Dick Allen

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 6, 2012 -> 09:54 PM) Can you diminish the wild card. It's not really an accomplishment. If you get in the playoffs as a non-division winner, it really doesn't matter. But its a one game playoff to advance. That should put you at a huge disadvantage if you win the game, plus the one game is a gamble. All the WC ever gave up was homefield. Now if you're in but can still win the division, do you take your chances with the WC and set your rotation, which will be screwed up anyway due to the one game, or do you try to win the division? If you're going to have a wildcard, having 2 with a one game play in, IMO is a better solution. Plus it will keep even more interested in September.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 6, 2012 -> 09:54 PM) Can you diminish the wild card. It's not really an accomplishment. If you get in the playoffs as a non-division winner, it really doesn't matter. But its a one game playoff to advance. That should put you at a huge disadvantage if you win the game, plus the one game is a gamble. If you're going to have a wildcard, having 2 with a one game play in, IMO is a better solution. Plus it will keep even more interested in September.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 04:30 PM) What it really diminishes is the wild card. Exactly. At first I thought this thing was crazy, but I really like it for the very reason you provided. Make winning the divison worth more home field advantage, plus it gets more teams involved at the end of the year.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 5, 2012 -> 06:35 PM) Tampa did it last year. That was a pretty sweet roster for $41 million last year.

Has any team ever dropped $30 million from their payroll in one offseason and made the playoffs?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 5, 2012 -> 08:08 AM) Here's reality for the Bears though...they're in a position where, IMO, they're so thoroughly undermanned at WR that "A guy not living up to his contract" is still an acceptable situation, because that guy could still come off as a substantial upgrade. They might well have to make a guy nearly the highest paid WR in the league, and they're not going to get Larry Fitzgerald out of this FA period...but they just have to give Cutler a weapon on the outside. Even if he only gives them 60-ish catches next year, they have to open up the outside. I would rather they use a couple high picks on receivers and spend big money on their lines.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 5, 2012 -> 07:54 AM) But there's a lot of things that can mean. It can mean that when a team gets a high performing WR, they only let them hit the FA market if they have character issues. It could mean that most teams who sign a high performing WR are signing them in a situation where they don't have strong QB play and that costs the WR his numbers. It could mean that they hold them until they hit the FA market at age 32, and thus the WR doesn't get somehwere new until he's starting to go downhill. Of course, and its one reason I hope the Bears don't sign Colson. He's going to be paid money based on what he did in the Saints' system playing half his games on turf indoors with Drew Brees throwing him the ball. Thinking he'll put up similar numbers playing on the Soldier Field turf in a different system would be crazy. I think he's probably better than anyone the Bears have, but for what they will have to pay him, stay away. He's one guy who is almost guaranteed not going to live up to the contract he gets.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 4, 2012 -> 07:01 PM) Free agent O-Linemen are money wasters, You get one of two good seasons, then they get too old and expensive. John Tait, etc. Check out the historical performances of FA receivers. They are exceptions if they aren't busts.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 27, 2012 -> 11:49 AM) What good is saving money on parking if you are forced to just spend the same money plus some at a bar/restaurant? First off, if you're going to buy food and beverage at the game, getting it in one of these establishments is cheaper. If you just want to park, you could go in and buy a $2 coke and there's your savings right there. People are strange. $25 to park a car, paying an extra $10 to sit downstairs, all craziness. Then its, $8 beers? Let's get drunk. I'm just giving people some information, I'm sure some already had. I have never paid for parking at White Sox games, and I would bet I'm in the 99th percentile of Soxtalk members regarding the number of White Sox games attended.

Go to Shinnick's or any other bar or restaurant in the area and you can park on the street for free. Just ask them for a parking pass, or you can go to Schallers park in their lot and eat and drink before the game and save a few bucks in addition to the parking fee.

Its pretty easy to park for free around USCF.

