Dick Allen

Vince is a bit of a loose canon. He had a lot of trouble during his playing days in NY. IIRC he and KW got into it many years ago at a Cubs/Sox tilt when he was a minor league imstructor for the Cubs. The Sox wouldn't let him sit in the dugout during the game which was their right. There supposedly was a pretty crazy argument between the two around the batting cage. Hopefully, he has matured and can get better results from these guys on the bases. IMO, however, if he can make 25 steal guys 50 steal guys during spring training, he probably wouldn't be available.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 24, 2015 -> 09:34 PM) Why do we need a back up infielder? I was hoping that Bonifacio could back up 3B/SS/2B and outfield on occasion, which would eliminate the need for a backup infielder and let us carry an extra bullpen arm. I don't think Bonafacio can play SS. Plus he wants someone who can hit LH pitching to spell Conor. He also mentiomed Saladino, but he was tslking acquisition.

From the seminars, most is already on here, but Vince Coleman is going to be a baserunning coach in spring training. Hahn is looking for more relief and a back up infielder. Buddy Bell thinks most Sox minor leaguers will be all stars except Davidson. A draft tidbit, I am not sure which minor league guy said it, I think Capra, he expects at least 6 of the top 8 picks in the next draft to be college pitchers. Don Cooper is the self proclaimed "manager of the pitching staff". So all those that blame Robin, should now blame Coop. And Iguchi and Rowand cried when the Sox traded them away.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 24, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) Have to agree. Especially with Hahn saying that they are looking for a right handed hitting infielder. Hahn said he was looking for an acquisition and also said Saladino would be a top internal candidate. It seems the Sox have really soured on Davidson. Even Buddy Bell's effort to spin him up was half hearted and he mentioned how hard it is to hit, and failure rate. The minor league guys did seem a little more hopeful with Johnson. They think he tweaked his mechanics a bit just trying to succeed. They still think he can get back to where he was.

I saw Ernie walking into a restaurant a couple of years ago. I said Hey Ernie to him, and he started talking to me like I was one of his best buddies he hadn't seen for years. The people that were with him were trying to get him to go, but it appeared they were used to it. Then I read the Dale Murphy tweet where he said he did a card show with Ernie and Ernie drove the promoter crazy because he was basically doing the same thing he did with me to each one of customers. Murphy said Ernie only got about 15 signed in an hour. He may be Mr. Cub, but I wil always hold him in the highest regard. RIP.

I wonder if Cubs fans are as outraged as Sox fans were when Ricketts popped off last week. Samardzija was asked the difference between Sox fans and Cubs fans and he asked "Besides paying attention to the games?"

According to Our Chuck, the White Sox asked Avi to lose weight, and he has.

When will they invite Albert Belle to Soxfest?

Did Hahn say it's conceivable BA makes the roster, or do you have to draw the conceivable line somewhere?

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 01:23 PM) Id get a Deal with it shirt now. I still wear my Cutler and Marshall Bromance shirt (unfortunately) I saw a guy wearing a Cutler Makes Me Drink sweatshirt the other day.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 12:05 PM) IIRC I was not one of those people. Yet you didn't say maybe he was doing the right thing, did you?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 12:00 PM) They also did their usual thing of "slamming a guy into the big leagues". Was a starter in the minors at A-ball, switched to the bullpen, in 2013 got 20 innings in AA, 27 innings in AAA, and that was it for him above A-ball before being in the bigs. It's funny anyone would complain he was rushed. People here wanted to see him in the 8th and 9th inning and called Ventura a fool for not using him there.

Unless you blame the injuries on Thibs, it is ridiculous to hold him responsible for the team's slumps. They have a roster full of guys who miss a lot of time. IMO, as much as he has been able to fight that off from time to time over the past few years, it eventually catches up to you.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 08:54 AM) I wonder what guys like Cameron Bairstow would have to say other than "I want minutes" He gets down on his knees and praises GarPax for the paycheck.

