Dick Allen

This may be good news to AJP and his heirs.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 13, 2012 -> 01:24 PM) Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN The Rangers have been told Hamilton is signing with the Angels, according to ESPNDallas. The taking it back to the Rangers to match must have been BS or circumstances changed. Wow. No Greinke, no Upton, no Hamilton...............the Rangers have a bunch of money the can't get rid of.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 13, 2012 -> 01:19 PM) It can raise the price for your division rival. It can, but if they say no, you are paying someone more than their previous employer was willing to pay. I understand the whole concept, but for me, if he is willing to do that, and it's the Rangers not a team like the White Sox who actually operate on a budget, the only way you get the guy is with an overpay and even then, there's reason to believe Texas would match more offers than a team like the White Sox. If he's willing to give Texas the final say, he is admitting he would rather play for them than he would for you.

I don't know why anyone would negotiate with Hamilton as long as he was going to give Texas a chance to match the offer. It seems like you would be doing all the work for them.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Dec 13, 2012 -> 10:05 AM) I agree with you. This time, we actually have specific changes to point to which explain why his batting and fielding improved. Rios worked with Manto to completely change his batting stance. And he moved to right field for which he is better suited and more comfortable. As long as those things don't change, I don't see why they should, Rios will have another productive year. That seems more logical than expecting Rios to under-perform because the year ends in an odd number. This said, I understand why he would be the first outfielder to be traded and I would not be opposed to it. Rios was terrible in 2009. Came back in 2010 with good numbers. Was sensational in the first half, and then 2011 happened. I think you always have to question which Alex Rios is going to show up. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if any team wants to take Dunn's or Rios' contract for nothing, if it were my decision, there would be no hesitation. They would both be gone.

He is going to be released. Why pick up any money. I haven't seen him play the last couple of years, but if there is anything left, you could bring him in for a look. I doubt it though. He's probably Aaron Rowand done.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 07:39 PM) I did? Im not sure I commented on Big 10 Coach of the year. And wins arent a good reason because it doesnt take into account how many games you were supposed to win to start. If my team is favored by 20+ points in 90% of the games, an 80% success rate isnt good, right? It wasn't a response to your post. A coach is like a GM since they are ultimately going to get credit or criticism for their roster. Wins are what matters the most.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 05:43 PM) Eh, Alvarez turned the program around and made it legit, BB just followed his plan. Comparing winning percentage is a really terrible way to look at it. Alvarez inherited a program that hadnt won a conference title in almost 30 years. Wisconsin fans will remember the guy who resurrected the program and had 8 bowl wins over the guy who took over and and 2-4 including 2 BCS losses back to back. Also alot of people will always say Barry fell off a bit at the end. His talent level took awhile to rebound but he also ran into the buzzsaw that was Michigan, the resurgent Ohio State, and a good PSU program. I do n't understand why wins would be a terrible way to look at it. When they picked the Big Ten coach of the year, you complained and mentioned wins.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 05:38 PM) Its mere speculation. After winning the Rose Bowl Bielema paraded around Wisconsin with the trophy and told the Seniors on Monday to ignore the rumors as he wasnt leaving. The next morning he left for Arkansas, but asked Wisconsin if he could still coach in the Rose Bowl. The problem with your argument is that you are acting like people loved Bielema prior to his leaving and then changed when he left. He was not well liked by Wisconsin fans from day 1, even though he was Barry's hand picked successor he was considered an extremely underwhelming choice. Even worse, Bielema (an Iowa player) was selected over home town boy Paul Chryst. Last year Paul Chryst left Wisconsin for Pittsburgh and most assistants went with him. It wasnt about money, it was about the fact that Bielama is extremely arrogant and hard to work with. And you keep harping on winning percentage, but there needs to be context. The next Wisconsin HC will likely have a lower winning percentage because Big10 will likely increase in-conference games and thus he will have 1 less automatic victory every year. Does it prove that Bielema is a good coach because he can beat Wisconsin State Tech every year? I assume since you did not answer that you havent watched Wisconsin play at all. Sorry, this is more sour grapes .it wasn't about money, it was just coincidental they now get paid more. Everyone hates Biellema blah,blah, blah. Next time a coach leaves like Bielema did, go to one of thei message boards. You will hear the same thing.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 05:20 PM) How many minutes of Wisconsin football have you watched under Bielema? Because the first words out of my mouth after the Big10 championship were: "What the hell just happened, why did Wisconsin all of a sudden completely change their philosophy." The answer it seems is that Bielema thought Wisconsin was going to lose to Nebraska, so he just let his coordinators do whatever they wanted. Is that a fact you learned from someone with the team, or just more speculation? I really think the next coach that leaves a successful major college program for another and doesn't get slammed by his former team's fan base as being a bad coach, or an asshole or some guy who was about to get fired, will be the first. Coaches ultimately get judged by wins and losses. Bielema had a better win ing percentage than Alvarez and most likely will have a better one than his successor.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Dec 10, 2012 -> 07:27 PM) I think you are way off here. I hate it when a coach loses his job and people who aren't closely involved start spouting off stats to make an argument. None of those stats factor in trends. Unfortunately, the events of the past year put Wisconsin football on a downward trend. Could it have been picked back up? Possibly. But I think there is a lot more to the story and I think it goes back to the coaching staff changes. Alvarez left the program in a strong position for Bielema. He left him a good OC. They have great success and the OC gets a HC job and half the coaching staff leaves to go with the assistant? What does that say ab out the guy who is running the program? Then he fires his own hire two games into a season? Add the fact they have no QB and had to take an outside QB again, and that didn't work out, it just indicates to me the leadership was shaky. Add a 4-4 Big Ten season and finishing behind Penn St after what they went through and you have a recipe for things heading in the wrong direction. And if he did indeed look toward the NFL last year, it probably pissed off Alvarez, his biggest supporter. I think Bielema may have gotten out at just the right time. You can talk trends all you want, they blew out Nebraska and every one of their 5 losses was by 3 points. They were actually extremely close to having a terrific season.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 05:06 PM) Maybe so but Nick can play the game. He just ticks you off with his attitude and facial expressions, etc When it is playoff time, he hits like he hit for the White Sox.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 03:37 PM) His 96 OPS+ disagrees. If you can get someone to give up anything for Viciedo, please do. Yeah, the Sox should use history to show them that 23 year olds that put up a 96 suck. We had to put up with Maggs all those years when his first full season 94 should have clued the Sox in he was no good, and Ventura's 83 his first full season was obviously a sign of things to come.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 04:31 PM) There was a point where Swisher would hit a homerun and not get one high five That's a planned thing...but the thing is usually it's a prank that lasts maybe 30 seconds or so....not in this case That is not true. As long as Toby Hall was in the dugout, Swisher got at least one high five.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) I've worried about this before, with my Sox season ticket group. We end up selling about half our tickets in any given year. Some to friends, and on sites like this one... but probably about 30% of the games, we sell via Stub Hub. Hopefully they don't consider us to be scalpers. As long as your account's mailing address is in the area, you're fine.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 10:58 AM) Just to throw a wrench into the catchers' market... multiple reports on Twitter are indicating a possible problem with the Napoli signing. Could be nothing, could be a deal modification due to a medical report find, could be the deal falls through. But that would change things. I don't think he's viewed as a catcher. More of a 1B/DH at this point, with probably AJP back-up like starts at catcher at the very most.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 12, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) Reasons to not bring back AJ... #1, we have a starting catcher in waiting who is going to be making $500,000 this year. AJ is going to be making at very least 10 X's that. Probably more like 15 to 20 X's that. Flowers also played much better when he got consistent playing time. There is a pretty decent chance that he puts up numbers comparable to AJ, for a much smaller price. #2, Many, many stories about his clubhouse antics #3, instead of spending the money on a position where we already have a young cheap player, we could spend it elsewhere #4, the guy had a career year, at age 35, and it wasn't even really close. All kinds of red flags should be going up, such as regression, was he cheating, etc. #5, the guy is a catcher who has played at least 125 games in every season since 2001. Breakdown could happen any day. #6, If AJ doesn't play every day, will he cause problems? Besides getting into it with Peavy, what are some of the many,many clubhouse antics AJ is guilty of since joining the White Sox?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 11, 2012 -> 05:42 PM) Appreciation? For what exactly? He is responsible for us never having to watch Zach Stewart ever pitch roe the White Sox again, and was the mastermind behind the mustache movement they had going there for a while.

