Dick Allen

QUOTE (gatnom @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:19 PM) My guess is that we stand pat. I agree, unless someone gets hurt in spring training, they will wait until it fails miserably, and go from there. One guy I would keep an eye on is Jeremy Hermida now with Boston. He's excess baggage for them now.

I wonder if Damon had any other agent but Boras if the Yankees wouldn't have just gone ahead and given him $20 million for 2 years. I know they had some hard feelings after the ARod fiasco.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 03:48 PM) --- LAKELAND, Fla. -- According to White Sox general manger Kenny Williams, the Tigers have made a higher bid for the free-agent outfielder Johnny Damon than their divisional rivals from the South Side of Chicago. In an e-mail to the Free Press today, Williams explained why he is bowing out of the Damon bidding. “I pulled the offer because it’s clear I can’t match the Detroit offer, much less the requested terms,” Williams wrote. Williams thus indicates that Damon continues to seek more than the Tigers are offering. Although no figures have been confirmed, it’s been widely speculated that the Tigers are offering Damon something around $7 million on a one-year deal and that the White Sox one-year offer didn’t top $6 million. It would also make sense if the Tigers want to defer part of Damon’s salary. Remember, the Tigers are trying to cut some payroll this season. Damon would in effect take the payroll spot of the traded Curtis Granderson, who makes $5.5 million this season on a long-term deal. The Tigers could sign Damon for more than that, but still save money in 2010, if they defer at least a few million dollars of Damon’s salary. Williams suggested Friday he’s leaving the door open a bit for Damon. Today, Williams told the Free Press he made that comment “only because it’s dangerous to completely close the door on anything. It’s kind of like never saying never.” Williams, who’s had a much-acclaimed tenure as the White Sox’s G.M., is a former Tigers outfielder. Is Damon a future one? -- Again, this is Kenny saying I can't go above $6M (which is what Boras is demanding) and the $6M I have is partially deferred (which Boras won't accept) and I won't go more than one year (which Boras insists upon), so the money and the terms are both beyond what the Sox can offer. Add a deadline like Kenny has and this thing looks dead to me. It does appear dead, but as I stated before, if Damon had Boras call KW next Thursday and tell him he would take their last offer, is there any chance KW says no, he missed the deadline?

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 02:00 PM) If the "true" market value for Damon is $6M and Boras was going to pump it up to at least $7M via a bidding war with DET, then I agree. Also agree on "the money is there" point. Yeah, they can reach back and go into short-term debt if they want (or borrow it from a bank). But after four years of high spending and inconsistent and mostly-disappointing results, I don't fault them at all for having tighter fists this year. If I'm Kenny and I'm going to put my job on the line, it's not going to be for somebody like AGon, not Damon. How is it you know the budget? Do you work for the Sox? JR and Brooks Boyer said the money is there for an "impact" bat. I assume it means not going into the red as JR has been quoted as saying he will not lose money to win games. Their fists aren't tighter this year. Payroll is up. Seasonticket sales are down, the prices for most season ticket packages was the same. If anything, they are digging a little deeper into their pockets. Gonzalez would be great to have, but remember, he would be a White Sox for 2 seasons and cost the Sox probably all of their good prospects if they could get him at all. Damon just costs money that they have available, and its short term. It wouldn't preclude the White Sox from going after Gonzalez since they would only be adding about $2.3 million to the payroll if the got him at the deadline.

QUOTE (Real @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 10:47 AM) updated my post, he says it'll be made official on Monday so we might not hear anything for a few days It looks like he's made predictions before that were a bit off, although this one really isn't going out on a limb.

