Dick Allen

QUOTE (beck72 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) Has Granderson's name been mentioned anywhere around here? I could see him come in and Rios go out. Sell high, buy semi low. Curtis's avg. was horrible though... His defense has slipped as well. I think the Yankees are moving him to LF.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 02:34 PM) I don't understand why you think I'm arguing that. Once again, someone asked why people think he's a sub-par defender, and I said it's because he has a -17.7 career UZR. That's the answer. You're right that we can't transfer that data over to third and know for sure, and I feel like I've said that in every post I've made. But, if an infielder is bad at a blend of 2B/SS/3B, I would argue it's more likely he's bad at 3B than it is that he's good at 3B. If you disagree, that's fine -- we really don't know. His metrics at 3B were also pretty bad until last year. I'm sure the Sox will take average.

Heyman tweets Chavez to the D Backs.

QUOTE (Jason82807 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 01:21 PM) I agree, short term as well. I believe that with the new Sox ticket pricing structure, ticket revenue will be roughly the same as last year, but concessions/merchandise revenue will increase in the short term, and TV and billboard advertising revenue will increase in the long term. The other thing you have is when people see the park relatively full on television, they are far more likely to buy tickets. A good percentage of the population are sheep.

Looking at his splits, Youk's agent did his client a big disservice if there was little difference in the offers by not insisting he play half his games at USCF. He was awful on the road last year.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 12:36 PM) Just pure speculation... I wonder of the Sox plan to trade Beckham, and maybe Floyd or another pitcher, to get a 3B? And play Keppinger at 2b? I was thinking this as well. I assume he was signed to play 3B, but maybe not.

Hahn was mentioning balance the other day. Keppinger hardly ever strikes out. 2 hole sounds like a spot for him. He has had a couple of decent years before, but not much power. He did go deep at a game I attended last summer.

I wonder if this closes the door on Youkilis. If it does, I bet he goes to Cleveland.

If he hits like last year, it's good. If he hits like he did most of his career, he's a back up.

Like was stated above, one of the studs goes down, chances are you aren't winning anyways. Trade Floyd, maybe BMac gets signed, probably not, but in a month or so, there will be a lot of guys in the bargain bin looking for jobs. There's a decent chance one of them is serviceable in cases your #4 or #5 can't handle it.

Plus Floyd has really been pretty blah the last few seasons and is a free agent after the year. Do you really want to go 8 figures a year and 4 or 5 years for him? I think the Sox need to re-allocate his dollars for the 2013 squad if they can.

When Bielema played at Iowa, after the Hawkeyes beat Iowa State and Brett's teams had beaten them all 4 times he played against them, after the coaches shook hands he went up to the Iowa State coach and told him what a pleasure it was to kick his ass 4 straight years.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 10:53 AM) Dick, I get the feeling that Cleveland really wants him. It doesn't make sense though that they would go after Victorino and sign Youkilis and then turn around and try to deal Cabrera and Choo. He is from Ohio, and is familiar with Francona. I agree, if all the reports are true, it is hard to figure out Cleveland.

Supposedly Youk is almost ready to make a decision.

At least for 2013, bringing up Sanchez is questionable at best. Everyone complains when the Sox rush their prospects, but they always want the Sox to rush their prospects.

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 09:19 AM) And put us in 4th place I don't know about that. KC, Cleveland and Minnesota are still in the ALC.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 09:07 AM) A bit of an understatement. Keppinger had a career year at age 32 with a BABIP well above his average. Chances he comes close to what he did offensively are slim. Likeliest scenario is an average bat who is a sieve in the field. I'd be wary as well, but just about every 3B left on the free agent market has some fairly significant flaws.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) Now you sound like Bernstein. Yeah, but I'm not trying to act like I have sources. I just won't be surprised with anything regarding those 2 positions except if they went Flowers/Gimenez and Morel/Hannahan. That would shock me.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 08:23 AM) Absolutely. The fall of from what AJP is likely to do in 2013 vs Flowers, is much smaller than Youk vs Morel. I think we are at the point where it shouldn't surprise anyone if neither, one, or both are back.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 03:00 AM) Yunel Escobar to Rays. LOL Marlins. They were making inquiries trying to trade him before they even acquired him officially. Nolasco is now the only Marlin making over $1.75 million. I'm sure Bud has told Loria he needs to bump up the payroll a little bit so look for someone like Reynolds to get overpaid for a year.

If the Sox go with Flowers behind the plate, they will do something other than Morel/Hannahan at 3B.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 07:51 AM) No matter what, you have to imagine that you are buying at his absolute peak. He isn't going to get any better than he is now. Right, and you don't know how long he can continue, and there are other factors like can your catchers handle knuckleballs. He'd be easy to add to a team as a #5 guy, but his performance and price tag to acquire says ace, and I think teams have a really hard time evaluating knuckleballers, and would be very reluctant paying a huge price for a knuckleball throwing "ace".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 07:38 AM) I wouldn't touch him. Everything screams fluke in my head. He is old, but Brian Kenny a huge saber guy now on MLB Network said Dickey has been the 11th best pitcher in baseball over the last 3 years. He has pitched over 600 innings and his ERA is under 3.00. Because he's a knuckleballer, everyone has a tough time valuing him. If he threw 95 and did what he's done, the Mets would get what they are asking for.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 06:25 AM) <!--quoteo(post=2732916:date=Dec 5, 2012 -> 05:47 AM:name=Dick Allen)-->QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 05:47 AM) <!--quotec-->The deal kicks in 2014. The Sox always say they are at their payroll limit. Sometimes it means Darrin Erstad leads off and plays CF. sometimes it means they are trading for Jake Peavy and claiming Alex Rios. Sometimes it means we get to watch Andy Gonzalez try to play baseball, sometimes it means signing Adam Dunn and bring back Paulie and AJ. Oh ok, I didn't realize it didn't kick in until 2014. Sure seems like teams are already spending this money, given some of the contracts we're seeing this winter. But you're right, the Sox always say they are up against the wall and oftentimes they magically find some money at the last second. There's nothing wrong with this approach, as telling other GMs your exact figure payroll would be plain stupid. I do think we have some money to play with, especially if the pricing changes are expected to bring in more profits. A few teams have new local TV deals. It is the fuel behind the Rangers and Dodgers spending.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 05:41 AM) Question, if there is a new TV deal that's giving all these teams millions of dollars to play with this winter, how come our payroll is going to remain flat according to rumors? I think we have more flexibility than has been reported. The deal kicks in 2014. The Sox always say they are at their payroll limit. Sometimes it means Darrin Erstad leads off and plays CF. sometimes it means they are trading for Jake Peavy and claiming Alex Rios. Sometimes it means we get to watch Andy Gonzalez try to play baseball, sometimes it means signing Adam Dunn and bring back Paulie and AJ.