Dick Allen

You know if the Sox are flat tomorrow, Hawk will blame the starting time of today's game.

Flash's wish come true. Here's JD.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:45 PM) lol KW and Co arent going to give away Rios. Did they trade Konerko after 2003? No. Im sure that they are frustrated that Rios didnt immediately turn it around, but Im also pretty sure that they knew this was going to take more time than 2 months. How long did it take for Contreras to turn it around? His first season with the Sox he had a 5.3 era. His next season was 3.6 era. They didn't owe Konerko $60 million. Konerko also did better the second half of that year.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:42 PM) I think Rios will be fine next year. He will bat 6th or 7th and have no pressure on him. If Quentin is healthy, Ramirez, Beckham, Getz and Nix improve with experience and Konerko and AJ are close to what they ahve done this year, the Sox will be right there next year. I would keep Jenks as his value is low just not guarantee him the closers role. I think if he continues like he's been going the rest of the year, he will have the weight of the world on his shoulders beginning opening day 2010.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:41 PM) How does that guy even make contact with that stance? He's hit before. He's made a couple of All Star teams, so he's no novice. Maybe he's stubborn. Maybe he is lacking desire like many scouts claim. Maybe he's just in a slump the size no one has ever seen before. He will eventually be better.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:37 PM) The Sox arent trading Rios. 1) If Toronto could have gotten anything for him they would have. 2) The Sox (unlike their fans) generally dont just throw a player away after 1 bad season. They understand that players have good seasons and bad seasons, and not every player is slump proof. Rios is a major part of the Sox future, regardless of how many board experts disagree. I'd bet you if KW put Rios on waivers and someone claimed him, he'd be sucking back champagne at Market with JR within the hour.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:34 PM) pena has a heavy ball How does he walk?

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:32 PM) Any chance Rios gets traded this offseason? About the same as Mila Kunis coming over to my house tonight.

Has anyone seen the prices for Bears tickets on stubhub, craigslist and ebay? Do people really pay $350 a ticket to see the Bears? I love HD TV.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:27 PM) Alex Rios sucks. As well as JD and Bobby just so everybody knows im giving equal time. But seriously. Rios is just awful. Not many non pitchers batting ninth are owed $60 million.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) rios As bad as he's been, he hit that one hard, but a perfect DP ball. What happened to small ball? Why, if its what's needed to win, is Ozzie waiting until next year?

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:18 PM) Dye, Rios and Quentin are failing much worse at their job than Jenks is this year. If Jenks does his job they win the game. If Rios or Dye do, they win as well. I agree that jenks is a sheel of himself and I am not sure why...the reason why Thorton is not closing is beyond me. Last 11 in a row retired by the Mariner pen...reminds me of the King Felix game. He retired a ton in a row a few years ago throwing about as hard as he does now, but my favorite Jenks was the one who threw 100 and said here it comes a couple of times and then either snapped off a curve or blew them away the next pitch.

JD looks like one of the horses pulling the carriage in downtown Chicago when he is chasing a ball in the gap.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:14 PM) Yeah he is done. His value is down now, but we HAVE to trade him this winter while he at least has a little value left. Considering what he is line to earn because of save totals, I don't think his value is very high.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:11 PM) He needs location and is not getting it. The value that they could have gotten for him is pretty decreased now so there is no reason to trade him. I just turned the mgame on after the homer. This game resides squarly on the offensive bargae that has been shut out the 4 innings...... I will say it yet again, they have scored more than 4 runs once this entire trip. I blame the bullpen trouble on the fact that every inning of every game is stressful. Don't give us this BS. This game is on Jenks. He had a 2 run lead and needed 3 outs. He supposedly can't pitch in non save situations because he can't get motivated enough to get guys out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:10 PM) I dunno, are you talking about 2007? Even in 2005-2006, it seemed like the one thing you could do against him was hit it out of the park, you just had to swing early and have the fastball happen to be where your bat was. Coming into this season, he gave up 13 homers in 236 innings. He's given up 9 in 53 innings this year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 08:06 PM) If games like this convince the Sox to not bring Jenks back, then it's well worth it. His stuff isn't even close to what it used to be. His fastball is down 4 mph from where it was a few years ago, and his curve isn't even 50 pct of what it used to be. I think his ballooning paycheck will convince them. It actually might be better if he looked lights out these last couple of weeks. Someone may actually give up something useful for him. One thing is for certain, if they pay Jenks and have Rios in CF, any crying about lack of funds will be laughable.

If the Sox pay Jenks $7 million next year, they are crazy.

If Jenks is still a White Sox next year, I hope he improves.

Considering the title of the thread, the answer is no. There has been no midseason move by KW that has backfired more than Rios. He hasn't helped them win a pretty bad divison next year, and he's has a contract that will cost the Sox $60 million the next 5 seasons. He's Alfonso Soriano lite. His contract isn't market value for what he's done, and judging by his comments, he already has given up on this season, which, if you listen to scouts, isn't surprising. So I think Peavy is KW's best trade ever, and Rios is his biggest blunder even though I believe Rios will be a decent player. The problem is he's not much of a presence. He's apparently not a leader. He gets paid money that the Sox are probably going to need to spend elsewhere. At least there doesn't appear to be any juggernauts forming in the AL Central any time soon, although I am worried with Peavy for a whole season next year, the Sox may be prohibitive favorites, and it seems when that happens, dissappointment always follows.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 09:31 PM) If it means he won't be so bad come the start of the season, okay. I can't stand watching him play in April and May. I think it has everything to do with the cold weather. Until last season, I wonder if he ever played a game below about 65 degrees.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 03:23 PM) I think so. They appear to actively go and hang out together, with AJ taking more of a mentor/wingman role to Gordon then he ever took with Crede. I think Beckham is closer to AJ on this team then he is with anyone else, with Getz and Dye bringing up the rear. AJ is putting up with the Georgia Bulldog for the chicks. Seriously, the thing I noticed right away about Beckham even when he was 0 fer, was how all the veterans treated him like they know he will be the man.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 08:30 PM) Agree with all of this. And as I read it, I immediately thought of Jeff Cirillo. He was an 11th round pick who made the Majors, played a long career as a starter and a bench player, and finished with a .296 career average. Here's a brief interview I just found off google: http://www.hallofverygood.com/2009/08/talk...ff-cirillo.html This part interested me: He played in both leagues for 6 different teams for 14 seasons combined, so I imagine he's learned a thing or two about helping youngsters with their problems. He's a dedicated baseball man, so as long as he's a good communicator I think he could work. The interview says he's been working as a scout for the DBacks since retiring. Finally, a well thought-out replacement. I personally don't think he'd be better than Walker, but I applaud you for coming up with the name of someone who looks legit and the Sox, if they did get a new hitting coach, probably could lure.

If his fielding problems were due to inexperience, I would love to see him play. I just think his problems are from a lack of concentration, and positioning, both things that can be fixed immediately. I would think the Sox would want him to take a break and lift some weights, maybe drink a few milkshakes.

I'm hoping Walker leaves because that will mean Lillibridge will hit .340 next season.