Dick Allen

McCown has been awesome.

If Rodgers isn't back by now, he must be out the rest of the game.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) There is like a 5% chance that we go into 2014 with Phegley & Flowers as our major league catchers. Who knows how they view Salty, but it's clear that an upgrade at C will be a priority this offseason based on Hahn's comments. And quite frankly, it makes complete sense given how weak we are at the position throughout the organization. IMO, Salty would be a great get for us. I think his floor is a 2 WAR player, which would still be acceptable at $9 or $10M a year. However, if he truly took a step last year with the bat then that salary could be quite a bargain. Regardless, there's nothing wrong with paying market rate to fill a huge organizational need as long as the risk is minimal. I guess I don't see a lot of downside in signing Salty through his age 32 season, which is what a four year deal would require and the most I think he will get in free agency. How can his floor be a 2 WAR player when 2013 was the only year he was at least a 2 WAR player?

QUOTE (woods of ypres @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 03:08 PM) Does free agency start at midnight? Or is it an arbitrary start time like 6AM ET, or whatever? I think it starts at 11 pm tonight, but it isn't like the NFL where the big names sign quickly before teams run out of cap space.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) I think I lean this way as well but I'm not privy to insider scouting reports. If Hahn is sitting there being told by every scout that Salty finally figured it out and might darn well get even better next year, and the same people are saying that Phegley and Flowers are complete lost causes and if you run them out there they'll be lucky to hit .200...what do you do? If the Sox don't think either of the guys they have are legit starting catchers...I can't say they'd be wrong based on what they showed at the big league level last year. I'd like them to get shots because I want to see us successfully develop some hitters, but if the organization thinks these guys can't cut it...they have no one obviously coming up in the next year+ who can fill the catcher's spot. That would leave this position a gaping hole unless a FA deal was made or Ricky pulled off a trade. Hopefully he's listening to someone other than those who talked to him about Keppinger. There are a lot of hit and misses, especially with catchers. I think the Sox are better off going after a guy like Soto if he's available and sticking with Flowers and/or Phegley and continuing their search for an everyday catcher, than locking themselves into Salty for several years.

Salty has red flags. He can't hit right handed. His OBP and batting average were significantly higher this year than the past 3 previous seasons. You would have to think a regression is likely. It's not the type of player I think the White Sox want to commit decent money towards for 4 years, if that is what it takes to get him. If you are going to spend money don't spend it on someone who is going to lead your fanbase into fire the hitting coach mode.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 11:52 AM) While all of your proposals are inherently silly, my favorite is ADD classes. Is there such a thing? Can you diagnose a mental health issue from watching a guy play baseball? I wonder what happened from '11-'12 to '13 that made ADA get an attention deficit disorder... Perhaps this type of thing is contagious Greg? Maybe our own '13 draft pick Nick Blount can pass over some of his amphetamines to De Aza now that he got busted? What do you think Greg? Whatever it was, there was something that we saw with De Aza last season we didn't see before. He didn't appear that dumb on the bases or in the field or it would have been brought up over and over again. Maybe it was just a bad year or maybe he just is a not so smart player who just got busted a ridiculous proportion last season, and got away with it previously. I wouldn't give him away either, but from what Stone said, it seems like the Sox would like to move on.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 11:56 AM) Another really awesome contribution to a discussion, brought to you by Dick Allen™ Interesting.

When is the pitching fwar title parade?

If the White Sox spend that much on Salty, it will soon be regrettable.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 04:26 PM) That makes me come up with this one. Ricky did the #1 thing I wanted him to do already with Abreu. Now I want him to....surprise me. Come up with something I'm not expecting. One guy I would really like them to look at, and it opens the door for a couple of trades, is Franklin Gutierrez. He has been banged up for a few years and was at one time one of the best defensive players in baseball, and he has a lot of power. I think he could be a poor man's Jermaine Dye type of signing.

