Dick Allen

For what they have to pay Rios the rest of the year, its less than the extra cash they would have had to pay Peavy if he had approved the trade in May.

Rios is 6'5" 215lbs. He's going to lose a step or so in the next couple seasons.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:26 PM) And, unlike playing the FA market...we didn't have to outbid anyone...and we didn't have to lose a draft pick. Let me ask you this, if Rios were a free agent after this season, do you think there is any way he would get a 5 year $60 million deal with a $13.5 million option for a 6th? I really don't think so, but I suppose its possible.

QUOTE (BFirebird @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:23 PM) Hmm. Interesting. Would trading him make John Danks more difficult to re-sign? That's thinking is silly. Although I'm sure the Danks brothers would love to play together, if the Sox traded Jordan Danks to another organization where he had a better opportunity to play in the major leagues and succeed, John Danks would be happy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:22 PM) Does this make Jor Danks trade bait this offseason? I don't think so. Although ideally when Rios is starting to get $12 million + a year he will be the Sox RF with Danks or Mitchell playing CF.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:15 PM) Cowley says Kenny was trying to get Rios before the deadline anyway. Puts the "block Detroit" stuff to rest. But when he tried to acquire him before, he probably was looking to give Toronto someone owed some money or for Toronto to send along cash, but I'm sure KW was prepared to get the contract. Its not all that much this year and with Contreras, Dye, Thome, Dotel, MacDougal, Viciedo's bonus and probably Jenks off the books or sevearly discounted, there's plenty of room for Rios' contract. KW could always place him on waivers after the season and if anyone claims him, let him go.

I think if KW didn't claim him the Tigers would. His contract is under $6 million this year and they could have put him in RF instead of Maggs and kept Maggs $18 million from vesting for next year.

Rios has talent, but lets not get carried away and think he's a bargain. Exactly how many $60 million contracts has KW doled out as a GM?

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 06:48 PM) So who was scouting this guy? Is it possible another move is coming? It probably was the Jays and they decided they would rather have nothing.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 11:42 PM) I don't think there is any doubt that we failed with Javy. I have a feeling we did improve his mental makeup a bit, and perhaps the Braves were able to turn the corner with him on his mechanics. There is no denying that he has been an absolute horse this year, experience a renaissance of sorts. Granted he is pitching in a pitcher's park, in a weaker league. But anyone who wants to rip on Javy needs to have the same concerns with Jake Peavy. Their situations are quite similar. Similar? I've never read where Peavy is a mental midget like I've been reading about Javy for years.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) Unless he drops down... I know our Charlotte options suck but at this point I'd rather try something new and have it fail than keep running the "Full" Count out there. Contreras had a nice streak of starts earlier, then started dawdling around and couldn't throw a strike. He was great today, then gave up 4 runs but one was a broken bat hit, another a swinging bunt, and of course the 2 walks. He's a far better option than Torres or Whisler or Egbert or even Hudson at this time.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:15 PM) thome hasnt hit lefties that well thats the reason he isnt in the lineup today Lefties have touched up Huff this season. Thome is so streaky, I hate when he sits when he's really hitting.

He looked great through 4. He was awesome until the all star break. Let him go a couple more. He still has it when he throws strikes. Its not like the guys they bring up from AAA do better.

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 01:40 PM) Thome is very popular and well-liked. It's just that Buehrle, Konerko, Pierzynski, and Dye have been on the team longer and are also great guys. Jim Thome has been washed up 1000 times on this board since he's been a White Sox. That's a conservative figure. People can't wait until he's gone. He didn't get anywhere near the love a washed up Ken Griffey Jr. got when he became a White Sox.

It all depends on if KW really wants Rios, or if he's just prepared to take him, and if the White Sox are the team who claimed him. If he really wants him bad, he may throw a middle of the road prospect or 2 Toronto's way who have decent minor league stats and/or a guy like Wise to let the Blue Jays save a little face, and not make it look like they are giving him away.

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 01:35 PM) Dye won the White Sox nomination for the Roberto Clemente Award this year and is on the United Way commercials. My comment had nothing to do with Dye. It was about Thome, and how he really has never caught on here. He's been a good player, and very under appreciated.

