Dick Allen

QUOTE (East Side Z @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 01:06 PM) I see Kenny doing business with Theo this offseason..........Involving Alexi and Jenks for Pappalebon and maybe Buckholtz.....Not saying thats the exact trade but those would be the principels. As much as he pisses me off sometimes, trading Ramirez would be dumb. You're not going to get his production at the rate they are paying him anywhere. You just have to live with his head up his ass occassionally, at least until he starts getting paid when he hits arb when this contract runs out. Its too much production for little money and with the Sox always on a tight budget, the contract is even more valuable.

I'm sure the Sox have interest, but if they have interest at $15 million let alone $40-60 million, I would be shocked. He shouldn't get more money that Strasburg, but he probably will.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 07:09 PM) The connection not being made here is that BABIP itself will correlate to average, but the predictor is batted ball data. If a guy has a high line drive rate and a low batting average, you could say he will bounce back next year. 13%. I'm thinking that's not so good. Getz was 19.2%.

I don't understand the "luck" issue on BABIP either. If a guy throws me a slider away and I turn it over and ground out to short I'm unlucky, but if I take it the other way and double into the right center field gap, I'm lucky. It seems to me players do that a lot when they are slumping and I have never heard anyone call what Jermaine Dye went through the second half of the season as unlucky. I haven't looked, but as players get old and their skills erode, I would imagine their BABIP goes down as well. Wise and Lillibridge most likely have well below average BABIP. Does their "luck" have to change? As for Jayson Nix, he can't hit right handers and he hit .175 at USCF no doubt trying to jack everything into the bullpen. Anyone who thinks more exposure to RHP would be anything but a disaster has blinders on.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 11:58 AM) I guess some guys just have problems turning down an obvious sure thing, looks and consequences be damned. She sounds like a total psycho, so she probably stalked him for nookie before going on to stalk his family. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't go after her, but just couldn't say no when she threw herself at him. He seems like a dude who's ego is a lot bigger than his johnson. I always thought he was an idiot, but he usually spoke well of the White Sox. I think if we had a professional in this area posting, Phillips ways aren't about looks, and probably most guys who have his problem aren't cheating on their hot wives with hotter women. He has issues.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 09:16 AM) Wow. You would think an ESPN gig would get you a little more of a selection Supposedly his wife is really hot.

I think they will throw it out if you use the speedometer might be off. It depends on the judge. A few years ago, my sister rear ended a car at a stop light on a rainy day. They gave her a driving too fast for conditions ticket. She pled quilty in court, but the judge was pissed off at the prosecution that day and told her to change her plea. She did and they threw it out.

