Dick Allen

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 03:09 PM) If some team were dumb enough to claim Joe Mauer, they'd piss their collective panties (they all wear women's underwear) and drive him to the airport while doing lines of blow off hookers' asses. How about a wager? Any sort of trade and the bet is off, but if the news comes out that he's claimed and the Twins let him go, I won't post here for 6 months. If it comes out he's claimed and the Twins pull him back, you don't post here for 3 months?

Twins are averaging over 35k a game. Dumping Mauer for no return WILL NOT HAPPEN.

He's still a good player and if he got out of Target Field, probably would be more of a force with power. The Twins still draw well and are making money. A salary dump of Minnesota's native son Mauer isn't going to happen, especially if perhaps their biggest rivals all things considered made the claim, despite what Steve says.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 01:59 PM) They would laugh and drive him to the airport. OK.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 01:57 PM) Thank God you don't run the team. You'd claim him, and then he'd be on our roster needing to play 1b or DH every other day to save his knees, and we'd be screwed. If Mauer got claimed, he'd be let go. There is no doubt about that. BS. If they won't let Mourneau walk, they aren't going to let Mauer walk.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 01:37 PM) I'd let him walk in 1/4 of a second if I were in Ryan's shoes. Edit: 2010 27 Minnesota Twins $12,500,000 2011 28 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2012 29 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2013 30 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2014 31 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2015 32 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2016 33 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2017 34 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 2018 35 Minnesota Twins $23,000,000 If I'm Ryan, I'd let him walk also but not to the White Sox. If you let him go to the White Sox and he's a great player, you just killed your fanbase for a very long time.

Mauer is still a really good player. I'd love him on the Sox. I'd think his power would return. KW should claim him for the block. There is absolutely no way the Twins ever let Mauer go to the White Sox, except maybe when he's totally washed up.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 12:49 PM) I think we try to extrapolate the data too far. Obviously he won't hit 100 HRs if he strikes out 400 times. Within a certain range, though, it seems that his approach changing to make more contact is costing him power. This shouldn't surprise anyone, think about when you played baseball, how hard you might hit something if you were trying not to strike out (many of us had coaches that were not cool with strikeouts). It's not very far. My guess is that Adam's "no striking out" adjustment is to his swing and not his pitch selection. He should avoid striking out by hitting the correct pitch and watching the incorrect ones. My eye tells me that he is swinging at the same amount or worse amount of pitches he shouldn't, but alters his swing to try to touch them instead of missing them like he used to. The numbers say he is striking out less the second half. They also say his HR rate is basically the same, just a fraction HIGHER. He is walking less and getting fewer hits.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 11:00 AM) Are you kidding? The guy had TWO INFIELD SINGLES in the past two nights, one which was, at the time, the GO AHEAD RBI. Adam Dunn has been making a s***-ton more contact in the second half than he did in the first, and now people are complaining about his batting average... ...All while STILL saying he's striking out too much! Yes, my comment was obviously a bit facetious but I do think when this guy is going well he's striking out a ton and homering a ton. The guy has struck out 63 times in the last 53 games he's played (195 AB). Given his average number of yearly AB, that would project out to 170 per season - right around where he usually is on his BEST full seasons. Meanwhile, his BA drops, his homers drop. How can this guy win with some people, honestly? He's striking out less, but his HR pace hasn't declined. His last year in Washington, he had 99 more plate appearances than he has right now, and he had 23 more extra basehits. Even leading the league in walks, his OBP is well below his career average, and even leading the league in walks and homers his OPS is below is career average. I love power guys, but I'm sure he'd tell you, he's a bit embarrassed by a couple of his numbers.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 10:22 AM) Jesus Granted, you learn a heck of a lot about baseball from Len Kasper.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 29, 2012 -> 09:46 AM) Absolutely. With a good announcer you can learn something new or insightful daily. There is no doubt in my mind, White Sox fans have learned more about baseball from Hawk, than any other fans in MLB have learned from their PBP guy.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 04:30 PM) Hawk's harmless, but annoying. He's all schtick. His catchphrases get old. He repeats the same stories. He doesn't have a whole lot of original insight anymore. He's starting to get a little senile/blind. The "stretch" on routine fly balls is a joke. Most importantly, he tends to speak in absolutes too much. Everything is the best or worst thing ever. He's tempered it with the "he might not be the best ever, but there's none better" line, but it's still grating. I really don't have the same feeling of sentimentality as most of you. Talk about absolutes........... Announcers are known for their home run calls. Hawk's known for that as well as DP calls, "should be........rack 'em up", and many more. I was at my friends house watching the game one time and his wife had no idea how we knew exactly what he would say a lot of the time. Maybe some don't like it but I love to say he gone on a strikeout. Or can of corn, or right size, wrong shape, or get foul...it will, thank you very much. To me, its like being with a fan at a game. As I've said, his ranting about umpires does get old after a while, but the other stuff will never get old to me. I don't mind a Yaz or Catfish story. He loves the White Sox, and knows the game. I personally couldn't ask for more in the booth.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 05:58 PM) Aside from your bad puns, learn a knuckleball? You act as if it is just an easy thing for someone to do. There is a reason that there are so few knuckleballers in the majors anymore, it is a difficult pitch to A: throw and B: control Why didn't Nolan Ryan learn a knuckler and throw until he turned 70? While obviously you are correct that it is a difficult pitch to master, the question is why don't more guys that are basically at the end of the line at least give it a shot? It worked for Dickey just like picking up the split made Bruce Sutter a HOF pitcher instead of a petroleum transfer technician.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 06:05 PM) 8y/$5.6B http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ga.../1#.UD1Mt6Ph-Sp Kind of surprised they went back to ESPN. They've seemed to have a love/hate relationship, but they probably weren't ready to commit fully to NBC sports network or whatever it is called That's approx. $23 million a year per team.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 08:29 PM) He'll play him against LHP even though he's much better against RHP. He's going to play his regulars as much as possible. If we are hoping Olmedo plays more, the Sox are in a lot of trouble.

