Dick Allen

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 01:46 PM) The Rios thing screws up things for this year's free agency...but the guys we're missing out on are either old or injury plagued (Matsui/NJohnson). The Sox are still going to have money freeing up next year with which they can go in several directions. Plus of the things we're missing out on, I dont know that outfield defense was going to be helped in a different way this offseason with what was available. We needed it at two OF positions, not just one. Looking at the spreadsheet, it looks like they have about $21 less committed in 2011 vs. 2010, but Thornton has a $3 million option which unless he gets hurt is almost automatic and Quentin, Danks and Jenks still with the arb, you would figure each gets a couple million raise at the very least, so that's leaves about $12 million if payroll remained the same, and you have your entire bench to work on. It gets eat up pretty quickly. Then again, the roster will look quite different a year from now. Some of the committments will be gone and some new ones will be on the list. It would be interesting listening to KW after taking some truth serum regarding Rios. I bet you he liked him but not $60 million worth. I believe he was in talks to acquire him, but wanted Toronto to eat some of the contract.

The $82 million doesn't include Peavy. Rios is $60 million, Teahan $14 million Pierre $8 million. As for the zero prospects for Rios, doesn't that say anything? If an organizaton truly thought he is worth $12 million a year wouldn't they have given Toronto something for him?

They are changing the days off in the playoffs. The 3 man playoff rotation, unless there are rainouts or snowouts will be a thing of the past.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 08:46 AM) So... the Rangers need a right-hand power hitting 1b. They need the other team to cover salary and are willing to give up a good-hitting catcher for him. So... Konerko for Max Ramirez. Thereby, allowing us to trade Flowers... Anyone see where i'm going with this? The Rangers also have one of the top rated, and many rate it #1, farm systems in baseball. You would think if any team could get A. Gonzalez it would be them. Of course, they made the mistake of trading him to SD to begin with.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:47 PM) Yes, it could have...if they had more money to spend. The issue is not how they've spent, but how much they've been able to spend. The White Sox have had money to spend. Since they have acquired Peavy, they have "spent" $82 million alone on Rios, Teahan and Pierre. I think there is an issue as to how they have spent it.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:16 PM) 1) I love Greg Walker. 2) JR and KW, boo, boo, boo!!!! White Sox are cheap. Actually, considering many posters (including myself) have been accused of being boring/predictable, I think it's nice that there a few who are always reliable and consistent in "spinning" most White Sox news in a certain way. It gives the site some balance...it would be tremendously boring if we were in agreement or had consensus the majority of the time. Reminds me of past debates over issues like Willy Taveras, Brian Anderson or Nix/Getz...or the now steadily recurring stats/OBP versus 'scouting/eyeballs' which was first highlighted by Moneyball/The Blind Side author Michael Lewis.... Reminds me a little of the Copenhagen Summit, maddening at times, but still the "big tent" is far better than the "censorship/my way or the highway/it's our board, so shut up" approach prevalent at other Sox sites. If you're attributing the top 2 things to me, you are a little off. I never have said I love Greg Walker. I just stick up for him and know its not his fault the offense sucks when guys like Wise and Lillibridge lead off, just like nobody called