Dick Allen

The very first game my dad took me to, I wasn't quite 5. It was a DH and helmet day. We were sitting in the first row of the upper deck at the old Comiskey Park and my dad caught a ball and gave it to me. I still have the ball.

QUOTE (MattZakrowski @ Jan 3, 2010 -> 01:06 PM) Because the White Sox have an easy January schedule. If the Sox don't sign a DH, I'll eat my hat. I should re-phrase it, it seems a lot of people here are satisfied the Sox DH is Jones/Kotsay and wouldn't mind if that's how it turned out.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 2, 2010 -> 04:59 PM) Gophers rolled over Iowa today, 86-74. Although that only looks like a 12-point win, it was never in doubt and the Gophers basically had their way with Iowa from start to finish. Hoffarber had another great game, while the press really tore apart the Hawkeyes for most of the first half. It's always awesome to watch an effective full court press, especially when it's done by Al Nolen and Damian Johnson. Beating Iowa right now wouldn't be a feather in the cap of North Shore Country Day High School right now. They are awful.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 3, 2010 -> 12:02 PM) Shanahan could be named Skin coach tomorrow or later in teh week. Bucs staff has been told they will all be back next year. I've said it plenty of times, I only fire Lovie if we hire Cowher. I agree. I think the lamb this year will be Turner like last year it was Babich. Next year, if they continue to suck at least Lovie will be on the clock and maybe even Angelo.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jan 2, 2010 -> 10:29 PM) Brad Miller, what a classy guy, doing the post-game interview the the 3rd largest wad of dip ever known to mankind. He is from Indiana.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 2, 2010 -> 10:32 PM) The key move IMO, has actually been moving Hinrich into the starting lineup and getting him going, Salmons looks more at home as a 6th man right now, and giving the Bulls that offense off the bench with TT which they need. VDN's got them playing hard again, and Rose had probably his best game of the season tonight, although Jamer Nelson is definitely not 100% healthy with that knee right now, so Rose should have had a good game which he did. As for the Magic, when Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis combine for only 5-23 and Howard has less than 10 touches (he needs to be shooting around 15 a game which basically hasn't happened this season), we're not going to win most nights. The key move is Tyrus Thomas returning. 7-2 with Tyrus, 7-15 without. I'm just slightly kidding, but it is pretty incredible.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jan 3, 2010 -> 09:12 AM) I'm definitely on the Jack Cust for DH train. Yeah his average is going to be low but he'll walk 100 times (or thereabouts) with great power. I think he'd be a near perfect fit for us. Why would he be an improvement over Thome?

If guys who can put up Konerko's numbers are a dime a dozen, how come the Sox current DH is Jones/Kotsay?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 3, 2010 -> 05:58 AM) Juan Pierre got a 5/$45 mill contract due to a .292/.330/.388/.717 season with the Cubs. Given, it was a different market and was a horrendous decision at the time, but Pods' agent would get fired if he settled for a contract this early in the offseason. It makes perfect sense to try and get what he can for Podsednik, but he will have to settle for a contract within the next month or so. We always have hindsight and Pierre even despite having a decent season last year now gets moved and the Dodgers have to pay him more than the White Sox the next 2 years. While I agree its Pods' agent's responsibility to get the max for Pods, in this market when you have been mediocre, waiting doesn't appear to pay off much. I still don't believe the White Sox wanted to pay Pods in 2010 for his 2009 season ( I don't blame them) and I think most of their "interest" was PR. It seems signing early these days unless you are one of those guys guaranteed to get your money, is the way to go.

All the guy wrote was that one of his New Year's wishes was that Peavy and Rios justify the White Sox big investment in them. I think we all have that wish.

QUOTE (scenario @ Dec 30, 2009 -> 08:31 PM) Yep. He was spotted at a hotel in Detroit this week. I don't think too many people visit Detroit during the winter for pleasure. Unless you want to get a little culture and take in the ballet in Windsor.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 30, 2009 -> 08:12 PM) I thought the day he was traded, and I still think today, that Thome will be our DH. Where else is there a better fit? Where else is he going to want to go? There are exactly 14 teams where he can play. We need a left handed power bat and have an opening at DH. He's not going to the Yankees or Red Sox or Angels- the teams with the biggest checkbooks. He is 39 years old and his top priorities would sure seem to be (aside from playing because he loves playing) winning a World Series and getting 600 home runs. Is Thome the guy who would sign for 1 or 2 million more with Toronto or Kansas City and have absolutely zero chance of going to the playoffs? When waiving his no-trade from the Phillies, he would only accept going back to Cleveland, or playing in Chicago close to home. I will be quite surprised if we don't sign him. Supposedly the Tigers have some interest.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 30, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) I know highly unlikely, but if the Sox got Holliday, attendence, wins, and playoff chances go way up. Which equals the revenue to pay him. If we're out of it in a few years, they can always trade him unless he turns into garbage (highly unlikely)... but I still see STL signing him. Pierre CF Beckham 2B Holliday RF Quentin DH Konerko 1B Ramirez SS AJP C Rios CF Teahen 3B Now that I will bet on a WSox world series... and they may need that to compete with Yankees, Redsox, Mariners, Angels, even Tampa Bay. The AL will have some elite teams this year. Here's something that may surprise you, Jim Thome's OPS with the White Sox when he was 36-39 was exactly the same as Matt Holliday's career OPS.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 29, 2009 -> 08:11 PM) But Jones hasn't had a decent season since 2006. Vlad's 2008 numbers were 303/365/521/886 I agree with you. Andruw Jones has hit .207 combining the last 3 seasons. I don't know where people are expecting him to be the Andruw Jones who could command $15 million a year. He signed for $500k with Boras as his agent. Brian Anderson got more guaranteed cash. I wouldn't mind Vlad, although the rumor is he's Texas bound.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Dec 28, 2009 -> 08:42 PM) I mean you get the number 1 pick (Rose) and instead of hiring a former guard to mentor him (like Avery Johnson) you hire a guy who had never coached a single game in his entire life, on any level, and never was an assistant coach, on any level. Literally the first time he coached a live basketball game was in the summer league before his rookie season. That is absolutely retarded to me. The only thing I can think of is that the Bulls hired him and fully intended to fire him and hire an established coach before the 2010 FA class. If that is the case, then they are incredibly stupid and have done Derrick Rose and injustice. The Bulls have royally bungled this whole thing up, and Pax along with Vinny and Gar need to go. I think it is time to look outside the organization for a GM that can evaluate talent and build a team better than what we have seen. The Bulls don't like to pay up for coaches. Phil Jackson was the only coach they paid and that was because they had no choice but to pay him. I don't think they hired Vinny to fire him in 2 years. They were hoping for a home run, but he struck out looking on 3 pitches. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly Gar Forman gets paid to do.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/t...yball-approach/ Interesting.

