Dick Allen

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 10:33 PM) Last two years Vargas 2.3 Salty 5.5 Yeah, but Vargas has 3 out of 4 over 1.5. Salty is primarily based on one season. Judging by what you supposedly are supposed to pay per WAR, this contract isn't so out of line. Any time you give a pitcher 4 years, it is a gamble.

Last 4 years, Vargas 7.2 WAR. Last 4 years, Salty 7.3 WAR, yet Vargas sucks a crazy overpay at 4 years $32 million and Salty is worth 4 years and $40 million. Explain.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 07:02 PM) D0 you have anything but your opinion where someone would've voted for Santo had he not campaigned ? Maybe campaigning made other voters look harder at his production and got him votes too. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and as time goes byI don't think it hurts Frank at all to remind those voting that the game was a cesspool of cheating and hurt those not cheating tremendously. There were many reports of voters turned off about it. Frank's biggest obstacle is not his numbers vs. PED guys, he is seen as clean. His biggest problem in whether or not he will be a first ballot guy is how much he DH'd. He doesn't have to campaign to get in. It will happen really soon.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 06:47 PM) I realise that but you can't compare Santo's campaigning with Frank campaigning when Santo played in an era where the playing field was level and Frank played in an era where the cheaters got all the glory. Santo's numbers were fringe HOF worthy while Frank's numbers could look so much better had others not done steroids. Frank can only rely on his hitting stats since he wasn't a good fielder and played DH a lot. Santo made 9 All-Star teams on a level playing field . Thomas only had 5 competing against roiders. Giambi 5 All Star games from 2000-2004 . Mark McGwire 5 AS games for the AL from 1991-1997. Rafael Palmeiro 3 AS games between 1991-1999. Frank campaigns because he never got the credit he deserved because he played honest and others didn't . Guys like Bonds and Sosa and McGwire all were greatly admired during the HR Derby's that was baseball when Frank played. If you are meek in today's day and age your accomplihments get ignored. All Frank is doing is putting his numbers in the proper context. Campaigning turns off voters. Everyone is fully aware of the Frank Thomas story.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 05:58 PM) What does Santo have to do with anything, he played in an era when the playing field was equal . He campaigned for the HOF. Frank will get in. The only question will be if he is first ballot. Some will hold the DH against him, lthough it has now been a position for 40 years. Campaigning can also make some voters make him wait.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 05:46 PM) All things being equal maybe he would, but he is a proud guy. Proud of what he accomplished and proud he didn't take roids. Baseball was so rampart with roids that I think he does need to constantly remind people of all the guys who set records and won MVPs juiced. Take steroids out of the game and maybe you get the power numbers getting produce today in which case Frank's numbers look even more monstrous. The guy was robbed of MVP's ,All star appearances maybe even a championship when you look at roiders team success also. Letting his numbers do the talking would look so much better if everyone else didn't cheat. Frank doesn't need to campaign like Ron Santo. He also sounded more than a little jealous of the treatment the team is giving Paulie. Says he doesn't get what the organization is doing.

Looking at the rule 5 results on wiki, it is a longshot any of these guys is worth a damn, but risking $50k to find out is worth finding out.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) There's something bout that Conor Gillaspie. Not predicting a breakout (due to age) but he doesnt have to make too big a leap to be worthwhile. The one thing to really be concerned about was how bad he got defensively as the year went on. By the end of the season, he was awful.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:50 PM) You're phrasing that in a way that attempts to minimalize the impact, but that's still pretty significant. I know it is, but it has to be someone who plays a lot for it to be much of a difference if the other parts of their games are similar.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:33 PM) There is a HUGE difference between a .305 OBP and a .340 OBP. Yep. Getting on base one more time per 30 plate appearances.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 07:36 AM) The Iglesias-Kinsler tandem will be a yearly struggle to combine for a .650 OPS I didn't realize Kinsler's home/away splits were so drastic. Almost a 200 point difference lifetime. He is a career .242/.312/.710 guy away from Texas. That is basically what Gordon Beckham has done in his career.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 06:09 AM) Detroit will be sending $30MM to Texas, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. With that cash, Texas will effectively be paying Fielder $138MM over seven years. From the Tigers' side of things, they'll have a total savings of $76MM. Since Prince made $23 million per season in Detroit, the Tigers will ultimately pay $76 million for 2 years of his service. They do technically "save" on their ultimate commitment, but even though Prince performed pretty well, was he worth it?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 07:50 PM) Yeah that's for 2014. The Rangers will have to pay Fielder 24 million for the next 6 years after that. Cecil started falling apart right around 30. If you consider genes, Prince may only have a year or 2 as an elite hitter.

Prince will bank a little more money without state income tax.

Wasn't Kinsler a high school teammate of Brian Anderson?

