Dick Allen

Here's an interview with Rasmus' dad in August. If he was a star, you deal with it. When he could just be horrid, why put your staff through it. http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/08/05/...is-father-says/

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) I just want to move away from his "head" and more into his talent and fit with the Sox . His upside, if realized, is very high and a potential 4.5 WAR guy who's done it before and is only 28 can't be ignored . If I had to pick one or the other sure it would be Cabrera but I'm greedy I want both unless it costs the Sox a chance to add a quality starter. He doesn't seem like a bad guy and he knows he is to blame more than anyone. http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/201...y_la_russa.html LaRussa too has his critics but if wins are the most important things then I guess that makes his personality a winner too. SO simple so in depth. That was a fluff article was from the Spring of 2012 In 2012 he hit .223/.289/.400 His dad being more "positive" and his being more "comfortable" didn't help that season.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 01:44 PM) Because rolling the dice represents the only solution we have. I acknowledge all the risks you are bringing up. But you've also made the point that if we aren't ever going to take any risks, we aren't ever going to win. The reason it's easy to like is that it's a risk where it is relatively easy to swallow the worst-case outcome. While Miller/Robertson are surer bets to perform, I'm not sure they're THAT much surer, and their cost/terms will hurt us so much more if they bomb. In other words, I think it's a good balance of risk and reward, thanks to its low cost. I do think you take risks, but there are some risks you just do not take. It just seems the sample size of Zach Duke's success is so small, and his performance such an outlier, when I read all the people, not just here, but writers and others who think he is now good to go for several years, it just confuses me. The other thing is since he changed everything around, his arm angle, his pitches, maybe some of his earlier success can be tied onto really not having a good scouting report. He was different. Eduardo Perez said the best time to hit is when you just get called up because they don't have any reports on you. I would imagine it's the same pitching-wise, especially for a veteran who has changed things around. The guy still doesn't average 90 on his fastball. I can't see how his k-rate doesn't slide dramatically, and those are going to increase the balls in play, and maybe a couple out of play. If it was for a year, I would think it was an overpay, but OK. The length, I just don't understand. But if they are good with taking this much chance totally blowing $15 million, it could bode well for the rest of the payroll. The funny thing is, I sort of wanted the White Sox to give Duke a shot a few years ago.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 01:39 PM) I don't think anybody is saying you have to like it, just that there's not a lot of reason to be upset about it. You can feel, as I know you do, that Duke is a fluke and it won't work out, but I think this will at least provide more utility than the Keppinger signing as he can be, at worst, a swingman for the Sox and at best he is going to be a nice set up guy. We did think Keppinger would be able to play around the field a bit better, but he seemingly lost all usefulness after that first year. FWIW, I think that signing ultimately ended up being worse than the Dunn signing, all things considered. It would all depend of what else, if anything, they would have used the funds. Since the Sox didn't really win with either, Dunn's $56 million vs. Keppinger's $15 million would lead you to believe Dunn. But they may have blown that $56 million on another bust, or maybe they then have extra funds to land Soler, a guy they supposedly came in 2nd or 3rd place. and maybe the $15 million they used of Keppinger would have been used for someone better. We really will never know unless someone writes a book.

