Dick Allen

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 01:28 AM) Richard is 4-1 for the Pods? Me thinks we could have used him on the road trip from hell which only ended our season while Peavy was rehabbing. Richard certainly isn't the difference between third and first place. If the Sox waited until the offseason, there was a pretty good chance Peavy would have had more suitors. Its a great trade. Peavy is an ace. He's better than any White Sox pitcher.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 02:56 PM) we signed him for 4 years? what happens after the 4 yrs are up, is he a FA? After the 4 years, he will have 2 years of arb-eligible status. The Sox still have 6 year rights on him and Ramirez per Rick Hahn.

I really don't understand the fascination people have with moving Quentin to RF. There is nothing to indicate he would be anything less than a bad RF. The argument seems to be that he used to play RF. Well, Carlos Lee used to play 3B. Paul Konerko used to catch and play 3B.

Figgins is a good player who is playing his ass off and playing every game, something he hasn't done in a couple of years during a contract year. He's over 30 and his legs are the big part of his game. He allegedly is a bad clubhouse guy. Many red lights are going off in my head. While he's better than Pods, and I do not want Pods back, signing him to a big contract, IMO, is a mistake. The Cubs are supposedly interested. Let them dole out yet another bad contract.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 05:22 PM) I don't think Freddy's history has any place in the discussion, we need to orient ourselves toward the future. Dan Hudson is that guy. He's clearly major league ready, clearly has better stuff then Garcia, and would stand to benefit from being in the same rotation as Peavy, Buehrle, Floyd, and Danks. I said this before and i'll say it again. This organization stands to benefit a lot more from Hudson experience sucess at the major league level then it does Fat Freddy. I like Freddy, he has a place here next year, but to give him a spot becasue of some misplaced piece of affection or tribute would be a flawed way of running a team. Does he have better stuff than Phil Hughes or Homer Bailey? . Its best for Hudson to work him in slowly. He rose a lot this season. You love those guys. The major leagues is a bigger jump than Hudson has taken yet. Throwing him in the fire usually doesn't work right away. See Danks, John. See Floyd, Gavin. Working them in through the bullpen is smart. See Buerhle, Mark. If Freddy is healthy, he's one of the most dependable 5th starters around for a very cheap price. That is as long as they are trying to win, which I assume is the goal. If it was a rebuilding season, I would agree with you.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 03:59 PM) win tomorrow, take 3 of 4 It will be tough against Beckett, but wouldn't everyone have been satisfied if before the disaterous roadtrip we were told the Sox would split the 8 games vs. Boston? Detroit is winning like crazy right now.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 03:50 PM) Bard is wicked nasty He was drafted one spot before Kyle McCullough. Do you think the correct color of Sox would have taken him if he were available?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 01:36 PM) Pods does so many great things. He bothers the pitcher, he gets on base, he hits well with RISP. But he's also below average on defense, makes stupid base running mistakes, and just frustrates the hell out of you. I don't know how much he really bothers pitchers anymore. His pct. has dropped the last 5 seasons, and many times that doesn't account for pickoffs which he probably is near the top of the league in. He's hit a lot better than expected and done it at some key moments. I just don't think he's worth anymore than a 5th OF salary.

Is there any site that adjusts OBP taking getting picked off, doubled off, thrown out stealing and otherwise into account?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 01:31 PM) can you believe he was trying to start a school to teach skills like base running? What's interesting is he used to be a high pct. basestealer and a better baserunner. Some of his pickoffs are just dumb, and many of decisions while on base are horrific.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 01:30 PM) Pods with the wtf baserunning goof. AGAIN.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 01:30 PM) Worst base runner I've ever seen. Please don't overpay for him! It just gets worse and worse with him. God love him, he's having a much better year than anyone could expect, and is definitely a huge upgrade over Wise/Owens, but they can't re-sign him. Disaster on the basepaths is becoming almost a daily occurance.

worst. baserunning. insticts.ever.

QUOTE (scenario @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 12:25 PM) Just looked at the comparison between Getz and Beckham season stats. They're pretty close in at-bats right now. Thought it was interesting. You want to see something really interesting, compare Getz and Pods' stats. Then wonder why many want Pods back with an inflated salary to DH and think Getz is garbage.

QUOTE (nastymasty21 @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 12:09 PM) um kotsay, where are u? you cant say he played himself outta the lineup Lester is LH.

The White Sox like to have rookies come out of the bullpen, because that way Ozzie can determine their match-ups instead of the other manager. Its an easier way to break in. I'm sure Freddy will be back as long as he doesn't get hurt. Assuming Peavy, Buehrle, Danks and Floyd are all still with the White Sox next year and healthy, the only way Hudson beats out Freddy is if he has a huge edge in spring training.

