Dick Allen

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Sep 25, 2010 -> 11:13 PM) I would take the Nets offer as well. The Bulls would have to go with Deng, Noah, Gibson, the CHA first and a first of their own...and even then that's a pretty poor haul. Really, for all the optimism about the Bulls being a top 4 team in the East next season, their roster is actually pretty depressing. The don't have a player outside of Rose that really has any significant trade value. Pretty much every team after their top 2 or 3 is pretty depressing.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Sep 26, 2010 -> 11:37 AM) That Cubs job has gotten the best of many better managers than Ozzie. Ozzie would crash and burn within three years of taking that job. Anyway, Ozzie is still under contract to the Sox next year so he should keep his big stupid mouth shut. I really wish the Sox would fire his ass already. If I'm KW, immediately after this season ends I would call him in my office and remind him that he is under contract for next year and the team holds an option for 2012. I'd tell him we expect him to honor his contract for next year and then depending on how well he performs we will re-evaluate the situation after the season to decide wheteher or not we will bring him back for 2012 and beyond. Tell him there will be no extension considered until after the 2011 season. If he isn't happy with this he can resign and forfeit his salary but then he still cannot take another job in MLB until the 2011 season is over. I also think the Sox would be in a position to get compensation if a team really wanted Ozzie, ala Lou Piniella to Tampa. That said, the more Ozzie pops off, the more it would appear he's close to the end of the line, which actually probably increases the chances he returns next season. I really think the Sox will cave and pick up his 2012 option and let him explore other teams if he wishes. Let him go to the Cubs. The only problem is they would never hire him. Ozzie spews his White Sox passion, yet pops off about going to the Cubs with the Sox stilling having 2 years of control over his services, how is he suddenly going to sell the Cubs on his Cubs passion?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 26, 2010 -> 09:49 AM) I know. You mention this every single time that a pitcher fails on the Sox. Hence why it looks like you hate the guy. Not every time. Just for balance, when the Walker haters come out.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 26, 2010 -> 01:45 AM) Matt Murton's always been a pretty good ball player. He plays good D, gets on base, has a bit of power. Thing is, the Cubs totally screwed him up. He's never been a good defensive player. I don't think the Cubs screwed him up. He hit pretty well with them. When they traded him, he did nothing but hit his way to Japan. I don't know how many games they have left, but don't they usually hold the foreign guys out if they can if they are about to break a Japanese player's record?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 26, 2010 -> 09:32 AM) You really hate Don Cooper. No. In fact, I've never really been serious about firing Cooper once. Its more of my defense for Greg Walker. I just find it odd that no one ever mentions Cooper when the pitching falls apart, but if guys don't hit, its always on Walker. When the pitching is great, Cooper is the greatest. When the hitting is great, it has nothing to do with Walker. Just last week, Walker was being blamed for Morel, a rookie, swinging at pitches in the dirt. Almost like Walker told him to go up there and swing at everything, and Morel like a robot listening. The only hitter I can remember having a lot more success after he left the White Sox than he did while a White Sox is Swisher, and he didn't work with Walker at all. Hudson looks like a HOFer right now.

QUOTE (since56 @ Sep 26, 2010 -> 08:25 AM) Reinsdorf lets his general manager hire and fire managers. Larussa was fired when Hawk Harrelson was a one year GM. It broke Reinsdorf's heart but he let Hawk have his way. He would love to get Larussa back, there has been talk of it before as the two remain close. Larussa has peaked in St. Louis and does not want to wait out a rebuild there. He is near the end and I think would love to finish up right where he started it all. I'm not predicting it, but it is not "beyond slim". I'm just relaying some info I received that was sourced from someone who would know a lot better than any of us on this board. Up until then, I thought just like you, although I don't think that much of LaRussa as a manager.

It seemed obvious when Hudson was a White Sox that if he could throw strikes he'd be a pretty good pitcher. He's only walked 3 more hitters in AZ than he did in 15 innings with the White Sox. There was a radio interview with him and he said they do things in AZ they don't do in Chicago. I do know if he was a hitter who struggled with the White Sox but had 1/3 of a season with this kind of success with another team, Greg Walker would be to blame. Why no Cooper bashing? As to the trade, Jackson has been pretty good. It really didn't make a difference this year. Next year will be key. If Hudson can be anywhere near as effective as he's been thus far, he'll win the Cy Young.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 26, 2010 -> 07:36 AM) What do you mean? Because the season is over next week? The Oz/KW drama will stretch into next year if Cowley's on the beat. Cowley is done as a White Sox beat writer when the season ends. He's going to be moving on to something else with the Sun Times. Since beat writers typically take off the weekends when the team is at home, its possible we are only 5 days away from being free of Oney's, I mean Cowley's propaganda concerning the White Sox, perhaps forever. Hopefully they won't give him a column. I heard he's going to college sports.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2010 -> 06:41 PM) Media and fan scrutiny would be the #1 reason that St Louis is better than Chicago. A player can't fart without Joe Cowley tweeting about it. Cowley is now one week away from being an ex-White Sox beat writer. Its good for us, good for the player, good for White Sox management. The only one its not so good for is Oney. He'll need a new lackey to get his stuff in the paper.