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 10:36 PM) How many games will Huet have to blow before we pull the plug on him? If he continues to struggle, the Hawks will acquire another goalie and Huet will be in Rockford. Rocky knows a Stanley Cup appearance and/or win is worth a lot more than what he would have to eat of Huet's contract. They are a lock for the playoffs, but will try to salvage Huet. I would expect 30,40 maybe 50 games into the season, if he's still struggling, he gone. They are going for it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 10:57 AM) I don't know if there is anything to stop teams from negotiating, but yes, there would not be anything getting out at this point. The Sox signed Jayson Nix during the WS last year and it was reported. It sent shockwaves throughout baseball. If there was any validity to this rumor the KC GM needs to be relieved of his duties.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 02:33 PM) Mazzone agreed to become the pitching coach for Baltimore because he was very good friends with Sam Perlozzo, the Orioles' manager at the time. When Perlozzo was fired, his successor, Dave Trembley, let go of Mazzone as well. I find it somewhat difficult to pin that on Mazzone, as his theories and instruction seem to be more developmental than minor tweaks and adjustments. Perhaps had Perlozzo worked out and Mazzone been given a chance to work with the system as a whole for several years, his influence might have been more readily recognized... I wouldn't pin the struggles on him either, but he was known as the guru just like Jaramillo and give him crap to work with, look what happens. He went from the standard to a guy lobbying for work. Considering the White Sox want to concentrate on OBP from here on out, Jaramillo the guru, who only had 1 player with 160 AB in 2009 with an OBP higher than .340. The Rangers led the league in homers and struck out 200 times more than the White Sox. Let the Cubs pay him big bucks. If they have the same players, their offensive results will be the same. I heard how he will help Soriano. Soriano had his lowest OPS numbers under Rudy than he had under anyone since 2002 until this season.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 11:48 AM) I think it’s very interesting to look at Milton Bradley’s performance and behavioral history under the mangers that he’s played under. An interesting trend starts to emerge. Bradley had decent, poor, to serviceable years under: Alou, Manuel, Wedge, Mancha, Piniella, Black Bradley had great years under: Tracy, Washington The conclusion while not perfect seems to suggest that Bradley performs best in a more open clubhouse, with less authoritarian managers. Manual, Alou and Manuel are famous for running very tight ships, Mancha, was an organizational figurehead at the beck and call of the front office, while Black is a slightly mellower version of Mancha. I think this dichotomy is due to Bradley’s temperament. He accepts people who try to work with him on his level. From the beginning a lot of Bradley’s managers have attempted to intimidate him publically (something that Bradley HATES), or have simply disagreed with the player that is Milton Bradley at a molecular level (Alou, Sweet Lou), instead, Bradley’s greatest season seems to come with managers who run a clubhouse that allows for the free expression of ideas a clear communication between player-manager-Front Office. Bradley is not without his faults. He can be irrational, he’s short tempered, he threw a freaking chair at Billy Beane, but he is a great hitter, he is a switch-hitter, and he does get on base. And he can be had for VERY little. This is not a perfect study; I just think that a manager like Ozzie would agree with Bradley. Charlie Manuel famous for running a tight ship? Its not just the manager. Lou let Bradley be an ass for several months before it came to a head. He had altercations with Billy Beane and Eric Wedge. Chicago with its media and expectations isn't the town for Milton Bradley. While the White Sox might be a more comfortable home for him than the Cubs, his history has shown he cannot remain out of trouble very long. He doesn't want to be held accountable when he fails. He doesn't like to play with the slightest of injuries. Paul Sullivan was saying he was taking himself out of the line up this year when he was fine during batting practice, and he admitted he took himself out of the line up in Texas when he was hurt because it could cost him money down the road. If you just want to be around .500 and say you had a nice season at the end of the year, Bradley at near minimum could be for you. If you want to win, this isn't a guy you want to count on. He will let you down.