I would never want to be a server, and there are some out there who should be in another line of work. I must say though that I really haven't had really poor service in a long time. Maybe I'm just lucky. I usually tip between 20-25%. If the service was bad I'd make it 15% and put it on a credit card so they have to report it. If the service was so bad it wouldn't warrant that, I'd have walked out well before it would be time to pay the bill. The one thing that is really irking me now is tip jars popping up at restaurants where there is no "service". Places like Jimmy John's and Subway. They are almost everywhere.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 24, 2012 -> 11:47 AM) We got Bonilla from the Pirates and then traded back to the Pirates after one season. I always believed there was a behind the scenes deal made there that allowed us to pick up Bobby Bo in the first place. It wasn't even one season. DeLeon had a nice arm.

QUOTE (Dizzy Sox @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 06:24 PM) They got Jose Deleon for Bobby Bonilla who was eventually flipped for One Dog. Bobby Bo was, in his prime, one of the most feared hitters in his day, while LJ was a leadoff guy who didn't walk, had a noodle arm, and always seemed to make boneheaded mistakes on the bases. I don't see how can say we got our money's worth, even if Bonilla was a relatively cheap pickup via Rule 5. One Dog, boneheaded mistakes? Don't think so. He was a good CF despite not being able to throw and was a big part of the Sox success from 1990-1994. Many of Bonilla's big seasons where when the Sox were so awful, they wouldn't have won anything anyway. After 91 he became extremely expensive. As was stated, keeping him might have meant no Robin Ventura or Jack McDowell or Alex Fernandez or Frank Thomas.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 08:17 PM) Wow refs, when the ball hits the backboard and a guy blocks it, its a goal tend. Terrible terrible call. In the NBA its a goaltend, not necessarily in the NCAA. Go Hawks.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 12:44 PM) Was that his best move? He also picked up Ivan Calderon for basically nothing. Hawk wasn't nearly the disaster everyone thought. The team he had with Burns never pitching again, and Seaver not being what he was, was doomed.

QUOTE (StatManDu @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 11:30 AM) Today, Bobby Bonilla celebrates his 49th birthday. I often wonder what the White Sox of the 1990s would have been like if the White Sox had kept Bonilla, Harold Baines, Doug Drabek and Bob Wickman. Played strictly by the book, this means Jose DeLeon, Lance Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Wilson Alvarez, Scott Fletcher, Roy Smalley, Steve Sax and George Bell would not have been members of the White Sox. These were players all acquired by the Sox for either Baines, Bonilla or Drabek. The most glaring absence from the aforementioned list would have been Lance Johnson, who is one of the most underrated players in franchise history, and Wilson Alvarez. Fletcher's absence would have made Joey Cora a regular quicker. Bell gave the Sox one good year and Sosa was erratic at best. This is not to say Himes could have gotten Johnson from the Cards for Floyd Bannister or Richard Dotson or Dave LaPoint and/or prospects. But, let's play it straight up: That lineup, without Johnson, would have been Raines LF, ???? in CF, Bonilla RF, 3B Ventura, SS Guillen, 2B Cora, 1B Thomas, C Fisk/Karkovice, DH Baines, SPs (at one time or another): McDowell, Drabek, Fernandez, Hibbard, Bere, Perez, Hough, Sanderson; Pen (at one time or another): Hernandez, Radinsky, McCaskill, Wickman, DeLeon (acquired in 1993), Assenmacher, Pall; Bench: Grebeck, Newson, LaValliere, Pasqua, Paco Martin, Bo Jackson, Huff Even with a below average CF, there is really no pitching around anyone in that lineup. Needles to say, I think, that roster would have netted the franchise more than the one AL West title it won during the 1990s. Don't forget Keith Foulke, Bobby Howry and Mike Caruso. They came from SF in the Alvarez trade. I think the Sox got their money's worth for Bobby Bonilla especially considering he was a rule 5 pick up by none other than Hawk Harrelson. They also got Neal Cotts in the Foulke/Koch trade.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 05:00 PM) 1.) The story I read had Cooper going to Kenny way earlier than the Oz thing blew up. I thought Cooper came across very creepy in that story I read, kind of like the snitch character in the Longest Yard. 2.) I don't know. I get mad when my favorites get criticized in a way I see that is unfair. I've stood up for others who have drawn the wrath on here, like Dye, Wise, CQ, Garland, Pierre, Jenks. 3.) The Oz-KW thing wasn't going to work any longer obviously. I happen to blame KW as much or more than Oz though. Cooper was in the last year of his contract, something your boy Ozzie wouldn't ever get to and Ozzie is openly negotiating with the Marlins. What is Cooper supposed to do? I agree KW needs to go, but I blame him and Ozzie about 50/50