There are a lot of teams that would welcome the circus Ozzie would bring with him. I really don't think Hendry and the Cubs are one of them, but it would be interesting seeing Ozzie's views change on Wrigley Field. He also said once, and I think this might have been on "The Club" that he would never manage the Cubs as long as JR was alive, so I guess now he has changed his mind while still under contract for perhaps 2 years with the White Sox. Wow. Gardenhire has never had longer than a 2 year contract. I wonder why he never is all over the place crying for more. Ozzie is obviously brighter than your average 6th grade dropout, but the stuff he's saying now is showing the lack of education IMO. He still is obligated to the Sox for 2 years. KW said this week he thought Ozzie was the man for the job but isn't going to talk extension with those 2 years still on the table. Now Ozzie says he would go to the Cubs because the White Sox would be divorcing him. No Ozzie, that's really not correct. You would be leaving them. You have a contract already. Maybe it isn't as long as you would like. Maybe Oney flying around to all his parties is costing you more than you imagined and it isn't for as much as you liked. But you have a contract. If they don't fire you and you leave, its on you. From the Tribune: "The respect I have for the media and the media has for me, that's unique. The love and respect I have for the fans, that's very special. I don't have anything to regret. But if I'm going to go, then my job is to win a championship somewhere else. Where it's going to be? I don't know. I don't have any regrets." The comment about the fans is laughable. Isn't this the same guy who said if you disagreed with anything he did you should watch another team?

Ozzie is playing a game he can't win. JR was quoted earlier before the season started that Ozzie should be given the team he wants, and that's sans full-time DH, with guys like Kotsay getting a lot of playing time. It blew up. Now, I believe KW and JR are just as responsible for this mistake, if not more, because they are Ozzie's superiors. But still, it definitely was Ozzie's idea, as much as he really would like some others taking blame. JR also said in June his biggest mistake was firing LaRussa. He also said its a mistake he would make again because the GM shouldn't be forced to have a manager that he didn't really want, just like a manager shouldn't be forced to have a coach he really didn't want. I believe Ozzie as already seen his "talk" the other day was just wrong and won't get him anywhere, as he has backed off and said he didn't ask for an extension only stating that he would like one. He's going to see what exactly the plan is and discuss it with his family. For Ozzie's sake, I find it quite scary someone like Oney will actually influence his decision. I'd rather have Ozzie leave at this point because I don't think his feud with KW will ever really end, and I think eventually, if it hasn't already, is going to be a burden on the team. That said, I really wish no ill will on Ozzie and hope for his sake and actually Oney's too because without Ozzie Oney is selling Streetwise, Ozzie listens to JR who has had Ozzie's best interests in mind for close to 25 years.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Sep 25, 2010 -> 01:49 PM) True, but I'd rather just win my division and go to the playoffs constantly. To each his own. That doesn't make it a better job. The White Sox are a sleeping giant. They are a team that really should dominate their division and contend every season, and with the unbalanced schedule, there really is no reason why they aren't at least wild card worthy every year. If you had confidence in your abilities, the White Sox should appeal as the better job.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 25, 2010 -> 12:01 PM) Why the hell would Tony leave St. Louis for the White Sox? It makes absolutely no sense. St. Louis is a much better job. I don't know why St. Louis is much better. The White Sox spend more on players and I would think if you had a choice, the majority of people would rather spend their summer in Chicago.

I heard something last night that even if Ozzie left and LaRussa left St. Louis, the chances of him managing the White Sox are beyond slim.

Why would Denver want Noah since he's not signed for next year either? I don't see Denver as a place Joakim would like to be. I think its just more NBA rumor BS. I don't think Denver would trade for Noah unless HE agreed to an extension first, and I don't see that happening.