If someone wanted to take Linebrink's contract, I wouldn't hesitate to dump it. If someone wanted to give his trash for him basically a wash financially, that's something I wouldn't do. He was awful the second half of 2008 and 2009, but his first halves indicate to me he still has something left.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 11:38 PM) Can I ask how you know we'd have to trade a big contract in order to add one? I really don't have too much insight about the Sox's projected payroll for 2010. I just keep reading people's posts saying we're pretty much maxed out. I'm curious if people have heard something I haven't. They raised ticket prices after 2008 and lowered payroll. Thats after a higher attendance figure plus 3 extra gates. They also had an excellent season ticketholder renewal rate basically locked it. Attendance down, no extra gate, ticket prices remain the same no guarantee on the renewal and some lost advertising revenue. Considering they said they were beyond their limit in 2009, I think its rather safe to assume the payroll isn't going up and probably not remaining the same.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 05:26 PM) It wouldnt be the only time Cubs fans and media have made a player out to be something that they arent, or have taken it to the extreme though. Montreal, Cleveland, LA Dodgers, SD, Tex, Oakland. Its not just the Cubs that have had a problem with this guy. Whoever doesn't think this guy is a shelfish prick hasn't been paying attention. Didn't he attack Eric Wedge?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 04:23 PM) That was in Cleveland. I don't blame him for not wanting to be in Cleveland. Honestly, you can say he was disliked in Cleveland, but I can point to situations in Texas and San Diego where his teammates were fine with him. Again, I don't know how many times I can repeat this. HE IS NOT AN ANGEL. NOR IS HE THE PERFECT TEAMMATE. What I can say is that he has a lifetime .371 OBP and is a career .820 OPS player. Even in his disasterous season this year with the Cubs, in which he posted his lowest batting average since 2002, he still put up a .376 OBP. Texas doesn't want him back after he let it be known he sat out with minor injuries in his season there because he thought playing hurt might be detrimental to his stats and cost him some cash. He is not a guy you want on a team if you plan on winning. You hear guys give their support to ex-teammates all the time. The fact is, as much as I want them to lose every day, the Cubs have some pretty good guys on there team. Dempster is supposed to be a great guy as is Derrick Lee. There wasn't too much complementary when they discussed Milton Bradley in Hardball Times. Milton Bradley said he wanted to play for the Cubs for the longest time, yet his demons continue to haunt him. There is nothing to suggest it would be any better with the Sox. Here are some of his present teammates quotes about this cancer: Ryan Dempster said it was “unfortunate,” but that Bradley brought it on himself. Aramis Ramirez said Jim Hendry made the right call, and Derrek Lee called on Bradley to apologize for his actions. “At the end of the day, he was provided a great opportunity to be part of a really great organization with a lot of really good guys,” Dempster said. “It just didn’t seem to make him happy- anything. Hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for him and he’ll realize how good of a gig you have. It probably became one of those things where you start saying things that you’re putting the blame on everybody else. “Sometimes you’ve just got to look in the mirror and realize that maybe the biggest part of the problem is yourself and (not) wanting to be here and play every day, and (not) wanting to have some fun. It didn’t seem like he wanted to have some fun, even from spring training. “Hopefully this is something that can be good for his career and good for him as a person.” Hardball. The reacting didn’t end there. “If you’re serious about wanting to continue your career- you don’t want to finish the season suspended,” [Derrek Lee] said. “My advice would be to talk to the people you need to talk to and maybe apologize if that’s what you need to do, or interpret what was going on for the situation that got you suspended.” Lee called Bradley after Bradley got into a confrontation with Lou Piniella at the Cell and was sent home from a game in June. But he doesn’t expect to call him about the suspension. “I had no problems with Milton personally,” he said. “If he called me, I’d answer the phone. This is a different situation. I would let him reach out to me on this one. He’s suspended for the season. There’s not much I can do to help him on that one. I think if he needed to talk, I’d talk to him.” [Aramis] Ramirez was surprised, but defended Hendry for making the right decision. “I’ve never seen that before,” Ramirez said. “I’ve never seen a GM suspend a player for something he’s been doing or something he said in the paper. But Jim (Hendry) has a point. if you don’t want to be here, send him home.” …Reed Johnson, whom Bradley said gave him sound advice early in the season, appeared to have washed his hands of the outfielder. Johnson said it was a privilege to play at Wrigley Field, and most players understand that. “You had guys like Eric Karros and Jason Kendall say if you play major league baseball over a long career, you should spend at least one year with the Chicago Cubs,” Johnson said. “All of us are really surprised that a player could come here and not have the time of his life…. In a way, I feel sorry for him. He can’t enjoy the same things the rest of us enjoy.” Bradley told the Tribune in June he felt “isolated” in the clubhouse. Johnson, Dempster and others disputed that comment. “From our standpoint, nobody was making an effort to isolate him from groups,” Johnson said. “For the most part, that was his choice.” (lots more at that link above; worth a look) And say what you want about "having the time of your life" playing at Wrigley. Every player should realize how lucky they are and have the time of their life playing on any team. Its mindboggling a guy who has played on 7 teams can still blind people into believing there won't be anything but problems if he plays for their team. The White Sox organization I sure is very glad they don't have to depend on Milton Bradley.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 03:39 PM) He's not a prick? Are we talking about the same guy here? The one who has attacked fans and umpires repeatedly? Tried to attack a scorekeeper? etc., etc., etc. The guy is a grade A asshole. I agree, he's been known as trouble ever since he came up with Montreal. He doesn't last long in any one place. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. He refuses to be held accountable.

