Dick Allen

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:53 PM) That kinda says it all. That is one mighty sad stat! They only have 3 guys in the line up with at least a .700 OPS, and until Gillaspie got that hit, no one was at .800.

Considering the White Sox rarely get on base or score runs, and for the most part, their pitching has been pretty good this year, why do most of their games take so long to play? Today is going at a decent clip.

Gillespie is the only guy currently in the White Sox line up with an OBP over .325.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 6, 2013 -> 12:49 PM) You can not like Bernstein all you want, but he nailed it here: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/05/05/ber...ire-bobby-hull/ I agree with him there.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) That's why we need to acquire players that have already been developed by other organizations (ie: Quentin) I know but that has been just as bad. Molina, Castro, Lillibridge, Flowers, Marquez, Nunez...Gillaspie has been really good so far, hopefully it lasts, but these types of acquisitions aren't setting you up for future success.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:21 PM) I don't believe Bell has done a very good job with the farm system. I really don't know what he's done after his playing career that warrants all the praise he gets. When he was managing, the teams he managed were better the year he took over managing and also improved the season after he left. He gets a lot of credit for the White Sox minor leaguers and they haven't developed an impact bat since he's been around. And it seems when they do bring up players, not a whole heck of a lot of them seem to know what they are doing all the time. It is a head scratcher trying to find some accomplishment where he can hang his hat. He must be able to talk a good game because he's pulled the wool over a few teams' eyes.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:18 PM) With Buddy calling the shots, you mean? Hahn, KW, Buddy...they are all there. Until it's proven otherwise, developing every day players is something they shown to be a major weakness.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:15 PM) Why is RIOS yelling something at our dugout? Maybe someone asked him for an autograph.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:07 PM) When has it happened with a Sox player we drafted and "developed"? We have been told Viciedo is what he is, as is Beckham. Both are potentially the two best offensive players the Sox have produced in years. (Which isn't saying much obviously)I am not saying it's definitely going to happen, but it can. I still can't believe people want the Sox to totally rebuild considering the players they have drafted and not developed and how prospects like Molina and Castro and Lillibridge, and the next Jon Garland, Jeff Marquez have turned out. Just to mention a few. Buddy Bell recommended Teahan and Keppinger and said Mitchell was a different player this spring. He gets promoted. A bigger voice. A rebuild would be a disaster.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 02:00 PM) You know it's bad when Wise is your most dangerous hitter. 7 for his last 14. Why is it bad when a guy who is 7 for 14 is your most dangerous hitter? Who cares who it is? It would be sad if a guy who was 2 for 14 was your most dangerous hitter.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:57 PM) Yeah, I couldn't remember. I thought that he was on the outs for awhile. They sent him to AAA as a 26 year old with about 1700 plate appearances in the majors. He did well and came back as a 27 year old really improved, something we have been taught at Soxtalk never happens.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) Alex Gordon could've been had pretty easily a few years ago, right? Before they moved him to left? I don't think so. They screwed around with him, but supposedly he wasn't to be had cheaply.

Keppinger can't be this bad. I wasn't very familiar with him, but words like "scrappy" were used to describe him. He's seems very lackadaisical to me. He was Hahn's big move, and bust is the only word to describe him at this point.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) Konerko now 4/29 lifetime against Shields but no choice but to play him with our current roster. If nothing else, you'd think Konerko would take a couple of pitches and try to gave Chris Sale more of a breather, even if he's unlikely to hit Shields. Gillaspie now down into the .270's. (Check that, .286) Ramirez 0 for the series so far. Team average at .227. I read the other day the Washington Nationals had a .227 team average if you took away Harper's numbers, so maybe the Sox are one star away.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 6, 2013 -> 01:26 PM) Fathom said it earlier but the disparity on the talent on these two teams is amazing. Sox have no chance in Kauffman this year. p.s. Sale's velocity sucks. What is going on?? CSINAA

