Dick Allen

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 22, 2010 -> 12:36 PM) Who would the White Sox have replaced Konerko with? As of right now, the White Sox can replace Danks in the rotation with Sale, Pena, any of the players they acquire for Danks, or a free agent signing. They can't do the same thing with Konerko. If they had Ryan Howard waiting in the minors, I'm sure more people would have been advocating it. Beyond that, there have always been people who have wanted to trade Paulie, be it due to struggles or being mediocre for 1B or because he has money that can be freed up. They could have replaced Konerko with someone with a better track record as a hitter and firstbaseman than the track record of major league starter Sale and Pena bring to the table. Couldn't they replace him with the players they would have acquired for him or a free agent signing? Back then teams paid up for guys one year from free agency and Paulie was huge in 2004. If you're trying to compare Pena and Sale as pitchers to Ryan Howard as a hitter, Keyshon Johnson says, "C'mon man."

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 22, 2010 -> 05:34 PM) That's my guess on what they will eventually do. They did not rebuild the structure - they added up and back. So parts of that may indeed need to be re-done. Besides, that's the cheapest part to re-do, its a single level structure and not real big. The other 3/4 of the park is another story. In fact, what they could do in the future, is rebuild all BUT the beachers and outfield, leaving the old school outfield as-is. Maybe just reinforce some things out there. They re did the entire bleacher section when they added rows.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Nov 22, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) Threatening to move to Naperville would get them no leverage with the state. If they want to gain leverage with Illinois, they'll have to threaten a move to Gary, Indiana or Dubuque, Iowa Ricketts has no leverage and will never get leverage, at least before he has to totally renovate his park. Everyone knows the Cubs won't leave in the near future. The Cubs a few years ago hired the lady that was the brains behind the Fenway rehab. They wound up canning her when she told them the upper deck needed to be torn down and rebuilt. They will do this renovation piecemeal and hope to get another 30 years out of Wrigley. By then who knows the lay of the land. A threat to leave might have legs. But not now.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 19, 2010 -> 01:01 AM) Maybe he's just lazy. I've only seen him when the Sox play his teams though so it's not much for me either. He's led the lead in PB 4 of the past 5 years.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 06:22 PM) Not as a pitcher anyway. We blew it with Maggs and ended up losing him for nothing. Buehrle we ended up extending a couple of times. I can't think of anyone else close. If Maggs didn't get hurt and the Sox won a championship with him, I'm sure everyone would be happy they didn't trade him for prospects 2 years before he became a free agent and just kept him. No one is complaining they didn't trade Konerko. If the Sox didn't take him all the way to the end of his contract in 2005, the possibility of no WS championship is pretty strong.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 06:24 PM) That is the other part that scares me about letting someone walkaway and depending on the draft. We seem to scout other systems better than we scout draft picks in the 20's or higher. I'd also view it as playing to our strengths. If we had a history of draft and development that would be one thing, but we don't really. It has gotten better, but still not enough to bet a John Danks on. And guys like Jeff Marquez and Tyler Flowers are, not to mention the year or 2 you don't have Danks' services?

QUOTE (gatnom @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 05:30 PM) Or, in other words, 63% more. 1.2 walks per 9 innings. 1 extra walk a start. So you are saying if Danks cuts 1 walk a start he can be an ace. That's fine. I personally don't think thats a crazy thing to accomplish. And besides, that's Roy Halladay, probably the ace of aces. Danks will be 26 next season. His best seasons are coming.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 05:20 PM) Yeah, now compare their walk rates. 1.9-3.1, Danks walks about 1 more batter per start.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 05:15 PM) I admire your persistence. But I don't think you get it. Nobody really wants to trade Danks. But if he's determined to test the FA market, there's really no other alternative. We will NEVER be able to outbid either NY team or Boston. And you can bet those 3 teams will be lining up to sign him come offseason '12. Then take his services for the 2 years then the draft picks. If the Sox traded him for prospects they would IMO, turn out like the prospects the Marlins got for Cabrera. We know nothing about the negotiations, just whats assumed. He turned down the deal Floyd accepted so many take that to mean he wants out. I think it just means he was willing to roll the dice to make some more cash and it looks like it will work. We do have a report the Sox are making signing him a priority. I hope he signs, but if he doesn't, unless its a can't say no deal, I think the 2 years you get to work something out, assuming something about the White Sox or the city isn't really pissing him off, may be enough to get a deal done.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 05:14 PM) Danks isn't a strikeout pitcher. He pitches to contact more than the guys that come up when you think of aces. I don't think he'll jump into that elite level unless he can cut his walk rate down (which is already better than average as is). But he is still a very valuable starter. The first guy I thought of when I thought who is an ace was Roy Halladay. His career k rate is 6.7 per 9. Danks is 7.0.