What's more interesting is how Milton Bradley has been a problem just about everywhere he's been. I think Texas was the only stop there wasn't major issues and later they found out he was taking time off with the slightest of injuries so he wouldn't possibly hurt his stats coming into free agency. Now Texas wouldn't want him back at any cost. Yet some here still wouldn't mind the poison on the White Sox.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Oct 17, 2009 -> 10:29 AM) Kenny hates prospects is right on. Wells has and never will be worthy of his contract. On 12/06 wells received a six year contract of 0.5, 1.5, 12.5, 23, 21, 21, and an additional 21 million. 25.5 million dollar signing bonus on top of a full no-trade clause? That was in no way a good deal then, and is working out just like many people thought it would. I don't care what the market was at the time, many people were still left shaking their heads. There is always the possibility wells pities the blue jays and opts out after 2011 because he feels downright awful for stealing as much money from the blue jays as he has... right? Right? I never saw one item stating Wells would fall off as fast and hard as he has. I'm thinking he may have been aided putting up the numbers he put up to get the contract. GG CF who hit over .300 with 32 homers and 17 steals are hard to come by. He had a similar year in 2003 and put up Torii Hunter with the Twins-type numbers in between. They obviously overpaid,and probably knew they overpaid at the time, but obviously not by the amount it is turning out to be.

As crazy as this sounds, I think Linebrink will bounce back next year. I don't see Bradley ever making it through another season, especially in a big market, without several issues and distractions. Let him go to SD where he will be ignored. It would never work with the White Sox, plus I think I would have to shower immediately after every time I cheered for him or was happy with his success.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 17, 2009 -> 09:47 AM) I agree with some of this. The Blue Jays dealt with lots of injuries, but even with everyone healthy, I highly doubt they could have competed in that division. The Yankees and Red Sox are tough enough to beat as it is, but adding the Rays to the equation makes it almost impossible. They would have had to really beat up on teams outside of their division to have a chance, and for that to happen, they'd need great seasons out of Rios and Wells at least. Yes they do have a choice as far as whether to try to compete or not, but it's not a very hard one to make. It's pretty clear what road the Jays need to take. Wells' deal did raise a lot of eyebrows at the time because it was enormous and very uncharacteristic of non-Yankee teams. They gave him basically what amounted to the maximum amount of money the Yankees could have/would have offered. IIRC they went off the Beltran deal and tried to pay him like he was better than Beltran. Just a bad deal, although it didn't look anywhere near as bad as it does now because Wells at least was productive then. The AL Central thing works both ways. If the Jays had the same exact teams that they've had in recent years then they would have taken our division at least a couple of times. But OTOH, Toronto isn't exactly an enormous baseball market either, and when you take away all those divisional series between the Red Sox and Yankees, can they still afford their current payroll? My guess is not. Put the Sox in the AL East with the Jays coming to the AL Central and our payroll definitely goes up while theirs goes down. IMO, aside from maybe Cashman and Sabean of the Zito deal, there isn't another GM in baseball whose job would be safe after that Wells contract. Right or wrong, that contract is enough make anyone look incompetent. When he signed the contract he was 28 and an All Star CF, the face of the franchise. His deal was actually about $10 million cheaper when you take into consideration posting fees than Dice-K and cheaper than Soriano's deal with the Cubs. Its easy to look back now and say it was a horrible contract, because it turned out to be so, but at the time, although maybe a little pricey, it really wasn't too far out of line. If you look at the thread when he signed the contract, most thought he had to sign it, but I didn't see too many posts saying it was a crazy deal. Some interesting posts though as Olney speculated they would trade Rios with Wells signed. Most were in facor, even as a leadoff hitter. Rotoworld thought a Milledge/Heilmann offer from the Mets might entice Toronto. It was only 3 years ago. That's a long time in baseball.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 17, 2009 -> 08:35 AM) What he is saying is smart baseball management if you're a team like the Sox. Unlike the Blue Jays, the Sox do not NEED to dump a good player's salary in order to pay a bad player to suck. What got JP Ricciardi fired was giving out massive contracts to several players, with Vernon Wells and BJ Ryan being the most devastating ones. Ricciardi didn't get fired because he didn't trade Halladay. The Halladay situation only came up because the Blue Jays spent a ton of money on a team that was performing so poorly dollar-for-dollar that they were forced to cut payroll because the fans weren't showing up. The Blue Jays because of their commitments to bad players do *not* have a choice to try to compete with the Red Sox and Yankees. If they did then they would target the kind of players the poster was talking about, proven talent that makes the team better. The Jays are forced to target prospects simply because they will not be able to compete again until a lot of these horrible deals are off their books. I agree though that Ricciardi SHOULD have traded Halladay, but trade or not trade, that franchise was already screwed. They have a choice to try to compete. The only reason they even considered trading Halladay is because Roy basically stated he was going to walk when his contract was up. They were going nowhere in 2009 and 2010 is probably a longshot. Put things into perspective here. The Blue Jays were devasted by injury. I think most of their starting rotation was out. Attendance was weak. They dumped a lot of salary in Rios and Rolen, but have some nice talent. Wells is a problem, but when he signed, I don't think it raised too many eyebrows. JP's problem was that he was in the AL East. Its going to be hard for any team to compete year in and year out with Boston and NY and now TB. The Blue Jays still have won more games the past 4 seasons than the White Sox. I think if Toronto was in the Central, JP would have been given an extension rather than a pink slip.

