Dick Allen

QUOTE (balfanman @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 03:10 PM) So, in other words, we should not be blaming Greg Walker for Flowers problems in May, correct? I'm not trying to place blame on anyone, just trying to avoid blaming someone if it isn't their fault. Anyone on any team in any league that isn't hitting can be and should be blamed on Greg Walker.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 12:01 PM) Every once in a while you do get lucky with these trades. I hear the Indians got a nice little catching prospect for a 34 year old, soon to be free agent third baseman around the deadline in 2008. They also got 4 what appear to be stiffs for a Cy Young type that same year.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 06:15 PM) There is no correlation between market size and playoff appearances. Really, there isn't any proof that adding a salary cap would do anything to improve the competitive balance of baseball. Exactly. How has the cap worked in the NBA? If you aren't the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Pistons, Rockets or Spurs or Heat, you haven't won a title in a very long time.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 01:49 AM) This might sound dumb because baseball is a long grind, but doesn't it seem like the Sox are playing playoff intensity baseball against the Cub? And guess what? We play well and win. Do the Sox play "hard" every night, especially against the lowlife Indians and Royals? I'm just wondering if the nights we sleepwalk and suck has something to do with mental frame of mind. Or is it just that we are a mediocre team? I hate to use the "playing hard" analogy but to me it seems these Cub games have been intense and we've played well as a result. Is playing hard a misnomer or only appropriate to football and basketball? When you are winning, everything looks and appears better,even the effort. If the Sox lost yesterday 3-2 instead of won 2-1, some more heads would have been called for.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 09:56 PM) I have a very bad feeling were gonna get screwed for the future with this easy stretch in the schedule.. Screwed for the future? I've read this several times on this board, and I don't understand. Sure there are some who have a fantasy that the White Sox be in a perpetual state of rebuilding, but if they can get hot, why is that bad? Do you really think they have a lot of moveable parts that command top prospects right now? I'm pretty sure they are an average at best team, but dumping guys for what probably would be Jon Adkins-like prospects isn't exactly destroying the future. In fact, if players perform closer to their career totals, the bounty trading them later may be bigger. Jake Peavy, Mark Buehrle, AJP anybody, they go on a hot streak how does it hurt their value? Its not like its now or never to trade guys. Even AJ. He's talking the talk, but he'll go if the Sox are out of it and the new team is in it, especially if they throw in an extension, which is very negotiable.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 08:09 PM) Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell's contract for Hanley Ramirez. So far you mentioned Beckett and Santana. I love John Danks, but he's not it their league at the time they were traded. The biggest reason Florida was able to get Ramirez is because they took Lowell's contract, something no other team would have done at the time. It was considered a huge albatross, although it didn't turn out that way. At the time of the trade, many in baseball, if not most, thought Lowell was done.

There are so many ways to look at it. You can probably make a case for just about every choice. Fewer franchises have won an NBA title the past 20 years. How many NBA champions have there been or how many NBA teams have played in the finals that really no one gave much of a thought to before the season started? MLB has 162 games, and the playoffs are a crapshoot. The NHL's season is grueling. The NFL is tough. Each team is an injury or 2 away from being fairly insiginificant. Golf has more competors per winner than the others. Maybe one is harder than the rest, but if it is, its a very slight difference. They all are tough and huge accomplishments.