I really don't think the White Sox want a guy who won't listen to their coaches when he is struggling. LaRussa and Rasmus hated each other. LaRussa and JR are tight. I am sure if there is some interest, that probably is a call that is made. I really doubt JR pays this guy 8 figures.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) But that's the point -- a big part of why RPs are difficult to predict is because everything you see is small sample data, even though it FEELS like more than that. I am really not trying to start anything, but if this is how you feel, how can you say in another post we HAVE to like the deal when it is for 3 years for a guy who if he pitched the other 38 innings like he did his last 20, even with a nice xFIP, would be lucky to get much more than $1 million guaranteed? I'm sure there are players out there that if they had one good year, you wouldn't like it if the White Sox gave them $15 million for the next 3. It's not a ton of money relative to baseball players, but I can't see how anyone can come to the conclusion there is a decent chance this guy is pretty good the next 3 years.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 01:03 PM) That's comparing apples to oranges buddy. 20 IP for an arm in the pen could represent over 25 percent of a season where as 20 IP for a starting pitcher idealy is only a 10 percent or less sample size. His motion is actually Sale-like know. I think there is a high risk of injury. Sale has been throwing like that forever. This guy just started. I wonder if his older body parts can take the stress.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 11:30 AM) Article speaks for itself. This was really fun to read. Bonus points to anybody who can figure out the Sox guy before reading it, I know I couldn't figure it out. http://grantland.com/features/mlb-transaction-trees/ I got the answer correct, but it was just a lucky guess. Those are fun.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) Jose Bautista only had 600 PA's by age 25; I don't think he's a comp at all. David Ortiz had a career .351 OBP and a 101 wRC+ through age 25; he knew how to hit. Viciedo doesn't, is sitting at a .298 OBP and 95 wRC+, and he's going in the wrong direction. Viciedo is a strange case. He just turned 20 when he was assigned to Birmingham. What would Courtney Hawkins have done in Birmingham this year? There are flashes. Early in 2014 it looked like he turned a corner. Maybe another year of Steverson would do the trick. This guy seems to have a different hitting coach every year. Steverson was quoted a couple of weeks ago saying how good Viciedo wants to be. You look at his physique and I one would tend to think he probably gets a little lazy, but apparently he is very hard working. You aren't going to get much for him, unless he is some throw in with a bigger trade, which would be fine. If the option is to let him go for nothing or trade him for someone else's crap, I think sticking with him one more year makes sense. I did listen to a Hahn interview at the end of the season, and he was asked about Viciedo's status. He pretty much danced around it.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:54 AM) He's shooting 19% on uncontested 3 pointers. I'm convinced he'll be good come jan-feb, let's say post all star break. But it does seem like after every game people are convinced any offensive dry spell would be fixed by Doug McDermott. The dude is like boozer plus/minus territory on the court. They had some guys working out at my gym pre-draft. McBuckets was one. That 19% on uncontested 3 pointers is shocking to me. I saw him hit about 15 in a row in a drill. It was unreal. He wil turn it around.

I liked Morales over LaRoche myself, but LaRoche can play 1B and at this point, I don't think Morales can. So at least with LaRoche, you can have them both in the line up when Abreu is DHing, and he is probably going to have to DH probably a little more than occassionally with his physical issues.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:39 AM) In the sense that anything is possible, yes. I think Navarro is probably getting some banned help in his offensive production. Not that any team is totally clean. There are probably some real shockers out there, that aren't obvious. Pablo Ozuna is one. But it seems to me, Navarro can easily revert back to his age 25-27 production and actually be much worse than Tyler Flowers.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:22 AM) I'd be insulted at that if I were Lester. I would have a hard time being insulted about being offered a contract guaranteeing me more money than I will ever need. I understand he will get more, but in negotiation, rarely is the best offer the first offer.

Here are Navarro's age 25-27 stats 25 .218/.261/.322 26 .194/.270/.258 27 .193/.276/.324 If he is so coveted now, wouldn't it suggest Viciedo can get better?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) His bat is clearly an upgrade, at least for two seasons....but his defense isn't very good. Certainly, that's better than what we saw out of LF in 2013/14, but how much is it actually worth? Are the Sox willing to go to 4 years for a player beginning the downside of his career? Signing Cabrera might only leave $10 million of new spending on the table, and that's going to have to pay for a DH, a closer and a 3 starter in the rotation. Not possible without trading Ramirez and/or dumping Danks and going with Semien/Sanchez/L.Garcia at SS. Until he started juicing, he used to be a good defender. He can throw. One good thing is if he gets suspended the Sox won't have to pay him. Does anyone really think he didn't juice in 2014?

