Dick Allen

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 18, 2015 -> 10:10 AM) I don't know, I guess I just don't feel like players can just "turn it on" whenever they want and it's just a matter of them being motivated enough to do so. Maybe I'm just easily frustrated by issues where we'll never have an answer. I think it's explained regression toward the mean. They could not sustain that badness. Now, if Ventura was fired when they were 8-14 and they went on a 9-3 run, it would have been explained it was Robin all along, when it was not. Managers don't make as much difference as we would like to think, at least not in Robin's case. The White Sox problem was never a lack of motivation or effort.

Why do some think what Loria is doing is crazy, yet want the White Sox to swap out managers and coaches every few weeks?

This move actually has a little Bill Veeck in it. Back when Ron Schueler couldn't pitch anymore, Veeck made him a pitching coach since he was going to pay him anyway. Jennings, I would imagine, isn't getting any extra cash to manage the Marlins. Loria saves a little bit on hiring a manager, and Jennings' contract is up at the end of this season anyway, so look for a new GM/manager combo in Miami in 2016.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 18, 2015 -> 08:47 AM) Oh god that's right we have to face Raburn this week. We are probably the only fan base in baseball who knows who Raburn is, including the fan bases of the teams for which he has played.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 18, 2015 -> 08:38 AM) I'm going to batting practice today. Sox invited me. Anyone gone recently? I was invited last year but couldn't make it. I am going to a Rick Hahn meet and greet tomorrow.

I don't know if he had much of a say in becoming the manager but either way if the team fails, now it is all on him. It doesn't appear he will be continuing GM duties while in uniform. It does put a lot more accountability on the GM. Gar/Pax should take to the bench if they get rid of Thibs. Put your necks on the line.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ May 17, 2015 -> 07:18 PM) HOW ARE WE .500?!?!?!?!?!!?! simple math I guess. We've won as many as we've lost. But man it seemed almost unobtainable at one time. Heck yeah! 9-3 since Cameron said it was time for the Sox to bail. I guess that is why he is at Fangraphs.

These extra bases are sweet.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 17, 2015 -> 03:11 PM) Not quite sure why Melky's batting 3rd vs LHP. .357 lifetime vs. Kazmir.

The same time all the other teams that use Ticketmaster received a toll free number.

I think Rowand filled in on radio once or twice. IIRC the reviews were not kind.

They also have Keppimger coming off the books and Paulie has a million or so coming off. This idea that they will have no money is a joke. How the hell were they goimg to pay Samardjiza if they extended him? They made $31 million kast year with revenues about as low as they could be.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 03:06 PM) To look at how those are impacting in balance, Alexei has -0.3 fWAR while Semien has 1.2 fWAR. Small picture. Great. Big picture, his hitting isn't sustainable, but his bad defense is. He is about at bad at SS as he was at 3B last season.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 13, 2015 -> 02:49 PM) They probably reviewed and realized Taj should have never been ejected in the first place. Every year I enjoy the NBA playoffs but think to myself how much more I'd enjoy them if it weren't for the refs (and this isn't just in Bulls games). I do think NBA refereeing is the hardest of any sport but I also think the refs are the absolute worst in professional sports and playoff basketball gets refed even worse. As Bulls fans, it is a bit hypocritical complaining about LeBron's calls vs. what MJ used to get, but this one call last night really bothered me because they were watching in over and over and came to the conclusion they did. Joey Crawford and the 2 dopes with him should be suspended for the rest of the playoffs for that call after a review last night. Giving a T the next day is nothing. Giving Cleveland 2 shots and the ball when it was their guy that was at fault should be a fireable offense. I could understand it if there was no replay, but the decision made after watching it over and over makes the NBA look bad IMO.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) I just had to check this to make sure...Marcus Semien has a higher OPS than anyone on the 2015 White Sox with more than 3 PA. He has also committed more errors than Alexei Ramirez and Conor Gillaspie combined.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) So to follow that up, if you guys saw Samardzija walking, Alexei being traded, and Anderson taking over as the starting SS next year you'd call that version of the White Sox ready to compete? It would depend on the rest of the roster.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 13, 2015 -> 01:50 PM) Winning baseball games and making money are not interrelated like you have been positing for so long. Are you saying players aren't more attractive when their contractual liability is lessened? DA already addressed this but there is no way the A's committed to rebuilding. They had moveable pieces they kept. They spent 30 million on a DH. They traded for a back end up bullpen piece. They traded for Zobrist. I forgot about Zobrist. A team doesn't trade for a free agent to be to flip him at the deadline when they are totally committed to rebuilding.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Um, the Tigers were also able to swing a deal for Miguel Cabrera because they had done a better job of stockpiling highly-regarded talent through going over slot in the draft and through being really bad several years in a row. The Sox could have had Cabrera had they accepted Dontrell Willis.

