Dick Allen

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:34 AM) I would like to point out that pretty much no one knew that KC would have a lockdown pen before this season started. Holland is the only guy who hasn't pitched WAY better than he did the previous season. Well, Hawk the idiot, who the game has passed by, said KC had the best bullpen in the league in March. They have had a great bullpen for a few years now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:45 AM) 86 RC+ in 2013 is the worry. That could be explained by the tumor, but I also think there may be something to Melky not performing as well when there isn't money on the line.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) All I am saying is that this is fine and that should be the target level. That is the target level. Everything from the White Sox indicates that. Even if they wind up signing someone better, there still will be a place for Rodon.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) And you're not breaking up the rotation if the team is near 1st place, and you're not taking the big money guys out of the rotation. Something's gotta give. Conveniently, there's a way to make this work if we target the right type of guy in FA. They are signing a back of the rotation starter. There is also a pretty good chance someone gets injured. There is also a pretty good chance Hector Noesi isn't competing for a Cy Young award next year, and/or some other starter just sucks. The White Sox rotation is not exactly stacked. Rodon, if he pitches well in AAA, if he even pitches in AAA, will be in the rotation. This notion that even if he is dominating in AAA, he could be "blocked", is beyond laughable.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:36 AM) You said leaving him in the minors wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, and DA says that he's a top prospect and you're not leaving him in the minors no matter what. There's my problem. IMO, you plan for this scenario when you're deciding who to bring in. I don't object to bringing in rotation help, but someone on a short term deal that you might even be willing to move to the bullpen or trade would be absolutely ideal because no matter how that person does you have the ability to clear them out of the way. Hence why I can get the case for someone like "Just shut your mouth and pitch for once" Peavy or Masterson as opposed to any of the big money guys. Short term deal, can move them out of the way or even do a bullpen stint if it comes to that. You aren't leaving him in the minors if he is dominating AAA.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:24 AM) And here's a good illustration of why I keep bringing it up. Two people both admit its a possibility, but hope that it isn't the case, and come to exactly the opposite conclusion if it does happen. I say there is a chance, but more like Lloyd Christmas and 1 in a million. The next time the White Sox have too many starting pitchers will be the first. Just consider that for a moment.

QUOTE (BaconOnAStick @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) I'd also like to point out that Holland, Davis and Herrera are all righties (even their 4th option, Frasor is a righty) and Yost still uses them near exclusively. Handedness is irrelevant. Doesn't Showalter have 3 LH in the bullpen? He is a guy who uses handedness and it worked well. There is more than one way to build a bullpen. Baltimore and KC had the best records in the AL when leading after 6. Lockdown bullpens win games, as we saw, even with a sweet starting staff in 2005. Bad bullpens waste good rotations. Good bullpens make less than perfect rotations much better. The key is, like everything else, picking the correct guys.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:47 AM) If this team is below .500 I can buy that, but if the pitching staff comes together early and this looks like a competitive team, you're not putting a rookie in the rotation unless someone gets hurt. BS. This is a guy they consider a cornerstone of their future. This isn't Andre Reinzo having a couple of good months in AAA. They didn't pay him the bonus they paid him and drafted him with the highest pick they have had since Harold Baines so he can wait for Hector Noesi to blow up. Besides, someone will get hurt or be bad. That is just the nature of the game, and if somehow that didn't happen, there will be nothing to complain about because the White Sox will be rolling.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:39 AM) What happens if the arrival time for Rodon is June/July? IMO that's by far the most likely scenario, a few months of AA/AAA and then appears late enough in the season that it happens to be after he'd pass the Super-2 point. Not just because of that, but because he's had so little minor league time. If he puts up an ERA in the 2's in AAA in the first half there's no reason to keep him in the minors all year, but if you sign someone to a big contract, who leaves the rotation? One of the big contract guys? Quintana/Sale? Or are we counting on Noesi to be worse than last year - because if he's any better than this year, replacing him mid-season with a rookie would be a downgrade that won't happen. If the White Sox have 5 starters that keep a guy like Rodon trapped if he is dominating in Charlotte, there really is nothing to complain about. The reality, which you continue to ignore, is that never happens. I think the 2005 White Sox set or tied a record with only 6 pitchers starting games that season. Even then Rodon would have taken over for El Duque.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:29 AM) It all depends on what else we're doing this offseason. If John Danks is in the rotation by contract default, but we're going to blow huge money on a FA outfielder or DH, it would scare me a lot more to go into the season relying on Bassitt and Rodon as middle of the rotation starters on a competing team than it would to spend money on those guys. On the other hand, spending big money on a guy to block Rodon would scare me if we're still continuing the youth-movement theme. There is ZERO chance there will be a pitcher that blocks Rodon if Rodon belongs in the major leagues. ZERO

