Dick Allen

They had one at Dave and Buster's downtown several years ago. The Big Unit was featured. It was the only thing I played and no one else was interested. I went back about a month later to take a few more cuts but it was gone.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Aug 4, 2010 -> 02:55 AM) Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but do you think that with the players themselves burning Kotsays' bats the other day in an effort to get him going, that his fellow teamates are getting a little fed up with trying to carry his much less than solid bat in the lineup almost evey game. I'm thinking that with K.W. trying pretty desparately to add another bat that Ozzie too sees the writing on the wall at this point. Could it be that the reason Kotsay started both games of the twin bill was a last ditch effort by Ozzie to get Kotsays' bat going because he knows that time is short, and if Kotsay doesn't justify himself soon that Ozzie will have no other choice but to DFA him in favor of Teahen. Ozzie can be extremely stubborn at times, but he isn't stupid. I don't think his teammates are fed up with his production, they want him to hit. He's a popular guy. I do think you may be on to something with Ozzie playing him both games. With Teahen coming back, maybe Ozzie realizes its put up or shut up time with Kotsay.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 10:29 PM) The baseball sources you had also said we'd get Adam Dunn. If he really does have a Phillies source, it was pretty good information. They can only speculate as to where a guy like Dunn was going. I doubt very much they themselves were asking about him, and everyone had him going to the White Sox. He did say Philadelphia would get Oswalt, which wasn't a shock but accurate, in fact, about an hour after he posted it, I read a baseball "expert" on one of the websites who said Oswalt was a lock to St. Louis. I have many disagreements with NJ, but whether its a radio or TV show he has access to or a real person with the Phillies, you cannot dismiss his claims of inside sources as BS based on Dunn. A Tampa exec said Dunn was a lock to be a Yankee, and 10 minutes later the Yankees get Berkman.

Kotsay is 0-20 against LHP and down to .214 overall, with Andruw Jones down to .201. Looks like the experiment, while the White Sox are in first place, has been a failure. Either put Viciedo in there to DH or get a legit hitter. I don't mind Jones and Kotsay on the bench. Jones can still play a little defense and could hit a homer from time to time, but Kotsay is Darin Erstad revisited. Hopefully when they decide Teahen must come back, the make the correct decision and give Kotsay a little more time with his wife.

According to their trainer,Manny is at least a week from playing. I wouldn't be surprised if he already cleared waivers. Why would a team risk taking on all that money without even knowing for sure his injury situation.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 09:01 PM) Not really, as I know TV shares are way down, which will impact the amount of money they make in coming years. I don't really care about other teams though, but it seems like Sox are doing fairly well money wise. They always do, but magically, they break even every year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 08:55 PM) The question was whether or not the Dodgers were going to sell at all or not. If the Dodgers were wanting to Shed Salary, the Sox would have helped them out. If the Dodgers wanted to add prospects, the Sox weren't going to do that and absorb a salary hit. The Dodgers made their choice. They held Manny and added $7 million or so in salary with the guys they added, despite multiple reports of insane financial issues in LAD due to the McCourt divorce. The dodgers aren't selling for money, and the Sox aren't dumping Viciedo for a 1.5 month rental on the DL and off the juice. If you want a player and are willing to pay $6-7 million for him, why would you only offer $1 million? You said if they offered to pick up the rest of contract you feel they would have landed him. Since they didn't land him, chances are they aren't willing to pick that up. It makes zero sense not to offer your best package on July 31 if you are willing to pay that same price sometime in August. I see no reason a team will claim Manny and risk the financial obligation. He's been hurt 3 times this year, and his numbers while very nice aren't MVP type.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 08:45 PM) THe Sox lowball offer was to get the Dodgers talking and see if there was anything there. If the Dodgers had fired back with "we'll give you him for nothing if you take on the full salary", I think he'd be on the Sox right now. Instead, the Dodgers asked for Viciedo. You just answered the question. So if the Sox are willing to pay his entire contract, why did they not offer to do it before the deadline? Its really not KWs style to mess around with lowball offers, especially with the deadline rapidly approaching. The only way they claim him is if they have something worked out with LA in which LA would guarantee they wouldn't just award him the contract and have a deal worked out.

QUOTE (AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 08:36 PM) I told you why! Economy and $$$$ No one is going to claim him with the fear of the Dodgers giving Manny away to save money. Multiple GM's said money is an issue on MLB Network the last week of July on all they're trade shows. It is the real deal, i've said it in 5 posts already in the this thread. I've statement my opinion in all of those threads. And if you didn't know LeBrun was going to play for Miami, then shame on you. It was a done deal 6 months ago. I agree. If teams have $6-7 million to spend on a loose cannon, despite his talent, for a third of the season they have a lot of explaining to do. If the Sox were willing to pay that much they wouldn't have screwed around with their lowball offer. Manny can hit, but there's some question marks. Attitude, health, both getting healthy and staying healthy, and while he's been good since his PED bust, he's certainly not what he was. I can't see the White Sox pay a guy that kind of money for 50 games to DH when they wouldn't give others that for an entire season. Manny has good numbers in limited ABs but certainly not eye popping.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 06:29 PM) No, but I could see some of the unusual suspects claiming him...it's a risk when we need him so badly... If the Sox were willing to take the entire contract or anything close, they would have offered more than $1 million in relief and no players. I heard an interview with Colleti and he summed up the monetary figure as pocket change.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 05:54 PM) Any possibility that the Dodgers added salary at the deadline with the intention of trading Manny in August? IMO, Manny is one of the few potential impact bats that should pass through waivers. Seems like his value would only increase in August with guys like Dunn being restricted to a single trading partner. I'm not suggesting the Dodgers would get a ton for him, but I don't think it's far-fetched for them to get $3 million and a prospect in return for him at this point, which clearly they couldn't get in July. Maybe that was their plan all along? The deadline really meant nothing because nobody was going to claim him. I don't see how his price would go up. The Sox offered $1 million in salary relief and nothing else. I doubt they would go much higher if they would go higher at all.