for Cooper's head when MacDougal threw a few more balls back to the screen. I have also always defended JR. It wasn't that long ago many who think he now can do no wrong used to think he can do no right. As for KW, I do find him arrogant, but I also praise some of his move and find others curious. The cheap thing only was because I am a long-time season ticketholder and in 2009 they raised my invoice and lowered payroll and cried they had no money. As it turns out, I happened to be correct as they added Peavy and Rios to the mix before the season ended, although some still said I was way off, they were able to find some money someplace. Like JR forgot he stuffed $6 million above the drop ceiling in his office. If it makes me less of a fan in people's eyes because I'm not excited about Vizquel and Jones and Teahan and now Pierre (I kind of like the Putz move, but then again, I'm not penciling him in as a savior yet, as his ERA the past 2 seasons was higher than Scott Linebrink) so be it. This team was near the bottom in offense in 2009. I don't see upgrades. Pierre is probably better than Pods and I didn't want Pods back, (although if you went back, you will see I praised signing Pods earlier this year), but I don't think Pierre will match what Pods did in 2009. Thome and Dye gone is going to hurt. As bad as Dye was in the second half, he hit over .300 with big power the first half. It leads me to believe he's probably not done, but he should be a DH and he doesn't want to be a DH so he probably wouldn't do too well in that role. Thome provided power with RBI and OBP. Getz provided some speed and did some little things. His steal percentage was terrific. It seems to me the White Sox are relying on a couple of things to make up the bulk of the improvement: 1. Alex Rios. There is no doubt he is better than he played for the White Sox, but his OPS has declined 3 straight years, and a lot of scouts say he's been mailing it in. He needs to be the player Toronto thought they were getting when they gave him that contract, not the player he was when all they required was someone taking the contract off their hands to give him up. 2. The health of Carlos Quentin I know most of his injuries appear to be flukes and don't seem to be connected to each other other than his sore knee last season which didn't keep him out of the line-up. The fact is this guy has gone down at least 3 seasons in a row. Sometimes players are like this. Ken Griffey Jr.'s injuries weren't all related, yet you knew it was June when you hear he's hurt again. Mike Brown with the Bears, same thing. The one amazing thing about Quentin's injuries have been none have been because of a HBP. Considering how many times he gets hit, and his refusal to wear any armour, you have to figure that its just a matter of time. He probably would have been the MVP in 2008 if he didn't go down. He needs to return to that level. I think if he can stay healthy, its a better bet than Rios living up to his potential.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 04:47 PM) A balanced lineup means nothing to you? The Sox have 3 lefties in their line up. I want the best offense. Why sacrifice? Do most real good right handed hitters really care if a lefty or righty is on the mound? Some probably prefer righties because they see them the most. Vlad Guerrero has a .320 lifetime average vs. RHP and .324 vs. LHP. Last year he hit .311 vs RHP. Frank Thomas killed LHP for several years, then couldn't hit lefties for a while, then started murdering them again. Just get the best hitter and things will work out a lot better. You made a good point about OBP earlier. KW said he wants the team OBP at .350. Just about everyone he's acquired this offseason reaching it in 2010 is probably against the odds. So either he thinks the guys he had will make a big jump or he's bringing in another bat.