All I know is I go to a ton of games and love it. There are a lot of legitimate excuses for not going to games. It does take time. It does cost money. People have to work. Their kids always have something going on. But anyone who uses it's better to watch on TV, I don't buy that at all. The team sucks, yeah an excuse, I'm not as interested in bad teams, and certainly if its been a long year, those August games are hard to attend, but even then, I have always been able to get a second wind for the September games, even though usually meaningless , it is the last chance to see them for 6 months. If you have the time and have the money, there is a better chance the White Sox beat the best team in the league the game you attend than any other sport. I bet the majority of people who love baseball got hooked when someone took them to a game, not by watching one on TV. And as I stated before, I am not anti-Hawk. I really enjoy him.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 13, 2015 -> 12:53 PM) That makes sense if you assume that White Sox fans tend to be older and therefore less likely to want to go out and drink under any circumstances. Instead of "that's where the money is," what I should have said was, "that's where the money is spent." What is interesting is there is a heck of a lot of turnover with all those businesses around Wrigley Field. I read where most lose money on non game days.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 01:01 PM) No, but letting Lester walk, trading Samardzija for zero established players, and trading away one of the best 3b in the game are very much rebuilding moves. If we traded away Quintana, let Sale walk, and traded away Abreu...I don't think we'd care if we brought in LaRoche to replace him, we'd still call that rebuilding. You stated they clearly committed to a rebuilding season. That is simply not the case. They thought they could win. He was trying to shuffle the deck. It wasn't a clear commitment. If it was, those names I mentioned wouldn't be around.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 12:36 PM) WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Keeping Scott Kazmir and Coco Crisp, trading for Tyler Clippard. Signing Billy Butler, aren't moves teams "totally committed" to rebuilding make. So laugh all you want. You are incorrect yet again.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 13, 2015 -> 12:39 PM) Wrigley is a dump and is just as boring as the Cell. However, the neighborhood is completely different and we all know it. All the money is on the northside. All the 20-somethings are on the northside. They all have trust funds. Wrigleyville is bro-heaven. Everyone loves it. It's in the midst of where everyone wants to be. Bridgeport is nice ONLY compared to everything else on the southside. The southside is famous for murder. The stadium is surrounded by parking lots and ugly freeways. There are a couple bars. Wrigleyville is actually considered a tourist attraction. These thing affect ballpark experience. Maybe you or I don't like Wrigleyville, but we must acknowledge that the vast majority of people do. The upper deck view is definitely worse, but like I said, the ballpark (for the masses) is NOT the best place to follow the action anyway. People go to Wrigley simply to BE at Wrigley. Again, you're assuming that attendance = fan interest. It's a proxy, but it is not equal. Whether or not it's worthwhile to go to the ballpark DOES NOT EQUAL how much winning it requires for fans to follow the baseball team. You write about money, do you know studies have suggested on average White Sox fans make more money than Cubs fans? The Wrigley Field area has more crime during the day that around USCF at night.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 12:30 PM) I gave reasons why the fanbase would think that team was going to crap. Trading away a cy young winner is a pretty good one. Your response was "But they brought back Lyle Mouton please edit your post", so clearly you think that somehow bringing back Lyle Mouton in a trade should have sold tickets. Explain how? What am I forgetting about Lyle Mouton that would offset trading away a Cy Young Winner to the Yankees? Lyle Mouton is used as an inside joke on this board. That is what I was getting at. And as for McDowell, even after trading him they had a big 3 of Alvarez, Fernandez and Bere. All of whom you could have made a case might have been better than Black Jack when the strike hit.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2015 -> 12:25 PM) That's a great comparison for what Timmy will probably be like if he's at SS in the big leagues in 2016. The difference? The A's sold off expensive pieces and clearly committed to a rebuilding season and are hoping that Semien can develop into a more solid defender at SS with time. Are you prepared to commit to 2016 as a rebuilding season? They didn't clearly commit to rebuilding.