Hasn't played all year. Hip operated on twice since last major league AB. If he signed a minor league deal and went to Charlotte to get ready, I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but expecting anything out of him is a reach.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 05:49 PM) Yeah, we have been talking about this since Saturday....I don't think anyone would claim him, although I think the White Sox should claim him to avoid the crazy Rays from claiming him. I think it's worth the $7 million hit if you can assure yourself that you or no one else will get the player. However, if that deferred money comes into play, you're talking $25+ million owed to him...no one can claim him then, and LA would be free to try and work something out with whomever will agree to take on the most $. The Rays won't claim him. If anyone offered Coletti the opportunity to get out of the entire contract, at least the pro-rated version for the rest of this year, Manny would not be Dodger right now.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 3, 2010 -> 04:40 PM) You can waive waiver claims with an NTC? I know you can reject a trade, but once a team claims you, you probably have to be pulled back. Yes, if you are protected with a NTC, you don't have to go.

No one is going to claim Manny. I would normally say pass, but anything to get Kotsay out of the line up. I don't understand why Viciedo cannot DH.

If the Red Sox don't get closer soon, they may want to stop paying Big Papi.

Another thing people have to keep in mind is if the White Sox are sending anyone back in a trade, if its a player on the 40 man roster, they must clear waivers as well, so a guy like Flowers, for as bad as he's been, has very little chance unless he's going to Baltimore.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 1, 2010 -> 08:56 AM) Well, the Tigers would have possibly made a play for Aramis Ramirez if they weren't already on the hook for Peralta... But I don't think they're convinced they can stay with the Sox and Twins while missing four key components in Inge, Ordonez, Guillen and Zumaya. Dombrowski said they were on the verge of something huge and he was crushed when it fell apart. I think they would still give it a shot. Maggs getting hurt was a $15 million present to their organization. I have no idea why the Sox don't give Viciedo a shot at DHing. Worst case scenerio he hits like Kotsay/Jones.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:21 PM) If 3 other teams haven't corrected that flaw, then Cooper is better than any of us ever dreamed. His Dodger career was hampered by injury and he was still not fully recovered with TB. He was pretty solid in 2008 though and 2009 with Detroit was pretty good. Something very subtle might make all the difference in the world. Carlos Silva went from garbage to fairly decent after he switched sides on the rubber. I don't think it really makes Rothschild a genius. I'm not the biggest fan of the Jackson/Hudson exchange, but Jackson does have some huge upside.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:19 PM) Does Gavin Floyd count? Matt Thornton definitely counts. If you really want to read some funny stuff Google Mariners message boards after they got rid of Thornton. They were about as giddy as we would be if Albert Pujols was the Sox new DH.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:13 PM) How is he a fringe 5th starter? 2008 he was rock solid in Tampa and in 09 he was freaking real good in Detroit. Neither of those years was he anything remotely close to a 5th starter. His numbers aren't great this year, but Arizona is just a s***ty place to pitch (ball gets little movement and everything jumps out of that place; it is much harder to pitch at than the cell, imo). Jackson has proven he can pitch in spurts and I believe a lot in Cooper. Jackson at 26 still has some upside, imo, and Coop will be the best pitching coach he's ever worked with. I don't think people realize how talented Jackson is. He was once considered a top 5 prospect in all of baseball, made his major league debut when he was 19 and seems fully recovered from surgery. If they have found a flaw that's easily correctible, he's going to be a pretty popular guy.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:08 PM) Hopefully Viciedo can become Kendry Morales/1B because, I don't think he sticks at 3B. He's not going to play 3B. The Sox already moved him to 1B. Paulie is lighting it up so 3B or DH and for some reason they refuse to DH him, are his only options.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:06 PM) He has to stick around as the only other CF on the roster. The Sox also like the relationship he has with Rios.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:00 PM) He's been crying poor for years and keeps adding. It's obvious that he always want to be on record as having no money. Konerko and Jenks and AJP are off the books next season .

QUOTE (Cali @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 04:02 PM) Time for addition by subtraction.... When Teahen gets back DFA Kotsay or Jones.... Unfortunately it's gonna be send Viciedo back to AAA :/ I actually like Jones as a defensive replacement, occassional PH for $500k right now.