Belisario's xFIP was 3.69. I watch nearly every White Sox game. I am not sold on xFIP, at least for relievers.

KW mentioned a lot of good players are available in trade. Said the Winter Meetings will be an exciting time. He will be helping Hahn put the dream together.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) Actual WAR the last 2 years: Viciedo: -0.8 fWAR Navarro: 3.8 fWAR. That iis in the past. When making trades and constructing a roster, what you will do is a little more important than what you did.

2015 Steamer projection Navarro 0.3 WAR Viciedo. 0.6 WAR

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) Yeah, I get that. I get that you don't think he's for real. You may be right. I mean, I probably only think it's 60/40 that his changes are for real. I'm just saying that it is incorrect to compare this signing to the Paulino/Downs signings, because the Sox think he IS for real. So hopefully they're right about that. I compared it to Keppinger. The Keppinger, Teahen and now Duke families should get down on their knees every night and Thank God for the White Sox.or

I wonder if he is part of the dream.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 03:01 PM) I'll try to elaborate on the last sentence of that post, because I know it isn't clear. The philosophy you've been arguing for lately is "pay up for premium talent that you clearly need. Scrap heap/upside guys will add up to simply treading water." That's exactly what the White Sox THINK they just did. You personally may think that Zach Duke is overrated, but the Sox and much of the market (as evidenced by his ultimate price tag) see him as high end talent, because he changed something and had fantastic results. So it IS consistent with the philosophy above, even though you disagree with their evaluation of Duke's talent, which is totally fair. So while you may be unhappy about the move in terms of the player they got I think you should be happy about the move in terms of what it foreshadows, which is that the Sox are trying to pay up for good players that fit their needs. And I will elaborate, I believe Zach Duke is not premium talent. He is a journeyman at best player who switched some things up and had a freakishly good season, a season which even you would probably admit was highly unlikely and even more unlikely to repeat. Everyone is looking for LH relief pitching. If it was reasonably thought throughout the league that he could sustain his 2014 performance, he would have been paid more than $15 million. Hopefully, they can get at least a good couple months out of him before the clock strikes midnight. Steamer projects Dayan Viciedo to be twice as valuable as Zach Duke in 2015. I think there would be outrage if the Sox gave Viciedo Duke's contract.

While I would agree if 2 weeks in the minors actually does get the White Sox an extra season of control, it is well worth it especially early when there are some off days and potential postponements. You are talking 2 or 3 starts. That said, if he does make the Opening Day roster and 6 years from now we are cussing Hahn and KW out for doing it, he will have had a really nice career. 6 years is a long time. JR will be in his mid 80s. I doubt he still would be running the team.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) Just out of curiosity, did he make a list like this last season with Abreu(and if he did, where did he have the Sox) In the comments section, someone mentioned why the Dodgers wouldn't be in on him and Badler replied who said they are not. So he is only speculating.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 03:35 PM) Which would a be a ridiculous scenario where the Sox build their entire team through free agency. That isn't an issue. You fill gaps with it, and LHP in the bullpen is a gap that had to be filled. I mean, you could turn it around for Miller and say, "If the Sox are going to be spending $10m on bullpen pieces, they will have a team record payroll," or for Martinez and say "If the Sox are going to spend $17m on a DH, they will have a team record payroll." You have to look at everything in context. I don't think this is a slam dunk by any measure -- but I think it's a defensible move in the context of the market. It's at least as defensible as going for Miller. And we now know that Sox are serious about fixing the bullpen. In other words, I totally get it if you don't think Duke is good, but you have to admit that this is NOT the same thing as Downs/Paulino -- they found a guy coming off an incredible season and just gave him a multi-year deal. This isn't a "scrap heap" signing. I think you can totally knock their evaluation of Duke, but the move tiself is definitely in line with the philosophy you've been arguing for lately. Signing a guy who has had one good season since the White Sox won the World Series and paying him for 3 years based off that one season, is NOT the philosophy I have been arguing lately.