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 08:56 PM) Ozzie needs to go. He's done a lot for this organization, but his antics have just gone way too far now. If KW leaves because Reinsdorf won't let him fire Ozzie, there's a f***ing problem. Reinsdorf needs to realize if KW goes because of this then Ozzie is not going to get any better no matter who the GM is. This whole soap opera is f***ing ridiculous. JR wants both of them to stay. I really think its a longshot he ever would fire either, but he realizes they have to get along somewhat in order to both be effective. They don't have to be close, but they have to able to work together. If KW decided to walk away, IMO that's the lesser of two evils for JR. He'd try to talk him out of it, but if he couldn't, there would be a new GM and Ozzie would be making out the line up card. I think if it happened that way, Ozzie's ego would get even bigger, and he would probably become even more difficult if he didn't get his way with whoever they chose to succeed KW, although you'd have to think Hahn would be a lock. If they both stay, one thing anyone could do if they want to have some fun with them is to go to a soxfest seminar where they both are appearing. When the Q and A starts go up to the microphone and just profusely thank one of them for the WS title. Watch the other one skwirm.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 09:01 PM) You don't think that they're capable to do it if need be? Cooper tells AJ what he wants ahead of time, I'm sure. Flowers can and will learn to be a MLB catcher eventually, if that's what the coaches want. You gotta let the babies fly on their own sooner or later. I sat and listened to Ozzie at a Soxfest deal a couple of years ago. He claimed the bench will never call one pitch. Its between the catcher and the pitcher. I'm all for giving Flowers a chance, but its premature right now. He would be overmatched at the plate. Wait until he has himself straighted out. There's no rush.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 08:13 PM) Cowley said Garcia and Konerko confirmed the blow-up. Also, both Stone and Cowley suggested Hahn will be replacing KW sooner rather than later, and Ozzie's going nowhere. Wasn't Hahn one of Oney's targets in the original twittergate? Oney is not so bright, I'm sure he's being fed info by Ozzie. I always considered Hahn a viable GM, but a GM should have his own manager. Ozzie apparently looks at the back of your baseball card to determine who knows what. Since Hahn doesn't have one, that will be a huge problem especially considering how proud Ozzie and the rest of the Guillens will be if they are successful in removing his boss. Ozzie has been insubordinate even during spring training. I think JR needs to sit down with him and re-explain the chain of command. This whole thing seems like it would be a disaster for the Sox, but they have played their best the past 3 games.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 07:52 PM) I can't blame KW at all. Ozzie dissed the Sox organization by saying he'd pay his son to go to college over the Sox. That in itself is not a terrible thing to say if he had worded it in a way that stressed education over baseball when you're drafted that low. Don't think the fact that the Sox drafted him that low was the issue . KW is very big on not saying anything disrespectful about the organization. That was the issue about the tweets and Ozzie's ill-chosen words added fuel to that particular fire. I thought Ozzie with the 50k thing was out of line athough his comments did appear a lot more tame than the headline would suggest. I did read something today where Ozzie said Ozney was only going to sign if he was chosen in the first 6 rounds. It has to be that number because that is where the Sox selected KW's son. Now if Ozzie has 50k to give his kid to go to Niketown and thinks his this top of the line talent that's going to be a great player, why doesn't he give the kid the difference between what the Sox would give Ozney and what they gave KW Jr. and watch him turn into a star. I don't buy the almost coming to blows comment. KW would kill Ozzie and Ozzie knows it. He's not that dumb.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 07:48 PM) Haven't the Twins been winning? Point is pretty simple. Even if you screw up the trade, there is no single pitcher in MLB who is so good that your team will never recover from trading him. Why trade good pitchers if you could afford them? I'm pretty sure the Twins didn't want to trade Santana. The Sox have plenty of money coming off before Danks has to sign and who knows what the situation will even be 2 years from now. Would anyone in April have guessed Soxtalk 2010 punching bags would include Peavy, Beckham and Quentin? That multiple people actually want the Sox to build around Alex Rios? Things change quickly, but trading good, young pitching usually finds you on the short end of the trade.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 07:41 PM) Not well. But I think you get the point. No I don't get the point. The Twins also extended Mauer and Morneau, a couple guys if they were White Sox you probably would have liked traded for prospects if the team wasn't winning before they were locked up .

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 07:38 PM) Like the Twins when they dumped Santana for prospects. Haven't won since. How are the guys they got for Santana doing? Keep in mind Santana commands a lot better collection of prospects than John Danks.

If the Sox trade John Danks for prospects because they worry about whether or not they can sign him in a couple of years, this team will never win again. I'm amazed at all the people that want to the White Sox to trade every decent player they have for prospects.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 07:23 PM) Putting off the Tyler Flowers era over some misconstrued sense of loyalty towards AJ is not a good idea. If Jermaine Dye has taught us anything it’s that sooner or later these guys decline. Right now, we’re in the perfect position to deal AJ and get something for him. There’s no time like the present. What's a worse idea is starting the Tyler Flowers era when he has no chance to succeed. There's a big load the White Sox put on catchers. The bench does not call pitches. Flowers is going to have to gain the pitchers trust in addition to making more contact against much better pitching.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 07:04 PM) If we don't trade guys like A.J. and instead choose to make some lateral moves and make some suicidal push towards the post-season, I suggest we all get used to losing for a long time. This is not the time to honor past allegiances; it's time to build towards the future. I disagree. I really don't think it matters if they trade AJ or not. In fact, I still think its a decent possibility AJ winds up playing for the White Sox in 2011. The prospect or 2 you might be able to get for a couple months of AJ has about a 99% chance of not having the type of impact on your team AJ has had, and currently has. Its not a setback. The days of acquiring Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen are ova.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 06:38 PM) AJ does not sound like a guy who is eager to get out of Chicago after his 10-5 kicks in. If a move gets made, it has to be made now. http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/...ade-rights.html It also is something I'm sure his agent has told him to say. Face it, the free agent market hasn't been kind to aging players not having huge seasons. AJ playing a little hardball now may be able to squeeze an extension at a decent price out of a team looking to acquire him in return for approving the trade. Just blatantly coming out and saying he would be open to a trade even after his 5/10 kicks in, especially considering his contractual status would be the first no no in negotiation. That said, I think he's sincere when he says he would rather not be traded.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 06:18 PM) Perhaps Oz telling AJ that he wasn't being traded (and the media hearing about it) helped contribute to the Oz-KW tiff. I'd be pissed if I was KW and had teams interested in AJ. It wouldn't stop him from trading AJ, and it would make Ozzie look bad if he did. I really think the Sox have no intention of trading him right now. If Flowers was hitting like he was last year, it might be different.