I do think the White Sox, as soon as the Thome and/or Dye eras run their course, will try to get away from the DH-only type of player, at least for a year. It would be a nice way to rest regulars while keeping their bats in the line-up.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 09:35 AM) Are you sure about that? I thought that there was a long run of teams 'blocking' other teams who had made a claim, or had worked out trades with a team if a player had cleared waivers. Randy Myers comes to mind, Padres claiming him so Atlanta couldn't, and they got stuck. How did they know Atlanta wanted him? Just askin, i don't know. Yes. I think when the waiver is awarded, you can see who it was that was awarded the claim, but for instance you can't go in the system and see the Tigers claimed him, so you can put in a claim. Teams block others because they hear the rumors and talk to GMs so they pretty much know who is looking for what. Its an educated guess when trying to block waiver claims.

Thome would probably be cheaper, and this year he has 3 less homers but more RBI in 82 less AB. He has a higher OPS, neither are getting any younger. BTW, throw out Thome's last year in Philadelphia when he was injured, and he's only had 1 season since 1993 with an OPS less than Dye's current .867. That was last season when it was .865. Considering what kind of guy Thome is, its amazing how little he has been appreciated relatively speaking since joining the White Sox. His 3 seasons before this one, were the 3 highest homer seasons for a LH hitter in franchise history. Ventura is tied with Thome's 34 total of 2008. He gets on base, has had some huge hits, doesn't say anything stupid and is heading to the HOF. Dye might outproduce him the next couple of years, but the difference in probable paychecks and not knowing how Dye would adjust to being a DH or even if it was something he would be a party to, makes the decision pretty easy.

Another thing I read about the waiver claim period is an injury wouldn't void out anything. In other words, if Rios tore up his knee playing today and needed surgery and would miss the rest of this season and most of next, the claiming team is still on the clock.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 06:11 AM) Ding Ding Ding! We have a winna!!! Here is what i think happened. KW knows he needs to find a true CF (im sure he's tired of all the CF criticism.) He looks at the Free Agent market and doesn't really see a true CF that would help our team. KW woke up one morning saw that Detroit claimed Rios. He said "I dont think so. . we need a CF!" So KW claimed Rios. This solves our defensive CF issue for 5+ years. We have potentially 40 million off the books after this season. So most of that 40 million would be going to arbitration players such as Q and Danks as well as newcomers Rios and Peavy. But it could definitley work and i expect a deal to get done by tuesday. We would still have enough money to bring in Figgins or even re-sign Pods. You don't get to see what other teams have claimed.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 02:27 AM) He CAN'T say anything about it. Do people expect him to just say "yeah I'm goin after Rios, just got off the phone with JP." I understand that, but the quote implies that when the media says its most likely the White Sox, they are usually wrong. Of course his other quote in that story was that it was very unusual to get a good player for nothing, and we know he thinks Rios is a good player, so ...........

Maybe it isn't the White Sox: KW on whitesox.com "You know how many times we've been sitting here and we [hear], 'Most likely it's the White Sox. They are going to do this, they are going to do that, the White Sox are involved in trade discussions with this guy, that guy,'" said Williams, holding court with the media prior to Saturday night's game against Cleveland. "And I'm sitting at home and I call [assistant general manager] Rick [Hahn] and I say, 'Hey, have you had conversations with team so and so? No, I haven't, so let's call [White Sox chairman] Jerry [Reinsdorf] to see if he had any.'"

QUOTE (3E8 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 08:58 PM) I don't believe Rios' contract needs to be "dumped". Vernon Wells' contract would qualify, but Rios is in his prime, an excellent defensive outfielder, and a good offensive player as well who just happens to be having some bad BABIP luck this year. Rios is still owed a lot of money, but the contract is fair. The only thing working against Ricciardi is the financial stability of other teams potentially prohibiting his potential trade partners Its fair this year when he makes $6 million, but if he continues to perform like he has this year and last, the $12 million a year he's going to average the next 5 years is excessive. When you can get guys like Abreu for 1 year $5 million in today's world, $60 million owed to Alex Rios is too much, unless he starts playing to his potential.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 08:40 PM) The Jays have the choice to negotiate a deal with only 1 team right now, or spend ~$2M more and keep Rios until the offseason and negotiate a deal with any team interested And if they wait and Rios doesn't play much better, they either will have to take back a lot of money or eat some of the contract. They dumped Rolen's contract, if they dump this one, Ricciardi is going to be looking a lot better to his superiors.