Dick Allen

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 12:44 PM) I'd be balls deep into trying to get Castro if he were available. Q would no doubt be the starting point and then you let it flow from there. Max Stassi did just put up an .863 ops in AAA as a 22 year old. Astros could conceivable move to him were they to trade Castro. I think you have to be real careful trading catchers that actually show they can hit in the majors. Tyler Flowers put up a .993 OPS as a 23 year old in AA, but it was in Birmingham, notoriously a pitcher's park. It's going to take a ton to get Castro, if he's even available.

QUOTE (dayan024 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 01:58 PM) Nick Cafardo ‏@nickcafardo 34m AJ Pierzynski and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf enjoyed breakfast at the GM Meetings. But don't read anything into a White Sox reunion. This isn't true. Everyone hates AJ. No one would go to breakfast with him without it being for a reason, and there is no way JR enjoyed it.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 10:09 AM) http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/print...ws&c_id=cws Flowers confident heading into 2014.... I have no doubt Flowers could one year put up a Brent Lillibridge 2011 offensive line, and just like when Lillibridge did it, some will think he turned a corner, but reality then sets in. IMO he is a back up.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) I don't think Dayan is allowed to make less money than he did before in arbitration, so he will earn more than the average arb. player with a track record like his I think they can give him a 20% cut. Depending on what his number is, the arbitrator then looks at both numbers and decides which is closer to his worth and they win if it goes that far.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 09:23 AM) Ha! Did my math wrong. Just corrected it. Still, 8M left if they go to arb with all four, AND don't trade anyone - which I doubt they do. I'd be surprised if they didn't cut a few million or more somewhere, which puts 10M+ in play. That is enough to go get Salty, in theory. But I also don't see them making any significant moves beyond that. There is no reason to panic and no reason to think we really have any idea exactly what they can and will spend in 2014. Why would Hahn throw out a number that can't be changed? Saying you have room to take on money doesn't help you negotiating in trades or free agency.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 09:52 AM) Depends on how many of them are hit to RF down the line versus the area in RCF where it really juts back out...you have that Pesky Pole, what is it, like 308-309 or 314? Obviously, the Green Monster saves a lot of homers and doubles and turns them into singles...but, just like old Tiger Stadium, you can hit a fly ball/pop up over the wall and it would be an easy out at Safeco or in Minnesota, for example. I'd love to see the hit chart for where most of his doubles were hit....were they pulled down the line, to RCF or to the opposite gap or down the 3B line? Salty's doubles were pretty much split evenly at home and on the road. He hit 9 homers at home, 5 on the road. He also had a .372 BABIP. I doubt he can sustain that. He is in for a letdown offensively.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 09:17 AM) Uribe was not underappreciated. Uribe was completely unreliable, struggled badly for several years, and contributed mightily to the years when the White Sox underperformed. He provided solid defense on the world series team and a stellar 2004 campaign. Whatever. He was a solid defender who hit home runs. He also helped the team playing 3B in 2008 when Crede went down and Josh Fields wasn't the stud many thought. I got ripped plenty of times for defending him. That is just a fact. Now 5 years later, some want to bring him back. It's almost as funny as a thread where people want Greg Walker back.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 09:05 AM) Keppinger would be a UT for them to back up Frazier, Phillips, and Votto and be a solid PH off the bench. It would really be a swap of back ups. There is speculation now that the Reds are preparing for a big trade, sending out Mesoraco instead of Hannigan. Considering no one wanted to give Keppinger the contract the Sox gave him last offseason except the Sox, and considering his 2013 performance, I think there is a good chance Kep is a White Sox in 2014.

