Dick Allen

QUOTE (SEALgep @ Dec 18, 2010 -> 11:10 AM) Which is a great point, as relief pitchers sometimes offer every other year good production. If it works out like that, you'd almost rather have a guy like Crain for 3 years versus 2. Not really. He's due to be bad in year 1, which if he did the alternating good and bad, make him worth his paycheck 1 out of 3 seasons. Maybe the guy has figured something out. I sure hope so. This was the one guy I personally would have stayed away from this offseason. You pay him for 2010 which he was lights out for June, July and August. Just about unhittable. He wasn't very good the rest of the year, had shoulder surgery in 2007 and shoulder issues in 2009. At least its not an obnoxious number they are paying him.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Dec 18, 2010 -> 09:02 AM) My point was the White Sox should try and use Danks to get the prospects to add to their own to get Greinke. There is no way they should move Danks.....unless they are getting guaranteed MLB pitching back like Greinke. The Yanks are really not in a position to be thinking L/R options right now. Why trade Danks to get Greinke? They are under control the same amount of time with Danks being much cheaper, and except for 2009, better. And it wasn't like Danks was bad in 2009. I think there are more than a couple teams that would rather have Danks than Greinke.

Peavy was pretty bad the first couple of months, but seemed to really turn a corner at the time he went down. I think his ERA was below 2.00 his last 5 or 6 starts. I don't think anyone really knows how this injury will affect him. You hear the good news is he didn't tear anything, the muscle just basically fell off or detached from the bone. He's a huge question mark, but at least its not like a guy who had shoulder surgery. You have to figure there's at least a halfway decent chance he still has most of his stuff if not all. How long he will have it is another thing. Its still my favorite KW trade. I loved the Contreras trade, but he wasn't an ace at the time of the deal.

If Jenks dedicates himself, he can still be pretty effective and could still close. Maybe this whole thing works as a wake up call to him. Its not just the effort you put in when you are in the game that count. Bobby has to prepare himself better before he hits the field. I still think he's on borrowed time, but I didn't think he'd last this long. I believe KW was frustrated with his weight. I think the injuries, and believe the Sox concur, have a lot to do with his conditioning. The leg problems can probably be solved by eating salads and doing some exercising. The elbow issue I think totally scared off the Sox.

