Dick Allen

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 25, 2013 -> 10:33 AM) If they know that, they don't ever seem to act like it. Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, Avisail Garcia, and Josh Phegley swing at horrible pitches early in the count with startling regularity. He said sometimes you need to go out of the zone depending upon what a pitcher is trying to do to you, which still requires being selective about pitch location, it just means that the zone where you're looking to hit may shift. This is starkly different than the concept of expanding the zone for the sake of driving runners in, which we heard from Manto. This is completely ignorant to (1) the fact that you decrease your chances to be successful by expanding the zone for the sake of putting a ball in play and (2) the fact that you must establish the boundaries of your strike zone with a pitcher in order to force the pitcher to stop throwing bad pitches to you. If you really think a month or a year with a new hitting coach is going to make Ramirez, Viciedo, or Garcia more selective, I have some Sears stock to sell you. They have played under multiple hitting coaches their entire lives but still have the same approach. I don't think there is much hope for Alexei to improve on that. As you do get a little older, sometimes you do get a little wiser, so maybe Viciedo and Garcia can become more selective, but odds are against it being anything drastic. I have no problems with this guy. I would just say if you really think the hitting coach is going to increase everyone's OBP 30 or 40 points, you probably need rehab.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 25, 2013 -> 10:28 AM) They obviously did not feel Manto was doing it the right way though, would you agree? And they feel Steverson will. That's why the change has been made. I guess what I am getting it is Manto, who was praised last season, caught a lot of flake about his "philosophy" this year. This guy has pretty much an identical thought process about hitting. We will see what happens. As far as Manto goes, I think the Sox probably tried to determine if guys like Viciedo and Beckham would flourish under him, and probably came away with a probably not answer. They generally haven't used scapegoats when they have struggled. I would think, since they hired him after 4 years as the Sox minor league hitting coordinator and were very familiar with him, they agree with his philosophy, which is probably why they hired someone with a similar thought process hoping he can do something or say something that works better on the younger players.

I am reading his quotes and he appears to be saying the exact same things Manto was saying. Even mentioning going out of the zone once in a while. As far as swinging at strikes, I don't think there is a hitting coach who doesn't preach that. The fact is, the fewer strikes you have on you, the more selective you can be. I think everyone knows that from when they started playing Little League.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 04:51 PM) Did anybody else hear Joe Buck call Ortiz the best DH of all time last night? I was at work and I may have heard it wrong. Can this be true? I know Frank had at lot of ABs as a 1B but I think Ortiz did too. I can't figure out how to isolate players' at bats by position on Baseball Reference. Career splits has it. If the finalists are Frank and Ortiz, as a Dh, Buck isn't lying.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 03:09 PM) The Sox could have lost the ALCS had it not been for AJ. And they could have lost the WS had it not been for Konerko, Dye, Jenks, Podsednik, etc... Hey, I thank Ozzie, too, but after the World Series he wasn't nearly as good a manager...and he was pretty damn bad the last year or two. And they could have lost the division series if it wasn't for El Duque and Tony Graffinino.

QUOTE (Iguchicago @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 02:29 PM) I read about this last week, you mix the Bullfrog with rosin to get a sticky substance for a better grip. MLB doesn't care about that for some reason.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 02:32 PM) The whole Granderson to the Sox thing has to be garbage . Hahn keeps talkig about acquiring players who fit long term and Grandy ain't that. Not even close and at those prices I'd lose all faith in Hahn. It is false. The Sox can't talk to him until 5 days after the WS.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 02:17 PM) I've read it's in the 94-96 range and as I mentioned earlier his K rate dropped to under 1 per inning when he made the jump from A to A+ . I think a guy with a 97 heater and nasty secondary stuff could K at least 1 an inning in A+. If that's the barometer, Q's strikeout rate dropped drastically from Rookie ball to A ball. He went from fanning 11 or 12 per 9, to less than 8. The more I read about Sanchez, the more it occurs the Sox would have to come up with a lot more than Q to get him and Lawrie.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 01:33 PM) This Rizzo fellow is a bookie so he might take you up on that bet. Granderson is not currently a free agent.

Maybe a Spanish speaking poster could give better insight, but I have heard more than once that Ozzie's Spanish is about as bad as his English.