QUOTE (Real @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 10:06 AM) More Damon Contract info (from a guy who's brother works for the Dodgers, take with a grain of salt) Says Damon has signed with the Tigers, will be made official today A big grain of salt, although you would think with the date, his signing would be relatively soon. I just don't understand how a guy who works for the Dodgers a team with apparently no interest in the player would have the scoop, but I'm sure its possible.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 09:37 AM) You've been arguing this for some time now and I just don't know how one can argue it was "obviously" a claim to block. The Organization has a very good history at bringing in players down on their luck and turning them around through coaching and opportunity. And despite the fact that the contract looks like an albatross when Rios plays at his absolute worst, he is very capable of returning his performance to a level where not only is the contract acceptable, but where it becomes club-friendly, especially considering the value his defense alone brings. I don't find it hard to believe under these circumstances that Kenny put in the claim because he actually wanted the player. That isn't to say that he didn't think Toronto would throw in some cash in exchange for some minor league talent, but you're making it seem as if KW was completely unprepared to take on the player and the contract, which simply does not gel with his past history or that of the Organization. It goes totally against anything the organization has stood for. Its the biggest contract in terms of cash owed in team history for a guy that was doing so well, the team that developed him, let him go for nothing. If he was willing to eat the entire contract, Toronto was willing to give him up for nothing. He obviously wanted Toronto to eat some of the contract or take some money back. If he was willing to eat the contract, why wouldn't he have done it sooner and not risked a team below the White Sox claiming him thus killing any chance of Rios being a White Sox? I agree he wanted Rios, but not be on the hook for the entire contract. He didn't want to eat the entire thing. If Detroit would have claimed Rios, even if they ate the entire contract, they would have had a legit claim to sit Maggs and not have the $18 million vest. If KW claimed him and Toronto didn't give him up, KW knew Detroit would in a bind.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 09:10 AM) Besides Borchard and the failure of all the first round drift picks (and yes, Borchard did net us Thornton even)...the biggest "in your face" condemnation of the minor league system has to be the "forced" acquisition of Alex Rios. If KW didn't think Brian Anderson was the answer in CF, he wouldn't have traded away Rowand and Chris B. Young, not to mention Jeremy Reed and Anthony Webster. When you look at the payroll inflexibility, it begins and ends with Rios and Konerko. Konerko's understandable. Peavy has a huge contract, but he's emminently tradeable if we had to dump salary (barring injury), Rios is a much more difficult proposition if he doesn't return to form. Danks, Floyd, Beckham, Quentin and Alexei are the five prime examples of why this team has a shot to win it all. Jenks used to be in this group as well, until 2009/2010, in terms of cost/benefit analysis. You could also make an argument that if Dayan Viciedo had come along with the bat quickly enough, he could have been able to take over for Konerko at 1B this year and that would have ended up providing the flexibility to spend an extra $14-16 million instead of just $4 million, which is currently leaving us $2-3 million short on Damon. Or the Linebrink contract, that's another hole in the budget, so hopefully we can get something out of him again this year. KW obviously had been negotiating with Toronto about acquiring Rios, and it had to include Toronto eating some salary and the Sox sending viable players back, because if KW really wanted him and was willing to pay him the entire salary, why would he have risked Toronto placing him on waivers and having another team claim him? He obviously put the claim in to block. I'm sure he liked Rios as a player and probably coveted him, but not that contract. I'm pretty sure KW was as surprised as anyone his claim was successful or unsuccessful depending upon how you look at it. The contract is burden especially if Rios continues to play as he has. As for Konerko, it was widely thought the White Sox probably went at least a year too long with their contract, but that was after a WS win and Paulie was a hero. Losing him after that would have hurt some of the momentum they had built. Even with the 20/20 hindsight, and as much as I like to rip some of their mistakes, you can't give them a hard time about that contract.

Its ironic that on the same message board there is such hatred for DH only type "base cloggers" but also a thread of admiration for Frank Thomas. Should the Sox have dumped Frank when it became very apparent his glove needed to be thrown in the garbage? The Sox need a hitter. Its not a requirement that he be a good defender. With the White Sox it hasn't been a requirement the guys out in the field be good defenders. It would be like a strip club requiring graduate degrees to be a stripper. If MLB baseball ever abolishes the DH, then and only then should the DH-only player be totally ignored. If a guy can help your team score runs and you have an opening at a hitter-only position, he should absolutely be considered. I hope Damon signs, but if he doesn't, I hope it doesn't take the White Sox as long as it took them with the Wises, and Lillibridges and Owens of 2009 to determine they have made a mistake. Every game counts. The longer they wait to fix it, the harder it will be to overcome.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 03:26 AM) Perhaps he does indeed want 2 years, but do he and his wife want 2 years in Detroit? I think people are putting way too much in downtown Detroit as a dump in swaying Damon. Some of the close-in suburbs are very nice. They have 4 kids, 2 are in school, so Damon's family probably doesn't join him at least full-time until June and probably goes back to Orlando by the end of August. So its 3 months at the most per year, plus its six weeks extra he gets to stay at home vs. signing with the White Sox as the Tigers train not far from his home. I think his only reason for taking less cash is he thinks the White Sox are the superior team. I'm sure everyone on this board would probably live in downtown Detroit for a year for $1 million.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 08:26 PM) Antawn Jamison puttin up a nice ol goose egg in his 1st performance as a Cav, 0-12 from the field, 0 points. And the Cavs are about to go down to the Bobcats. He nailed both of his free throws.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 07:47 PM) Just for what it is worth, this isn't officially dead until Damon signs or Sox pitchers and catchers report. I don't think its officially dead until Damon signs. While KW may say it would be a distraction, do you really think a week from now if Damon told him he'd take the deal he'd say "too late"? Besides, he has taken the distraction out of the equation. Chances are, Damon will sign with someone in the next week. I don't know why you would walk away just because your pitchers and catchers have reported.

