Dick Allen

This is going well.

Hawk laying the groundwork for blaming the umpire if the Sox lose.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 07:24 PM) Pierre steals second. If he would have done that when Vizquel was batting, he'd be on 3rd right now.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 07:16 PM) What's the attendance tonight? I assume Bulls and Hawks have a lot to do with the empty seats? I say a 5-11 record and 40 degrees has a lot to do with empty seats as well. Stubhub today, you could have had premium lower levels for $11.

So Beckham bunts with a guy at first when he's batting second, but Vizquel swings for the fences?

I think the Sox take this one tonight because the opposite of what you think has to happen. TB was hot coming in, the Sox playing pretty poorly, so the Sox win game one. Buerhle pitched a perfect game against them last time, and struck out the side in the first last night so you figure the Sox may roll, but no. The line up tonight makes it seem 2 runs would be a dream, so perhaps a 6 or 7 run effort tonight.

There were quite a few people around here hoping KW brought Bradley to the White Sox this past offseason. Bradley is one of those guys that no matter how big a dofus you think he is, the reality is he's probably even a bigger one.

The Cubs hired Rudy Jaramillo. Boy are they whacking the ball around. The bottom line is you have to have the personnel to do the things you are asking. The White Sox roster in the past wasn't capable or it would have been silly to ask some of their sluggers to go the other way. This year's team, most will admit, is short offensively. They still score via the homer, but they just don't hit as many. I don't think there is one person on this board that would have thought the Sox wouldn't go through a stretch of 15 games when they only won 5. Everyone always uses 2005 as a measuring stick. That team lost 14 games in the standings at one point. That said, I think there is plenty of reason to be concerned. The pitching staff isn't going to have a 2.98 ERA. KW better get some offense somewhere, somehow. This is a team that has had Kotsay hit 3rd and Omar Vizquel lead off. Blame the hitting coach all you want, but the blame is misdirected. This is the American League, not the American Association. The sooner White Sox brass realizes they need more offensive talent the better.

Hawk is talking about this team error. Why would owners want to approve that? All it would do is lower ERAs and make pitchers more expensive.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 08:37 PM) The thing is someone is going to look at Mark's statline and think he pitched badly tonight. White Sox defense has to improve if they are going with this NL style. Buehrle also has to pitch over mistakes, something he's really had trouble doing the past couple of seasons, but tonight it was a bunch of bloops and dinks.

Teahen apparently doesn't like pitches over the plate.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 06:02 PM) I wasn't worried about Reed at all. I was more concerned about Olivo getting his offensive act together and becoming a dominant catcher, but his game-calling and strategic side never evolved defensively. He was like a two-trick pony, that arm and pop/speed from the offensive side. And I liked the versatility of Morse, Seattle really tried to find a home for him at different positions, but he was a "tweener" everywhere you put him on the diamond, like a 6'3" small forward in the NBA. I don't know the actual number, but Abbott hit around .400 for most of the year with Hickory in 1993/1994, one of those years. It was unbelieveable. He overshadowed Ordonez at that point....in fact, it was 94 I'm pretty sure, because I was working in Augusta. JD came in one night and used my phone, he was playing for Macon. Andruw Jones the next year, I saw him maybe 20 times when he was already a legend at 17-18 or whatever his age was back then. Also, Vladimir Guerrero and Ruben Rivera were the Gods then. Missed Jeter's massive error display at Greensboro by one year. Jose Guillen was the best player on our team...since I spoke Spanish, and he didn't, I always had to help him out. He'd actually stabbed one of his teammates in Bradenton, the Pirates were scared to death of his personality even then but also scared to death not to promote him to A ball and see what type of a diamond in the rough they had. That guy had a monster arm, 2nd to VLAD and ahead of Dye back then. Could do everything but run, just amazingly talented. And he's really a small/short guy if you see him in person. I remember him going into McDonald's all the time trying to struggle to order a hamburger, that always cracked me up big-time. Those are some pretty cool experiences.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 05:58 PM) If you really want to fix the problem, move two more teams to New York and another to Boston. Divide up the market. That makes way too much sense for it ever to happen.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 05:50 PM) I mean in terms of getting the most out of his baseball ability...it was never, ever going to translate at the major league level. He never had the power for 1B or a corner spot, or the athleticism for CF. It's a little bit like the Sweeney situation, but he was a "raw" high school athlete from Iowa with that beautiful, "projectable" swing from the LH side, natural/fluid fielding mechanics, the idea he would naturally evolve into a 18-24 homer guy with less average than Olerud (another great college player). I'll name another for you. Jeffrey Abbott...he put up amazing numbers at UK and also in the low minors, only to disappear very quickly from the face of the Earth...the unforgettable Ramirez of FLA, the "anti-Abbott" was acquired by KW, who always goes after that and guys like D'Angelo Jimenez. But those guys taught (or should have) that character counts as much as ability. Everyone in the clubhouse hated Jimenez and Thomas almost killed him before he had to be restrained by teammates. Reed was at one time one of the better defensive CFs in baseball. He was a good prospect. Not a 30 homer guy but you could have projected maybe 12-17 and if he's hitting .330 he'd have been a big run producer. KW dumped him at the perfect time. Are guys like Jordan Danks and Viciedo head and shoulders better than Reed? Reed was considered one of the better prospects in baseball. There were a lot of pissed posters when the Sox dumped him. Abbott was a .327 career minor league hitter. I think he beat out Magglio for a hitting crown in AAA by .001 or something. He did have a huge homer for the 2000 White Sox that many thought really got them rolling.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 05:42 PM) Jeremy Reed is a perfect example. Reaches potential/limits in college with an aluminum bat. So much of drafting is "projectability." His upside was limited very much from the beginning, yet he was the College Player of the Year, correct? Beckham also was...but there's a big difference between the two, it's not just power and playing a middle infield position. If he peaked in college considering his .409 AVG. with a 1065 OPS in Birmingham, a place a lot of pretty good players didn't put up impressive numbers, as a 22 year old, he must of been the greatest college hitter of all time.