It wouldn't surprise me if AJ gets traded, but a lot closer to the deadline. I think this 5/10 stuff is blown out of proportion. If the Sox are out of it and AJ has a chance to go to a team in contention for a couple of months, he'll OK it. The Sox should be in no hurry to bring Flowers up. He's starting to hit a little better, but if he's striking out 33% of the time in AAA what will it be in the AL? Wait until he shows he can handle it. It may be a couple weeks away, a month or 2 away, next year or never. Rushing him now accomplishes nothing. Getting blown away isn't going to do anything for him. The saving money part is questionable at best. The White Sox, according to the White Sox, are always over budget, yet they always seem to find money when they look to add a player. 2011 will be no different.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 05:28 PM) Rosenthal mentions RedSox will be looking for an OF with Ellsbury, Hermida out and Cameron playing hurt. Will they look at Andruw Jones? Andruw Jones makes no money but still won't net you a decent prospect. You might as well keep him around to keep Kotsay on the bench.

Oney has suddenly announced he will not tweet anything good or bad about the White Sox, and threw in the kicker that all previous tweets were true. I'm now 100% certain what KW and OG were arguing about.

QUOTE (chisoxt @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 06:58 AM) Like he had nothing to do woth this mess. If KW leaves, I am going to be happy! The problem with KW leaving, and I wouldn't shed a tear, is Ozzie is going to be even more powerful and his ego will grow tremendously. I have never heard of a manager basically forcing the GM out. This is a slippery slope. I think the first order of business however is to get Oney off of Twitter. The supposed "secrets" that he was spilling like the front office calling Winston Salem ordering KW Jr. in the line up, shouldn't be out there.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 01:39 AM) Notice Jim Leyland's kid got picked in the eighth round like KW's did, also. Seems like Round Eight is the wink, wink nepotism round. Ozzie's kid got screwed. Can't blame Oz for being pissed. The rich take care of each other normally. It's obvious the two hate each other. Two former ballplayers; Oz was much better than KW as a player and I'm sure he lets him know that on a regular basis. KW Jr. was picked in the 6th round, but when he was coming out of high school like Ozney, the Sox picked him in round 34. I'm not a KW fan, but I never heard one peep out of the Williams camp about that "slap in the face." I wouldn't be surprised if KW was telling Ozzie to tell the idiot Oney to shut his pie hole. While what he was tweeting was hysterical to most including me, it shows just how much away from reality he lives his life and what a spoiled little brat he his. He's just a guy who lives with and off his parents. What he tweeted was classless.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 11:42 PM) Well, and the money saved by taking KW Jr. also went to Jordan Danks, I believe. KW Jr. did get $175k. Its easy to say Ozzie should be the one if someone had to go, but without seeing what is going on behind the scenes its unfair to choose. Regardless of whether he is "part of the organization" Oney Guillen as you stated is an embarrassment to the White Sox. He wants to have it both ways, telling people he knows more than them because he's around it then saying he really has nothing to do with the White Sox anymore. If Ozzie can't control his own son vs. the organization that set their family up for life and affords him the opportunity never to have to get a job, what kind of leader is he really expected to be in the clubhouse? If KW is playing childish games just to piss Ozzie off, and I have no proof he is, then he should go too. We really don't know the situation and never will. I don't think either would be a big loss at this stage. They have been living off 2005 for 5 years. It took 7 years of living off 1985 for the Bears to move away from Ditka. I find it hard to believe the Guillen family is pissed off they didn't overdraft Ozney. If he was a top 5 round prospect, certainly another team would have jumped on him, although Oney explains that as the White Sox announced they were going to take him so no one drafted him. Too bad they didn't make the same announcement for Strasburg. If Oney wants to be upset his brother didn't get drafted as early as he thought, that's one thing. If he's got a problem with KW and tweets away what an ass he thinks he is that OK I suppose, but to drag KW Jr. into it is wrong and classless, even if he is spot on with his scouting report.