Dick Allen

With the money owed Cabrera and the fact that he is coming up lame annually now, he is the one guy on the list I think is questionable at best. I don't think many teams would trade for Miguel's Cabrera's contract right now even if they had to give up nothing.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:57 PM) This is part of the problem. So far the research has shown the concussion issues are no worse in individuals that have played pro football and those who haven't. There are far more issues in people that have been in car accidents than pro football players. So, it's really difficult to determine if playing football as a child really effects much of anything. Logically, it stands to reason that they have more trauma than someone who doesn't but it's really hard to determine that in later life. It is weird how it has changed. When I was in HS, I was constantly pressured by coaches to play on the football team, they even had some of my friends who played bother me to play. I played basketball and baseball and the only reason I kept saying no was becasue I was worried about my knees, not my head. These days, it would be the opposite.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:27 PM) Does anyone see a scenario where Johnson works his way into the leadoff and Eaton is pushed to the 2 hole? I dont think you risk putting a rookie there and I definitely dont think you mess up what you have with Eaton there, but having Melky further down in the order would be nice. Not in 2015.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:20 PM) I thought I defended Viciedo pretty much in the face of opposition (along with a few others), but this is becoming Don Quixote territory. You sure there's not some personal reason why you've decided to make him your own pro bono defense attorney case? It's pretty funny I am the one with the Gordon Beckhamobsession when all I am doing is trying to throw sense at everyone ripping him. Apparently that is what this website wants, everyone bagging on Beckham whenever they can. He isn't nearly as bad of a player as most here think. Not even close. But as was pointed out, I wanted the Sox to sign Jimenez last year, so I missed on that, but I also defended one Jose Contreras the end of 2004 until May or so of 2005 when Soxtalk wanted him traded for AJ Burnett. Beckham will be a fine back up. He won't shut anyone up, I get that. He walked the other day and instead of it being a good AB from any other player, it was "lucky" on the gamethread. Of course his nice play with good range turning a DP getting Robertson out of a jam was just about ignored as well. It's a back up infielder. He's fine in that role. People put too much into this. You aren't going to get an All Star to be a back up infielder for $2 million on the open market.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) Gordon is just pointless. He can play mediocre defense and mediocre offense. I actually think it's up for discussion whether he provides more value than Leury would. Leury wouldn't hit as well, but would play better defense at more positions and be a great pinch runner option. He's really not. With Gillaspie and Johnson, there is going to be a need for late inning defensive replacements, and offensive replacements vs. LHP. Leury can play the defense, but offensively needs some time in the minors. That is pretty apparent.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:55 PM) Another reason why Denorfia would have been a better use of the $2m we paid Beckham. We just have so much mediocre, glove-first MI depth already. Hahn did a great job of filling holes this winter, but I agree that bench OF depth was one he left open. Denorfia was $2.6 million. I do wish the Sox had someone on the bench who could hit homers. The 2010 version of Andruw Jones would have been a good fit.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:31 PM) So you're saying players who only get 2 million contracts aren't good? Interesting. You've seem to have posted 50 times a day for the last week nitpicking a half sentence out of every rationale argument so you can steer the conversation towards nonsensical tangents to prove the contrary. Nonsensical? Your the guy who said Rickie Weeks had the upside of being able to play multiple positions. He hasn't yet, but obviously you know something no one else does. I'm saying if Rickie Weeks were half as great as you made him out to be, he would have received more than the White Sox gave Felipe Paulino last season.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:31 PM) Eaton out sick Beckham or Danks had to have something to do with it.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:24 PM) If this "hatred bias" means the whole board (other than you and elrockin) can take a giant sample size and realize Beckham provides very, very little to a MLB then yes, there is a hatred bias. As far as the bolded, not sure what you don't get. Sure, Beckham has played SS/3B but I said he has played one position adequately. As you understand with Weeks, but not Beckham (is there a Weeks hatred bias here?), you can play a position without doing it adequately. An .800+ OPS hitter against lefties 5-10 times a month at 2B (even as a detriment defensively), LF and DH brings much more to this team than what Beckham brings. A lot of baseball people feel he can play 3B and SS adequatly as well. You have Weeks at 2b, Weeks in the OF... I wonder why he only got $2 million. Why would you want a guy on your bench that you don't want to put in the field when you have weakness defensively at 2b and 3b in your starting line up? Beckham coming in late for Micah or Gillaspie will be pretty valuable over time.