Damn. I was really looking forward to Prince growing old with the Tigers,

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 06:52 PM) Then trade him. He had value. Apparently not much. He made it through the NL on waivers.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 03:54 PM) The Elmore move seems... odd. There is really only one area of position players the Sox org has some signifncant talent depth, you've got one too many infielders on the MLB team already, plus Leury Garcia, Marcus Semien and Carlos Sanchez. And guys like Anderson and Johnson in the lower minors. But we are claiming Elmore? Just as word that we were after Johnson for pitching depth indicates something, I keep thinking this also indicates something, like we are also likely to trade an infielder or two. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Maybe, but if Konerko comes back, they probably need someone who can play the infield and the outfield. This could be sprimg training competition for Leury Garcia.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 04:18 PM) Some images were released today. Except for the brick, it lloks a lot like Wrigley on the outside, and USCF on the inside.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 04:03 PM) Sucked ass to a tune of a 9.46 K/9, 2.51 BB/9, 3.76 K/BB, 0.84 HR/9, 3.08 FIP, 3.39 xFIP, a ridiculously unlucky .442 BABIP, all culminating in a 0.9 WAR in only 32 IP, which is tremendous. BUT OH WAIT, HE HAD A LOSING RECORD AND HE IS 5 FOOT 10 (despite being listed at 6 foot, as if any of that matters anyway). HE HAS NO VALUE. Stop being so terribly ignorant. No one said he would get a 2 year deal, no one said he'd be anything more than a 5th starter and trade fodder in the summer IF he remained healthy. He is a pretty low risk-medium reward guy at this point. Dylan Axelrod was pretty similar in 2011. He put up a 0.4 WAR in 18 innings. It is really too bad when you get knocked around and give up 1.8 baserunners an inning. People think you suck, but the reality is you just aren't very lucky. So what if he is giving up a ton of hits and line drives.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 03:26 PM) Braun was a geat hitter in college, and I never heard that he was using back then. Plus, he's done enough mea culpas to gag on. If he shaves his head, I'll take him. It was his old roommate or ex friend or teammate who said last summer he was juicing in college. There is a very real chance that unless someone here saw Braun play in high school or maybe it would have to be earlier than that, no one has seen him play clean. He didn't really get gigantic like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, but there would be a lot of risk acquiring him, especially considering he may be less popular than Albert Belle. If he were a free agent, no way he gets anywhere near $100 million right now. If, for some reason, the steroids had no positive effect on his performance, you get a bargain. If you are just hoping you get $100 million worth of production out of the $100 million he is owed, i don't think it is worth it with all the baggage.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 02:58 PM) Ryan Braun is SO much better than Melky Cabrera EVER was. And please don't ever base an argument on Jose Canseco's insanity laced opinions. I think the "answer" to PEDs is that they probably affect different guys very differently. I understand your thought that Braun is too big a risk given his contract and think it is reasonable. I fall on the other side because guys that have peaks as high as Braun's tend to age much better and (my opinion) have got to have a high level of natural talent in order to turn out those numbers, roids or not. Melky was a 4.4 WAR in 113 games on the juice. Comes out to about 6.5 for a full year. He serves his suspension and was a -0.9 last year. Canseco is crazy, but he knows a lot about steroids.but if Jose Canseco doesn't think Jose Canseco would have been a major leaguer withoutp the juice, it should at least make you puse. Sammy Sosa before juice was nowhere near the offensive force he was when he was on them. McGwire had some rough years before he found the magic juice.Again, one of Braun's old friends said he was juicing at Miami, considering you said when suggested the Sox add $10 million payroll, that the suggestion was a reason why the suggester wouldn't have a billion dollar company, how does it make any sense to add a $100 million obligation before you really have a chance to see what you would get?

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 02:47 PM) Saw him plenty here in CO. He's done, imo. Baker is a much better idea for me. That was my impression as well. I don't know anything about his recent injuries, but he is 35 or 36, are those just going to go away? I just can't get the image of the Sox destroying him in 2012 out of my mind. He was pitching BP.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) You may be right, but I think the bolded is way too strong of a statement. The fact is, we don't have much evidence at all of how much PEDs affect performance. And the fact remains that has produced at a HOF rate for the past 3-4 seasons. I certainly think it's reasonable to expect that he might drop off sharply, but I don't think that's any more likely than him having a fairly natural career path from here on out. Melky Cabrera could be a good example. Jose Canseco actually said he wouldn't have been a major leaguer without steroids. I don't think that is something you risk $100 million trying to find out.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) Oswalt didn't have struggles statistically. His only real bad numbers have been IP, because of injuries. I don't expect him to kill it on the mound, but for how cheap he would likely sign, he could be a great candidate to trade by June if he stays healthy for the first few months. I'd be willing to bet he'd sign a 1 yr/$5M deal, maybe 2 yrs/$8M. The 1.794 Whip wasn't exactly not bad.