I always go for the Central division champ, and when they get knocked out the AL rep. If the Brewers were playing in the WS, they would be the one NL team I would root for as long as the weren't playing the White Sox. Maybe if the Twins won it all, Ozzie would be embarrassed by his actions and shut up about his contract. If Gardenhire won a WS to go along with his 6 division titles in 9 years, and he never has had more than a 2 year contract, maybe Ozzie would reflect. I doubt it. I really think Oney is his handler right now as silly as it seems. Oney did hint about a Guillen reality show about a month back. For his own sake, I hope Ozzie listens to and trusts JR right now or years from now he will regret he did not.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 23, 2010 -> 10:46 PM) Uh no. Ozzie's career high is 4 home runs in a season and he managed a whole 28 in his 16 year career Pierre has a high of 3 home runs and 14 in 11 years. That's hardly more pop "by far." Pierre gets a lot of crap, but he's basically had the same year this year Scotty Pods had in 2005 when he was thought of as almost God-like by some.

Cowley's source is Oney and Ozzie Jr. There's a better chance Greg will put Ozzie at fault for anything before him.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Sep 23, 2010 -> 11:28 AM) Im not too worried about falling asleep on the plane, since it will happen even if I just woke up. Planes and car rides knock me out better than NyQuil. The biggest problem that I have seen thus far is the dates in which I have been led to believe that I need to fly in on. They say "early January" and so I take that as the first week of January, which falls into that blanket of Holiday travel which triples the price of tickets. Nyquil was my trick for falling asleep. The overnight flights can be brutal when going to Europe. Suddenly its midnight on your body but 7 AM local time. Last time I flew to Paris I downed a lot of Nyquil right before boarding. I remember taxiing, and waking up over some castles in France a few minutes from touching down, very refreshed. My brother lives in Europe so I had a full slate of activities right away and was instantly acclimated.

Not really a tragedy but the best band name of all time: The Manny Trio

I am all over the place on this one though. I think Ozzie won't be back. I think he will definitely be back 5 minutes later. I now think the Sox will semi-cave and exercise the option so Ozzie will basically have a 2 year deal with no extension yet. Its a very slippery slope. Giving Ozzie anything after crying to the media is like giving in to a crying 3 year old or giving your dog some steak from the dinner table. It will mean Ozzie isn't done crying to the media. If I was the Sox, I would tell Ozzie is option would also be exercised automatically if Oney stopped on Twitter or Facebook or any of that crap. Ozzie has used the "he's an adult" crap all too much. Physically, Oney is an adult, mentally he's a child. Ozzie can get him to stop by threatening to stop the cash flow. Oney's little gig on Sunday night at the Score isn't exactly a 6 or 7 figure deal.

From the White Sox perspective, why would they give Ozzie an extension now when they control him for 2 seasons? I think KW did the smart thing as stayed above it all and quoted JR as being on his side. Obviously this is a childish fued that needs to stop one way or another. Telling Ozzie to go make a deal with another team and the Sox will discuss compensation with that team is the way I would go. Pinella netted the Mariners Randy Winn. The Marlins are always looking to dump some youngster about to get paid closer to what they are worth. Its a match made in heaven. I wonder if Oney does Ozzie's prep work for him. One day Ozzie is talking about a team that dropped 6 games in the standings in a week as a team that doesn't quit and how proud he is. The next, he's looking for an extension. If he didn't like his last extension, again, I wonder why he signed it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) Schiphol (Amsterdam) is a major airport for overseas flights, which means you will have multiple airlines flying there from ORD or other airports stateside, and that means cheaper fares usually. I've never flown KLM, but Northwest used to fly there direct from Chicago, and I'd bet AA or UAL does too - all three of those would be fine to fly on. Just find the cheapest fare. KLM and Northwest sharecode, so it would be the same flight. I've flown to Amsterdam a few times always on KLM. They fly 747s over and are usually early. Also they don't use the US airlines policy on serving alcohol during the flight. You can suck back as many as you'd like, comp. The best bet is to use Orbitz. See what's cheapest and book through the airline website. If you don't mind making stops, yahoo travel can get you a deal as well.

Ozzie is making this a public showdown. If he really wants to stay here, I think he's making a huge mistake. As people say its a lot easier to can a manager than the players, its also easier to can a manager than a GM if you consider yours competent which I believe JR does. Hahn can't get the GM job while Ozzie is managing because Oney called Hahn names and believes you need to play the game professionally (I suppose like he did) to know the game and have the Guillen family's respect. I'm sure that's not Oney's original thought. He got it from his dad. There's enough that has gone down where one of them probably has to go. I'm betting JR sticks with KW. He knows Ozzie will probably land in Florida with a longer committment and raise. He can probably have LaRussa back. Duncan comes with LaRussa, Cooper heads to Miami.

If Jerry Manuel were managing, this collapse would have been all his fault. Its pretty much been disgusting how the Sox have played they last 14 games.