Dick Allen

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 03:06 PM) There was a column in the Trib just this Sunday stroking him for Soriano's recent tear. If you ever follow Soriano, you will see he gets ridiculously hot at times, like he is now. He'll cool off and be horrible for a while and the boo birds will be back.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 01:16 PM) They had to keep him on the 25 man roster...the whole year...he wasnt ready for that He's 26. If you say he's not ready to be on the roster now, I don't know what you're arguing. By your own admission, he's not ready yet.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 01:09 PM) Cubs fired hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. I give Cubs brass credit they dumped him unlike the Sox that kept Walker 3 years too long! Rudy Jaramillo is a Soxtalk God. He was so worshipped, if the Sox couldn't pony up for him, people actually wanted whoever his "assistant" was, to take Walker's spot. As I've said all along, you are only as good as your players. Jaramillo's results weren't any better than the 2 guys before him, and the new guy won't get better results unless Theo changes the roster.

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Jun 11, 2012 -> 12:08 PM) The Cubs are awful and there will be a huge lack of interest for Cubs fans to go. I wish they would have made it a weekend series, as it would probably sell out then. What's interesting is ticketmaster doesn't show the individual seats available for that series like they do for all the other games. The crowds will be bigger than normal, but I would be shocked at sellouts unless Brooks decides the Sox Save of the Week is the Cubs series.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 11, 2012 -> 08:22 PM) The problem is there's just not enough to get both Greinke and Youkilis. We've gone through this before with the Jackson/Hudson trade. Or wasting money on Manny Ramirez. The only and perhaps main reason to do it is because this team is more set up to win it than in 2013, 2014 and 2015. But with Danks on the books, it's going to take a lot more than just making the playoffs for JR to ante up for Greinke when he's just now getting free of the Peavy deal. On the open market, you just don't see much likelihood of keeping him. And then why Milwaukee would want Gavin Floyd for $9.5 million in 2013, is beyond me. He better go on a phenomenal run the next 6 weeks, in which case it becomes very hard to deal him, even though your heart tells you the worm will turn for the worse again and he'll revert back to "bad Gavin." Thankfully, we still have a month or more to monitor things before we make any moves. The Red Sox are not going to trade Youkilis to the White Sox.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 11, 2012 -> 07:46 PM) You simply don't give up on Floyd. Remember when Gavin had like a 7 ERA back in 09 in June? He pitches in spurts, a good streak will come soon enough once something clicks in his head. Danks will be back soon. We are coming to the place on the calendar where Floyd shines. His curveball was tight last outing, maybe a good sign. Hope Quintana can hold up the fort pitching in Humber's spot as I think Phillip is a lost cause. Floyd usually has 2 excellent months.,June and July. If he holds true to form, around the deadline would be an excellent time to trade him as he will be entering a period where he almost always fades. He will be coming off a dominating stretch and might be attractive to a team like Milwuakee if Greinke isn't going to sign with them. 2012 pitching problem solved. If the Sox make the playoffs, you just lost Floyd's salary, Peavy departing, some extra playoff cash and ticket sales gives you an opportunity to sign Greinke. 2013 pitching problem solved. No matter what Marty says, a rotation that includes Danks, Greinke and Sale and the back end of the Sox bullpen, should be able to compete for the foreseeable future in the AL Central. A lot would have to go right for that all to happen, but most has been going the Sox way so far this year.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 11, 2012 -> 10:51 AM) Disagree. The upper deck is as populated as it's been in recent years. The lower deck (former season ticket holders) is where the issue lies. Its not ever populated that is the problem. They have had a problem with bleacher seats and lower deck "boxes" in the corners due to season ticketholders dropping out and IMO pricing. Its a "deal" to pay $38 for a bleacher seat against the Brewers? I think they should make all upper deck seats in the outfield general admission. Reward the people that want to come and get their seats when the gates open. When the park opened, bleacher seats were some of the most popular, and some of the cheapest. Of course, even the Cubs can't sell out their bleachers these days, as they have priced them ridiculously as well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2012 -> 09:19 AM) In case people want the link, here's his Hittrackeronline page with that HR now listed. True distance listed at 443. Not actually his longest of the year even. Yes, but rarely does a ball go that far right down the line. Guys hit lazy fly balls to CF that would be halfway up the seats down the line. I had never seen a fair ball go into the club level.

