Dick Allen

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2012 -> 09:55 AM) Interestingly, the White Sox are the one team out of the bottom six who hasn't done the "full out" rebuilding with youth, at least not since the late 90's. And yet we're going to have our worst attendance since 2002 and threaten the USCF stadium low 1.3-1.4 milllion mark (1998-99) if this team is knocked out of it again completely in May. As Fathom and many others have been pointing out, there comes a moment when even holding on to a Paul Konerko or Alexei Ramirez makes little to no sense going forward, as there's not any more ground left to fall from an attendance and PR standpoint. It has been a blessing and a curse during the KW years that we never bottomed out completely so that rebuilding could have started in 2007 or 2009 or 2010 or 2011. You can make an argument that 06-07 knocked off 50-75% of the bandwagon fans after the World Series and the remainders were lost the last 3 years with all the internecine warfare and squabbling between KW and Ozzie Guillen. Fans are fed up, and they're not going to come out to pay top dollar for a clearly inferior product, or simply to support former Sox All-Star Robin Ventura. The fact that we hired a manager with ZERO previous experience also has caused skepticism in the fanbase. For all we know, Terry Francona could have managed the club to the same record, we'lll never be able to test what would or could have happened with a more experienced manager, but the seriousness of the organization about winning anytime soon is questionable, some would even say dubious. Now, with Danks' contract on the books going forward, along with Dunn and Rios, we're still hampered payroll-wise to the point where rebuilding is made more difficult. If there's anything that's going to be questioned in the next 2-3 years, it's the intelligence of investing so much money into a #3 starter when the only thing that will pull this team into contention are elite arms like Chris Sale (assuming they actually have the durability to start). But you don't build around John Danks as your franchise cornerstone. I remember when KW acquired an $11 million a year #5 starter, people were fine with that. So if Danks is a #3, his contract appears to be right in line. And if the Sox totally bottomed out and got rid of all their top players, you would still be complaining, and there is no guarantee the rebuild will work. The guy pointed out that long rebuilds tend to lose you fans forever. He said one reason TB can't draw 10k is because they were bad so long, people became disinterested forever. People have no patience with the current young guys on the Sox roster. They will have no patience if the entire line up was full of these types of players. They would stop caring all together.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 8, 2012 -> 09:45 AM) The organization knows who is "ready" and who is not. If those guys were ready, they would have been here ahead of Stults. Then again, this group is really good at spotting pitchers who have been missed, so if they like him, I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. They apparently selected properly yesterday yet some still complain. Stults and Quintana were both good. It really doesn't matter what choice the White Sox make, there are a few people that wait for that choice before deciding the other choice was the proper way to go and no result can show them to be wrong.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 8, 2012 -> 09:05 AM) They've lost 4 of the last 5 and seriously could've just as easily won 4 of those 5. I'm just as pissed as anyone, but the reality is that they are competing. Even with Thornton's predictable mental-midget wetting of the bed moment, they still almost came back again. How close was that TFlow shot to being fair? I'm not saying their luck will change. Just wish the could make some sort of move to spark the lineup. They do have to start scoring some more runs. Hawk going on and on about Stults' 5th inning yesterday was ridiculous. There's a reason a 32 year old guy is pitching in AAA. You can't expect him to throw a shutout.

This article is interesting. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mari...ding_how_t.html

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:16 AM) But that's exactly what you say every time he falls apart in those situations. It's not just bad luck, it's about having a limited arsenal of pitches and not getting behind in counts. Chunk fastball after fastball over the plate against major league hitters, they'll make contact eventually. Blame the pitching coach.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ May 8, 2012 -> 12:46 AM) It's an annual May tradition: Consecutive inter-divisional series give-away games that result in free fall into Division irrelevance? CHECK. Obvious qualified closer candidate that is more than capable but remains unused until later in the season when he proves to be the best choice all along? CHECK. Inability to execute basic fundamental baseball resulting in opponent momentum and shattered Sox player's confidence? CHECK. Late-inning pressure Matt Thornton choke-job? CHECK. 2 of the 3 hits off Thornton were of the very cheap variety. He was way closer to unlucky last night than bad.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 7, 2012 -> 03:07 PM) Bet the Sox score one run and get two guys on for Beckham to K or ground into a DP to end it. You have a shot at being pretty correct.

The kid did his job. I won't get too excited about his future yet, Stewart pitched a game or 2 like this last season, but now the Sox are fully loaded for game 2. Its an impressive debut.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 7, 2012 -> 02:54 PM) His problem was he didn't get enough AB's in the minors. Yeah, he's only had 2800 minor league plate appearances. 3200 and he's in the All Star game every year.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 7, 2012 -> 02:44 PM) Apparently KW's man-crush on Quintana may be warranted. I wouldn't go that far, but he did do his job today and saved the bullpen from disaster while keeping the Sox within striking distance. The line up is filled with too many out makers.

Meat.

The new and improved Alex Rios has his OPS down around Juan Pierre as a White Sox range.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 7, 2012 -> 02:09 PM) Lillibridge should at least swing at strikes Against RHP, he will swing at sliders 2 or 3 feet off the plate.

Nice job that inning.

This game is not out of reach for as bad as its been.

QUOTE (TitoMB @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:50 PM) So what is Humber's ERA minus the perfect game? 10+? 10.31

On non perfect game days, opponents are hitting .329 against Humber.

6.51 ERA for Humber. Considering where we are in the schedule and he has a perfect game under his belt, that's hard to do. This guy may wind up waived before long.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:34 PM) 1/8 of a season at rookie ball and 1/4 of a season at low A after being drafted, one full season at high A, 1/2 season at AA, 1/2 season at AAA before being moved into starting in the big leagues. Danny Valencia was drafted at the same age and got almost 1.5x as many minor league PA's as Morel before coming up, just as a "prospect philosophy comparison". The evidence so far indicates Morel sucks, but he needs a good week and many opinions will change. I don't think he's as good as last September, and he's certainly not as bad as he's shown so far in 2012, but will he be good enough to play regularly?

QUOTE (Jake @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:31 PM) I don't know if VERY aggressively is the right way to put it. Let's face it, he's had much more time than most players to prove himself at this level. He has to bat over .220 to keep his spot and he's just not doing it. Send him down to AAA, if we don't have an everyday third baseman somewhere down the line and he puts up good AAA numbers, he can have another crack. Something has to give pretty soon. He can't keep playing if he continues to look like he's been looking. The problem is the alternative may be worse.

Anyone see Michael Phelps on 60 Minutes last night? He said he was depressed for a period and used to wake up at 11 o'clock in the afternoon.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:27 PM) It would be nice to use Lillibridge against LHP more. The way he's been used this year is just ridiculous, in my opinion. Hell, platoon him with De Aza. He did hit a lot of homers last year, but Lillibridge has never done anything else but strikeout a ton. I really don't understand the fascination with him. If Gordon Beckham put up the same numbers, people would be calling for his head even more than they do now.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:23 PM) Is there really an improvement to this team if Lillibridge replaces Morel? The small amount you might gain offensively with a little more speed, you lose defensively. Its a wash at best. The Sox have to see if Morel can play everyday. They know Lillibridge cannot.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:22 PM) Brent putting some good swings on the ball, but strikes out looking . Last season with the HR was a fluke. He's a glorified pinch runner. He strikes out as often per AB as Adam Dunn.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:19 PM) Fire Kenny! Makes you wonder why they even bothered with Juan Pierre.