Dick Allen

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 14, 2014 -> 01:01 AM) or you know he could say nothing at all. It's one thing to send a message to a team expected to contend but really, ripping the guys for coming out flat against a very good oakland team after a 1 run loss? It just doesn't jive with reality. If you want to discipline De Aza do it in house and say he had a leg thing. Robin doesn't have the gravitas to do this s*** it's like Bobby V the players after awhile will resent it and that's not good. I'm not defending De Aza either but it's up to the manager to push the right buttons and Ventura doesn't seem to push any of them -- whether that's with the media, in the clubhouse, or in the games. Robin ripped the effort Sunday. He also keeps far more things in the clubhouse than any other manager. If you are going to rip him being at least a little accurate would help. He says something he is an idiot. He says nothing, he couldn't care less and needs to make an example out of someone, he is an idiot. Unfortunately there is no one available who could manage this team to the undefeated record it's talent clearly indicates it should be. One thing I did learn tonight, Soxtalk was right Robin was a fool not to pinch hit for Garcia last night with Semien or if the idiot didn't pinch run for Dunn when he didn't have to, Sierra. No way they would have struck out in that situation. So what if they were 0-7 with 7 strikeouts tonight.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 13, 2014 -> 03:13 PM) That was 28 years ago. Not sure how it is relevant today. This. However, Hahn has given every indication that the team is Ventura's and as crazy as it sounds, I don't think winning or losing is all that important to Hahn right now. JR has said it was the biggest mistake he has made, but also said it is a mistake he would make again. So I'm sure he would try to talk Hahn or KW or both out of it if he was against it, but ultimately let them do their jobs.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 13, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) If you make a guy GM and give him responsibility for winning, you have to let him hire or fire personnel as he pleases. Hahn gave him an extension. It seems like he likes Robin as a manager far better than the consensus here.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 13, 2014 -> 02:53 PM) Except for the fact that Semien takes a f***ton of pitches and gives the rest of the lineup additional looks at the opposing pitcher. Also, I'm glad we can completely ignore their minor league careers and base our expectations for last night's game strictly on their performance so far this year. Nothing like using 35 PAs to justify decision-making. It was the last out. If Semien didn't reach base, how does the taking pitches for everyone else to see come into play? To tell you the truth, I think what Semien is doing this year at this level is more indicative of what you can expect from him presently than what he did in AA last year.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 13, 2014 -> 02:44 PM) Because he's big (muscular, not fat) and throws a fireball? What happens if he's a genetic freak that can hold up to that and they pass cause "he might get hurt." He's really not all that muscular, but the research shows guys his age, with his routine, and throw in his neighborhood velocity-wise, wind up on the shelf for a while. There is a 69% bust rate for HS pitchers taken in the top 30.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 13, 2014 -> 02:37 PM) Ok, so it was closer than one would think. The split data on Garcia isn't going to be useful after 16 PA. The bottom line is even if Semien hit there, it wasn't a huge upgrade, at least at this point in their careers. You might as well give Leury a shot. There might be a situation someday where he has to get a shot when you really have to win.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:27 PM) With four Cubans on their team alone, I wonder how much marketing is directed towards Hispanic fans? Seems that a lot of major league teams have given up on anything besides RBI as their African-American outreach in terms of marketing, and that program hasn't exactly produced a bonanza of prospects in the twenty years or so since it began, but the White Sox have had a lot of identifiable Hispanic players like Aparacio, Ordonez and Guillen, now Abreu. What's their percentage of the attendance-base? 1%? 2%? 3%? And yet Hispanics are the fastest growing percentage of the typical MLB fanbase, now comprising around 14% of the total US population. What's the percentage breakdown in the area within a 15 mile radius (especially South) of USCF? I know the White Sox has that Orgullo Sox (Sox Pride) section of their website, and the Hispanic broadcasting team...but haven't heard nearly as much about that after Guillen left as manager. I don't know about the marketing, but there are a good number of Hispanic people attending games.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 13, 2014 -> 02:20 PM) Most chilling line of that article: Average age of the Tommy John surgery for this years injured: 24.2. Andrews said he used to do the surgery on 3 or 4 HS kids a year. Now he does 3 or 4 a week.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 13, 2014 -> 02:25 PM) More accurately, Leury Garcia is just as much a .216/.275/.297 (56 wRC+) hitter as Marcus Semien is a .220/.286./.348 (73 wRC+) hitter. Semien was the better choice, but not because of his 2014 clutch hits. Actually, coming into that AB Garcia .222/.282/.306 Semien .220/.286/.348 vs. LHP Garcia .357/.357/.571 Semien .250/.313/.432