QUOTE (tonyho7476 @ Jun 11, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) Let's go get him! They can have Humber and Stewart. I just heard Humber on the Score say that homeruns happen in our ballpark in the summer. Weird, Sale didn't give up any on Saturday?!? Hitting them into section 357 usually doesn't happen. They all count the same, but that one was impressive. Humber can talk about the park, but he hasn't won there in a year and has an ERA there over 6.00. I really think if he didn't throw a perfect game, he would be a candidate for a release. He's been awful.

I don't understand why people buying upper deck seats feel entitled to lower deck access. When you buy a coach seat on an airplane and there are openings in first class do you sit up there? The fact is if you buy an upper deck ticket to save money or can't afford a lower deck seat, you aren't going to be able to afford food or beer or souvenirs at USCF. Buy a lower deck seat and one less beer. That will solve the problem. I could see the Sox implementing a day of game steep discount exchange program for upper deck ticketholders wanting to move down, but it isn't fair to lower deck ticketholders, especially in the OF when the OF concourse is packed with humans. I think one of the Sox biggest problems is their upper deck is still considered and probably always will be considered taboo. They need some gimmick to get people to actually want to sit there. There are a few who realize the first few rows in the infield is a far better place to watch a game than the lower reserved or bleachers, but its a very limited number.

The guy hit one into section 357. That was impressive. Anytime Will Ohman is the most impressive pitcher of the day, an L is just about guaranteed.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 09:25 PM) Cowley's on the Score till 11 with Joe O. Oh yeah and- This post has been edited by the Soxtalk staff to remove objectionable material. Soxtalk encourages a free discussion between its members, but does not allow personal attacks, threats, graphic sexual material, nudity, or any other materials judged offensive by the Administrators and Moderators. Thank you. Kenny Williams has inexplicably become a topic of discussion. Kind of interesting stuff, but I'm not sure the Score does weekend show podcasts. Cowley's talking White Sox? He's been writing White Sox. Its funny, he said they would be irrelevant.

This "poll" is the result of the heat caulfield received for knocking Dan McNeil for being pessimistic about the White Sox. This guy thinks the entire team is only being kept from a total rebuild by Sale returning to the rotation. Wouldn't THAT be reason for pessimism?

