Dick Allen

Tyler Flowers has a .197 career batting average and strikes out about as much as Adam Dunn. Its amazing how many people are even slightly excited about his future.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 06:07 PM) "I try to send my support to other general managers in the league to tell them I see what happened, you're not alone in this and (your team) is lucky to have you," Williams said. "That is the message I sent, that I hear the criticism. This is not an easy job to do." Lovely, KW. How about worrying more about your team's future and less about playing MLB psychoanalyst/therapist/GM support group mentor guy? Or maybe you can delegate some of your responsibilities to Hahn.... How many other GMs talk about how hard the job is as much as KW? If its so hard, he should quit.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 05:43 PM) Small thing, but I'm bothered that the Score is carrying the Epstein press conference when they did not carry Ventura's. Its bad enough the Score is a sports talk station doing that, but being the White Sox flagship makes it ridiculous.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2011 -> 08:25 PM) Oh, I see, so someone else's players won 95 games his first year. He did pick up Big Papi and the 2003 AL batting champ off the scrap heap, and also Kevin Millar, a guy who got a lot of credit for good things his first couple years in Boston. But carry on. Theo had nothing to do with Boston's success. The Cubs f***ed up again.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2011 -> 07:38 PM) And it also guaranteed them an extra $5 million in costs just to pay his and Hoyer's salaries. 2 World Series titles. His teams won 95,98,95,86,96,95,95,89,90 games. You're right, he's a trainwreck. The Cubs f***ed up again.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2011 -> 07:32 PM) But there's no obvious reason why that team must have the highest payroll in that division...they can sell the average seats in their ballpark at a high price, but compared to St. Louis or Houston...they have a 2nd team to compete with, and they have no advantage like luxury boxes or a modern stadium. At best, he goes from a case where he's the #2 spending team in the league to a case where he's the #3 spending team in the league, except with a 35% lower total salary and very little room for revenue expansion, along with the likelihood of revenue contraction having happened this year. $150-175 million buys you a lot more mistakes than $100-$120 million. He' won 2 WS. The Cubs payroll is not going to be an issue. And as I pointed out after you listed all his mistakes, his teams for the most part still won, so how does that happen? His coming on board probably just guaranteed the Cubs more revenue in 2012.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2011 -> 07:15 PM) For $140 million? I'd have been angrier than I was when the Hudson deal went down. Maybe I'd have done cartwheels of anger. Otherwise, no one would have been happy with that deal. And he's also lost his biggest advantage...the money. For 8 years...he's had everyone he talked to in trades knowing that if they didn't trade with Boston, they were a year away from losing their player to Boston as a free agent anyway. And if he blew $15 milion on a failure, he could just spend $30 million the next year to fix it. He has none of those advantages any more. And he also no longer has Hoyer to help him out by sending him all-stars for below market value. You're talking about his biggest advantage, the money, without thinking about it. He still will have the highest payroll in his division, something he has NEVER had before, I think you have totally forgotten about the Yankees, and also if all his high priced signings were busts, he other moves must be golden. He never used the excuse drafting late was a good reason to have a s***ty farm system. That division is not a bad place to be. The Cardinals got real lucky squeaking into the playoffs and if they re-sign Pujols, which I would presume, that's going to take a huge chunk of their payroll for the forseeable future. The Brewers will probably lose Fielder. Theo's in a nice spot. I don't think a Cubs re-build would take very long as long as people come to the park, and I think this move pretty much guarantees it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 01:33 PM) ANibal Sanchez, signed by the Red Sox in 2001. Hanley Ramirez, signed by the Red Sox in 2000. Jon Lester, drafted by the Red Sox in summer 2002. Know what they all have in common? They were all in the Red Sox organization before Theo. And it's impressive that you left the Carl Crawford deal off there. And hell, Buchholz and Lester and Papelbon sure didn't play up to their contracts this year. And then Jenks. A lot of White Sox fans are funny. Ventura is a bad hire because he has no experience. Dave Martinez would have been great because he stands next to Joe Maddon during games. The Cubs hire Theo, a guy with "experience", 2 WS rings averaging around 93 wins a year, and its a bad hire, or at best a neutral one that won't make any difference. Theo is overrated, he had a high payroll. He signed Carl Crawford. I bet if KW signed Carl Crawford last winter most here would have been doing cartwheels. For all of Theo's mistakes, his teams still won. This is the Cubs best hire probably in our lifetimes. He will have advantages in the NL Central he didn't have in the AL East.

Its just KW talking BS right now. I'm sure he's going to be dangling guys like Danks, Quentin and Floyd, but he's not locked in to moving them unless he gets in his opinion is an appropriate return. This will be an interesting offseason.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 11:15 AM) I'm not sure how one can argue that the Sox aren't in bad shape right now. Overextended payroll, bad contracts, and a barren farm system. Things are pretty s***ty right now. On the other hand, if Dunn hits like he hit before 2011, which is probably doubtful, and Rios plays like he played the first half of 2010, again, doubtful, Peavy comes back to be a solid #3 or #4, Beckham hits .275-280, the Sox right now would be as good as any team in their division.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 21, 2011 -> 06:51 PM) I've always disliked the word "horrid", mostly because I think it's too much like "horrible" and it just sounds unfinished. I think an English teacher would gag at the way I used it. I will change it to say he was a horrid hitter.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 21, 2011 -> 06:35 PM) He's gonna ruin Freddy Freeman and Jason Heyward. Heyward was a horrid hitter in 2011. If he's a horrid hitter in 2012 most here will say Walker ruined him. If he snaps back, most will say Walker had nothing to do with it.

