greg775

It kills me how anybody could utter a negative word about Abreu after he knocks in 130 RBI and hits 33 bombs. I mean what do these same people think of players who really reek like the Bears' QB?

Congrats Brian.. Warren's defense stat wise appears to be the best in state history. I was unable to watch the game as no way I was signing up for a month of ISHSAA games with automatic renewal for one game. It would be unfair of me to comment at all. I dont' even know if Rice came close to scoring. I will say it has to be tough to be a h.s. coach. The way Rice had been playing of late, scoring a lot of points with tough defense prolly had our coach thinking we could beat em straight up, especially since we beat 'em last year. Obviously Warren's defense is special. I wonder if we threw everything at them or just tried to beat em with our new QB's running ability and Shaw's running ability. I'll have to read the game stories now. But congrats Brian. Warren and LW East should be incredible. It's obvious they are the two best teams. Again I didn't watch the game so I'm not trying to be critical at all. I just know Warren has a great great defense and we got shut out. They've allowed 30 points all year or something.

Ron, let's say you are there on Opening Day or the second game. They introduce Abreu. Standing ovation. Do you boo him? Rip him so others can hear you sitting around you? I guarantee you'd get the weirdest looks from fans at the Cell, like "what is wrong with this guy? What's he got against Abreu?" This would be like back in the day some Cub fans booing Ernie Banks when he got older or Willie Mays. Or Harold Baines. At some point as a fan you should (in my world) just be happy the guy is with your team, forget about stuff like age and contracts and CHEER. Is it that hard to realize veterans like Jose help win pennants and are integral part of teams? I'm not sure what kind of roster you want? Or is it all the fact he chews? That seems a weird reason to despise him. Trust me in this day and age where mommy and daddy monitor their kids' every moves, they ain't letting their teenagers chew just cause Jose does. And parents go to all their kids' games, so they'd see if they snuck a chew.

Some of the "haters" simply do not care about the emotional aspect of sports. They don't care all the guys love Abreu; they don't care that he simply adores being a member of this team. They see his age and simply freak out (OK, they also think he's a clod defensively). Meanwhile, guys his age on other teams? Bring 'em in. The unknown player is sexy; Jose is not I guess. To the haters: Think of our team next year without Abreu: Who is the feel good/Sox lifer dying to win a pennant? Nobody. Let him be the face of the White Sox. I know the haters will counter that they are fine with Jose but for way way way less money. I say why feel that way? It's a fair contract. If he sucks for some reason, big deal. The Sox have saved SO MUCH money on everything but signing bonuses during the tank job. Why feel angst about Jose. Enjoy him. Good days allegedly are ahead, but I won't believe it til we sniff .500 and go from there. Give fans like me what we want ... give us some Jose, three years of Jose, baby! Don't fret; be happy. Jerry's bank account will be fine and this actually may make him demand we win the pennant sooner rather than later!

Tough crowd if you go by his traditional baseball stats. Didn't he lead the AL in RBIs? 33 homers is a lot in my world. This is an early Christmas for fans like me. I always posted I thought he'd get 2 years and a third year option and total deal worth about 40 million. Frankly I posted that to not get kicked off the board. Of course I hoped he'd get up to a 15 mill a year average. Let's face it. Most people against this deal are advanced stat people or baseball age-ists who think 32 is old (for somebody that's on the current team, not a sexy unknown on some other team). To be fair, these people also see him as a doofus, a butcher at first base defensively. We just signed a 31 year old catcher to a nice deal, although to be fair this is his age 31 season coming up as Grandal turned 31 in November. The way a fan like me looks at this: We just signed Jose Abreu, my current favorite player. I personally feel if u wanna win a WS it helps to have a guy who has been with the team a long time and WANTS IT BADLY. He mixes in well with the younger guys, a leader. What's more, I am not of the opinion he will suddenly turn into a .199 hitter with 17 homers, 42 RBIs in 550 at bats. I guess that COULD happen. I'm not worried about it. To me, this gives us a guy who bleeds White Sox colors, wants to win titles and just might do it. Throw everything together: this team is better off with him (yes at this salary) than without him. If you held a gun to my head would I say he's overpaid a bit? Yeah I guess. But in my world, who cares? Not my monopoly money and with Jerry spending for Jose and Grandal and more to come, there's pressure on the front office from Jerry finally I'm sure to complete the rebuild fast and win now/soon. Obviously I love everything about the signing of Jose: it's the right thing to do. Time to start winning, folks.

It was only me cause I thought he resembled Manny Sanguillen and Carlton Fisk in terms of height. I think Timmy's BA at that time wasn't near what it was last year and I said his stats would be excellent for a catcher. People were furious and it might have been why I got suspended 6 months. I forget but it mita been the Tim thing as people thought I was trolling rather than my brain working overtime. i have no take on today's trade, just hoping he's a stud for us. I do think it would be logical to trade McCann for a reliever now and let Collins learn from and back up Grandal.