A poll that makes no sense. One option says still clearly the best team in the AL, and I don't think anyone has claimed that. Another says still in a rebuilding mode. You even Mitt Romney your polls. Sill the best team in the AL, still in a rebuilding mode? Which one is it? But I'm going with none of the above. They clearly would be in last place and in total denial. They probably would be double the amount of games played out of first place. Sale in the bullpen makes the impossible very possible.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 08:17 PM) The link is Chris Sale is the best pitcher in the AL right now. Jose Contreras was the best pitcher in baseball as well in 2005-2006. You believe the White Sox can just trot out any minor league journeyman and would have won those those same starts...and had the same record, or a nearly identical one. If that was the case, the 2002-2004 White Sox just won three more AL Central championships thanks to your logic...because those teams had all the offense in the world and still lost to the Twins. How can you explain that, when the Twins were clearly inferior, and the White Sox were much better offensively in those years than they have been in 2012. If Chris Sale wasn't in the starting rotation still, the White Sox wouldn't be in first place and would still be a lot closer to rebuilding than adding pieces for the stretch drive. Who would you have started in those 5 games....this pitcher who was going to go 5-1 or 4-2? Should be an interesting answer. 2003 Esteban Loaisa may have been the best pitcher in baseball. He lost 2 games 1-0 and another 2-1. The pitcher doesn't have to go 5-1, the team just has to win the game. When the team scores 6,6,4,2,10 in those 5 starts, there's a pretty good chance 3 are wins and getting 4 against Seattle is usually a win. In fact, the White Sox, even with starters with inflated ERAs have a great record scoring 4 or more runs. But ignore facts, try to impress people throwin out some big word, and maybe they will think you must know what you are talking about. Its clear to quite a few, you don't.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 07:56 PM) Obfuscating again. So Nestor Molina would be 4-2 if he took Sale's starts, too? In your idea, yes. It's the same reason you're going to argue that the White Sox could have just trotted out any minor leaguer in August, September, October, April and May in 2005/2006 and won all of Jose Contrera's starts as well. You believe there's no link to who the starting pitcher is and how the team performs independently. I believe there's a synergy between the two. But whatever. Yeah, Nestor Molina. Whatever is right. You are making yourself look like an even bigger fool. And I don't think there is any link to Chris Sale returning to the rotation and Dunn, Rios, Konerko, Beckham, AJP and De Aza hitting well. None. Sale doesn't even appear in 80% of White Sox games.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 07:24 PM) Coming from the same person who says there's no connection between the results of the offense and who the hitting coach is, then tries to act like Greg Walker miraculously transformed the Braves single-handedly from this offseason's sense of desolation, lol. The White Sox would be 3rd in the AL in runs scored if he was still the hitting coach, too. Sure. You can believe that if you want. It can't be proven to be true or false subjunctively. I'll believe that the White Sox play better when Chris Sale is on the mound, expect to win, and the results would have been dramatically different with any of our minor leaguers out there in his place. Again with Greg Walker. You do need help. Obviously Chris Sale is the reason the Sox started scoring runs. I'm agreeing with you. We'll just ignore April when they couldn't score at all and he was in the rotation. You're truly a baseball genius.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 05:06 PM) What was the record of White Sox 5th starters from 2001-2004? So Dylan Axelrod, Terry Doyle or Eric Stults was going to go 4-2? Really? The answer to question 1, what does that matter now? Question 2, Yes they would. The Sox scored 6,6,4,2 and 10 runs in those starts. They didn't need shutouts, but I'll take the offense riding the inspiration of Chris Sale returning to the starting rotation as the reason they scored these runs. GMAB. You defintely are the Soxtalk version of Mitt Romney. As Frank says, no doubt about it. Just flip flop. Don't try to justify it with things that aren't connected.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 09:47 AM) Once again, you believe we'd STILL be in first place had Chris Sale missed his last 5 starts and been posing as the closer instead? True/false? You believe the White Sox wouldn't be in rebuilding mode with Chris Sale in the bullpen for the entire season and foreseeable future? At worse. 1 game worse which would leave them a half a game out clearly not the nowhere near first you claim and if you haven't noticed they are rebuilding. Sale should make you his agent.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2012 -> 07:11 AM) None of those pitchers were AS bad as the stats you're throwing out there three weeks later look. When's the last time Danks pitched? Why didn't you include Quintana in there, who has pitched more innings that Danks recently? Yes, I'm sure there was a psychological effect on the team knowing that Sale was going to be a part of the rotation again. When the team knows it has a chance to win nearly every game a starter's out there, it helps the offense to relax and not put so much pressure on themselves. You can argue all you want that the White Sox would have gone 4-1 and would still be in first place without Sale, but you should put down the bong yourself if you actually believe that's true. He was the best pitcher in the AL this past month, no way we could have replaced that. With Sale in the bullpen, 75% of the talk around here would still be about rebuilding. Now we have good hitters? Why weren't they good last year? Which is it? Yeah you're right Konerko,Dunn,De Aza, Viciedo and Beckham and Rios decided fo hit when Sale was returned to the rotation. No chance they would have hit otherwise. We should just ignore the thread you started earlier this season bashing 4 of these guys for not hitting when Sale was in the rotation.

For all the Fukudome haters, he's 6th on the team in OBP.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 8, 2012 -> 10:29 PM) But you're acting like there's a vacuum in which the team would have performed exactly the same way had Sale stayed in the pen. First of all, he probably would have at least one blown save, based on his only (very shaky) relief appearance. Second, there's just no way the whole team comes together offensively without the added confidence of knowing we had an ace back in our rotation that could go out and we'd win 80-85% of the games he started. Remember the effect that BAD 5th starters had on the White Sox from 2001-2004? You can assume all you want, that we would have won those games. We can argue back and forth. I can say that the Atlanta Braves would be hitting exactly the same with ANY hitting coach in baseball, and you can't prove I'm wrong. Just like there's no way to prove that the White Sox offense wouldn't have gone on this same tear with Walker as their hitting coach, yadda yadda. So you're saying the White Sox hitters went on a hot streak because Sale remained in the starting rotation? How come they weren't hot when he was in the rotation earlier? Put down the bong. If the BAD 5th starter is condusive to bad offense, how do you explain the White Sox still winning and hitting with Floyd 5.38, Humber 5.68 and Danks 5.70? And the Sox hit pretty well during the time period you mentioned. If you have good hitters, you'll probably have a good offense. And more Greg Walker? Really?

I actually think there is a lot of reasons to be optimistic this year. The Sox are in 1st place on June 9th despite gettting 1 homer and a sub .200 AVG out of the left side of their infield, and 60% of their starting rotation hasn't pitched anywhere near what is expected: Floyd 5.38 ERA, Humber 5.68 ERA, Danks 5.70 ERA.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 8, 2012 -> 10:12 PM) We always seem to have a guy like that, though I guess to be fair, most teams do as well. Yeah, I don't think any team has 12 studs.

When I see Ohman coming in, I want to grab a bat.