Dick Allen

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 2, 2012 -> 02:05 PM) I think at the price, Fukudome was a decent gamble and looked good on paper. What has he done in a Sox uniform? Nothing. Jordan Danks isn't projected to be a starter in the big leagues any longer. He's at that age (almost 26) where he's played enough AAA baseball and he could be a valuable bench piece. De Aza has been great, but giving him a rest once every 10 days during the hot months would be a good thing, and that's where Danks can help. He can also go in on defense for Viciedo (who isn't bad, but Danks is better). Why is Danks an upgrade over Fukudome? The guy has a tough time making contact playing every day against weaker competition. I think he'd be hard-pressed to do anything playing as infrequently as Fukudome. Fukudome at least has done it before. Its best for Jordan and the Sox he not be called up to take Fukudome's place. If Fukudome were in AAA, he'd probably be hitting over .300 and the consensus would be to call him up.

De Aza to me is like a LH Ray Durham offensively. Maybe not quite as much pop, but pretty similar.

Trading a starting pitcher wouldn't be bright. Humber is still a question mark. Sale is going to be on some sort of innings count. When they say the White Sox are buyers, I think the 2 spots they would be looking for are 3B and starting pitcher, not necessarily in that order. Hopefully, Morel's problems were physical and he's over them. I think giving up anything of value for Youkilis would be a mistake.

If I was Theo, the guy I would trade is Smarjdkfdjfdk. He was hot garbage until this year. You could probably get a mint for him. He just seems like a short term wonder to me.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 2, 2012 -> 09:53 AM) No, I think you're looking far too much into this. I think Bud ripped him a new one for going off on his umpires. Its one thing when White Sox fans hear it, its another when it becomes a national story and everyone hears it. And btw, we went through this whole song and dance earlier in the thread...Selig can discipline Hawk and/or fire him. Hawk is an employee of CSN/WGN, not of the White Sox, not of MLB. Selig cannot fire him. It would be like saying he can fire you from your job. If Selig was so pissed about this and had some authority, Hawk would at least get the weekend suspension BS. He and JR don't want him ripping umpires, and its not because Hawk is necessarily wrong.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 2, 2012 -> 09:20 AM) So the umpires could feel better to the 224 listeners of the Mully and Hanley show? It seems like a bit of a stretch to make up this big conspiracy so that the umpires would feel better about the terrible call. No, MLB doesn't want a bad relationship with the umpires. If Selig doesn't talk to Hawk, the umpires are going to be upset. Do you really think Bud and JR read Hawk the riot act? First, there is nothing Selig can do to discipline Hawk. Do you really think JR disagrees with Hawk's view? Not a chance. He didn't even apologize and wasn't sure if he ever would. They want Hawk to lighten up on the umpires. Its nothing new. JR has been asking him to do this for at least 15 years. Its not as if he's in danger of losing his job. Its all show. There's a reason these private conversations became public.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 2, 2012 -> 09:13 AM) He's a great defensive outfielder that can play all three positions. He's a left-handed bat who has a .400+ OBP and is actually hitting for some power. I know the strikeouts are a huge red flag and will ultimately hinder most of his value. However, the rest of his stats look great and let's not forget he has many physical tools that scouts love. I honestly believe that there are some teams out there that would think he was rushed to AAA and that maybe he's finally putting it together. He'd be a great fit for the Padres, as he'd be perfect for Petco defensively and they actually could roll the dice on him and not worry if he flops. Again, due his strikeouts and age his value will be minimal. Having said that, maybe you can convince a team to take him as a secondary piece over another prospect you like better. That right there is more valuable IMO than anything you'd add by replacing Fukudome with him. I doubt he has any more value than a throw in. He's a great defensive replacement, and might make a nice extra OF if he can hit at all, but the lack of contact. I didn't realize he's actually a month older than Beckham.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 2, 2012 -> 12:35 AM) Apparently Beltran hit a line drive over 3rd base that was called foul but was actually fair. Oh well. Yeah, they showed the ball mark on the chalk.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 11:41 PM) No, they don't want problems with announcers going f***ing crazy out of line on umpires. They don't want announcers going off on every blown call and having their rant go viral, I'll give you that. The conversations Hawk had with JR and Bud though were just for show. If they were the "knockout" Hawk was telling everyone they were, he would have said he's not going to snap over umpires ever again and would have issued a public apology. He didn't apologize and said he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 08:37 PM) That's the silliest thing you could possibly have said to defend him. He has every right to go out on the street and say whatever he wants. He doesn't have the right o make his owner look bad if his owner decides that's what happened. Do you really think they let Hawk have it? It was a PR move for the umpires. They probably told Hawk he's was absolutely correct, but they don't want problems with the umpires.

Winning a game by a CF taking one off his face. Something is going on here.

They aren't getting 3 off Reed tonight. This game is ova.

Reed looks like a young Hawk. Mercy.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 09:50 PM) Beckham looking more and more dangerous each and every game, and at-bat. Could easily have 3 hits tonight if not for the great catch by Saunders in CF. Does anyone think this would have happened with Walker and Guillen still around? We'll never know, but doubtful. Considering it did, I'll say yes. 2009 Gordon was very good. He also was excellent the second half of 2010 before breaking his hand.