Maybe Danks isn't technically "elite" yet, but I think he has a great chance to get there. Any bad thing you can say about him you can say about Buerhle, Floyd, Peavy, Jackson, Sale or anyone on the White Sox staff. I am of the opinion Danks is the Sox best starter. I hope they don't trade him. They will be looking for someone as good as him for a long time.

The Heat only have to go 65-4 the rest of the way to break the Bulls single season win record.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 11:31 PM) I've always wanted Granderson in a Sox uniform so I'll say thumbs up to the deal. However I am alarmed at how much Grandy sucked this past season. He was not good. I would love to make this deal and find a way to get a middle reliever for Pierre. Wouldn't some team, somewhere, take Juan Pierre off our hands? Please? You do realize his 2010 season's numbers were very similar to Alex Rios'? He does K quite a bit, and has trouble with LHP, supposedly it got a little better about halfway through the season. The trade to me would be very tempting, however, with Peavy's status in the air, I would have to see what the price is for another starter and be willing to pay it, before I trade one.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 20, 2010 -> 05:36 PM) SHould have been. Either way, Iowa would have f***ed it up. They proved it this year, that they weren't able to close out games and do the little things to win. 4 losses when they had leads in the final 2:30 minutes. The defense always seems gassed at the end of games. I question their conditioning. You just know whats going to happen at the end this season. The NU game was sickening. Today was just predictable, but they had them with 4th and 10 and couldn't stop them. Coker needs to play more. Adam Robinson is pretty good, but he's no Marcus Coker running the ball.

There's a reason you get DFA'd by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The reason is you suck more than the rest of their roster which still has plenty of suck to go around. Zach Duke sucks, and really has sucked for about 5 years now.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 19, 2010 -> 06:59 AM) Kenny Williams is apparently focused upon finding a potent left handed bat. I must admit that I have been almost myopically obsessed with the same quest. I just looked at last season's split stats for the Sox, assuming that I would see corroborating evidence of their ineffectiveness versus right handed pitching, due to the total lack of a left handed threat. I was shocked to discover that they actually hit right handers better than southpaws!! Among all Big League teams vs left handers, they ranked 16th in runs, while posting a .251 avg. .331 OBP, .419 SLG and .750 OPS However, vs right handers they were 5th in the Majors in runs scored, while posting a .271 avg. .332 OBP, .420 SLG and .752 OPS Maybe some of you knew that, but it should give pause to reconsider KW's off season agenda. While the offense was nothing special, it does appear that facing right handed pitching, without a potent left handed bat, was not the problem. The Sox still need a left handed presence in the middle of the order, but let's hope that it's someone who can also hit left handed pitching. They can't afford to do any worse vs southpaws. While a lefty hitter would be nice to balance things out, the spots are best filled by the best hitters you can find. Besides, Quentin basically hits like a typical left handed hitter.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 18, 2010 -> 06:02 PM) Well at this point he's a better hitter and much better at throwing runners out than AJ. I guess the two questions would be the price tag and how well he can handle a pitching staff. Better hitter? 2010 was the first time his OBP was over .300. If you don't like AJ, you won't like Olivo.

