Marty34

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 14, 2011 -> 02:15 PM) And the Sox increased payroll this year... Running a business isnt about hoping for best case scenarios every year, if they want to be successful over long periods of time they will need to make profit some years. Do you want them to run negative? According to Forbes the White Sox have been profitable every year since 2003 pulling in $163M in those 8 years. The White Sox are a well run business and I'm happy about that. This "All In" is a marketing gimmick, not their business plan.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 14, 2011 -> 12:52 PM) plus i bet our marketing costs are pretty high. Everything accounted for Forbes estimated the Sox made 27.6M last year. Fifth best in MLB.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 14, 2011 -> 11:06 AM) Youre probably overestimating revenue and underestimating costs. The White Sox have employees and staff 365 days a year. The Sox have a spring training facility that costs money. We just have no idea how much it costs for things like transportation, travel and other operating costs. There's no way for us to know for sure of course, but I'd bet a publication with the reputation of Forbes is pretty darn accurate in its reporting of team finances. The Sox are in good shape financially. That doesn't mean they made wise decisions on how to spend that money.

Exactly. More than likely, the Sox aren't going to lose money this year. Moreover they made a ton of money last year according to Forbes, so they can afford a down year if they have one. What I find fascinating is this notion that the Sox have to draw 2.5M to break even. Chairman Reinsdorf never gives out that type of stuff. It's largely reporters speculation. Reporters, who have the same access to Forbes as we do, and who can see Forbes estimates, believe the Sox need to draw $2.5M just to break even. They have to do their jobs a lot better.

If Buddy Bell likes prospect Jose Martinez as per Hawk, Martinez should find a new line of work.

I don't know. I'm sure there would be some big money local guys interested. Besides, there just aren't that many attractive markets left.

$680M for Astros and part of a regional sports network. Unbelievable. Sox + 25% of CSN $75O-$800M?? http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...&id=8121827

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 9, 2011 -> 11:03 AM) No. I have no idea what they are going to spend. I expect a similar amount to the past few years or less justified by not having to spend on a 1st rounder. Many teams are preparing to dump significant money into signings this year because of how deep the class is, and the possibility that this will be the last draft without hard slotting. There is almost zero chance the Sox are one of these teams. The double whammy of them not spending money and the Wilder fiasco has put the organization in a precarious situation.

Dunn's last AB was one of his best this season and Santos taking over the closer's role is the first step in figuring out the bullpen are a couple of encouraging signs.

Dunn blistered a thigh high 95 mph fastball. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come.

Hitting background at Safeco is notoriously bad during day games with the roof open. Looked like Pierre, Ramirez, and Dunn weren't picking the ball up all thart well.

Important to put back-to-back solid games together. Would be a good first half-step.

FWIW, Red Sox might be interested in Flowers. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/05/cafa...rs-red-sox.html

As terrible as Beckham has been, he's starting to close in on Ramirez OPS-wise 615 to 656. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this outfit.

Looks like I was right when I said a week ago that Rios would turn it around soon.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 7, 2011 -> 06:34 PM) lol. This team has no talent now? If that were the case nobody would care about the terrible start. Don't confuse recognizable names with talented players.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 7, 2011 -> 05:14 PM) Alexei was the 3rd best player in the league at the most premium position in baseball. How many AL CF'ers were better than Rios last year? Off the top of my head, Hamilton, Hunter . . .

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 7, 2011 -> 04:46 PM) Clearly you didn't watch every White Sox game in the second half last season. He never had an OPS of over 765 for any month besides May. I won't argue he (Rios) was probably our best player for the first two months, and Alexei was cold (the first three years of his career) simultaneously. Post All-Star game, he had a 684 OPS. That's when we really needed him to come through, same thing with late 2009. And his defense wasn't quite as good in the 2nd half, either. Better than 2011, but that's Brian Anderson territory for 3 months. When you consider their contracts, the pre-eminence of the SS position and the dearth of talent there across the majors, Ramirez was clearly better. I don't think anyone else on this board will argue that Rios was better than Ramirez in 2011. Sure, when you consider contracts, Ramirez was their best player last year, but that wasn't what you originally said. Rios and Ramirez are pretty much the same player. Rios is grossly overpaid right now and I suspect Ramirez will be grossly overpaid in 2014-2015

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 7, 2011 -> 04:08 PM) If you factor in offense AND defense last year, Ramirez was pretty clearly our best player last year This just isn't true. Rios had as good a year as Ramirez. Neither was close to Konerko in terms of importance. IF Alexei Ramirez is your best player there should be no surprise they are 11-22.

Much of Ramirez' value was the production he gave at the salary he was being paid. After the extension, a lot of the luster has gone off him.

My view of Ramirez is he's a complimentary player, nothing special.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 7, 2011 -> 02:03 PM) Then you didn't watch the team last year. Alexei might darn well have been our best player (even considering the year Konerko had) Konerko was the best player on the team last year by a pretty good amount too. (Even if Ramirez was the best player on the team it wouldn't necessarily mean he was worth a lot more than $10M, by the way.) Ramirez was probably a distant second or third. That he was even a top 3 player might have been an indication that it was time to rebuild rather than go all in.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 7, 2011 -> 01:52 PM) He was worth a helluva lot more than $10 M last year. I disagree.

I change my "best lineup" every five minutes: Rios, beckham, Quentin, Dunn, Konerko, Teahen (3b), Viciedo (LF), AJ, Ramirez.

QUOTE (Chisoxrd5 @ May 7, 2011 -> 01:15 PM) Does he play Tennis? Soccer? What sort of historic backup do you have for MLB players declining when they reach age 32? Particularily players who don't rely solely on speed as their number #1 asset. A wispy character like Alexei should be completely fine playing into his late 30's. I don't think he's worth $10M this year much less three or four years from now.