Explore trades, look at the middle tier free agents. It isn't like the Sox got ridiculously old overnight. If Abreu can give you 2012Paulie production, and Garcia, Viciedo and Beckham hit, ther is no reason to think they can't get back to middle of the pack in runs scored. They were 4th in 2012. I also think their defense will be better just by the law of averages. They do need a couple of players. One thing is for sure, this is going to be a much more fun winter for Sox fans than the past couple.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 01:29 PM) Able or willing? Big difference. These teams are always able for the most part, but some teams leave very little wiggle room to take on money during the season. Ownership wants its money.I am quite sure you can get just as good, and much better prospects for Ramirez than you could get for BJ Upton even if you ate $30 million of Upton's contract.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 12:58 PM) And the Cardinals disagreed with that price. It could also be the Cardinals were not able to pick up the money. Ramirez is worth his contract to the White Sox. My God, you are the guy saying pick up BJ Upton, eat half his contract, and see what kind of prospect you can get. You also want Uggla. Then say Ramirez's contract is a probelm? Your trolling has gotten out of hand. OTOH, I do find it funny a guy who a lot of posters seem to think has to go, they think is a great piece for other teams to acquire.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 07:19 AM) Well his recruiting dipped at the end, which explains this roster. But I would definitely choose a front loaded roster over 70 MAC players that fit like a glove. His recruiting dipped because his job status was shaky. It is really hard for a football coach to overcome a couple of seasons of being on a hot seat. Your recruiting really suffers, and unlike basketball, freshman usually don't make as much of an impact, and it takes more than one or two to really get you off that hot seat. Everything snowballs. No one is going to coach that roster into the Rose Bowl. And he isn't responsible for that roster.But the question should be, can Beckman recruit and coach a roster that makes it to the Rose Bowl. Without really following him that much, I get all my Beckman complaints from my father and brother, I think just his job status problems alone are going to forever hinder his recruiting in Champaign. If I were a realtor down there, I would think about dropping my card in his mailbox. Guys take over football programs and struggle for a few years before turning it around pretty often,but rarely are people calling for their heads in year one or two. Whether it is fair or not Beckman's ship has sailed at Illinois.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 2, 2013 -> 01:35 PM) Wasn't that because Ross was a personal catcher for one of their starters? He had a pretty miserable post-season, but unless the Red Sox can sign McCann...they're going to want to hold onto him. What other players out there would be a clear upgrade? Then you have the Rangers, the Yankees, the Braves, White Sox, there are quite a few teams out there looking for catching all circling around the same 2-3 guys. He played 2 of the 6 games, none of the last 3. I doubt they want to pay him very much.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Nov 2, 2013 -> 01:18 PM) Kenny Lofton and Tim Raines are decent comps to Ellsbury, imo, and I think they put up some nice seasons well into their 30's. Don't think the Sox will go that deep for another FA, though. Would jump on Salty at the right price and years. Do we still forfeit a draft pick with a signing at his level? Yes, but they weren't worth the money at 33 or 34, plus Ellsbury tends to get hurt a lot. You probably get at least a year or 2 of an excellent player, but after that, the countdown until his contact is off the books probably is pretty big. If the Red Sox don't give Salty a qualifying offer, there is no comp. of course we are talking about a guy they benched in the WS.

Iowa has to take the ball to start the second half, but if I'm Wisconsin, I would let them have the wind so you have it in the 4th quarter. It is going to take a takeaway or 2 to get more than one score in a quarter against the wind. If you hold on in the 3rd, you are golden. If you are down a score or even 2, you have the wind in the 4th.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 1, 2013 -> 10:24 PM) Nice spin. Your the one that is doing the spinning. One of the saddest things I read when looking for Crawford stuff was a thread about Keith Laws top 25 a few years ago. The poster was pissed because Mike Trout was ranked #3. The poster said it upset him because Trout was heavily linked to the White Sox, and many mock drafts had the Sox selecting Trout.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 1, 2013 -> 10:16 PM) You are pulling stuff out of your ass. Put up or shut up. There is a Sox targeting Carl Crawford thread. A few people didn't want him at the money he was apparently going to get, most realized it wasn't realistic, but there was only one poster who seemed to not want him at any price. Now if you want, you should bring that thread front and center, since you always make these little comments that people just post things out of their ass, and show everyone how you came up with no one wanted him at any free agent price.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 1, 2013 -> 03:26 PM) No one wanted him at anywhere near the price he was going to get in free agency. I don't remember seeing a single post advocating signing him as a free agent. Not one. I think you are just making stuff up here. No making stuff up is saying no one wanted Carl Crawford at any free agent price, you made that one up today.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 1, 2013 -> 02:46 PM) No one really wanted Carl Crawford at any free agent price. Do you have some posts that state otherwise, because that sure isn't how I remember it. I'm not going to go back for specifics, but he was a very popular player here. One poster even said he asked him at a game if he would like to play in Chicago and he supposedly said yes, and there were some hopeful follow up posts that it would happen. I think everyone figured Boston really overpaid, but to say no one wanted Crawford at any price is silly and wrong. He won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and was 7th in the MVP vote, and the Sox could always use a CF who could lead off. He was an excellent player in Tampa, and was 28 or 29 when he became a free agent. You knew the production at some point would drop. but he fell off the charts almost immediately.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 31, 2013 -> 07:01 PM) No one here wanted him at anywhere near the money he was going to get. No one. He would have been a bust at the price anyone here thought was reasonable for him to actually sign.

He looked like a bust when they acquired him, and he didn't dissappoint.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 30, 2013 -> 10:14 PM) He's a little more insulated than the thin Alexei . We can start throwing around excuses for him already if we want. Adjust to ML pitching, cold weather, longer season but hopefully that bonus he got will motivate him to stay in peak physical condition and wear his hitting shoes from the get go. I think cold weather is a pretty legit excuse if you never have hit in it.