When he's working quickly and throwing strikes, he's still a pretty good pitcher. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to do that for long stretches.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 04:40 PM) seems like we've been winning consistently since we traded Thome... Also an easy win without Beckham. Maybe KW should trade him as well.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 09:55 AM) I'd be more than happy to bring Thome back for one more year at DH. That said, we're ultimately going to need a DH who can play 1B, RF, or some other position once a week. Somebody like Adam Dunn would be a good long-term solution. Eventually it will be guys like Viciedo and Flowers. They will get away from the DH only guy, but as long as Thome can put up numbers and will play for peanuts, I don't see why they wouldn't want him around.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 09:10 AM) I'd rather have table setters and guys who get extra base hits than a guy who whacks a homer a few times a week but also strikes out 10 times a week or can't score from 2nd on a base hit. In other words, you would rather have guys who are more dependent on someone else driving them in, than guys who drive people in, included themselves? You mentioned Pods as a DH. Why? He hasn't had more than 36 extra base hits in a season in 5 years. He's hitting out of his mind now, there is little chance that will carry over. He will cost more money, and his work on the basepaths is getting more horrendous by the day. He may be the worst baserunner with over 200 career steals in the history of baseball.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 08:16 AM) He's saying that an older player who lacks foot speed shouldn't always be the main guy that the Sox hire to be the DH. Someone like Pods would be an excellent example of who the Sox should look at for 2010. He hits for contact, has speed, but can't play the OF in tough situations. He could be the DH, or someone else who isn't a slug on the bases. The Sox need to get away from guys who get long singles on balls hit off of the wall and who can only play station-to-station out there on the base paths. It slows run production. This is why Dye and Konerko should be the next guys sent away. With the way USCF is, the Sox don't need mashers who are slow in their lineup in order to succeed in run production. And how many more runs has Pods produced than Jim Thome? White Sox DH's have been a lot better than most over the years. Pods over Thome is ridiculous. Run production? How many players have had better run production than Frank Thomas and Jim Thome and Harold Baines?

QUOTE (dmbjeff @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 12:35 AM) I completely agree. This organizations philosophy regarding the DH positiong the past 15 years or so has been to stick a bad fielding hitter in the spot. I'm tired of having Thome/Baines/Thomas type guys in the spot when we can use the spot better like the Yankees and Angels tend to do and give guys more rest. Yeah, Thomas, Baines, Thome DHing. They would have been far better off with a .230 hitting, slick fielder DHing. A poor fielder DHing is not a problem. The problem the White Sox have had over the years has been DHs playing in the field.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Sep 4, 2009 -> 08:23 PM) This is not a criticism of Hawk or Stoney, but sometimes the other team's announcers report differently. I'm watching the Boston telecast, and they pointed out that Rios has trouble with outside pitches and Quentin runs like his right foot is still troubling him. Not that this is newsworthy, but Chicago announcers don't seem st say stuff like that. ? Hawk and Stone have mention many times how Rios is pulling off the ball and he has no chance with pitches on the outside corner. As to Quentin, they aren't going to beat a dead horse. He's not 100% but isn't running much below normal. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if the Boston crew got most of their White Sox info from Hawk and Stone. BTW, when the Sox go to Boston, occassionally Hawk will be on sports radio out there. He's still somewhat of a cult hero out there. Anyway, when he talks about the White Sox to the people out there, the rose colored glasses are off and he shoots straight. People might be shocked to know Hawk was thought to be too critical of the Red Sox when he broadcast there. He was supposedly a little like a sane Jimmy Piersall.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 4, 2009 -> 05:47 PM) Honestly, Nix has been brutal defensively over the past month. Not sure if that is a fair sample size, but he hasn't looked like the guy he was in the first half of the season defensively. Secondly, Nix very well may hit you 25 home runs a year, but he'll hit them almost all against lefties, whom he has a stunning .951 OPS against. You really aren't losing much at all by sitting him against righties entirely. Meanwhile, Getz has stolen 21 of 23 bases this year, plays a solid second base, and provides better offense against righties. Why not take that chance to play him? I agree. While Nix turns a DP nicely, he's made several errors and screwed up several plays where he didn't get errors and cost the Sox runs, yet his backers can't get the Carny Lansford quote about his defense out of their heads. He hasn't been all that great defensively. Also, there is very little chance he can continue his home run pace. I like Getz. He brings you some things the Sox have been lacking in recent seasons.

Win one for the Hawkeroo on his birthday.