OK, so now what

Men at Work

While it's probably very likely that the Vasquez trade is the one and only move the Sox make that's worth a damn, I'd still like to believe Kenny and Ozzie will continue the overhaul. I don't really know what else they would do, but let's take odds of what they can do.

2:1 - Do nothing else of note. Not surprising, really. Kenny likes to stand pat when he thinks he's made all the necessary tweaks to compete, and this might be one of those times.

4:1 - Seemingly worthless FA signing. Why spend big money when you can "fill gaps" with wasted potential? We're talking Jayson Nix's of the world - oh wait, we did that already, didn't we? We can always find Timo Perez or Pablo Ozuna in a pinch, too.

7:1 - A no-name trade. These can actually be a blessing in disguise. It's the way we got Matt Thornton (bye Borchard!) and Carlos Quentin under the radar. The more of these the merrier.

9:1 - Relief help signed. This could be anyone from Juan Cruz to Troy Percival to Brian Fuentes. You can never have enough help in the bullpen, and we seem to like taking former closers and turning them into setup men (Linebrink, Dotel). With Boone Logan out of the picture, SOMEONE is going to have to have those critical 7th inning meltdowns for us.

15:1 - A "too late now" signing by Kenny Williams. Why spend the big bucks on a big name free agent when you can take an all-star name that rings a bell in the fan's mind....until they realize that the player has essentially been retired for the past few seasons. With Griffey gone, I can see Kenny taking a wild swing at Michael Barrett (pun intended), Mark Sweeney, Bartolo Colon, Corey Patterson, Sidney Ponson, Carl Pavano or even Jacque Jones. That's a whole lot of ex-Cubs to choose from. I can see some of those guys panning out (Pavano and Jones), but getting Barrett to languish behind AJ would be just the sort of thing KW would do (see: Toby Hall), not to mention it would be hilarious.

55:1 - Another big trade. With big boys like Paulie and Thome eating roster space and clogging the basepaths, Kenny might (finally) decide it's time to go with a sleeker and speedier lineup ala the Rays. The number of trade options is extremely limited, partially because of Thome and Konerko's various no-trade clauses, and also because you can't send Thome to the NL. There's also talk of Dye and Jenks going away as well as Kenny continues to free up cash and acquire youth.

300:1 - Big name FA signing. This is not going to happen. It's anti-Kenny, but there is the slim chance that the Sox say "screw it, I'm going deep" and shell out the big bucks for a top free agent. Dumping more of our big names will free up the money, and the market is going to be a little more reasonable this year due to the economy. Guys like Sabathia (yes, please) or Manny (yes) may be on the back of Kenny's mind. Hell, I'd be happy with signing Abreu or Alou to help out in a pinch (especially if Dye gets traded).

OFF - Kenny takes all the youth we just acquired and trades it for a washed up player like Chris Carpenter. Kill me.

Any other odds out there?