Dick Allen

Erstad is on Houston. Bring him back, BA was 0-4.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 28, 2009 -> 03:21 PM) It's just expecting way too much of him to call him up right now - even His Awesomeness Ken Griffey Jr. saw a few hundred ABs before getting called up (although I think he got hurt and delayed his callup, but still). Ventura had about 450 AB in the minors, Frank Thomas about 600. Its probably not ideal calling him up now, playing out the rest of the season in the minors is probably more desirable, but its 3 months of games. It shouldn't kill him if he struggles.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 28, 2009 -> 12:11 PM) We have Konerko at 1B. No need to rush someone or make an unneeded change at the minor league level. Brandon Allen might be 2 years away? I don't think AAA is much of a promotion at this time. Like it was discussed earlier, probably the big reason Beckham is in Charlotte is to play 3B while allowing Viciedo to play 3b in Birmingham. The only reason to bring some of these guys to Charlotte is to do something for Charlotte's ownership who may feel a little screwed over with the overall lack of talent they have.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 28, 2009 -> 12:32 PM) LOL, apparently Steve and DA like the same websites or sources to copy/paste from. Or this was the most bizarre coincidence ever. I just googled and took the first one.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ May 28, 2009 -> 11:57 AM) I've read this a couple of times, but I need some actual names who we can sign and/or acquire with that money. Because I don't see anyone as good as Peavy becoming available. Here's a list: Starting pitchers Josh Beckett - $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout Erik Bedard Justin Duchscherer Rich Harden Tim Hudson - $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout John Lackey Cliff Lee - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout Brett Myers Brandon Webb - $8.5MM club option with a $500K+ buyout Todd Wellemeyer I'm with you, nothing all that attractive except for Lackey. You have to figure he will command at least as much cash as AJ Burnett which probably rules out the White Sox. You have to figure Beckett won't be availalble, Hudson probably but he's been hurt, Lee's option will be picked up either by the Indians or the team they trade him to, and Webb's option will be picked up if he's healthy. The others all have issues.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 28, 2009 -> 11:39 AM) 1 for 3 with a double in his debut thus far. I don't expect him to have too tough of a time in AAA. For all those concerned about his lack of minor league AB, while IMO the ideal thing would have been him spending the entire season in AA and maybe getting a September call up, other high picks out of college, Ventura and Thomas didn't play much minor league baseball before they got the call. I don't think many would say they needed another year or 2 of minor league play. They are just potentially moving up Beckham's clock 2 or 3 months in reality. If Fields can't get the job done, he's obviously the replacement.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ May 28, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Dick... First of all, no business owner WANTS to operate in the red. Second, JR and the board lets his people do their work without interfering. JR used to do more, but I think he trusts Kenny. AND if they have to interfere, then there is a problem. Third (since Steff isn't here), JR is the face of the board. He doesn't make the absolute decision. The board does. Finally, what's wrong with leaving a little money left over and hiding it from the public? If agents and players hear..."Hey! The White Sox have cash to burn!" Then the Sox have little to no negotiating power. And really, the White Sox organization doesn't have to answer to you. Or me. Or anyone on this board. Or in Chicago. If you are sick of it, don't go to games. If you read the article, JR gave KW his approval so apparently he still does have to approve. There's nothing wrong with making a profit. Just don't say you have $.50 when everything costs $1, don't say you may have to switch all the late season games to day games because you can't afford the electric bill. The White Sox cry poor more than any other professional sports team in Chicago, by far. Its very old, and I'm not the only one that finds it old.

Its really a stretch to have him in the future Sox forum. Maybe the never will be a Sox forum.

According to Cowley and Linebrink, the Peavy deal is finally dead. ANAHEIM, Calif. - Just in case there were some White Sox fans still holding onto that Jake Peavy hope - let your hands go and embrace the fall. "I think it is [dead],'' Sox reliever Scott Linebrink insisted on Wednesday. Linebrink would know. After all, he was given the recruiting responsibilities by general manager Ken Williams to talk to Peavy - who he played with in his San Diego days. "I saw and read that maybe there was some hope still being held out there for a deal to happen with him in the future, but the second time I talked to Jake after he rejected it, he expressed to me that he felt comfortable being in the National League,'' Linebrink added. "It wasn't he was necessarily afraid to come to the American League, but when you've been in a league and you get to know it, especially being a starting pitcher, it's probably a bit more comfortable to stay over there. "The thing I did express to him again was that no matter where you do go - because I think it's pretty inevitable that he's being traded - you might want to get this thing behind you as quickly as possible so you can get somewhere and get acclimated as soon as possible. I certainly know what it's like to have a trade rumor hanging over your head, and you certainly don't want that to be a distraction for the rest of the season. That was the last time we talked, about a week ago.''

