd contribute something to the site and write up a bit on the early returns from the Hot Stove League on behalf of the two footwear-themed teams.

WINNERS:
The "Beantown Bombers"
Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and the rest of the Boston Red Sox lineup. Gonzo in particular looks to have an upgrade from both the ballpark and lineup, as he might actually have to be pitched to next year while also having runners on base. Crawford's upgrade probably wont be as marked, but means he should maintain his value for some time. Youk's value will go up slightly, as the time he'll see at 3B should qualify him for the position in the following year as well as reaping the benefits of the lineup. Its a good month to be OD. Or an Adrian Gonzalez owner.

The "South Side Hit Men, Part II"
The Chicago White Sox needed an offensive upgrade over last year's rotating DH model. While there will always be a bit of a disconnect between the true value and fantasy value of a player, Mark Kotsay proved that sometimes you can have neither but still eat up a great deal of at-bats. To remedy this the Sox added Dunn, and what they hope is his slugging RBI lefty bat. In a move that Keith Law hated on, but that was the most obvious in retrospect, they also locked up what they hope are the last few productive years of Paul Konerko. If the Sox can find a way to upgrade their bullpen without trading Quentin, the Sox could field a lineup that looks something like this...

LF - Pierre
SS - Alexei Ramirez
CF - Rios
DH - Dunn
1B - Konerko
RF - Quentin
C - AJ
2B - Beckham
3B- Morel

Dont bet on Morel producing like Mark Reynolds, he's a contact hitter with plus baserunning skills, but considering that Pierre's RBI weapon is a bunt or a contact swing which led to double-play more often than not. Personally I'm hoping that combined with a solid-bounce back year this means Beckham produces like a true keeper.

And the Bears are getting destroyed by the Patriots, which is depressing me beyond my ability to continue this post. Bear down.