If the White Sox truly had any interest in Matsui, they should take a gander at Johnny Damon. He'll only be slightly more expensive, is the same age, puts up similar numbers except Johnny can still run. I also like the concept of bringing in guys who have won and been a big part of the winning. Maybe they would let him grow his beard back.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 28, 2009 -> 04:59 PM) "This thread/poll is ridiculous." The way I see it, it means, this thread and poll are ridiculous, as is the poster who posted it. My points as to why I'd prefer Carter: - I'm not much of a Quentin believer. I wonder if he'll ever be fully healthy. - K's aside, look at Carter's power numbers. - Carter is cheaper and will be for a while. - He fills some of our current needs. - Not that it really matters much, but it'd definitely boost our system up right now. I'm confused here. You like Carter's A ball and AA ball power numbers better than you like Quentin who probably would have been MVP in 2008 with 40+ homers if he didn't suffer a fluke injury. Plus, filling needs, wouldn't a guy who has gotten it done in the major leagues fill them a lot better than a question mark? I could understand if you're basing a lot of this if it is your belief that Quentin won't be able to stay healthy, I think that is a legit concern. He hasn't been able to do it yet, but if he can put that behind him, I don't see how this trade will ever look like anything but a good one from a White Sox perspective.

Does it really matter where TSN or Phil Rogers ranks them? No need to get worked up over it.

Does UZR ever take into account the first baseman saving the other infielder's ass on a play? Ramirez had a UZR of 2.4 I believe last year. If Frank Thomas was the White Sox first baseman, he easily would have had at least 15 more errors maybe 20 or 25 if he made the same throws. Would his UZR still be 2.4? I'm not being a smart ass, I don't know the answer. I would imagine a first baseman that is good defensively would probably increase every other infielder's UZR.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 09:59 AM) Going to the game tonight. Help me god. I think they will win tonight. You'll have a good time.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 03:09 PM) DA, why are you allowed to voice your opinion, but I am not allowed to voice mine? I posted the stuff about Shanahan being interested in the Bears job last night/this morning. I am on record as supporting him numerous times throughout this thread. Are you accusing me of purposefully forming my opinions simply to contradict your own? You claimed he was just a sexy name, but Cowher was somehow different. I questioned that. How is that being unfair to you in any way? It was "got it". It was very condescending and you know it. It was meant to make me look like my opinion is stupid, which it may be, but is it your place, especially as a moderator to point it out, with the only evidence being its different than yours? Its just about every post I make anymore, and its getting old. Besides, being thought of as less of a football coach than Bill Cowher isn't exactly that big of a knock. Shanahan didn't win without Elway. That's a fact. He didn't draft him. I prefer Cowher, but I actually before a few current assistants to either.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 02:36 PM) Ok, so wait, Cowher was the coach in Pittsburgh for 13 years before he won a Super Bowl, but he is a guy you like, while Shanahan won 2 Super Bowls in Denver, but he is just a sexy name. Got it. Why is my opinion any worse than yours, and why do you make stupid comments after every one of my posts? Mike Shanahan inherited John Elway. They win 2 SB, Elway retires and they go 6-10 the next season. Cowher has a higher winning pct anyway. I supposed if you are an NBA fan you would be doing cartwheels if the team you follow hired Jerry Krause to be the GM. He has 6 titles.

QUOTE (MattZakrowski @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 02:27 PM) I understand that crede most likely won't top 100 games in 2010, but his d is good enough to provide value even in a small amount of games. I love Crede, but his back is a mess, and there's no guarantee he'll play 10 games in 2010 let alone 100.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 01:58 PM) Yeah, if you want to pay him $8m a year....and he won't have his little short porch in left to launch to... $8 million a year for 2 years is well worth it if he helps you win. His splits last year were 17 to 7 home vs. road homers, but in the past they have been pretty similar, and its not as if USCF isn't hitter friendly, and if its LF you are worried about, its a lot easier to take one out to LF at USCF than any of the Yankee Stadiums. Plus he can run. He's the perfect guy for the Sox right now. If they want to go cheap, its Thome or Vlad, but they won't be too much cheaper than Damon.