Dick Allen

QUOTE (GoGoSox2k2 @ May 30, 2013 -> 10:15 AM) looks good.. would have liked to see Wells in for De Aza.. altho as long as Dunn is not in the lineup I am happy It would be nice to see Wells get a shot against LHP. He has done pretty well against them in the past, and it's not as if De Aza and Dunn are rolling.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 10:26 PM) Just like you could easily make the case that the Rays would be the best team in baseball if a little luck went their way. They had a scout obsessed with Pujols, but the cross-checkers and scouting director (Jennings) disagreed. We all know the Josh Hamilton story...when it could have been Josh Beckett, or Hamilton would have been the player everyone predicted at age 19-20-21 before the car accident and drug problems. Then there's the mysterious case of Rocco Baldelli...so 4 superstar/All-Star caliber players, in addition to all their good pitching drafts, Crawford, Longoria, David Price, the Zobrist acquisition, etc. Then they got scared off by Boras and Teixeira, so they ended up taking Dewon Brazelton (who the owner actually booed and encouraged the fans to boo as well) who ended up taking $2.5 million in a signing bonus spread out over 5 years. The Rangers were willing to meet his demands, and they parlayed that into one of the best established star for prospect trades in history. There is also the problem as to how they would have been able to pay them.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ May 29, 2013 -> 05:32 PM) According to the brilliant Marty that player's name is I Don't Care. I Don't Care won't be part of the White Sox next playoff team.

The White sox actually got more for Jaime Navarro than the Mariners got for Pineda, Garcia and Lee combined, and they acquired 2 " on the wrong side of 30" players while the Mariners received a couple of top 10 rated prospects a top 25 a young starting catcher and a big projectable minor leaguer.

I hope they let Dunn go for the record this year. He has a shot at 2. The worst batting average for a qualifier, and the strikeout record.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 29, 2013 -> 03:10 PM) And that first Gio trade was worth it. It may have only led to one playoff win, but Thome was huge for the Sox. And when he was traded for Swisher, that would be an interesting thread to see again. I think some posters who can't believe KW would destroy his minor league system like that might be embarrassed.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:57 PM) A who's expense though ? Viciedo has to face lefties. Dunn ? De Aza. Casper can play CF.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:55 PM) Topped out at 90 MPH. When you're throwing 87-90 MPH, and your best pitch is your change-up, you have to be pinpoint with your control because there's just not that 10+ MPH differentiation in your pitch speeds that makes the fastball sneaky quick. Or 1 run scored where the guy reached on an error, and he made 2 bad pitches to Navarro. Other than that, he was pretty flawless.It happens. He's not going to be 100% right now anyway.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:54 PM) Wells should have tagged up on that Even though he wasn't with the team, I blame it on Ventura in spring training.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:53 PM) Well well Wells. I would like to see Casper get a shot at some LH starters. He does have talent.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:33 PM) Hey, I'm sure all of us are more than willing to roll with the "just add to the payroll" approach, but how likely is that? It doesn't square with the last decade, with the exception of the Dunn/Rios/Peavy acquisitions. And giving Danks an extension. We'll add to the payroll at the All-Star break, but aren't quick to take on long-term commitments. They took on Peavy and Rios during the season.

If Morse, Hudson and Gio is the reason you don't trade minor leaguers, no one should trade minor leaguers. Morse got you a guy that help win a WS, and he didn't develop into anything until he was 28 or 29. Hudson will have 2 lost years due to injury, and will be arb eligible. Gio was a tough one who was actually traded twice. However, if you go back, Gio, for all his promise, wasn't exactly held in high regard on Soxtalk. Nowhere near the status of Santiago and Jordan Danks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:10 PM) Danks is 3-1 with a 2.3ish ERA career-wise against the Cubs in 6 starts. That's his first homer allowed in 3+ starts at Wrigley. He was awesome there last year. I was at the game. Beckham and Flowers went very deep.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:08 PM) these chubby Cubs catchers are killing our LH starters The Cubs are like a little league team. The fat kid is always the catcher.

There is no worse baseball park experience than being at Wrigley when a Cub hits a home run.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 29, 2013 -> 02:02 PM) They are done scoring in the series. Thank you.

John Danks is actually AL pitcher-wise, not all that clueless at the plate.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 29, 2013 -> 01:52 PM) The White Sox may not score a run this series. 4 minutes and 2 batters later...Please say they are done scoring this series.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 29, 2013 -> 12:00 PM) One of the ESPN bloggers had a good "Man the Mariners suck at developing hitters" article last night. Seems very familiar. For Pineda, Garcia and Lee, the return was less than stellar. Just think, however, if the Sox traded Peavy, Rios and Ramirez and got back the equivalent of Smoak, Montero, Reed, Morse and Olivo when they were acquired by the Mariners. The re-build would be declared complete, and the team might lose 100 games for a while.