Uribe was very underappreciated when he did play here. Remember "snacks and cakes"? Now, 5 years later, the thought of bringing him back is overappreciating him. I always like Juan, and know he is capable of good things, but he always seems to do better when playing for a contract. I think Semien is going to play 3B for the 2014 White Sox unless they bring in an at least close to stud 3B.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 04:59 PM) If a suburb offered to build them a new stadium and mostly pay for that stadium on its own? Yeah, I'd do that too Even if it would hurt your already questionable attendance? Money is the motivation. They obviously feel they will make mor money in the suburbs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 04:54 PM) I know little of the area but NSS did say this: Atlanta isn't a big public transportation town. Do you really think the Braves would spend some of their own money, a bunch of public funds, just to build something that will be harder to get to for the majority of their fans? They really aren't dumb.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) You can move a stadium closer to your ticketholders and make it harder for them to get there at the same time if the transit options aren't there. I don't think that is true in this case.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) Than AJP, yes. Because if he bounces back, he's young enough to actually help our team. But if AJ plays like he has the last 2 seasons, he helps the team. Suzuki would have to not only bounce back for one season, but several. Odds of that happening IMO are smaller than AJ being a regular catcher at 38 or 39. Plus the sox want to be better next year. AJ buys them a year to find a more permanent solution.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 01:41 PM) It's just that it delays the inevitable. We aren't going to find all our 2016 White Sox this year, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be searching for all of them. I'd rather snatch a reclamation project like Kurt Suzuki or something than AJ. Kurt Suzuki? Really?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 02:57 PM) Surprised no one started a thread on this. The Braves have decided to build a new, $670M stadium, in suburban Cobb County, and leave Turner Field. Turner, by the way, isn't even 20 years old yet. 20. Best part - Cobb County voters will be forking over $450M in public funding, to be covered by a tax increase (or a few), and they will NOT get to vote on it. If it was an entirely new tax type, they'd get to vote. But instead, the plan goes to the county board without referendum, with a plan to increase some combination of EXISTING taxes, which does not require a public vote. This is a county that, by the way, has been cleaving off teaching jobs and requiring public employee furlough days because they can't afford their budget. It is difficult to describe how many ways I hate this. 20 year old stadium, and they are leaving??? No public input on funding? Building a park in the suburbs, no where near transit? If I was in Atlanta and a Braves fan, I'd be livid. And here is a nightmare scenario: what if there is a huge public outcry over the funding, and the board doesn't vote for it? Or they do vote for it, and lawsuits pop up left and right, and the deal is eventually killed? The Braves have now made enemies of the City of Atlanta (who owns Turner field) and a lot of their fans. While I couldn't agree more about teachers getting laid off and furloughs days being taken making it impossible to justify a baseball park, especially when the one they are playing in is only 16 or 17 years old now, I saw a chart, and this stadium will actually be closer to a majority of their ticketholders.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 11:52 AM) So they're going to make Ryan Doumit the everyday starter at catcher? That seems like a disaster waiting to happen, defensively. Wonder if the White Sox would be interested in Parmalee? He's going to be blocked if they move Mauer to 1B. He's never really had a full season to prove himself at the major league level because they've moved him all over the place. The Twins have some prospect that they hope to have catch.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 12:09 PM) The Tulo rumor appears to be pretty weak as well. I agree. The Rockies GM has stated several times, Tulo is going nowhere unless a team ridiculously overpays. The Cardinals rarely overpay.