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 10:52 AM) It's indisputable the lack of talent has to be laid at the feet of KW and Reinsdorf for supporting him. Hahn bears some responsibility for overpaying Keppinger, but he didn't have money or talent to go out and trade for Chase Headley, did he? And he did a decent job of finding a decent prospect in Gillaspie who's at least held the season from getting totally out of control...for now. That said, many others, and Fathom has been even more prominent, have noticed strategic mismanagement and in-game decision making that's become worrisome and is showing no signs of improvement. We knew there would be a learning curve, that this was "on the job." My biggest fear is that Ventura took the job out of loyalty to JR and his heart is not 100% into it...to many, he still represents that symbol of Sox greatness of the recent past. He was such a popular player, fans won't start to blame him until next year. KW and JR knew exactly what they were doing. It took about five years for the Ozzie Show to wear thin, too, and it might never have if the team wasn't so disappointing that there was no choice but to blame the manager. Maybe Ventura was perfect for the transition period "After Ozzie" but nobody's quite so sure if he is the man to lead this team out of the wilderness, either. And Dick, you've followed baseball long enough to know there's more than one person responsible. You defended Greg Walker to the end, and you might have been right about that, but it's impossible to blame this currrent malaise of a situation we're in on just ONE person, not 100%. It's much more nuanced that that, and everyone knows it. So Robin Ventura a guy who played about 15 years in the majors knows less about baseball strategy than message board posters, many of whom haven't played organized baseball since they were about 10? If the Sox are horrible this year, you are right, it will fall on a bunch of people. Not one, not 2 or 3. Most of it is on players. If a guy misses a cutoff man, as much as everyone wants to blame the manager, it's not his fault, it's the OF's fault. If a guy strikes out, it's not the hitting coach's fault. I read an article last year about how much parents pay to have their kids play for "elite" traveling clubs in various sports. They get promised the world, with the greatest coaching available, and a lot of parents buy into it. It was written by a former coach. When their kids didn't get to be players that would be 1st round picks or go to college for free, the parents complain. The coach said don't waste your money on these things. There's a 99.9% chance your kid will be an average player. Coaches can't make average talents great ones. It's the same way with professional sports. Sure, coaches can make a difference, but not the difference many people think. Where are Rudy Jaramillo and Leo Mazzone right now?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 6, 2013 -> 10:32 AM) http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706145/s...pock-clip.jhtml Hey, you requested geology. The main point here, after watching the movie "42," it struck me how baseball has become a distant relative of the game as it used to be played. Harrelson's right, there is very little or no bench jockeying. Players are fraternizing with each other constantly before and after games. There's almost no interaction anymore with the fans, and it's limited to those who are the owners of luxury boxes and diamond suites. Certainly, we're days away from the dreaded "team meeting," which ALWAYS almost always works. It's actually like last year, when Ventura's idea of holding Ramirez accountable led directly to a defeat because there was nobody left to play but Olmedo in his place. He simply can't bench, for example, Alexei Ramirez. He can't replace Alex Rios in the line-up either, and there's almost no other options left other than Matt Thornton. He gave Donnie Veal about 15 opportunities. For whatever reason, this team "hit the wall" 2 1/2 months ago and hasn't recovered since. If we don't want to place any blame at the foot of the manager's door, evoking pitchforks and knives coming after Kenny Williams is hardly going to fix the problem either. At a certain point, whatever happened in the past is forgotten and those in charge NOW become accountable. It hasn't happened yet. But it's also why fans are tremendously alienated from this team already. Because if they didn't give up (most agree they just wore down, that it wasn't really a choke and that DET was simply the more talented team and talent almost always wins out eventually in the end)...then they're certainly carrying that negative feeling or vibe directly into the 2013 as if they didn't miss a beat or work on a single thing in Spring Training. So you have been arguing SOMEONE HAS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, even starting a who should we blame thread, and then moan when Ventura held Ramirez accountable about showing up late, and complain about Ventura, yet post he doesn't have any options. What's with all the flip flops? You constantly switch to what ever side of the argument appears to be correct that particular moment, and insunuate these problems have been clear for a long time. Pick a side and stay on it. If it turns out you are wrong, so what, it's a message board. Everyone here is constantly wrong. People who get paid millions are often wrong.

Anyone check out the start one of Hawk's favorite players, Carlos Gomez, is having?

I know this Rose stuff is old and he's not going to play, but really, could he even play now without getting even more backlash? If he suited up tonight, wouldn't he be getting a lot of crap for not playing Saturday night? I think even most of the people who have no problem with his process would have to question him then.

And just because Robin is calm and collected with the media, how does everyone know he never gets on players? I know when he was playing, he ripped Frank Thomas a new one when he was out of line. The White Sox take infield and outfield more than any other MLB team. The blaming him for guys missing cutoffs is beyond hysterical. What is he supposed to do? People act like the players are 8 year olds and the manager is one of the dads like a little league team. Get real. We are dealing with grown ups here. Throwing temper tantrums doesn't usually work all that well. Once in a while to make a point, maybe. If your manager at work yells at you all the time, does that make you a better employee?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:41 PM) The alternative is to bump the payroll to $150M next year. Comsidering they will get an additional $25 million from the national TV contract, even your exhaggeration could probably be handled.

The other thing to consider if you want the Sox to totally rebuild, it is not like they have a bunch of promising players in the minors that are a year or two away.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:23 PM) You are asking the difference between Viciedo and Bonds . . . No, I am pointing out the ridiculousness of your LF argument. If it is so easy to find a good hitter that can play LF, why doesn't every team have one?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:22 PM) If you trade Sale you're saying it's a >5 year project. If done right, it's 2-3 years. Can you give some examples of successful 2-3 year rebuilds?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:17 PM) Yeah, I got it. He came up as a CF'er though. And Viciedo was a 3B. What's the difference, they both wound up in LF.