I hope Chris Getz knows what he's doing. He was not a very good player, but I realize that means little. LaRussa was a lousy player, too. And many others. Lasorda was an OK pitcher.

What are the odds my Crusaders win? 40 percent? 20? GO BR. RICE!

Is Reilly's daughter a great bar? Go Br. Rice!!!

How bout simply signing Avi to a two year deal at 10 mill a season and get a trainer to work with him to keep his hammy healthy. You can't tell me it's all on the player. It's training as well. He'd be grateful I bet at the 10 mill (maybe overpaying by two mill a season) and help us win. He was a starter for a playoff team last year. We need some reliable relievers and 2 starters folks. Sign them.

It's the state association that ranked Minooka No. 1. Nice win for No. 24 seed Rice. Can we beat Warren in the semis or is Rice's run over? That would be very weird to play Marist in the state title game.

Amen. Don't understand hatred of guys who have done nothing to deserve hatred. He's gonna be 25 in February so I just wish they'd make him everyday catcher. Is he gonna have to wait forever?

I think your first two paragraphs are perceptive. I can read how this is going. Jose is going to eventually cut emotional ties with the Sox. Obviously he wants between 15 and 18 million for three years or who knows, maybe four or five? If the Sox can't even go three years, 15 mill a year (which I believe is probably his low end of the spectrum knowing athletes' egos nowadays and his vast production on lousy Sox teams) he'll eventually be insulted. You wait, at some point, Jose will get impatient if this doesn't get done.

Thanks for the info on Rice. Much appreciated. I did not know Mt. Carmel kept it rolling w/out Lenti. They are in 7A playoffs? I'm glad Rice is in 8A for some reason. If somehow we beat Minooka could the semifinal be at Rice?? What do you think of our soph quarterback? Is he destined to have a bad game ... simply because he's a sophomore? Are u an active Rice alum? Do you go to the annual stuff for alums? I love BR and need to take a tour of the facility when I come in next if I can get in. It was locked last time. Is that old indoor swim pool still there?

I hope behind the scenes that Coop is truly still the best coach. Because if our staff remains the same (maybe add one "pretty good" starter one reliever in free agency knowing our cheap front office), our staff will need work. It's time for coop to overachieve with his staff.

I wish we had a real manager and real coaches because we do have some amazing raw talent. We also have holes that can bury us. it'd be nice to have some great manager figuring things out a bit.

Great win tonight over south Elgin. Can we beat Minooka?? Looks like Badke has totally changed the team in the course of the season. They are running the ball and playing very good D. Like the old Rice teams. Now it seems like Badke is wary of passing at all, lol. Not ripping him. He's our coach the next 25 years I'm sure if Rice is smart. Carmel firing their coach Lenti after 12 state titles a couple years ago ... insane!

Some of you guys are starting to worry about payroll again which is silly since Jerry has saved so much cash during the tank.

I swear, I just wish people would wait to see decline rather than predict decline for players because of age. There are guys 35 years old raking in MLB still in baseball's postseason for instance. It's like Jose is 50 and something and we're offering him a mercy contract if we give him the 3 years greg thinks he deserves.

Thanks Harry. Is there any way we can ride the new QB's arm and Willie's speed at receiver and the LSU signee to greatness this postseason? Any way we can beat South Elgin? There's a slight chance I may be at the game BTW. 5 p.m. Saturday.

The devaluing of Abreu on here is just the sports cliche of the unknown (anybody else) being more sexy than the known (Abreu). 33 homers and 133 RBIs. Hmmm if we could trade for somebody on another team who did that or grab a free agent who went 33/133 last year, this board would be frothing at the mouth ready to pay 18 mill a season for multi seasons for such a person. Don't some of you understand you are falling for the cliche when you diss Abreu? p.s. Lets say you owned a restaurant in Chicago and had the best chef in the City work for you the last 5 years and he/she was just consistently good to sensational and your restaurant was popular. Now he/she wants a bit beefier contract and instead you bring in somebody from California with exactly the same credentials. ... not always a wise move. My guess is the familiar chef cooks better broth, brother. And the familiar chef is the one you want to sign for 3 more years.

20-30 games being on the DL isn't that many nowadays. How many games did Moncada and Eloy miss last season. It's a new era: guys get hurt ... a lot.

Thanks Harry. I wonder if the kid who started the season at QB, Ben Somers, will transfer for his senior year. Did he play another position last week in our first-round victory?

I have a sneaky suspicion our front office thinks of Avi the way the most of this board does. I just get an anti Avi vibe and feel there's no way we reacquire him. Any insiders back me on this? While I would love the return of Avi, I bet you Hahn or KW believes he's a stiff. Just a gut feeling. Insiders?

Yep, wait til next year. That's what the Sox front office likes us to say. There's always next year ... then next year ... and next year.