Dick Allen

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 02:57 PM) Dan Hayes ‏@DanHayesCSN 10m Aaron Rowand will visit #WhiteSox camp tomorrow. Mike Ditka is in camp Saturday. Da Coach is the only one who could possibly follow Rowand.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 02:43 PM) I don't think it exists anywhere, unfortunately. Lee's numbers improved the same year they started this, so wouldn't it make sense to think it was worse the 3 previous years?

Why does the Big Ten have 12 teams, and the Big 12 have 10 teams?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 01:44 PM) Like Jake says, PFF likes Young a lot. I like that we're not going after guys with sexy sacks numbers, but advanced metrics instead. I'm not sold on advanced metrics in the NFL right now. Didn't they rate J'Marcus Webb a little higher than Bushrod in 2012?

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) lol No, what J4L is saying is no team or fanbase should celebrate unless they are shoo in favorites to win it all that year. At least that's what I think he's saying No celebrating, ever. Yet if the Rockets light up the Bulls tonight in a meaningless regular season game, watch him go nuts about them.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 11:39 AM) Carlos Lee's O-Swing was substantially above average -- it never exceeded 25% when he was with the White Sox and was more typically around 22%. Again, Diane Visiendo's was always worse than average, has gotten worse each year, and was 42.5% last year. Lee swung at an astonishing 20% fewer bad pitches than Tank did last year. This is what Balta was saying -- it isn't about the walks, it's about the selectivity. Where do you get the O-Swing for his first 3 years? Fangraphs only has it starting in 2002.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:50 AM) Call me crazy, but the Trumbo trade gives me hope for Tanks possible value, without requiring miraculous improvement. Carlos Lee was very much like Tank. He didn't walk much, had a few more hits, but put up an OPS+ right around average until he turned 26. Tank is never going to walk a ton, but he still can learn to layoff pitches he can't hit hard. Maybe he won't, but I don't get how anyone can conclude a just turned 25 year old cannot.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) How can you guys argue about the same bulls*** over and over. This board's becoming redundant as hell. Yeah, we need to get back to the Gordon Beckham sucks posts.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) If Jack Z called up Hahn and offered Ackley straight up for Dunn Hahn wouldn't have countered with Franklin he'd have countered with delirious shouts of joy and a massive coke party f*** fest MCed by Paul Konerko himself. If he did that you are correct, but Jack Z is a big fan of Ackley and didn't offer Ackley straight up for Tank either. I can guarantee that.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 11:38 PM) Barring some absolutely absurd Big East tourney run, I assume Purnell is gone after this year. Who do you think DePaul will go after/who do you think it should go after? I think they already said he will be back.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 06:17 PM) What's a B7? I hope it's what we start calling Flowers. I am guessing inning.

Swinging at the first pitch is fine as long as it is a good pitch to hit or if he was the 3rd batter and the first 2 were done with one pitch, you usually take at least one to give your defense and pitcher a breather. The goal shouldn't be full counts or seeing 10 pitches every AB. The goal should be swinging at pitches you can hit hard, and not offering at pitches you cannot. Eventually that means seeing more pitches, but not always. If there is an 87 mph fastball right down the middle on pitch one, I think swinging makes a lot of sense. When you get ahead in the count, you can shrink your zone. If they are hitting the corners and you get behind, you have to widen it out. It is all very simple until you actually are doing it.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) Don't ask me. So disappointing down the stretch. That said, that disappointment can turn with a good showing here on out. They clearly have the talent. They can't win close games and really have a tough time shooting 3s. I don't know what is going on with Aaron White. He disappears for long stretches. This is the first year under Fran the Hawks didn't significantly improve as the season went on. Hopefully it isn't a new trend. And hopefully Fran's 13 year old son will be OK. http://hawkcentral.com/2014/03/11/fran-mcc...earns-of-tumor/

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 12:43 PM) Here are some numbers for Bears new safety. Allowed 5 TD passes, 148.8 opposing passer rating. Defensed one pass. Zero INTs. So he's just like the old ones. Good times.