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) Assuming Johnson is the 2B, Weeks could have played there against some lefties, could have spelled Melky/Garcia in the OF and DHed for LaRoche against some lefties. All bench players have warts that's why they are bench players. For instance, Gordon Beckham, a bench player, hasn't been an above league average hitter since his half season in 2009 and your boy only plays one position adequately. Beckham's upside is that he isn't horrible at 2B defensively. Rickie Weeks had the upside of filling a few different positions and carries a lifetime .261/.385/.448/.834 against lefties. Your post is proof of the Gordon Beckham hatred bias. Beckham has played 3B, SS, and 2B on the major league level. Yet you say:your boy only plays one position adequately Rickie Weeks has only DH'd and played 2b in the major leagues and he is one of the worst fielding 2b in the major leagues. Yet: Rickie Weeks had the upside of filling a few different positions.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 12:52 PM) Wait what? You think a guy who just put up a wRC+ of 2 last year is going to regress to a wRC+ of at least 70 to 75?? I get it was an incredibly small sample, but I can't remember a single player who looked so clueless at the plate in recent memory. As a 25 year old in over 600 plate appearances, Ozzie Smith put up a 47 wRC+. Leury isn't a good hitter, and probably never will be, but 70-75 doesn't exactly say he ever will be. With his speed, if he keeps it on the ground, that should be attainable. He was in over his head last year, and wasn't ready for the major leagues. He'll be better than he was.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 12:23 PM) I disagree. No other sport practices repeated shots to the head and spine multiple times a week. 6 and 7 year old kids are doing oklahoma drills. Its insanely stupid. My boy is playing golf first. That's part of the problem. The guys coaching 8 year olds act like the games are on Sunday and a playoff berth is on the line. My 13 year old nephew has played for a couple of years. I can't believe my sister allows it, but I went to a game last fall. The coaches are jumping up and down on the sidelines, screaming, apparently practices are really intense....it is crazier than I ever saw Little League baseball.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 12:25 PM) I would have given him the chance and spent the Beckham money on Rickie Weeks or Chris Denorfia. Obviously I don't know that those options would have been surely available but still. Soto, Bonifacio, Denorfia/Weeks and Saladino >>> Soto, Bonifacio, Shuck and Beckham At this stage, Rickie Weeks is a DH. Having a DH on the bench doesn't make much sense.

If anyone wants to read some comedy, here is Eric Zorn's Marriotti Year in Review article from 2005. Jay appears to be all over the place. Of course he knows all, and when he is ultimately wrong and can't spin that, he uses the "nobody thought they could win" so it's OK he was totally wrong in what he was writing route. http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_colum...ariottis_y.html

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 11:31 AM) I'd admit it's probably Beckham in that instance, but it's just as likely that Melky or Avi or Eaton breaks a wrist instead, so having a guy that's able to step in at all of those positions (including 3B) is more valuable at this point. I don't mind Beckham on the bench in general, as opposed to being cut, but I wouldn't have spent the $2m on him in the first place. I'd rather give that role to someone who can be just as valuable defensively but who might have some upside with the bat, like Saladino or Leury. I like Leury more than most, but Leury and upside with the bat should never be in the same sentence. Saladino had a nice offensive season last year before he was hurt. The 2 previous years he was putting up Gordon Beckham major league numbers in AA. I would really question his effectiveness on the major league level at this time.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 11:07 AM) Definitely. But that doesn't mean your Opening Day 25-man roster shouldn't be "plan A." Say Gillaspie gets hit by a pitch and breaks his wrist, and is out 6 weeks. Consider 80% of the time in those 6 weeks, the White Sox will be facing RHP, which seems more than reasonable, who among Beckham, Leury, Bonifacio, Saladino, Sanchez or Matt Davidson is really the best candidate to take the majority of those ABs? Most won't admit it because of personal bias, but right now it's Beckham.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) DePaul took advantage of the Public League's hostility to the Kruger hire back in the late 90s when they landed Quentin Richardson, Bobby Simmons, and Lance Williams. I think that group made an NCAA tournament appearance. Seems like that was DePaul's last relevant team... That was Pat Kennedy. I think he got in a little trouble. But that is what they have to do. Haugh had a good article today. They need to hire a young guy. Enough of these guys in their 50s. Of course once they get relevant, they probably will be looking for a new coach.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 06:30 PM) It's been a couple decades since I paid any attention to DePaul. It seemed to me what looked like a positive, the move from on campus to the Rosemont Horizon, actually backfired and hurt the program. Plus the switch from Meyer the great to Meyer to lesser . . . Has there been any bright spots since then? It also seems that trying to recruit kids to stay home just isn't a great strategy. Get kids from small towns that want to live in a big city. Get city kids from other cities and have them want to be in Chicago. But getting kids to stay home who have a chance to move away from their parents, just never seems to work well. Getting Aguirre was huge. They get to the Final Four, then get the WGN TV contract which had their games beamed all over the country back when you were lucky if your school had one nationally televised game. When that playing field was leveled, DePaul was in trouble. The thing is, the campus is probably way nicer than it has ever been. It's not a bad school, and if an athlete wants their degree, they will bend over backwards helping them get it. But all the losing and losing, they aren't even a thought in most players' minds. They had a few successful season under Leito but they haven't even made the NIT fo 8 years.