Dick Allen

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.

The sale of the Clippers did JR and his buddies good. Forbes now values the Bullies at $2 billion.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 10:57 AM) The head ref is supposed to inspect the balls, its part of their job. Whether or not it is micro managed, its in the job description and these guys get paid a ton of money for maybe 20 days out of the year of actual game work. I dont think its too much to ask for them to notice a ball is very under-inflated I think what this is going to lead to is teams not being able to use their own game ball. I do think the league provides the ball for kicking situations. Just make it for every situation. I hope nobody is suggesting the Colts may have won with the ball fully inflated, but there has been a pattern of cheating with NE that needs to be addressed more harshly than normal. As far as playing by the rules, the Patriots are the Daniel Carcillo of the NFL.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 11:09 AM) Jeremy Stoltz retweeted Jen Lada ‏@JenLada 11m11 minutes ago Some Bears players have been told Adam Gase will be the OC in Chicago. Kyle ‏@Ky1eLong 4m4 minutes ago Gase ������������ Kyle ‏@Ky1eLong 4m4 minutes ago I haven't heard anything internally but seems like u guys have it figured out Kyle ‏@Ky1eLong 3m3 minutes ago I repeat - I know what you know Jeremy Stoltz ‏@BearReport 12m12 minutes ago Now the Colts say they won't let Rob Chudzinski interview anywhere. Obviously that includes the #Bears. Getting the guy a lot of people would have been happy with being named the HC as the OC is a nice coup.

I have never liked Samardzija, and I still can't figure out the Zach Duke signing. He is almost a guaranteed future Soxtalk punching bag, but I can't see how any White Sox fan could be dissappointed about this offseason.

QUOTE (coco1997 @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 01:33 PM) Look at what the Cubs just gave up to get Dexter Fowler from Houston. Are you meaning to tell me Hahn couldn't match that to get Castro? Fowler will probably wind up close to $10 million and is a rental.