The Sox will win at least 2 of the 3 games in this series.

Toronto has drawn in the past. Will they ever again is a good question, but throw a team out there every year that you know cannot win, and they will not draw. If the White Sox had no chance to contend, how many people do you think would be at the game tonight? Should the NHL moved out of Chicago when the Hawks didn't draw and couldn't fill the place up halfway when they gave out free tickets?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 05:32 PM) Then the rest of the league would be complaining about how they couldn't compete with the Rays. I think most of the Rays better players will be playing for different teams in a couple of years unless they get a new park, and publicly financed ballparks are or at least should be out of the question at this time.

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 05:17 PM) It's going to be very tough for most teams without big budgets to compete with the Yankees and RedSox. Have the economics of baseball created a chronic problem in the AL East? I have a novel solution... move the Mets and Phillies into the AL East... and the Orioles and Blue Jays to the NL East. Let the budget Titans duke it out in one division. I'm half kidding... but something may eventually may have to be done in the AL East if the other teams have no chance of competing year after year. Actually one of the realignment ideas has to do with revenue. You would be in the same division as economic peers.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 04:55 PM) They had only 10k fans for an indoor game last night when there's no Maple Leafs game or any other sporting event going on. This is a team that started 6-2 and is still above .500 now. I really don't think it should shock anyone that the 3 teams not from NY or Boston in the AL East have trouble drawing.Its pretty hard to convince a fanbase you have much of a chance. TB obviously has had a little more success lately but they were down for so long, its going to take a lot more to build up the base.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 05:48 PM) That list is depressing. You can't really complain about not having high enough draft picks when you completely blow the ones you do get. The biggest misconception that has been used about past White Sox drafts has been they picked low so they had nothing to work with. Just some of the picks in the 2005 draft after Broadway, the "safe" pick: Jacoby Ellsbury Matt Garza Colby Rasmus Luke Hochever Clay Bucholtz Nolan Reimold Kevin Slowey Yunel Escobar What we don't know is if the problem was recognizing talent, developing talent or both. Perhaps if Broadway was drafted by someone else he may have been useful. I doubt it. Maybe if the above had been drafted by the Sox, they may have been busts.

The White Sox could be in first place in a week, probably not, but its not like they are finished. One thing is clear though, KW is not as calm about the situation as his email wants you to believe. Whether he can or will or needs to do anything about the roster remains to be seen (I think offense needs to be added) but right now although he may not be officially panicking, I'm sure he's more unpleasant to be around than normal.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 10:07 PM) Beckham would not be best SS in team history. Maybe best hitter who played SS. He's certainly never going to be Aparicio or Carrasquel or Guillen or Uribe with the glove, but with his bat he would certainly be a force.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 09:01 PM) "If Gordon Beckham is back at shortstop we're in big trouble. Missile is a much better SS." - Oz on his infield. If it worked out like Beckham playing in 2009 meaning big trouble Beckham would probably be the best SS in team history. Hawk said Beckham would be great wherever they played him and I agree. He has the knack. Maybe his range would be a little compromised, but he would more than make up for it with baseball IQ. Personally, I'd rather have a guy like Beckham who has a clue on the baseball field over a more gifted but clueless defender in Ramirez. Sure Alexei can and does make plays no one else on the roster even comes close to, but that doesn't happen all that much. What does happen is he botches plays or has brain cramps far too often on the field. I like the idea of the SS being the leader of the infield. Beckham has that personality, Ramirez does not.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 06:12 PM) That $10 million to Viciedo looks more and more interesting in light of those numbers comparing the Twins' and White Sox signing bonus allocations. Curious, indeed. Perhaps they overreached with all the success they had with Ramirez when they should have been targeting Chapman instead. If you subtracted Teahen, PK, Jenks, Konerko, Pierre and Linebrink (some combination thereof), you could easily afford Chapman. It's worth the risk for an electric arm like that in Cooper's hands. A Ramirez deal makes the most sense if we want to get some actual talent back in return, because that contract status is going to be very very enticing to another organization...plus they'd (acquiring team) would control his rights for an additional 3 years, correct? (I think we both agree, but since we watch Ramirez or track him every day...you'd think the flaws in his game would be well-known, but a NL team might bite, definitely.) But we're not close to having a SS ready to contribute...Escobar is 2-3 years away. Might have to be a SS for SS type of deal...or targeting a player similar to Hardy/Renteria. But I'd really take Uribe back, live with the offensive shortcomings, and try to fix the other problems that are easier to address like DH. I'd just put Beckham at SS.