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 08:18 AM) I'm arguing that Bonifacio is a much better part-time player than Beckham because of their respective skillsets. If used correctly, I think Bonifacio can be a valuable asset. That does NOT mean I think he should be a starter. The problem is s*** happens. You can used the "if used correctly", the problem is with a 25 man roster, at least a 12 man pitching staff, and injuries and illness, there are going to be plenty of times that is simply not possible.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 07:53 AM) Retiring because of concerns over the long-term effects of head injuries. He has had two concussions, one inn 8th grade playing soccer and one as a high school sophomore playing football. This is the biggest potential roadblock for the NFL, future players not even wanting to play due to long-term injury worries. Then again, given the money involved, someone will always be willing to play. http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/124...injury-concerns It's really going to be interesting to watch this unfold the next decade, because I agree, I think there are kids now that won't play football because of the possibility of head trauma, that would have turned into stars. I think any talk of the NFL's demise is light years away, but if the better athletes go to other sports, they may be able to close the gap a bit. Unless fantasy football is banned, the NFL is always going to be popular.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 07:58 AM) Let's hope so, we shouldn't be giving him 325-375 AB's to get to that number or we're in trouble. Still not exactly clear at this point what's being argued. The only thing I am arguing is the bashing of Gordon Beckham and the love of Emilio Bonifacio. Their performance over the course of their careers is pretty similiar. If you hate Gordon Beckham to the point where seeing his name in a spring training line up pisses you off, you probably at the end of the season, aren't going to think much of Emilio Bonifacio.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 07:11 AM) I'm not trying to say Bonifacio is awesome. I AM trying to say he's better than Gordon Beckham, which is consistent with everything you just said as it is (Bonifacio has more WAR despite fewer games played), but especially so when you consider that just shy of HALF of Gordon Beckham's career fWAR came in a single season six years ago, whereas Bonifacio came in at roughly league average (2.1 fWAR) just last season. Beckham, last season, was actually BELOW replacement level (-0.2 fWAR). Surely you'd agree that when referencing a counting stat, recency is an important factor if you're trying to decide what's going to happen next season. Alex Rodriguez has 654 career HR while Jose Abreu has just 36, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks A Rod will hit more homers than Abreu in 2015. Yes, I understand that Bonifacio will face RHP at some point in 2015, just like any part-time player. But you know what? He faced RHP sometimes last year too, and he still managed that 2.1 fWAR. He managed the 2.1 fWAR, but that is pretty much an outlier. I hope he does it again, but chances are it will be less than 1.0.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 10:42 PM) Please read the below, and mentally replace 'Garcia' with 'Bonifacio' Except in the case of Bonifacio, Beckham may NOT even be able to outhit him, especially if each player is used in a platoon role. Beckham has a much more neutral platoon split, which evens him out in the unlikely and very unfortunate event that either player would be counted on to start consistently against the platoon split. But again: For their careers Becham has played about 40 more games and has a 5.3 WAR vs, Bonifacios 6.0 WAR. Since you know Gordon Beckham sucks, I guess this would be proof Bonifacio, despite beimg faster and playing more positions, sucks as well. Again, if Bonifacio is not goimg to play against RHP, he is hardly going to play. alexei played in almost every game and had 162 PA vs. LHP. Bonifacio is going to have to play against RHP occassionally.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 07:07 PM) Nope, wrong. I won't rehash my argument for the utility of WAR projections because I'm tired of re-typing it and you don't seem to respond well to anything that isn't completely black & white, but arguing that bench player WAR on an individual level can be a few decimals off due to PT does NOT invalidate projections because (a) bench players only add very small amounts to the projection in the first place, rarely (if ever) having a strong effect on the overall results, and (b) any WAR gained or lost by an individual player due to inaccurate PT numbers is subsequently gained or lost by a different player, thereby further marginalizing an already tiny effect. Dividing total innings to be played in a season is, essentially, a zero-sum calculation. So if Gordon Beckham's projected WAR is 0.2 too high because he's projected for 150 too many ABs, those 150 ABs are going to to another player instead who's very likley to put up something in the neighborhood of 0.1 - 0.3 WAR instead. In some extreme case, the Beckham PT disparity might be the difference between like 40 team WAR and , I don't know, 40.4? LMAO. The projected WAR is wrong because they have them playing too much but projected standings and strength of schedule using these imcorrect numbers are good tools. The funny thing is since WAR is a counting stat of the 4 projections fangraphs uses, the almost all have Bonifacio making 100 more plate appearances than Beckahm and Beckham still the same or better.

so you now agree that postimg standings based on projected WAR, and determining strength of Schedule based on projected WAR,(only weeks ago you thought it so important you started a thread) is a joke because now aparently projected WAR is now silly. Leury over Beckham? Another joke.