Is calling Ozzie bilingual a reach?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 05:55 PM) I thought Curt Schilling had a good point about the cardinals, they don't look for the 5-tool players per se, but baseball players. They draft good baseball players, guys who know the game and understand it and are good all around players. You look at their big homegrown contributors, a lot of late round next to nothing bonus guys. Considering the excuse the White Sox have had about draft position, the Cardinals seem to find away around it without going over slot.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 01:00 PM) considering what the group that bought it for paid for it, that is INSANE!!!! Funny thing is, many of these same people were basically handed the Bulls with Michael Jordan on the roster. They had to assume some debt, and that was it. Lee Stern was talking about it last year. JR offered him a much of the Bulls as he wanted. He passed. He is haunted to this day about that decision.

I like Quintana, but there is something telling me if you can get that kind of offer, the time is right to deal him. I just wonder if he can keep it up. He definitely came in stronger last year, but he just seems like someone whose success is short-term, not unlike several Toronto pitchers.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:04 PM) Quad injury my ass. So the alternative to awful Beckham is a slap hitter with no power, that doesn't walk and has no speed. Sweet. Beckham has had 1975 more PA's than Gillespie to prove he doesn't belong. Same age. Wrist injury zapped his power. Quad injury hurt his speed and range. If Beckham is healthy and can stay healthy, admittedly big ifs, he'll still be a really good player.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:03 PM) Another good point. And let's be honest, would anyone be surprised if the Sox had another contributor step up in their minor league pitching staff in the next year beyond the guys I listed? I wouldn't. No, that is what makes trading a pitcher a heck of a lot easier. It isn't like a guy the Sox groomed who can hit and you may not see another one for almost a decade. They have plenty of pitchers scattered all over the league. Not a lot of stars, but serviceable. The Sox deal one, they will probably develop one, and an article I read said they were a little leery about the pitching getting thin, that they probably would address that in the draft.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 01:57 PM) I've been watching Beckham fail for 4 years. Gillaspie is better right now, has far better mechanics and a far better approach. Do you realize how screwed up Beckham's mechanics are? You do realize Beckham was hitting.309 when he went down with a quad injury in August. Gillaspie was no better than Tank at 3B the last 3 months of the season as well.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 01:47 PM) Could be Quintana to Toronto for 3B Lawrie and RHP Aaron Sanchez. I like Quintana, but I would do this trade before Toronto could change their mind.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 01:36 PM) Would you guys do Santiago + Keppinger for Headley? Of course. SD wouldn't.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 12:56 PM) I think Conor's potential is similar to what I'd expect out of Headley, 270/340/420ish with 20 HR's. Admittedly, I don't know much about Headley's defense, but the GG doesn't impress me. Gillaspie is basically the same age as Beckham. Why does he have so much potential but you think Beckham is just awful and cannot get better?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 12:58 PM) Personally I think you are grossly understating our pitching depth, and I think the right move, if available, could take advantage of that. It's a gamble but it's the kind of gamble I'd consider if I were in Hahns chair. If they do trade a starter, I think it's more than likely they sign a free agent to compete for a spot in the rotation. I don't think it would be a big money guy, but a guy like Johnson could make some sense depending on health.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 11:59 AM) Psshh second base Yeah, I wanted him strictly as a backup. It was merely ironic and coincidental that I was asking for the Sox to sign him and then he went bonkers Which probably goes to show it is just as important for the player to select where he plays as it is the team that selects him. If Pena signed with the Sox, he probably doesn't get much of an opportunity and probably winds up making a lot less money during his career.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 12:17 PM) So how do you understand your own posts? Personally, I think my posts make a lot of sense.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 08:59 AM) Here's another fun one http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=56432 EDIT: I suggested the Sox sign Carlos Pena to a minor league deal rather than sign Erstad. All he did that year was put up .282/.411/.627/1.037. Pretty sure they did actually bring in Eduardo Perez too, and he retired in Spring Training. God I nailed that thread. Where would Pena have played? Konerko and Thome were taking up his spots. I guess you could have put him in LF, but then the Sox might not have picked up Quentin in 2008.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 11:45 AM) Yes, DA doesn't understand the concept. Correct. I don't understand concepts that make zero sense.