I don't know why the uproar over the poor grade. Its basically a mid term grade anyway. The one that matters is the one at the end of the season, but the Sox had a bad team last year. Lost their most dependable starter. Traded away perhaps their second best run producer and a cost controlled closer and got back a guy with a 10 ERA in AAA and a guy who has 22 IP above A ball. It could work out brilliantly, but at this point, if the goal is to improve, you really can't say any offseason moves clearly improved the team, most moves were clearly driven by budget not talent, although I do agree, the KW/Ozzie dynamic being gone should help some. If that deserves a C at this point, I wish you were grading me throughout my school days.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 05:20 AM) I don't know how anybody could give the Sox a D- for the offseason they had. There were some questionable moves, but it's not as if this team is suddenly worse for this year and worse for the future because of the moves made during this offseason. When you are not good enough if you don't obviously improve your team for the present or don't obviously upgrade your future you get a low grade Castro was once highly thought of but AAA ERAs around 10.00 lower expectations. Molina could be good but less than 300 IP in his life and only 22 of those above A ball tempers expectations as well. V

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 19, 2012 -> 03:55 PM) Bringing up Molina this year is the wrong answer. Bringing up Molina before the middle of next year is probably the wrong answer. But again, that requires admitting that we're not going all-in this year and that we have to look towards the future...including with the job status of the people in the front office. If he blows through AA with zero problem, a September call up could be in order, but I agree with you. This is a guy like Santos who was originally signed as a position player. His lack of experience on the mound isn't just with his lack of minor league innings. Calling him up too soon is setting him up for disaster. I will wish no ill will towards Sergio Santos, he seems like a great guy, but IMO, the best thing that could happen to Molina is for Santos to struggle. The one thing about Sergio is he was only a few pitches away from being an All Star quality closer. There are a lot of guys who can probably say that, but if somehow he figures out how to make those pitches and in June or July has great numbers, the spotlight and pressure on Molina to be something quickly just grows.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Feb 19, 2012 -> 02:53 PM) Maybe he doesn't lose the trade if Molina becomes a pretty good reliever, but Molina is being counted on to be much more than that by Williams in this rebuilding. Williams also said we will probably see Molina at some point in 2012 Which is scary. He has 22 IP above A ball and now the pressure is on to pitch in the majors leagues. Let the guy develop. He has 292 career IP.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 19, 2012 -> 02:39 PM) Unless he becomes a pretty good reliever because other guys (Sale, Humber, Castro, Danks, Stewart, etc.) fill out the rotation to the point he's not needed...Molina becoming a pretty good reliever would be a major, major failure. That'd be a Hudson/Jackson level failure IMO...basically, you'd be getting exactly waht you already have in Santos, except you'd be delaying it by 2-3 years, and opening up a hole that doesn't need to be opened up now. I'd call that a fireable offense again. Molina needs to be starting in the bigs sometime around the start of 2014, and setbacks reflect directly onto the guy(s) who pulled the trigger. That deal only makes sense if you're getting a really good starting pitcher. I agree, but the more closely you look at Molina's "experience", the more you would think, its going to be a while before he could remain in a major league rotation for an entire season. It will be interesting to see how his workload last year affects him this season. I hope he's not Dexter Carter II, although he does seem to have a little better walk rate, but I don't know if its command or low level hitters.

We can nitpick Santos but the fact is Molina has 22 IP above A ball, and has less than 300 career innings under his belt. Being a regular in the White Sox rotation seems a ways away. Last year was the first time he topped 100 IP. To me this seems like the Elton Brand/Tyson Chandler trade only a smaller stake. Jerry Krause was hoping Chandler became a 20/10 guy. Brand was a 20/10 guy. Santos was a pretty good reliever. I'm thinking KW would take Molina becoming a pretty good releiver.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 19, 2012 -> 10:58 AM) And that extension actually made him more tradeable. I would bet anything Toronto would have given KW Molina even if that extension was never in place.