Floyd will cost another team a lot and it could be a good time to deal him. Maybe you get burned and he puts it all together like he does 2 months a season, or maybe he is what he is with potential injury ramifications. He finished 2009 hurt. He finished 2010 with a sore shoulder and out. If you trade him, chances are on June 1, 2011 you will think you robbed the other team as his ERA will probably be hovering around 6.00. Then the next 2 months he'll look like they should just put in in the HOF right then and you'll be pissed they moved him. Then he will get fairly mediocre again and perhaps come up lame with something finishing with fairly respectable numbers.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 10:16 PM) Because using RBIs in a less than 100 plate appearance span is meaningful, especially when said player had just gotten off of the DL like 2 weeks before. Argue that he might get hurt or that you have a moral objection to bringing in roiders, but I really don't think you can argue effectiveness. Manny's recent history? 2008 - 1.031 OPS, 654 PAs, 6.2 WAR 2009 - .949 OPS, 431 PAs, 2.5 WAR 2010 - .870 OPS, 320 PAs, 1.6 WAR I think it should be expected to see some decline, but much of that decline in WAR has to do with lack of plate appearances and performance in the outfield, and theoretically speaking, the Sox superb training staff while allowing him to remain a DH will keep him healthier at the very least. Sure wasn't for Jim Thome. Using Manny's performace with only 2 RBI is very fair. He failed several times to drive in runs when they were sitting on the pond. If you want to use his injury as an excuse, how come you didn't speak up that he probably would be ineffective with the Sox because of a lack of playing time previously? And how can you know that he won't just get hurt again? He also has a history of taking time off anyway. Manny being Manny always ends poorly. He was a roider, whether I have a moral objection is irrelavant. What is relavant is if he's off the steroids, chances are that, in addition to age and injury will also lead to declining performance. Notice a pattern in Manny's performance. He's not juiced anymore (supposedly) and is getting older. The Sox training staff may be superb, but to say they will keep him on the field and productive is a reach. When you get to be 39 and have abused your body, there's things that happen that Herm can do nothing about. But just for s***s and giggles, lets say you sign Manny to a contract guaranteeing him $5 million with incentives that take that up to $10 million. Say he goes on a tear. What do you think happens next? He's going to cry for an extension and remember if he didn't get busted, $22 million a year wasn't enough. What happens when he doesn't get what he wants? It happened in Boston and in LA, he suddenly gets hurt or gets sick and has to sit out games. The guy was worth the headache when he was in his prime, but not now. The only way Manny stays happy with a Vlad like contract is if he doesn't perform very well.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 11:54 PM) Does anyone remember what 1990 did for the white sox organization for years to come. In 1990 we saw three young impact players make their arrivals, Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas, and Jack Mcdowell and they would help provide the core of the sox team for years to come. I still believe that having a good team starts at the bottom, you need to produce your own young impact players and bring them up. Its the same thing the Phillies have done, though now their young core has gotten a bit older (Rollins, Howard, Hamels, Utley, Werth). If the White Sox are going to be a successful franchise they have to develop talent, get them to the majors, and build around them for years. If that process takes a couple years in the AL Central doghouse than so be it. If I remember correctly the Phillies sucked from like 1998 to around 2003. That also took a lot of losing, 4 years, to be in a position for those guys, something that will not be tolerated. Also, losing, even picking #1 in the draft for 4 years isn't going to guarantee you picks that pan out like those 4. There's no question the White Sox have to do a lot better developing players, but to go into full rebuild mode right now eventually won't be popular with anyone. In fact, back to those losing days, those were the last days White Sox owners were given cash calls, and that was with a payroll less than what Bobby Jenks makes. You can trade your current veterans for prospects but that doesn't mean they will pan out. The Marlins have had a pretty good recent history at selecting and developing players, yet look at the haul they receu=ived for Miguel Cabrera. Basically nothing. KW says he doesn't want to be "in between" which is exactly where the Sox have been most of the past 15 seasons. In fact they have used that as a reason to believe they have been such a successful franchise, counting their victory totals against everyone else over that span and stacking up fairly well. I personally don't think "in between" is a bad thing. Its no man's land in the NBA, but in MLB, you can still win and go to the playoffs. You can still draft impact players. Its almost as if KW is setting everyone up with some pain.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 04:48 PM) Ooops, I missed where he said Sale. Well I'd definitely give up one of Danks/Sale, Viciedo and Morel for Upton and another piece. I don't think the Sox could trade Sale now even if they wanted to. And if AZ wanted him as a PTBNL, they certainly wouldn't want him pitching for the White Sox risking injury before he was eligible to be dealt. I'm also against trading Danks. Morel may be OK eventually but he's easily and cheaply replaceable for the immediate future. Viciedo doesn't seem to be the manager's favorite guy. I really doubt they trade Upton, although his contract does call for a decent sum of money. I wouldn't be shocked if KW goes after his brother. He's been after him before and his price has probably never been lower.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 07:30 PM) Because Manny Ramirez and Donny Lucy don't have different histories or anything But you're ignoring Manny's recent history. He's pushing 40 now, getting hurt, always going to have some sort of controversy sometime, and just isn't the same hitter when he's not juiced up. These guys fade quickly. See Sosa, Sammy, McGwire, Mark, Canseco, Jose. Besides Boras is talking full time DH. Isn't that supposed to be very bad?

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 04:08 PM) Look at it this way, AJ would cost more than Manny if offered arbitration (which many here are clamoring for in false hopes of getting draft picks), Linebrink makes essentially what Manny would, Teahen is close. Manny's production at DH at that salary would be huge for the Sox. Manny drove in as many runs as Donny Lucy for the White Sox in 2010. Lucy batted 15 times and was basically released. Just because Vlad came back doesn't mean Manny will.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 06:04 PM) It is also why I would accept deals for Beckham if we were able to get a talented guy that can play a premium position. Bottom line, solid 2nd baseman can be had/found with relative ease compared to most other positions. It is also probably one of the cheapest starting positions on the diamond, if not the cheapest. Except Uggla turned down $48 million for 4 years and Beckham isn't even eligible for arbitration for 2 years. Uggla wants $14 million a year for 5 years.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 08:36 PM) hopefully we'll be seeing alot less of those this upcoming season.....it seemed like they wore them every game this past year 115 times. Personally, I don't mind the slight change. Its a patch. I really believe had they had the Sox logo all along and switched to the diamond and sock, people wouldn't have cared for it either. They will still have the diamond on the blacks which they seem to wear a lot more anyway.