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 03:56 PM) I think it is possible that by years end, Konerko could be the primary DH. Kotsay has shown he can play 1B just as well as Paulie. If Mark Kotsay is the White Sox every day firstbaseman, we better hope Bears training camp is interesting.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 04:14 PM) 2.5-3 million seems actually a little low for Thome to me. LaRoche should still get more than that since he's actually able to play 1b. Vlad might fit at DH for us...but there are 2 problems, first he hits RH, and this is still a RH power heavy lineup unless Teahen takes a huge step forwards. The top and bottom of our lineup has lefties (Teahen, AJ, Pierre) but the middle and the power is Q, Konerko, Rios, Becksy, Ramirez. Another Lefty power bat provides serious balance, and furthermore, we have 2 potential platoon guys to go with a lefty in Flowers and Jones. A RH DH just doesn't set up this lineup well. Second, one thing that is missing from a lot of our guys is significant OBP. Say what you want about guys being base cloggers, one thing I don't see when I look at that lineup is a guy who's going to take a lot of walks and make you throw a lot of pitches. Just for diversity in the lineup, that could well be useful. Screw whether they are lefty or righty. Just get the best hitter you can afford.

Is there anything documented on Cooper having his pitchers tune it down a bit? I know its a popular belief, but I've never seen a quote from him about it. I would think if that really is Cooper's philosophy and the White Sox believe in it, it would be something they would preach at every level. Its tough enough breaking into the big leagues, doing so with an entirely different approach than what you are used to doesn't make much sense. Reading BP, they were pretty high on this guy, but thought 2009 was not the year. He does however have some shoulder problems.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 10:19 PM) OMG no he had a failure! We should stop trading for anything but completely self-contained pitchers! Your insistence on trying to rip me for every post I make is making you not even pay attention to what I write. As I said, I didn't blame Cooper for Contreras' failures, but getting excited because of this notion that Cooper fixes everyone is silly. There have been plenty of guys that haven't exactly panned out.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 07:16 PM) Silva isnt a guy with zero issues either. You cant just look at the player they got rid of. From a player for player standpoint they were incredibly raped. Overall its probably a wash. They obviously weren't getting anything useful for Bradley and saving some money. It wouldn't surprise me if they use the money saved on a CF, I read Ankiel, Byrd or Pods and if Silva is bad in spring training, just waive him. They still come out ahead.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 03:39 PM) God, the Cubs got raped here. It's completly their fault for being so public about the Bradley fiasco too. Yeah, it was such a shock to hear Milton Bradley was a huge asshole. He's never had any problems with the 7 teams he's been with. After all he did actually play 216 games with one team. If this was fantasy baseball, it probably would be a terrible deal. Its real baseball.

QUOTE (striker @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 05:51 PM) Let's just hope Coop does a better job with Dolsi than he did with MacDougal, Sisco, Aardsma, Cotts (after 2005), and Masset. He also needs to fix Linebrink, Pena, Putz and Jenks this year too. I read an interesting quote from Contreras who I read was throwing 95 when he went to Colorado. He said wherever he went, he wanted to take the Colo. pitching coach with him. I'm not blaming Coop for Contreras, but this notiion that he fixes everyone is silly.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 07:34 PM) Oh, I agree. I'm not sympathizing with Cabrera here. All I am saying is that what the Sox did in regards to him last year was exploiting the rule in a manner which was not really envisioned when the rule was created. Due to the current economic conditions and by extension, the value of pre-arb players and draft picks has increased to a point which is higher than envisioned when the FA rule was created (at least in my opinion - obviously I wasn't there when it was). FA's should not be penalized in the marketplace such that it actually diminishes their ability to sign a lucrative contract. He always could have accepted the arbitration and been in line for a $10 million-$11 million contract. The Sox could have waived him and paid 20%, but if he didn't show a decline in skill in spring training there would have been a grievance filed and a good chance he would collect his money.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 07:30 PM) Rose is the only player on this team worth a damn (well Noah is ok). You have to love our 10 million dollar backup PG/SG who can't shoot and has never been a good distributor. I will never understand the love Bulls fans gave Kirk Hinrich, a decent but not great defender who never was a good shooter and never a good distributor. The one thing I will give him is he defends Wade really well. Our wings thrive at taking 20 ft jump shots which are basically the worst shot in basketball. Brad Miller has no business getting more than 10 minutes a game for an NBA team at this point and he is starting, just awesome. I don't understand those who think adding Chris Bosh will make the Bulls a championship contender. No way. They need Wade or LeBron. I agree with you, Rose then Noah and maybe Deng are keepers. Everyone else is roster filler. I think the Bulls organization should send personal apology letters to all their ticketholders.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Dec 16, 2009 -> 10:28 PM) man remember jeff bajenaru vs. bobby jenks discussions back in 2005....some people were irate that bajenaru wasn't getting a shot over jenks....whats funny is they had a somewhat legit arguement .....good thing the baseball people with the sox were brighter than those here He had nice minor league numbers although he was a bit old for AAA and he posted on Soxtalk or did Q &As or something, so I could understand the sentiment, but he wasn't good. The Sox got Cintron for him. He pitched 1 inning for Arizona and gave up 3 homers.