With his buyout, Youk winds up with the same cash as he would have pocketed had his option been exercised. Congrats to him and his agent .

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 11, 2012 -> 02:15 PM) Last season I remember him facing Chien-Ming Wang. I realize the uncertainty, but given all the circumstances in this situation, holding on to him for 2013 without an extension is the worst possible move, especially considering how little he is asking for relatively. Either trade him for young prospects or give him a deal. If he threw 95, they would sign him to an extension for a lot more than he's asking, yet moving forward, a 38 year old knuckleballer would seem to have a better shelf life than a 38 year old power pitcher. I could understand if it has just been one season or a season and a half, but he's been great for 3 seasons. It baffles me. The guy is a bargain.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Dec 11, 2012 -> 10:22 AM) Maybe one day he too can be a sabermetrics exemplar -- and have high RBI totals in an awful season, like dear old dad Unless it's in an over 30 beer league.............very doubtful.

Nice name, but looks like a not so nice player. Released by Texas. Played a few games in an Independent league. Had 1 hit and 8 strikeouts in 16 AB.

Good LTs are not available where the Bears draft. Signing them as free agents is also hard to do, as teams know the good ones are worth their weight in gold. They are going to have to get lucky.

Dickey the last 3 years has a 2.95 ERA and a 1.150 WHIP averaging over 200 innings a year. He's been pretty great. He makes $5 million in 2013 and wants $10 million for 2 years after that. That averages less than $9 million a year, less than Gavin Floyd. I know he's 38, but he throws knuckleballs, granted a little harder than most, but I really can't understand why the Mets won't extend him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 11, 2012 -> 07:52 AM) How do you define a "Fair price"? If it's based of his career numbers and age, that's probably a number the Sox would be interested in. If it's based off his career year numbers last year, then the same number would be a bargain. If the Sox are interested in bringing back AJ, I doubt they would pay him less than they paid him last season. $6 million a year can be construed as both a bargain and fair.