If a team gives him $60 million, MLB using the economy as an excuse at all the next year or two, should be laughed at.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 14, 2009 -> 12:23 PM) They have no money left under the cap. They would have to find a deal to get rid of Campell or Huet first. If Rocky is willing to eat money, he can send them to the minors, pay them, and it won't count against the cap.

BTW, as good as Buerhle is and I am a big fan, he's 50-44 the past 4 seasons.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 14, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) No, Mark's value was never LOWER at that point. Mark didn't have a contract beyond that season. He was a rental for a half season that would garner 2 draft picks if he declined arbitration. That's it. You guys who think Mark should be traded need to have your heads examined. Go back and look at the perfect game threads. Every motherf***er here was slobbering all over his nuts, as we all should, and every single sports media outlet was going on about how under-appreciated he is, and how the fans outside of Chicago don't understand how good he is. Now you same motherf***ers want to trade him AS SOON as we acquire a starting staff to complement him. Go burn your Sox hats. You make me sick! Here's the deal. He is signed for 2 more years. He has said he will retire when his contract is up. So he's around for 2 seasons. His performance declined in the second half. If the Sox are to make the playoffs, he not only will he have to not fall apart in the second half, he will have to come up big in the playoffs. He did it before he can do it again. I love Buerhle because you can write down what he's going to give you in April and its almost always close. So if he pitches well and into the playoffs, his performance seems to fade the next season, which, according to him, would be his final one. Ozzie has said he's going to be a #4 guy. #4 guys, who make $14 million a year, who say they will be retiring in 2 seasons, and who will be 5/10 guys halfway through next season, seem very tradeable to me if they can get back serious value which would include established players and can't miss prospects, not a Javy Vazquez return. That's the only way you can trade him. The PR hit would be huge. I just wonder what his value is. If giving him up can fix the bullpen and maybe add a real good position player, it at least would have to be considered. His perfect game was great. What followed was not so great. I would rather he pitch a 5 hitter and finish the rest of the year strong than what happened.