I just want to know why is it everyone who says KW is absolutely not lying when he talks about finances can say he's lying everytime he talks about players? Isn't even remotely possible when he uses the every dime that comes in goes out line, he's not being straight either? There are a couple things about this rotating DH, if it is true, that are troublesome. First, the guys he apparently will use are bench players. Why in the AL would you have a bench player in the line-up everyday? Second, a lot of players struggle DHing. I know Frank Thomas did for a while. There's no guarantee even if it is for a game or two, the players won't have a difficult time adjusting. If the Sox are going to use a rotating DH, they need to acquire another every day player. Not spread it around and have reserves in the line-up all the time. It would be suicide. What is interesting is KW has gone from getting personnel advise from Konerko and Thome and switched over to Ozzie, but I'm pretty sure he's BSing. No way KW would call it an offseason in the middle of December.

FA will come to the White Sox. Chicago is always ranked as the favorite visiting city in MLB. Players generally go to the place that offers them the most cash. The White Sox aren't known for that, and if it becomes a bidding war, they usually drop out. It has nothing to do with wanting to play for Ozzie or on the other side of town, wanting to play at Wrigley Field. Its all about the benjamins.

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Dec 16, 2009 -> 07:30 PM) Crap - I don't even remember Andy Gonzalez. When was he on the team? 2007

Its so hard to pick the worst, but I have several more than 10 who deserve a mention: McKay Christensen Andy Gonzalez Ken Hill Jack Egbert Wes Whisler Arnie Munoz Armando Rios Todd Ritchie Julio Ramirez Jeff Bajenaro Josh Stewart Dewon Day Mike Myers Jose Paniagua Brent Lillibridge Some pretty bad players right there. I would have put Toby Hall on the list, but I like guys who make shaving cream pies.

If KW is being straight, this is not encouraging. From the Sun Times: "Ozzie and I have been speaking on that, and we spoke on it again [Tuesday],'' Williams said of the DH spot. "Right now, what he would like to do is sit where we are right now because he likes flexibility with the DH position, whether it be a guy getting a break or keeping your bench players fresh. Guys like [Andruw] Jones, [Mark] Kotsay, [Omar] Vizquel, getting [Paul] Konerko off of his feet and getting into the DH spot ... he likes the flexibility that comes with it. "I've given him some names - this is a very critical last thing on our list. I certainly don't want to do anything from my seat that conflicts with what my manager wants, so regardless if I think there may be a need for a bigger left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup, he's the one in there and I fully support how he and his coaching staff see the situation fitting. That's something we'll continue to think about.'' KW already trying to deflect blame a la trading for Sandy Alomar for the 12th time if it doesn't work out. He's the GM. If he thinks the team would be better with another bat, its his job to get another bat. If there are no additions, Greg Walker is going to get more heat than ever before.

The White Sox aren't going to win a bidding war, so it makes no sense to spend money watching him. Besides, its already leaked how he looked.

I will say for a team that supposedly has no money, shelling out $82 million for Rios, Pierre and Teahan is curious at best. I'm pretty sure I'd trade those 3 for John Lackey.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 06:54 PM) I find it bizarre that with each move the Sox make, they get a little better, and yet the posts in PHT get more and more over-the-top mad. I'd think it would be the reverse. Weird. We do still need one more bat upgrade, at DH or elsewhere, though. And a backup C, though I think we have options in house for that which I'd be fine with. What happens with that extra bat, though, I think will give us the best picture of the offseason overall. I really don't know how you can say they are better now than they were on October 4. They might be, they might not be. The Sox were 7 games worse than MN. I know the popular position to take is Quentin will be healthy, Beckham will be around an entire year, Rios will be improved, Jenks will be better, the rotation is great and no one will get hurt, Teahan will shine away from KC, Putz will be the 2006-7 JJ Putz, etc. But can't Minnesota say the same thing? Mauer missed a month. Mourneau missed a month. JJ Hardy has just a good a chance to snap back as anyone the White Sox have acquired. People make a lot out of them moving out of the dome and losing their big advantage, but the dome had nothing to do with their kicking the White Sox around there in 2009, and their line-up has seemingly evolved to make them ready for the move outdoors. They have a pretty nice line-up. I would imagine the will have Slowey back as he missed half the season. The Sox still need a lot more offense. As soon as they get at least another significant bat, I will be optimistic.