I just hope on the first day of spring training if Damon doesn't accept, we don't hear a rather well-known line used by KW concerning finances.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 06:19 PM) Reminiscent of how things stayed cordial with Peavy and eventually it all worked out in the end. KW perhaps has learned after his series of blowups (pre-2007 for the most part) He obviously feels Damon is still a pretty big contributor and not signing him probably means a division rival signs him, so I'm sure he's doing everything he can to keep the door open as long as he can without risking hurting the team, and getting the message across to Damon, because for all we know he might not have known that time was of the essence here, that the decision has to be made sooner rather than later. I think the big decision is 6 weeks longer to stay at home and having to spend the summer in Detroit, vs. 6 weeks away from the family and. summering in Chicago at probably a little lesser wage. You could make cases for either team being better than the other with the addition of Damon. I think the White Sox are better with Damon than Detroit would be, but I could understand it would be a tough decision even if being in downtown Detroit makes you wonder if you're in the US. Its really only a 6 month committment, and 3 of those months you're on the road anyway.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 05:49 PM) Does this organization have any clue on how the fans feel? Don't they have social networking people? I assume they do since they have a facebook and twitter account. There's been a TON of buzz from fans about potentially signing Damon and that's it? I'm sure they are quite aware the buzz signing Damon would create, as well as the dissappointment that will be felt if he goes elsewhere. Its probably one reason for KW to come out today, basically saying they have done all they can do, if he goes to Detroit or anywhere else, its not because they didn't step up. Has anyone mentioned the additional time Damon could live at home if he signed with the Tigers? I'm sure that has to be worth something to him. Its more important that he can help them win, and they believe he would.

The amazing thing about this is KW is actually complimenting Boras. He's probably biting his tongue doing it hoping it will help Damon decide to be a White Sox, but its wierd nonetheless. I suppose he can't rip Boras when he himself is obviously playing a little game here. People have to remember negotiating is a game. My dad who is about as honest of a person as I have ever met and he's a lawyer to boot told me the only time it was ok to stretch the truth a bit was in negotiations. I'm sure Boras leads the league in BS, but it does come from both sides of the table.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) This is pretty cool. I wish it was on HBO instead of the MLB Network because I believe editing would be quite different, but this should be a cool show.

QUOTE (striker @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 05:24 PM) Maybe he wanted to leak his offer to get a decision made. When KW said he would talk about it Sunday yesterday, he had the deadline in place. I don't know if Boras and Damon knew about it, but KW obviously did.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 05:18 PM) Anyone else find it i interesting that KW threw out a timetable of 24 hours for Damon to change his mind? Yes. Johnny has until Sunday to accept the offer that has been pulled off the table. What? I understand pulling the offer to give yourself at least a little leverage if he really wants to sign with you, but why give him a Sunday deadline if the same offer should be available in a week or two? I suppose they are just sick of the game. Can't say I blame them, but they probably need Damon more than Damon needs the Sox $6 million.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 05:00 PM) After actually reading Levine's article (I have to go wash my hands), this was nothing more than a negotiating ploy by KW. Exactly. What this does is takes Boras' negotiating one contract off the other one, in other words,all his leverage away. He has to pick a team and negotiate.

Damon wiill still be a White Sox if he is wiiling to play for the contract pulled. This is the agent runaround that worked for the Yankees with ARod who, coincientally shares the same agent as Damon.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 07:01 PM) My guess is that is the day that the Sox withdraw their offer if Damon has not decided or Boras is still playing games. Boras is the master at drawing things out and he usually has top of the line big money clients, so by dragging it out he maximizes contracts because teams bidding wind up not being able to do other deals while they negotiate with him so they wind up needing to sign his player and usually paying a little more for them. Damon right now isn't in that boat but he's still dragging things out even though its probably making him no money but keeping his name in the news. When I first read Gregors blog, I thought it meant, like he thinks it meant, that Damon was a Tiger. The more I think about it, I think you may be correct. The Sox probably gave them a deadline to accept the offer. It probably is Sunday. The way Boras drags things out, KW can be pretty confident he won't hear anything positive before then in which he would pretty much be required to comment. I hope they get him. I don't think they will, but, and usually I couldn't care less about this because at this level its results not effort that matters, I am pleased with the effort. If he chooses Detroit, the Sox gave it a whirl. I hope they continue to try to get some offense. They shouldn't wait for the inevitable to occur like with Wise and Fields last year. They need every win they can get.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 03:27 PM) It could be that Boras leaked that Damon's wife was against the idea of living in the Detroit area. There's just too much smoke at this point. As usual, it seems as though the only facts we can suss are that Detroit is offering more money than we are. We can't we just match the g___damned offer for f**king once? The problem facing Boras if he did sign with the Sox is he would probably lose a pigeon in the Tigers. They have saved him many times.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 01:22 PM) People will buy tickets now to see Damon they will not to see Peavy you know why don't you? I think that is DA's point. My point is Damon plays everyday. Peavy once every 5 days. Peavy made 2 home starts for the Sox, both on fireworks night. One had about 28k in attendance, the second had 30k in attendance. The next Saturday night game had 35k attendance. The previous Saturday there was 33k in the house. There is no evidence to support what he said about Peavy. I still think Peavy is KW's greatest move but box office-wise, Damon is bigger even though Peavy is probably the more valuable performer.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 01:07 PM) Rios Nix Damon Konerko Jones AJ Pierre Vizquez Teahan It must be Sunday.