This is zero risk, but to expect anything out of him isn't wise. He hasn't thrown a pitch in the major leagues since he was a White Sox.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 06:41 PM) You might be right, but face it, Flowers today is a much better player than he was in his first couple of years here. I know he had a long stretch last year (a couple of months??) when he just could not hit, and he looked lost at the plate, but not behind it. Then, he came out of it the last two months or so. I can see a slight improvement for him in 2015. He could. He also could hit .180. He is the starter until someone beats him out, but I don't think it is a lock he is better than Soto in 2015, and obviously Soto isn't all that great. Steamer projects Flowers at 0.8 WAR. Soto at 1.1.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 05:20 PM) No way (at least I really hope so). He had a couple good years a long time ago, and hasn't been the same since he quit the juice. Tyler Flowers is a career .218 hitter with about a 35% strikeout rate. There is no catcher head and shoulders better than any other in the Sox system now.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 03:16 PM) I'm not saying he should be suspended for the Super Bowl, in fact I'm unsure about what the penalty should be. I'm arguing with you that it's completely overblown and horses***. There are just as many people that are saying its no big deal as there are that are outraged about it. You provided the Pineda example so I went with it. Obviously there isn't a exact comparison between these sports. The thing about this is that a ballboy isn't going to go out and do this on his own. Someone instructed this. We both know that Belicheck may not have called this kid into his office and directed him to do it, but it got filtered down to this kid or these kids from the top. It will not be proven, someone will take the fall for it and it most likely will not be Belicheck. Brunell used a basketball as an example. A slightly deflated, yet playable ball may be fairly easy for someone to palm. Fill it all the way up, and it is not. It could make a difference in wet weather. I don't think the result of the game would have been changed, but if the game was close, perhaps it would have. A penalty is definitely in order.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 02:52 PM) Is someone going to get suspended in baseball for their use of pine tar? No, not until they are absurdly blatant like Pineda. Ejected from a game, sure, warned, certainly. Fined, possibly. This is going to end in a Pats fine and the story dropped. If the opposite happened (Colts shredded Pats and Beli complained about the balls), people would be saying the Pats are a bunch of whining babies and that would be the story line. Yes, but the Patriots have cheated before. Bellichek is known by a lot of people as Bellicheat. Mark Brunell has been quoted as saying a little air out of the ball can make a big difference. Again, I don't think it mattered this game, but who knows if it has in the past and they were busted. Again. Troy Aikman thinks the penalty should be more severe than Bounty gate. I think that is extreme, but if their coach has to sit out the Super Bowl, the Patriots may finally get the message they are not above the rules. Fining them does no good. That is money they will never need anyway.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 02:21 PM) maybe this is the reclamation player someone was mentioning yesterday. the 1 project the sox usually sign. usually it is a pitcher, maybe not this yr. Signing reclamation projects not being counted on to contribute is fine. The past couple seasons, it seemed the Sox were counting on some of these guys to be pretty good.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 02:18 PM) this is the big soxfest move Ronnie Woo Woo is now sure to attend.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 01:54 PM) Enough already with the ex-Cubs. I know yours is in green, but the ex Cub factor is starting to become a concern. When you look at him though, is he really any worse than Tyler Flowers?

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Did the NFL ever prove that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis knew about the bounty program? Common sense will tell you they knew about it. The NFL isn't a court of law. The burden of proof isn't nearly as high. But that is a case where the buck stopped where it was supposed to stop as well. Even if they didn't know, they should have and were held responsible.

I don't think it mattered this game, but if it is no big deal, why have any standard? If you want to play with a flat ball, let them play with a flat ball. If you want it inflated to the point where it may pop, that would be fine also. There is a reason these balls were deflated below league standards, and it wasn't because whoever thought to do so didn't think it really mattered. The Patriots didn't play by the rules. Someone needs to be punished. Draft picks might be too much. I like the head coach suspended for the SB idea.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 11:30 AM) Dan Wetzel ‏@DanWetzel 7m7 minutes ago Belichick dared investigators to prove he's lying [so he's probably telling truth]. And Brady is just another player http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bill-belichic...-170301312.html … Still, he is the head coach and the buck stops with him. Suspend him for the Super Bowl. The Patriots will never have that problem again.