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:15 AM) That's not why it would ruin greg's offseason though. I'm not real high on him either, honestly. But it's because I'm not sure how good he is. I also think character issues are important. Melky is a cheater extrodinaire (sp I am sure). He also had attitude problems on the Yankees and Braves. The Braves let him go for nothing. I don't know why Greg is called out for not liking Melky because of his issues, and why it is OK to use other issues as reasons to not want someone around. Does anyone really think that if there was a drug test that could not be beat, Melky would pass? It is one thing to employ suspected players, it is another for known cheaters. Cheaters cheat, and in most cases, continue to cheat even after they are caught. To me signing Melky is a desperation move. You are just waiting for that 100 game suspension to be handed down. I guess the bright side would be he wouldn't be paid for all the budget worried people out there.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 08:22 AM) Because greg is more concerned about our players being likeable than he is about our team winning games. Melky has a ton of warts. It is very understandable why some wouldn't want the White Sox to sign him.

11 years ago tonight.....Bartman.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 12:46 PM) Bold Prediction: Markakis is gonna be the saltalamacchia of this year. Where it makes a good amount of sense, but we feel he'll get overpriced, basically hear we are out of the running early, then he'll get signed for a contract that is pretty reasonable. Salty sucks.

I read last night he was fleeing Tampa just in time. The Dodgers supposedly have far better prospects, not even bringing up payroll.

Does Melky Cabrera have good seasons when he is not playing for a contract?

I have the feeling balls will be wound a little tighter next season. Sometimes after a down year league-wide offensively, magically, offense improves the next season. See 1976-1977. 1986-1987 as a couple of examples. This year, the ball just wasn't jumping nearly like it was in the past, with a couple of exceptions, even when guys hit the ball really hard. Balls that when you saw them you knew they were gone in previous seasons, were being easily tracked down and camped under many times short of the warning track.

QUOTE (Butter Parque @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 08:43 PM) I wouldn't hate Rasmus, but I'd also like to see them sign Denorfia to a 1 year deal (would consider 2 years) to hit lefties and provide quality OF defense. Eventually, you would hate Rasmus. BTW, Rasmus' defense wasn't so great this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) There had to be an asking of permission by the Dodgers, otherwise the Rays would be in full meltdown mode. That is true. Maybe Colletti had enough or maybe he was aware his job was tied to how the team finished. If he didn't know permission was granted and these negotiations were going on behind his back, that would be really bad. Would they have made this move had they won the WS? I wonder why the Red Sox had to get compensation for Theo and the Rays don't appear to get any. Was Friedman's contract up?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 01:25 PM) Disrespectful on all sides of true. I could see if they meant for the past week, since the Dodgers were eliminated but prior to that is just nuts. The one thing that may eliminate that is Coletti technically didn't get fired, and maybe he was on board with it. But the one thing I read was this was going on way before the elimination.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 01:01 PM) His name is Andrew Friedman and he's arguably one of the best in baseball. Nice move by the Dodgers. This is a big deal. Friedman stretched the Rays' payroll just about as far as he could and now he's going to have one of the biggest payrolls in baseball. Obviously he'll have to dump some payroll this offseason but it'll be interesting in the long term. KW's best jobs were with lower payroll. When the checking account expanded, so did his mistakes. It could be the same for Friedman. No one has the game figured out.

They said they have been talking for weeks. Talking about another GMs job while that GM is still employed my make him a bit of an outsider to other GMs. You still have to do what's best for your team and if that is dealing with the Dodgers, you still do it, but I bet there are more than a couple of GMs that don't think too highly of what he's done.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) His war would have 5th on the staff at the cost of nothing. It's a hole. Bassit put up the same WAR in 29 innings. Hole covered.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) His war would have 5th on the staff at the cost of nothing. It's a hole. Ah true. Haven't checked on him in awhile. He was dominant in June, July and August going 4-1 with a 2.45 era, a whip of 1.08 and a k rate in the high 8s. Struggled again in September This is one area advanced metrics is lacking. When a guy goes 5 innings, even if he is spectacular, he taxes your bullpen, and it does eventually have an effect in other games that cannot be easily measured. That is why, innings eaters, IMO, are worth more a lot of the time than their advanced numbers indicate. When Santiago starts, your bullpen, except for one outing, had to get a minimum 9 outs.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) I'm here I'm here. Santiago was pretty dominant after being recalled and was a major part in the Angels ability to take over the A's. Overall the year was a step back for him but he still has left a big whole in our pitching staff. Hopefully we won'thave to spend much to replace him. I'm rooting for him and he should bounce back to his 2013 levels next year. My worry is still the same, that he's been jerked around so often that it's stunted his development but we'll see. Yeah, his average of less than 5 innings a start, escecially considering the White Sox bullpen, really left a hole in the staff.