I guess this proves Walker has a lot more respect around baseball than most on this board thought.

It would be interesting to know just what Hahn is thought about by other teams. The White Sox obviously have a bloated payroll for the amount of wins. The young players that came up you, guys like Beckham and Sale and even Viciedo you can't say were "developed" by the Sox. I wonder if other teams question his evaluation skills. He does have a reputation for being a good contract guy, maybe the Angels are perfect for him. He can be a fake GM for a few years until Sciosca retires or his gout flare ups become too much and they hand over the keys.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 18, 2011 -> 08:11 AM) Except that Boston could sit on him for a year. Anyone who comes into Chicago is obviously their second choice. Hell the Red Sox could reassign Theo to something else in their organization just to get rid of him. They can sit on him, but would have to pay him $7.5 million with what his contract reads with a bonus. That's some money that could be spent paying over slot.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 18, 2011 -> 01:16 PM) So to recap the questions that the truthsayer didn't ask... -If Cooper is a backstabber for being back with the Sox, what does that make Harold Baines? -If loyalty is so important, why didn't Ozzie take Greg Walker and Jeff Cox with him? -If Cooper is Kenny Williams' b**** for telling Kenny what is going on in the locker room, what does that make Joe for telling the general public Ozzie's version of what is going on in the locker room? -What happened to the promise about not writing about Guillen for three weeks? -The Sox had Guillen under contract for 2012 because he asked for, and received, the exercise of his option last year. When you factor in that guys like Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa have managed on to the last year of their deal multiple times, what makes Ozzie think he is more deserving of a deal than guys who will be Hall of Fame managers? -If Kenny Williams is "Hollywood" for a very short cameo on a Chicago themed tv show, what does it make Ozzie Guillen for going on to things like Fox and ESPN for TV coverage, not to mention the facebook account, the twitter account, and the webpages? Why doesn't Joe call out someone like AJ for going on TV and even on wrestling shows? -If Don Cooper is wrong for going over Ozzie's head to go to Kenny for an extension when he doesn't have a contract for 2012, why isn't it wrong for Ozzie to go over Kenny's head to Jerry Reinsdorf, when he already has a deal for 2012? Am I missing anything that any objective columnist would have asked Ozzie at some point? The only thing you may be missing is Cooper actually worked this year on the last year of his contract. Something Ozzie wouldn't do. Why didn't Ozzie make sure his coaches were signed as long as he has been? I can't see how its wrong or backstabbing for Cooper to be concerned about his future. Ozzie can't live on $2 million a year and Cooper makes nowhere near that, and he had no contract. He signed his extension after Ozzie left. Greg, I know it hurts, but your boy Ozzie really is dumb. His basically Oney with some gray hairs.

We really can't speculate how good or bad Thome would be as a coach unless someone has some experience with him other than watching him play. Personally, I don't see him being a hitting coach, but he has worked an awful lot with Charlie Manuel who is known as a hitting guru. Maybe they are going to do what Hawk has always thought should be the case, have 2 hitting coaches. Maybe Thome could be a coach/player. Maybe this Thome stuff is all BS.

Maybe he's looking at the next Jon Garland or Jeff Marquez.

Harold also re-signed, why doesn't Ozzie call him KW's b****? I knew the Guillens couldn't move on. Another uneccessary column from Cowley. And Ozzie didn't leave? Didn't he have another year on his contract? Didn't he say he wouldn't come back without an extension even with the year left on his contract? People can call Ozzie smart all they want, but the reality is he is a dumbass.

QUOTE (jwmann2 @ Oct 14, 2011 -> 10:49 AM) Dunn needs to see the field of play more often, not just DH. That's his problem. And I ain't talking left field like he was in Cincinnati. He should either split time with Konerko at 1st or play third. I'm sure the play 3rd is a typo, and normally I would agree about playing the field considering how he used to oppose being the DH, but Dunn only hit .115 while playing the field this season with 2 homers, his only extra base hits in 122 AB. Its really stunning how bad he was. I think he will improve next year, but still be garbage. Hit around .200 with 20 homers if he plays the same amount.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Oct 15, 2011 -> 08:47 PM) It'd be nice if one of these vanity businesses worked out for Frank. This one doesn't seem like a winner. Chances are, unlike his music business ventures, Frank has zero to very little money invested in this. He's probably getting paid to use his name and make some appearances. I doubt if Big Hurt Beer is a bust it will at least hurt him financially. It would probably cost him money, but not that he already has.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 14, 2011 -> 08:04 PM) Absolutely. Or they could pay him to stay home and not work at all. Not if Theo doesn't want to go to another place. Unlike players, his contract is non transferrable. If Theo wants to go to the Cubs and doesn't want to go anywhere else, the Red Sox have one team to negotiate with, and with what has already transpired, if you are the Cubs, why would you give them anything of value? Their smear campaign is going to cost them at least some compensation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 14, 2011 -> 04:57 PM) Wait, so this isn't done yet? I don't see where the Red Sox have much leverage in compensation now. Its not like Theo can go back to Boston. If I'm the Cubs, I'll give them something, but if Boston insists on any real significant prospects, or players, I'd call their bluff. If you have to wait a year, wait a year, I doubt it would come to that. Not only would Boston have to pay Theo his regular salary, but a $3.5 million bonus.

Ozzie Guillen, 2003: "Obviously you want to make money in your job, but this job is not about money. It’s about winning."

They can't get rid of him. When Ventura gets kicked out of a game, won't KW want Paulie to run the team?