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 12:30 PM) Refresh my memory as to whether or not we have a totally clear picture of things... ...Thome was still good, wanted to be here, would've been here cheap... ..but Guillen preferred Kotsay and a rotating DH, so the Sox front office went along with it? Is it basically understood that this was Guillen's call? Do we infer that Kenny allowed Ozzie this rope in order to mount a case against his judgment, or is that just something juicy enough for message boards and little else? Was the Sox front office fully on board with letting Thome join Minnesota? Of course he had been traded the year prior, but it was more of a chasing-the-ring thing, as opposed to bad vibes. To be fair to Ozzie, Kotsay had been good with the White Sox..but a legit look at his career arc should've made it clear he'd return to suckage...whereas Ozzie often is guided by passion and principle instead of substance. It was actually on the show the Sox did on MLB Network. Thome wanted to come back and would have played for $1 million. Ozzie wanted more flexibility with the DH position. JR said Ozzie should get the type of team he wanted to manage. Thome went to the Twins, had a great year. The Sox power was short, needed a left handed bat, and wound up with Dunn in 2011.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 12:10 PM) If the money's under $5 million for one year, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. However, it just kicks the catching decision one year down the line, but it also gets in the way of developing Flowers/Phegley (if that is actually in the cards at this point). Maybe they could just trade him at the deadline and play Flowers/Phegley in the second half, but how does that help solve anything for 2015? As it is, we're already kicking permanent solutions at 3B, SS, 2B and CF down the line (into 2015). There's a decent possibility Viciedo isn't part of the future as well. They're going to have to decide about Semien (75%)/Sanchez (25%)/Micah Johnson (50/50), too, if any of those guys are meant to be everyday players at the big league level. We're also going to need a new DH to replace Dunn. Assuming Abreu and A. Garcia are solid next year, we still might end up replacing 7 positions going into the following season...so, unless there's a catcher in our system ready to explode on the scene, we're going to have to trade from our pitching depth to solve these issues or pay top dollar on the FA market. Assumming the catcher everyone or at least a majority of people would really be happy with in 2015 or 2016 is available at a reasonable price this offseason could also be a reach. Someone has to catch. If AJ is the best choice, I don't see him "taking ABs" away from Flowers or Phegley is wrong, because obviously if getting a catcher is a top priority, those are not guys the team is going to be building with anyway. If you aren't going to go after McCann, is it wise to lock yourself into Salty? This guy was benched during the World Series. If that is a guy you want to give $10 million a year for multiple years? Obviously the White Sox want to acquire guys that will perform and be with the team for years, but the odds are stacked against that being possible. I don't see AJ coming back, but those so opposed, I don't see the point. Not everyone on the 2016 White Sox will be acquired this winter.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 09:31 AM) You and Balta think the Sox will contend next year. I would rather take Uggla + the prospects the Braves give for taking the contract because they aren't going to contend no matter who plays second. The Braves aren't giving away prospects to take Dan Uggla. That was a Dan Bernstein pipedream. It hasn't happened in MLB history. He confused MLB with the NBA. Go ahead and keep saying the Sox would get a legit prospect for taking Uggla. Everyone else seems to know the reality.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 10, 2013 -> 09:38 AM) Dunn is the poster boy of this awful offense. With all the money flying around MLB currently even $10M paid to get rid of him is worth it because it shows a fresh start. Sox fans have had enough of Dunn. Says the guy who wants the Sox to get Dan Uggla.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Nov 9, 2013 -> 12:30 PM) Right. Even when he's "dialed in," it's not like he's driving the ball with any authority. He's just slapping the ball around and getting hits. That's great if you're Juan Pierre. Did Beckham steal your girlfriend?

QUOTE (ChiSoxFan05 @ Nov 9, 2013 -> 12:29 PM) Are you looking at career or 2013? What are you basing it on? In 2012 he threw out 18%. He did throw out 31% in 2011 when he had 26 PB. Other than that, he has been below average every year. 23% career vs. 27% league average.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 8, 2013 -> 01:18 PM) You're mistaken my friend, it was the other way around actually. 5 of his 6 HRs were in the 2/3 spot. What happened was Ramirez went a long time without homering, went to the #3 spot I think in a doubleheader and homered in each game. Then he stated something about the different responsiblility in the 2 hole, but there were plenty of times when he was hitting in the 2 hole a homer would have been helpful, so his reasoning didn't really make a ton of sense. The fact is his HR totals have been in freefall. His doubles have increased, as have the SB. If the Sox can win a few games, maybe his mind won't wander as much. He is still worth his paycheck.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 8, 2013 -> 09:52 AM) So much for Bryan Pena. Signs a 2 year deal with the Reds. Going to back up Mesaroco. Hanigan likely to get traded. Tyler Flowers actually has a better career OPS vs. RHP.