Stone and Hawk have definitely been doing more selling during telecasts from USCF this season. Anyone catch Stone the other day when he had to promote the raffle for the Smart car painted in White Sox colors in CF? He said second prize was 2 smart cars. I bet he was scolded.

QUOTE (GoGoSox2k2 @ May 29, 2013 -> 11:12 AM) dont mind seeing Dunn in there for PK today. Feldman seems like the typer of pitcher that AD should be able to handle. Lets get this one today boys! Dunn also has had some big success at Wrigley.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 11:17 AM) Does trading Alexei Ramirez to the Yankees get you back Gary Sanchez, Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott, Mark Montgomery or Ramon Flores? Secondly, other than Austin Jackson, when's the last time a Yankees' prospect made a big impact? Here you go taking both sides. The Sox have to trade these guys, but when is the last time any of these prospects actually was worth it? You keep mentioning the "Cardinals model", the "Tigers model", the "Rays model", yet the model that most closely resembles what the rebuilders here want to do is the Mariners model. The Mariners have been selecting dud minor league hitters for years. Remember Jeremy Reed. Smoak and Montero continue the tradition.

If the Sox traded Ramirez, who would play SS, not just this season, but moving forward? It is one of the most vital positions on the field.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 10:50 AM) Then what players have "Youkilis-esque" contracts that are that unique combination of 1/2 year commitments, where the veteran player is blocking a youngster and/or that veteran is having a hard time with his current manager and it's best for the team to part ways....almost, to give him away to kill 2 birds with one stone? Because I haven't seen anyone on here advocate trading, let's say, Erik Johnson, to fix the three biggest problems for the current team, which are catcher, Dunn/Konerko/offense from the middle of the line-up, and the bullpen (and that's assuming there's a "smooth" transition to Gordon at 2B and he doesn't hit in the high 500's OPS-wise coming back from that wrist problem) Other than taking on salary, or making Liriano trades that don't affect the core (Escobar/Pedro Hernandez...which would be trading Axelrod, and even many consider him more valuable to the Sox than as someone who could fetch a trade return)...how do you intend to do that? It seems the only way would be to trade either Johnson or Santiago. Are you willing to take that risk? If you look at it from another perspective, we "went for it" last year at mid-season and still came up short. We didn't have a player (Escobar) who could have entered 2013 as the starting 3B, so we he had to overpay on Keppinger...which isn't a HUGE contract, but it was brought about, once again, because of lack of minor league depth. (And, no, we can't say that ANYONE would have predicted Gillaspie could be the starter against both LHP and RHP before the season). Are we honestly going to be closer to getting to the playoffs this year than last year? How can you make that case, if we're 5 games back, let's say, rather than 3-5 games ahead? Why is trading Santiago or Johnson a big risk, but trading a former Cy Young award winner who is healthy again, and has been performing tremendously, not? Seems to me trading guys who actually have shown they are great major league players is far more a risk than trading maybes. I understand I am on Soxtalk and Santiago is a guy who is going to win 5 or 6 Cy Youngs if he is just handled properly and Johnson is can't miss, but success in the minor leagues does not equal success in the majors. Go to baseball reference and check out Rod Bolton. First, look at his minor league stats prior to his White Sox call up, and tell me how much Soxtalk would be raving. The Sox wouldn't have needed Black Jack. Then look what happened when he got his shot. I hope Johnson and Santiago pan out, and are at least 25% as great as some around here think they are, but until it really happens, Peavy is the safer choice. And if Eduardo Escobar was the Sox starting 3B, you still would be arguing the same things about him. If you play a bunch of rookies, chances are, you aren't going to win. Not everyone is Mike Trout.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2013 -> 10:38 AM) Let's say Reyes to the Blue Jays didn't materialize...you really believe they would have taken Alexei's contract obligations on and given us, let's say, Hechavarria straight up for him? Just looking at his year over year declining OPS numbers (especially homers and XB hits), his age...his high error totals this year (part of that's on Ventura and by association, Hahn, for not being able to rest him), I just don't see that as being a sure thing that he's going to fetch a consensus Top 50 player back. Cardinals, same thing...do you believe we could actually get Carpenter/Adams, etc., or would we be speculating on minor league pieces (and not one of their top cadre of minor league pitchers)? What is the fascination posters have with downgrading the SS position? How does dumping Ramirez for zilch like Marty suggests or getting Hechavarria make the White Sox better now or in the long run?