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 13, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) Your capacity to misunderstand (or at least pretend to misunderstand) the difference between "no such thing" and "not predictive" is baffling. If you don't believe something, fine, but stop misrepresenting what others say by twisting arguments into dumbed-down nonsense. Oh I'm sorry, I mistated. Leury Garcia, because he is a major leaguer, is just as much a "clutch hitter' as anyone else in his hitting class, which if you go by the numbers, includes what was available on the White Sox bench last night.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:45 PM) But from all accounts, Rodon has just as many if not more concerns from how hard he throws coupled with the amount of sliders he throws and how he has been handled, Aiken would be the only one of the three that would be worth a shot. Every draft is a gamble. I would look at something else other than Kolek too, but mostly because I think he will be a RP in the majors, and I think there are other guys that would provide more value. But you can't really just disqualify him because he might get hurt, because the same thing can happen to any other player you select. Rodon is older. They pitch once a week. Frankly from what I've read, Kolek might not get hurt, he will get hurt. That's why I wouldn't take him with #3. If I was drafting a little lower in the first round, then maybe I would take a shot, but the Sox cannot miss with this pick. To me Kolek is like a 100 lb. overweight chainsmoker with high blood pressure and a family history of heart disease delaying taking his social security until he's 70. Sure, it might pay off, but it is probably not wise to think it will. There will be a future star available when they pick.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:54 PM) That's really your argument? Can we say limited sample size? I'm guessing most of those lefties didn't have nearly the stuff that Doolittle does. Nor were those situations where he came up against lefties anything like the most important at-bat of the game, they were at garbage time (primarily). I can do the same thing, lol. RHP vs. LHP (650 projected PA) | Leury Garcia PA AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG OPS $ vs. RHP 650 599 61 6 50 34 0.225 0.271 0.308 0.579 4.0 vs. LHP 650 615 58 5 50 24 0.236 0.271 0.307 0.578 -0.5 It's not like the time he refused to walk Sal Perez in order to go after Moustakas, who was in the worst hitters in MLB at that time, but it wasn't one of his better decisions, either. Anyone who hit in that situation would have been limited sample size. Semien has had some big clutch hits, but I was told there really is no such thing, it's just random, and he strikes out a ton anyway. Sierra, another name you mentioned, was acquired on waivers. Why do teams place really good hitters on waivers? Oh yeah, they don't. It is amazing how every little part of the game is picked apart when the team loses. Especially considering many of the people picking each game apart seem to think the Sox have very little chance to be very good anyway, yet if you read a game thread, if some posters here were managing, the Sox would be very close to being undefeated, so apparently this is an unbelievalbly talented team.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) If you don't have a leadoff hitter then put whoever gets on base the most up there.. Garcia, De Aza, and Beckham are not those. So Adam Dunn should lead off. Gotcha.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) I still don't understand, today, why you wouldn't prefer to have either Semien or Sierra hitting there (yes, I understand he already pinch ran, but that was completely unnecessary to take Dunn out at that moment as he wasn't even the tying run...Ramirez was, and he was able to steal 2nd on his own)? Are you telling me that you can't read the back of their baseball cards or simply go to thebaseballcube.com? If Semien's now expected to strike out when he came into the season as your system's best combination of patience and relatively decent/high contact rates, what does it say that he has already fallen so low in the eyes of the manager in terms of trustworthiness, even though he's had huge hits at least 4-5 times already this year in similar situations? Sigh. If you are supposed to look at the back of their baseball cards, how come you didn't do it? Leury was hitting .357 vs. LHP with 3 doubles when he went to the plate.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:15 PM) Is there anyone who still believes Ventura is going to be the one who leads the White Sox to their next playoff appearance? Yes. He isn't going anywhere, and I put up $5k when you said any amount of money. I'd go higher if you would like.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) We should draft safe like McCulloch or Broadway. No one is suggesting that, but if Kolek was the one left standing, if it were me calling the shots, I would definitely consider a hitter, if there were no other pitchers worthy of the #3 pick. He seems destined to be hurt. It sounds crazy, but he throws too hard at this stage. I would want Rodon. I'd probably take Aiken. At least he took the winter off.

The problem is when Eaton is out, the Sox don't really have a leadoff hitter on their roster. So no matter who is there, when a game is lost and the guy leading off doesn't have a good game, Robin is an idiot.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 13, 2014 -> 10:26 AM) Only one of those three teams had a top 10 pick during that time frame. Incorrect. Beckham was a top 10 pick. But all 3 are just because of 4 players, Harper, Strasburg who both were #1. Storen and Crowe were top 10s with the Nationals. Trout and Sale make up the majority of WAR for the other teams. Sale, Beckham and Hudson are the only White Sox draft picks in that time frame with WARs higher than Jake Petricka's 1.3. Besides Sale, and Beckham (who if I praise you accuse me of trolling) and Hudson, the collective WAR of the rest of the Sox draft picks in those 3 drafts is barely 3.0.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 13, 2014 -> 11:13 AM) So we should take nobody? Yes. Just pass on the draft.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 11, 2014 -> 11:09 PM) @jonmorosi: #Nats, #Angels, #WhiteSox had next-best draft classes during same 3-year period of '08-'10; all are above 30.0 WAR. One player (Sale) makes all the difference. It is why the Sox shouldn't go cheap with pick #3 and pick their top player available, even if it costs them more than they were hoping.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) And now you can play the fun game of listing 30+ names who have had Tommy John Surgery in the last couple months and saying you should be wary of drafting any pitchers while you're at it. Read this. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/...on-taillon/#all http://www.espn.go.com/blog/high-school/ba...alks-tommy-john

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ May 13, 2014 -> 08:59 AM) I don't think Semien would have swung at a pitch above his head. The worst hitter on the 25 got the most AB's. You're all ours, RV. Yes, no way Semien strikes out. Leury was only 5-14 with 3 doubles vs. LHP up until that point. Obviously he should have been pulled. Anyone can see that.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2014 -> 12:19 AM) I would be willing to bet about any amount of money that Ventura's not the manager the next time the White Sox manage to reach the playoffs. OK. How about $5k?

The story of Texas HS phenom Todd Van Poppel. Better than Nolan Ryan. Better than Roger Clemens. He did the Braves a favor saying he wouldn't sign. They had to draft Chipper Jones instead. No matter how hard these HS phenoms throw, there is great danger. A lot bigger chance they are Todd Van Poppel than Dwight Gooden without the crack rock. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/art...801/5/index.htm

QUOTE (bmags @ May 12, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) I would never, ever go to a game if it were in sw suburbs. I love where sox stadium is. It has 2 major CTA train lines. It is right off of a major highway. It also has metra stops directly along it's route. I understand the criticism of "not enough stuff to do around park" but if it's that the stadium is hard to get to you aren't going to fix that going to the suburbs. That is interesting. What exactly is there to do in Addison after games?