Supposedly the Yankees were prepaired to offer Wood $10 million over 2 years.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 03:06 PM) Any idea what kind of terms? I would imagine nothing more than a couple million guaranteed.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 02:52 PM) Has anyone seen anything about Freddy so far? I am curious where his price is after last year. Supposedly the Yankees are interested.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 04:39 PM) What kind of dumbass decides he doesn't want an extra $2M when he'd be playing in the same city and for a contender? Good for him. He obviously doesn't want to play for the Sox and put his money where his mouth is. I don't think we should be too upset losing out on a very fragile ex Cub.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 08:43 AM) If JJ Putz had been 100% healthy, the answer would be no. Putz would have outpitched him last year. Given that Putz was injured and awful in August, and Crain stayed healthy the whole year, it's a lot closer. You could still make the case for Putz, or that Crain has been too inconsistent in his career, but this dude was downright filthy in the 2nd half last year while Putz faltered. In the 2nd half he gave up a 2.14 ERA and a .491 OPS. But he was awful in April and May and September wasn't anything to write home about. He was lights out for 3 months. This is a very scary signing IMO. Bill James predicts a rather large crash.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 08:41 AM) I'd believe it more if this were the Twins or Tigers. I don't see Kenny trying to go out of his way to sabotage a team he has good relations with. Yes. If anything its Wood's reps using the Sox to get a longer contract from the Cubs. Money was never mentioned in the Sox offer, just the length.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 11:05 PM) They just gave Carlos Pena $10M. Yes, but half of it is deferred.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 11:04 PM) Who says Downs was intersted in coming here? This is fantasy baseball. There are a lot of variables to signing players you want to sign and the market can change over the course of several days. For a GM, I think you have to give the benefit of the doubt if he's put together a good team on paper for the simple fact that too many unexpected and unpredictable things that can happen during the season that affect the outcome of the year. I don't think the Manny thing was "obvious" as he had the NL's 4th best OPS prior to injury before coming here. And it doesn't matter anyway because the payroll doesn't work like that. His acquisition last year doesn't take away $4 million from teh pot this season. New year, new payroll. Next year, new payroll, but $4 million JR didn't have to pay Manny is sitting in the White Sox bank account. JR was quoted last summer about saving money some seasons to spend on others. If every last dime that comes in goes out like we have been told for years, the money paid to Manny could have been used this year or next year or 5 years from now. It doesn''t just dissappear.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 04:15 AM) More than an hour before Gammons. Joe pointed that out, but as Ranger posted a couple days ago, it really isn't about breaking stories with him. The guy is a goof. Oney threw him a bone. He covers his butt with his tweets. Just look at his tweets right before Konerko signed. Konerko is going to re-sign, what Jerry wants Jerry gets, Konerko's ship has sailed. Konerko to Texas, Konerko to the Cubs. No matter what happened he was covered. Also look back then and he tweeted the Sox couldn't afford Wood even if Konerko went elsewhare, then the Tribune were dufusses for think the Sox would offer Woold a contract, to maybe he was wrong. Now when Wood signs elsewhere he will tweet a told you so.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 10:23 PM) Sure Peavy was a risk because of the salary, but would you prefer he never takes risks on the big names? I recall very few people upset about that deal at the time. Peavy is a top of the line pitcher, and when he's healthy, he makes them better than Clayton Richard would have. Peavy usually makes 30+ starts a season. I'll take that if he continues to do that over the course of the contract. Three is risk in signing/trading for any large contract player, but that doesn't mean a GM should never do it ever. In fact, most people would complain if he didn't ever do it. I'm pretty sure of that. It's pointless to talk about Manny because, again, nobody complained about it at the time. They gave up no players to get him and they were trying the best they could to add anything to make the final push a little easier. So, it didn't work, but no harm done. They aren't on the hook for him, and you can't blame a guy for trying strengthen the offense for a month. They lost nothing by adding him and they didn't miss the playoffs because he was here. And it's not as simple as just "picking" A, B, C, or D. For one, they often times also have to pick you. Second, you always have to have the resources to acquire them. Your original point is that being a GM is like being a salesman responsible for his sales. The truth is, the two jobs are nothing alike. At all. Sure, some GMs are more prone to make poor decisions than others are, but Kenny isn't one of them. You can't blame him for doing the best with what he had to work with this offseason. He's actually done vrey well. And really, it comes down to how much ownership has committed...and they've committed quite a bit and have made the best effort possible for them. My original point was not that a GM was like a salesman, but that this isn't Little League, effort doesn't really matter. Results do. People put up with Manny jaking it when he was MVP calibur. They don't know. Its reasonable to think the harder someone works the better their performance, but that's not necessarily true. I'm sure you know a least a couple people in your profession that mail it in and seem to get higher ratings and praise than others who work their butts off. As a lifelong White Sox fan and a guy who is sick of hearing about budget problems, I and several others pointed out what a waste of money bringing in Manny was. He had been hurt, hadn't played much, and it was pretty obvious what was going to happen.That was $4 million they could have spent on 2011. Its not a no harm no foul transaction. And you can give him an A for his offseason, but the games are played on the field. Teachers don't give grades before the students take their tests.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 10:00 PM) I believe we'll see big performance drops from Buehrle and Konerko next year. My biggest concern is I don't see the top of the Sox rotation being able to compensate for Buehrle and the 5th spot. Even with that drop off if it happens, the Sox are still sitting pretty. Cleveland and KC suck. Detroit has more holes than Ron Karkovice's face and Minnesota has about 12 spots to fill, and do you really think even if they bring Carl Pavano back he will perform anywhere near how he did in 2010?