No Matt Kemp when the Sox go to LA? That's a shame. A lot of things appear to be going the Sox way this year. You know what happens when that happens.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 07:25 PM) Great seats still available Dynamic Pricing means there only about $75.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 01:43 PM) So then the umps should have had increased awareness and sensitivity to the Rays hitting De Aza in one of the previous games, then Beckham, then AJ in the finale. Instead, they seemed to only have increased sensitivity to Quintana throwing behind but entirely missing Zobrist on a pitch below the waist. And after all this, De Aza got hit in the knee at 2B. The umps were clearly wrong in their handling of all this. Exactly.If no warning had been issued, I don't know how you let them get away with hitting AJ with zero consequence, yet eject someone who didn't even hit the hitter. If he hit him, I at least could see there may be some reason for ejection, but clearly AJ was hit on purpose, how come there was no ejection then? And the thing with De Aza was on purpose too. Don't anyone fool themselves. When they got the warnings against the Cubs, I suggested they hit a runner on a pick off "attempt". It rarely occurs, but seems to occur at the strangest times.

So the Cubs are willing to eat $45 million of the $48 million left on Soriano's contract. If you really needed a DH, that probably wouldn't be the worst option. When the guy is hot, he's on fire.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 31, 2012 -> 06:05 PM) And to them you say: I like Foley too. I just wrote to Google Pat Foley sucks because you apparently believe he doesn't have his detractors. He does. Plenty of them, and the complaints are the same, he's way past his prime, his schtick is old... Every broadcaster has people don't like their style.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 31, 2012 -> 05:05 PM) Like with Pat Foley? He has been announcing for a similar time period and I observe very little contempt in his direction. Google Pat Foley sucks, you'll see many of the same complaints launched at Hawk. No one is going to be loved by all, and no one is going to change their opinion based on posts on a message board. There is no one I'd rather hear doing White Sox PBP than Hawk. He pisses me off sometimes, without question, but I love him and his enthusiasm. He's not just collecting a check.

Who knows how the rest of the season will unfold, but the AL Central always provides hope. The Tigers were clearly favorites and should be, adding Fielder, but a lot went right with them last year and Victor Martinez was a big part of it. Expecting any team to win 100 games is expecting a lot. Maybe they run away and hide the last 110 games, maybe not. The Sox should be confident they can contend. If they can get Danks back and Floyd returns to his form of a few weeks ago, its hard to imagine they would not be somewhat close for the rest of the season.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 31, 2012 -> 11:20 AM) The quality of OH's at bats suggest that his average will go up. There's a sample size issue with his CWS numbers, but qualitatively it isn't that difficult to project those numbers up. You keep mentioning his defense like it's been bad - one error was a "bad" error and the other was the kind you expect on a tough play and was made possible by making a nice play with his glove. He's also made several very good plays, including one that likely decided a game for us. I know we like to think that you have to have an All-Star at every position to "compete the rest of the way," but this isn't the case...you just can't have any black holes, and that's not Hudson. If his next ten games make him look like a black hole (doesn't look like one now), we'll hopefully plug in a healthy Brent and not miss a beat. I wouldn't entertain too many thoughts about acquiring another alternative because we don't have the players or organizational philosophy to get a big fish right now. I don't know if there is a division lead big enough for KW to give up young players for a fix on the MLB roster. One error was a bad throw, he also made a couple of other bad throws that were handled. The other error, a ball went between his legs. His last couple of seasons would suggest what you see is what you will get offensively. He isn't very good. If the other Sox players hadn't been playing well the entire time he's been here, he wouldn't be anywhere near as popular. I would even venture to guess the term DFA would have come up several times.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 31, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) While Brent Morel is probably a more talented hitter than Orlando Hudson, I still remember a Brent Morel from last year that had frustratingly bad at bats. Never swinging aggressively, never taking a walk. The only redeeming quality was that he looked to the opposite field, but it was in a Juan Pierre kind of way, like he didn't want to hit ball too hard. Nothing was more frustrating than seeing him swing at anything the pitcher threw up there in a 2 strike count. If he could work a count like Hudson, he'd be a better hitter. But he has never shown me that he has an ability to intelligently pick spots to swing aggressively, know which strikes not to swing at, how to balance a 2 strike approach with one that might result in a hit, etc. Hudson is the better hitter because of what is between his ears. Year TM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS AVG 2012 SD 35 123 11 26 0 5 1 11 8 27 3 2 .260 .317 .577 .211 2012 CWS 9 27 3 5 1 1 0 4 5 5 1 0 .313 .296 .609 .185 2012 Total 44 150 14 31 1 6 1 15 13 32 4 2 .270 .313 .583 .207 Am I missing something here? Hudson is hitting .185 with the Sox with a .609 OPS, and has made a couple of errors at 3B. Sure he's better than the current version of Morel, but at least we find out Morel has some excuses. Moving forward, if Morel is nearly as bad as he's shown, the Sox will need an upgrade from Hudson to compete the rest of the way.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 31, 2012 -> 10:52 AM) Why should I be forced to watch the game on mute because the announcer is a senile old man? That's you're opinion. You don't have to watch at all. You can always turn on the radio, or spend $12 on AT BAT 12 and listen to the feed from the other team. Why should I not be able to listen to the Score during the houres Boers and Bernstein are on because I think their act is 8th grade? You don't like it, you don't have to listen to it. Welcome to the USA.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 31, 2012 -> 10:46 AM) This STRETCH of a post is brought to you by Hawk Harrelson. Whatever. If you need someone telling you what is going on when you are watching a baseball game, you aren't as baseball-wise as you think you are. Hawk is basically there to entertain and inform, and teach. Whether you want to admit it or not, you have learned a lot about baseball listening to Hawk over the years. If you can't stand him, mute it and watch, and dream about how the guy from broadcast school would announce the game.