QUOTE (RZZZA @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 08:21 PM) Humber can be a long reliever, Thornton is good for one inning and even then he usually f***s it up. Humber > Thornton With this post, I can't see how anyone could ever think you know what you are talking about when it comes to baseball ever again.

Apparently Peavy has an eye infection and wouldn't have been able to pitch tomorrow anyway.

I wish I could cuss.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 12:47 PM) To be clear, I didn't say I despise him. I just don't think he's very good, and he is definitely irritating. I am not doubting his baseball knowledge, or that he might be a good guy. I got the depise from the article. I get irratated by him every so often, especially when he goes on and on about the umpires or sends yet another dig at Jerry Manuel, but I think he's great.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 12:09 PM) With all due respect, I think this is incorrect. If he changes his proven approach, he'll be less effective as a hitter, in all areas. As I pointed out, when his K rate is highest, his homer and walk rate is highest. Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. My theory is that when he swings for the fences most effectively, he also tends to strike out more because he commits to more pitches earlier. When he's hitting a lot of home runs, he also tends to be more selective with pitches when he's going well, as many hitters are. More K's = more homers. More homers = more walks. Here's hoping he strikes out 300 times. After all, it's just another out. He's swinging hard and his OPS is the second lowest of his career. His lowest was last year when his strikeout rate was the highest of his career. The more often he strikes out, the lower his OPS is.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 12:16 PM) I couldn't imagine a game without Hawk, I absolutely love his style of broadcasting. I'll never understand whats wrong with him being a homer, I mean he is a White Sox broadcaster isn't he? I believe a White Sox broadcaster should, you know, root for the White Sox....He's an all time great in my book, no questions asked. I agree, and if you watch MLB Network or Baseball Tonight, they are always using his lines. They even do picks to click. Mercy! Its hard for me to believe a White Sox fan would despise Hawk. If you ever listen to other broadcasters, you get at most about 1/10th the baseball knowledge that you get when Hawk and Stone are doing the game. There are a lot of things about baseball even the haters mention daily that they would have no clue about if Len Kasper where the White Sox PBP voicee.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 28, 2012 -> 11:47 AM) Like I said, if Adam tries to make more contact he hits fewer home runs. He has a home run swing and a contact swing and they don't blend together well. Those strikeouts get to your head though, so I understand that he is trying to make some more contact. How many warning track flies have you seen from him lately compared to the first half? I have to wonder if some of the difference in Dunn's numbers is related to having better hitters around him than ever before. If he made more contact, he'd hit more home runs not less. You can't homer striking out. A ball that clears the fence by 5 feet counts just as much as one that clears it by 100. If he makes solid contact and gets it in the air, its gone even if he doesn't swing as hard as he can.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Aug 27, 2012 -> 09:02 PM) McLouth vs LHP: .176/.263/.176 Yes, this is on Robin if we lose. He apparently doesn't know that he has players who throw left handed in the bullpen. If Ventura brought in a lefty, McLouth wouldn't have stayed in the game.

mlb.tv premium is $10 for the rest of the season: http://mlb.mlb.com/index.jsp?target=Z&...e59b532f630f802

Flowers, despite his recent surge, is still a .215 career hitter in 251 AB and he too is older than Gordon Beckham who is constantly railed on this board. Tyler is hot, and if his minor league career is any indication, get him some ABs while he is hot. He tends to be really streaky.