There are a few ways to look at losing McNown. The fact that he pretty much sucked before last year, so maybe the offense makes the QB and not the other way around, so it would make sense they can get a fill in just as good. Or maybe he was just fantastic last year and somehow found himself. Or maybe he was fantastic last year but it was a fluke and had he have stayed, his play would have dropped off to where he had been. 2 out of 3 are in the Bears favor, and they are the 2 that are most likely. You have to be happy for him though. He gets millions for a career that he probably figured was over a couple of years ago.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) The first three years or so were as good of a comedy as there was on TV. The last few years have been awful. Limping home like one of my all time favorites, Dexter. It gets so ridiculous at the end, you don't feel bad it's going off the air.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 11:56 AM) Holy crap was HIMYM awful last night. I'm so happy there is only 3 episodes left. That show is so........wait for it................................horrible. I tried watching it this season, and couldn't take it. It apparently had to be halfway decent previously or it never would have lasted. It definitely lasted at least one season too long.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 03:45 PM) But that's the thing with cherry-picking, it's a thing you do when you don't have enough information to get the full picture. With him, we have SO much information, and ALL of it is bad. It's nice that he showed a more neutral platoon split last year, but he was below average against both, so really it was more like he stopped murdering lefties and still hit below average against righties. I'm not saying it's impossible that he breaks out, of course the talent is enticing. I'm just saying we've got tons of objective data showing him fail to make adjustments, so right now everything points to him not being able to reach his potential. And as of today, he's a bad player. I hope he has a great birthday though! He's already a multi-millionaire though, so I can't feel too bad about ragging on him for swinging at bad pitches. The guy just turned 25 today. Saying he cannot improve is foolish. There are plenty of examples of people improving at that age.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 02:35 PM) It's not just the pick, it's the slot money. And if you aren't selecting anyone there, it is pretty much a wash. They have 2 first rounders this year as well.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 03:04 PM) Show it to me then, DA. Guess who else was awesome in stretches? Brent Lillibridge. Anyone can have a good week. We've got all kinds of results to analyze for Viciedo because he's had tons of playing time. Show me the promise in those results. He murdered LHP in 2012 and couldn't hit RHP. He improved vs. RHP last year and slipped a bit vs. LHP. It's cherry-picking, but cherry picking is fine when you are looking for anything, but if you take his 2013 vs. RHP and his 2012 vs. LHP, you are talking about a guy hitting close to .300 with a .332 OBP and an .820 OPS. Plus he can hit the ball 500 feet, and is still very young. There is a lot more there than some of the crap you wanted the White Sox to acquire. I think today is his birthday. You should at least be nice to him on his birthday.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 02:56 PM) Second half splits are not good predictors of future breakouts: http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/relevance...ond-half-stats/ http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball...k2k10secondhalf Tools mean jack if the player refuses to gain skills to accompany them. It makes sense to give the player the benefit of the doubt until he shows you otherwise. Unfortunately for Viciedo... well over the past three seasons, more than 1000 plate appearances, Viciedo's strike recognition has somehow DIMINISHED. This is an extremely, extremely discouraging trend. His Achilles Heel is O-Swing: 2011 = 36.4%, 2012 = 39.9%, 2013 = 42.5%. League average hovers around 31%. As for minor league numbers, the fact that he managed an .853 OPS in AAA one year is nice, I guess, and would be encouraging if that's all we had to go on, but I can't think of any reason at all not to trust the 1200+ PAs he's had at the major league level instead. Can you? If it's easy to come up with evidence that Viciedo can be successful, please feel free to do so. I haven't seen anything so far. The evidence is there. He has had stretches where he has been very effective. It's a matter of making it happen more consistently. To say there is NOTHING that says he can be successful is total hyperbole.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 02:28 PM) I mean I guess it's true that even replacement level players are still REALLY good at baseball, compared to the average human being. But he's been a replacement level player, so by MLB standards, he currently sucks. Maybe he'll get better, but I haven't seen anyone come up with any evidence to suggest that it's likely. So you choose to ignore his second half and his tools, some minor league numbers, yet create threads about players who suck in the minor leagues who have been DFA'd that the Sox should consider acquiring. IMO, it's easier to come up with evidence Viciedo can be successful than a couple of the names you suggested they should pick up.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 12:09 PM) Zach Stewart to Atlanta for cash. Raise your hand if you forgot Stewart was still with the Sox organization. Hi. I have always wondered how much cash is actually exchanged in these types of deals. I am sure the league makes them give up something, but I bet it isn't even 5 figures.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 08:50 AM) I'm not sure we can say they're "Considering" it, but there appears to have been fairly respectable, non-bruce-levine names that have liked the White Sox and Mariners and put the 2 names Viciedo and Saunders together. The Sox know Viciedo better than anyone at this point and given his lack of development, I consider it plausible that they might reach a point of personal frustration with him in a way other teams wouldn't. When I start seeing proposals involving him that otherwise make no sense, as you say...that starts making me think that a personal issue could very well be the problem. This is one I could easily be mistaken on, because the only way to really gauge how a team feels about a guy personally is to read between the lines; looking at performance, playing time, trade rumors, competition on the roster, etc. If nothing happens and he goes out and gets 600 PA's this year, then they're still showing confidence in him. If they make a move like this, or they give him 350 PA's and platoon him with a lefty OF who is older and getting close to FA...those kind of things argue to me that they have a real problem with the guy. If they have "a real problem with the guy" he wouldn't be wearing a White Sox uniform right now. I'm sure they hoped he would be more advanced at this point, but the potential is still there. I don't think organizations have as many problems with players as fans do. There hasn't been one White Sox since I have been on this board, that didn't get slammed eventually. If teams ran out of patience as quickly as fans, all teams would have ridiculously high payrolls, paying tons of players not to play for them.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 08:27 AM) It's the only obvious reason why the team would even consider this kind of deal. This one you can't help but read between the lines about. And where is the confirmation they are considering this type of deal? It really makes zero sense from a White Sox perspective, unless it is going to be some bigger deal. Is Saunders better than De Aza? If you think it is stupid to have Viciedo and De Aza on the same roster, wouldn't it be even dumber to have De Aza and Saunders on the same roster? The White Sox have made a pretty big investment in Viciedo. I find it hard to believe they would trade him for another OF they really don't need.