Dick Allen

DFA doesn't mean placed on waivers. Although he could have been.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 14, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) Yesterday was his season debut. 25% chance he gets hurt before Friday. It is actually not until the 30th, so yeah, seeing TCQ is probably a long shot.

I wish someone would pay me $8 million not to do something.

Keppinger's AB always reminded me of Farmio's line when Buehrle pitched except for a hitter. "He pitches like he has his car double-parked on 35th Street."

Some team may take the contract if the Sox throw in a good chunk of change because if they think he can play, they would have him fairly cheap for 2 years.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 14, 2014 -> 11:52 AM) https://twitter.com/JKeppinger/status/466620010157596672 It was nice enough of him to tweet that. I don't understand why people have to rip on him in response. The internet gives a lot of people a lot of courage.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ May 14, 2014 -> 11:40 AM) I know not all of those guys would get DFA'd, I'm just saying those are candidates. I agree about De Aza because he provides depth and Sox have nothing in the OF in the minors besides maybe Mitchell or Thompson. Jordan Danks and Blake Tekotte are your minor league OF depth for the Sox this year. And that's not saying much. Losing Garcia for the year and Eaton for a little while really thins out the OF. It just really sucks that it will be another year at least before the Sox really know what they really have in Garcia. It kind of puts a damper on offseason activity.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 14, 2014 -> 10:56 AM) Keppinger got that on the strength of a .325/.367/.439 (128 wRC+) walk year. If Beckham does that, he won't be looking for a job. Ironically he got that 3 year $12 million contract one year after being non tendered.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 14, 2014 -> 11:23 AM) I don't think that's true. Pitchers aren't working their arms that much besides throwing their regimen usually includes running for 45 minutes after starts and squats/lunges and an emphasis on the core. What I found more interesting, something that I can't comment towards intelligibly, was their ideas surrounding the height of the mound. Supposedly if the MLB raised the mound 2-3 inches it would be a lot easier to get the tilt on the offspeed pitches. Hawk has been mentioning raising the mound and getting bigger seams on the balls for years as a way to reduce pitching injuries. They wouldn't need the max effort every pitch for max movement or to get guys out.

I think they will try to trade him for a piece of crap prospect while eating most of the contract. Maybe TB would want him back. Do they have any 25 year old A ball pitchers with 8.00 ERA's and more walks than innings pitched? You figure they already paid him $1 million this year, so he's got about $7 miilion left. If he gets the minimum this year and next, it comes out to a little more than $6 million the Sox ultimately eat. Not huge.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 14, 2014 -> 11:11 AM) Then might I suggest never drafting a high school pitcher because they will likely get hurt. It's fine drafting them. But unless you are really, really confident they are the second coming of Dwight Gooden, picking them that high is beyond a risk. 2 guys drafted high that had success where Gavin Floyd who was drafted in 2001 but became a regular rotation member in 2008, and Grienke who was drafted in 2002 and he wasn't a real effective starting pitcher until 2008. And I don't think many of have a future Gavin Floyd in 7 years on the wishlist for the #3 pick. One of the articles I linked said HS pitchers selected in the top 30 had a 69% bust rate from 2004-2008: The high-end high school pitcher always has been a risky bet. The 26 high school pitchers taken among the first 30 picks in the draft from 2004-08 had a failure rate of 69 percent, including about a one in four chance of never seeing the big leagues at all. And now the bet has grown even riskier as the threat of injury grows. And in the other one I linked, Andrews listed some things causing this increase, and you could put a check next to every one when you analyze Kolek. Basically, taking a HS pitcher with the 3rd pick in the draft, is an Adam Dunn AB where he cannot draw a walk since a walk wouldn't be acceptable for a pick this high. It's either going 450 feet, or he's walking back to the dugout in a chorus of boos.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 14, 2014 -> 10:08 AM) Ok, well if not, then the millions of dollars in salary should be. I know I'd personally believe it was an issue. Beckham will be good enough to where the dollars are fine in 2015.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 14, 2014 -> 10:00 AM) If he doesn't play well enough to get tendered a contract this year, he will have a problem finding a job at the $5m+/yr he'd make if he went through arb again. And I'm guessing he'd like to avoid transplanting his family. I don't think the White Sox have many, if any, players or coaches who live in Chicago full-time. I don't think that is an issue.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 14, 2014 -> 09:41 AM) The pressure comes from the fact that he make 10x more money than the others and can easily be non-tendered. He will have no problem finding a job.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 14, 2014 -> 09:41 AM) No, people with Beckham hate realize he's a bust and want someone else there, it has nothing to do with Semien. BS. Semien was actually called a "professional hitter" by a Beckham hating mouth breather. People were disregarding he leads the league in striking out, pointing out his taking pitches helps the rest of the offense. Well his 4 strikeouts last night, helped the team pound out 4 hits. His flaws ignored. Just get rid of Beckham. Well, Semien isn't as good as Beckham.

Why would he feel pressure from these guys? You project Semien's numbers over the same amount of plate appearances Adam Dunn made during his historically bad 2011 campaign, and they are pretty similar, except you gain a few more hits, lose a few more walks. People with Beckham hate have that hatred blind them into thinking Semien is better. At least at this time, he is not.

If you want to go Friday against SD and The Carlos Quentin, here's a deal, and it's fireworks night, which means either, A. watch the surprisingly nice show, or B. Quick getaway. Get Lower Box tickets for $25 ($40 value) or snag seats in Outfield Reserved for only $12 ($22 value). Bleachers and Upper Box tickets are available for just $10/per ticket on this exciting day ($15-$20 value). Your special offer code is ACADEMY.

I have both driven and taken the Red Line to the games for years, even back when the Red Line stop for 35th wasn't in the middle of the Dan Ryan but over on State when the Robert Taylor Homes were still around. I admit it was a little nervewracking walking back to that stop after an extra inning game with little crowd, but it was fine. The CTA seems to be getting it's act together fixing up stations and it's tracks. For me, that is now the way to go, but if the price of parking is an issue, go to a bar or restaurant near the park before the game and park on the street for free. Ask them for a temporary parking pass. They will give you one.

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.