QUOTE (Pale Sox @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 10:00 PM) To clear things up a little bit, Putz signed for 2Y/$11.5MM. The first two years are worth $10MM, and he has a $1.5MM buyout for the 3rd year option. So he's guaranteed $11.5MM. This is what I got: Per Ken Rosenthal, it's $4 million in 2011 and $4.5M in 12, with a $6.5 million club option for 2013, or a $1.5 million buyout. So, either $10 million for two years or $15 million for three. Apparently Putz lives either in Phoenix or close. That's probably the reason he's there right now.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:55 PM) It's still not the same thing. Not even close. As a GM, you're performance is soley based on what's available to you and what you have to offer/spend. If you make the effort to get the best free agents available and spend the money, there's no reason for fans to complain about that. Especially when fans will complain when you DON'T spend money and DON'T effor to make the big moves. Then, after you acquire those players, you're still dependant on them to perform to their capbilities. You're missing the point anyway when I use the word "effort". I'm not talking about how many hours per day he works, I'm talking about him making the decision to land the aboslute best available and directing all the resources toward doing that. Yes, I think there should be plenty of cushion given to the GM that operates the way he does, and in particular this offseason. Because regardless of the outcome, there is only so much over which he has absolute control. The actual performance of Dunn, PK, Peavy, Danks, Floyd, Rios, Crain, Thornton, etc. is not really in his control. What I'm saying is, if a GM puts together a good team on paper, that's all that can be realistically asked of him. If his choices are Player A or Player B or Player C vs. Player D, if he picks A and C and B and D outperform them, he didn't do his job. His job isn't just to pick the players with the best track records. His job is also to project. How does any GM lose their job? Their success is all contigent on players' performances they have no control over, but they do have control over the roster, and if JR isn't getting bang for his buck, someone has to be responsible for the players' who arenot performing being there. It absolutely was KW's fault he blew $4 million on Manny Ramirez in 2010.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:45 PM) Because Putz was coming off of an injury plagued year and had bone spurs removed from his elbow. He signed a 1-year "prove it" type contract to cash in, and lo and behold he got a 2 year deal this year with an option for a 3rd that is more expensive per year than the deal the Sox just gave Crain. Yes, but barely. He basically got a $10 million 2 year contract with a team option to make it a $15 million over 3 years contract. I don't think money was the reason Putz isn't a White Sox.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:49 PM) Prior was the towel throw king though. Wood was the master of the simulated games. They both are in the simulated game and towel drill Halls of Fame.

QUOTE (Rooftop Shots @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:45 PM) One thing that I like about it, is that he not going to be with Minny. I'm not sure what type of stats our line up had against him, but the times that I saw him, we didn't do very well at all. I kind of remember him making us look silly at the plate. That is a good thing. I believe his career ERA against the Sox is 1.45, but what does that make his ERA against everyone else?

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:45 PM) Why would he do that? He may think Garcia, Crain and Wood and prospects is better than Crain and Jackson for one season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:38 PM) I'd be equally surprised if KW traded any of those guys without getting his replacement in the trade. If he trades a SP, he's getting a SP who can step in back (a-la the Garcia for Floyd and Gio trade, or the McCarthy for Danks trade). There's no way he opens the season with a rotation of Buehrle, Danks, Jackson, Sale, Harrell, and there's no way that say, Jordan Danks or Mark Teahen are your opening day RF's next year. Or he can trade a guy like Jackson for prospects get his money off the books and re-sign Garcia for a fraction of Jackson's cost. Its a downgrade, and it always seems like Freddy is going to fall apart, but he keeps you in games most of the time.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:35 PM) Agreed, I think KW would be motivated to deal someone like Floyd for a few good prospects. If they do sign Wood to close, then maybe Sale goes into the rotation? I think it would be Jackson. He makes the most money and is only signed for a year. The way money is being thrown around this offseason, he's still a bargain.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:30 PM) Dunn also didn't say he wouldn't play for the Sox repeatedly either. Maybe Wood talked to KW or JR or Ozzie or all three and maybe Cooper or a few players and had a change of heart, especially if they were offering him the most cash. This guy signed with Cleveland 2 years ago. Its not like he really has standards.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 09:11 PM) With all due respect, this isn't a very good analogy. In the sales world, you are responsible for your own sales. In baseball, you are at the mercy of the performance of others. All a GM can do is bring in the best available parts and hope they do their jobs. Sales is totally, totally different. If you don't sell, there is nobody else to blame but you. Rarely are "business world" analogies strong enough to help explain baseball. Its performance related. All GMs try. Just to say this is great even if it doesn't work out because KW needs a reliever and Crain was a very good reliever in 2010 is silly. There are a lot of GMs who need relievers that did not offer Crain what KW did. Time will tell who is correct. Duane Schaffer tried real hard drafting guys. They all tried really hard. They didn't perform Duane Schaffer is out of a job. KW didn't can him because he didn't try hard. He canned him because he picked the wrong players. If Crain doesn't perform and cost the Sox 10 times what Lance Broadway cost the Sox, why shouldn't KW's neck be on the line? KW's effort really doesn't matter too much to me. I know he's going to give his total effort, but if the choice was to have him work 18 hour days study scouting reports and tape and sign busts, or be out picking up women every night, spending 10 minutes a day at his job but making great trades and free agent signings in retrospect, I'll take the latter.