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ May 28, 2009 -> 07:32 AM) So its not possible to have a businessman deliberately mislead a paper, huh? What does saying he didn't know KW was after Peavy after the fact accomplish? Sure they don't always tell the truth, funny when I have said that about their payroll these past 5 months, what JR and KW say is gospel. If they say there is nothing to spend, there is nothing to spend. Now its "you really believe everything they tell the media? You are naive." I like JR. I believe this story. There is nothing to gain by deceiving here.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ May 28, 2009 -> 07:28 AM) LOL, yes this is quite the intimate business decision here DA. You sure learned a whole lot from JR here, this is practically an entire volumes worth of "Jerry Reinsdorf, the way to do business" when you see how Jerry Reinsdorf was informed of a trade. As I said earlier JR was joking. The telling thing was he had no idea KW was after Peavy which would have added about $8-9 million to this year's payroll. KW has said JR is willing to bust payroll for one player that will guarantee they will win. Peavy is an ace, I wish he said yes, but if you look at the rest of the roster, he's not that guy. Alber Pujols isn't that guy. That guy isn't playing right now anywhere.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 27, 2009 -> 09:54 PM) Pffff. Come on, the paper? Yes, besides being bumbling business men, they also completely give the newspapers every intimate detail of their lives and their decisions. From the Daily Herald: So how did he plan on paying for Peavy, who has a guaranteed $63 million left on a contract that runs through 2012 and also has a $22 million club option for 2013? "We were going to figure that out along the way," Williams said. "That's not too much of a stretch. The funny thing was, when I told Jerry (Reinsdorf) what was going on - I kept this from him for a long time - when I finally told him what was going on, I should have asked him, 'Hey, where are you?' Because evidently, when I finally told, he almost stepped off the curb and got hit by a car in New York." Reinsdorf verified the story Friday, and he jokingly said he approved the deal because he was strolling down Park Avenue. "Walking down Park Avenue, I felt rich," Reinsdorf said. "Good thing I wasn't walking down Third Avenue."

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ May 27, 2009 -> 09:45 PM) Seriously? That is how you "know?" Is not possible that the Sox lost a bunch of sponsors and had to lower payroll going into the season, but because of management's uncertainty re: the economy, KW was told that if things look good going into June he'd be able to add an "impact player?" Kenny said he was working on the deal without speaking to JR, and only informed him once it was basically done. Isn't it possible that Jerry is now more comfortable adding payroll if it means a special player? And isn't it also possible that, in working the Peavy deal, Kenny worked out the basics of a side deal for Thome/Dye/PK that would free up money? Perhaps a secondary move was coming, and Jerry's approval was needed simply due to the length of Peavy's contract. So let me get this straight, the White Sox would be willing to bust their budget by $8-9 million, what they would have to pay Peavy this year because he is this mythical "special" player, the one who if acquired guarantees the White Sox will win? You need to look at the rest of the roster. The fact is, if they are holding money aside for these so-called "special players" they aren't usuing the every dime in goes out method they claim, because the only guy they added that "guaranteed" victory turned out to be Geoff Blum.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 27, 2009 -> 09:32 PM) Pods is going yard Maybe on the Fundamentals deck.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 27, 2009 -> 09:29 PM) Found out about it how exactly? It was in the paper and KW called JR who was in NYC walking down Park Ave. He supposedly almost walked into a car off the curb. He jokingly said that he felt rich walking down Park Ave. so he had no problem with the deal. He said if he happened to be walking down 3rd Ave. he wouldn't have felt so rich.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 27, 2009 -> 09:20 PM) He doesnt make his money on the Sox, he makes it on the Bulls and the United Center and his other businesses. He also has other folks to answer to on the board for the Sox. Quite frankly, anything he says about business any which way is better than any input you or I or anyone else on the board could add. JR>all of us Also on the Peavy thing, KW said he had been working on that deal for quite a long time, did you ever stop and think that they left some payroll space to add an impact player like that as the season wore on? Thats why you dont blow your entire load before first pitch. I considered that until I found out KW didn't tell JR about it until very recently. Wouldn't JR want to know why KW isn't spending the money that was allocated? The fact the JR wouldn't pay a luxury tax even though he's made millions and millions when his Bulls were winning 15 games a year shows he doesn't want to operate in the red any season,even if it is only cutting a tiny percentage into his profits.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 27, 2009 -> 08:59 PM) Gotta love that not-so-subtle shot at JR. Hilarious. I actually like JR. There are so many inconsistencies with finances though, it makes one wonder. On one hand here's this exceptionally bright man who will tell you sports ownership isn't a good business to be in, so after he bought the White Sox, he put together a group to buy the Bulls, now at 72 he's rumored to have interest in the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes. The White Sox have no money to spend, yet they try to sign Hunter and then Fukudome,then agree to a trade for Peavy. And for a guy who needs to watch every penny, he sure does have a nice ride, that private jet of his.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 27, 2009 -> 07:24 PM) The Sox are moving Beckham to 3rd, at least for the time being, and they can't do that in AA because they'd be blocking Viciedo. Now, they could have opted to move Viciedo up to AAA and let him play with Contreras while keeping Beck's in AA, but I think they also feel Beck's will be promoted soon anyway and Viciedo is finally getting rolling in AA so no reason to move him up too soon. Viciedo seems destined to be an OF IMO.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 27, 2009 -> 08:42 PM) Unless there's been an unpublicised change: Agent: Len Hardison, Kyle Rote Jr. A friend of mine was a back-up QB in the NFL for a few years. I'm pretty sure his agent was Kyle Rote Jr. Anyway, Rote negotiated a contract with the Cleveland Browns over the phone while Scottie Pippen who he also represented at the time was in his office. Pip said to him when he hung up, "Is that all those guys make?"

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 27, 2009 -> 07:30 PM) They also only have Haren for a year and a half, which is a huge consideration for how much you have to give up to get a pitcher. Peavy the Sox would control until 2013. Also the D'backs financial problems have been long documented. I did appreciate the completely one sided postings from Forbes though. Googling the actual FULL STORY gives a very different picture. The team made $3.9 million last year. The big huge $177 million you posted is gross income, I am sure you know the difference. That was before having an only 84% renewal as quoted in the article I looked up, plus their attendance is down a full 10% this year versus last. The interesting part of what you posted in the TV deal is they get 150 games, where as most teams have a much bigger split up of games, which is what leads to the "most lucrative". They get the most games out of any deal, so they pay more than most. The other interesting part you left out is that the network sells all of the advertising during those games, which means the team sees none of that money, unlike most teams in professional sports, which also leads the deal to be worth more, as the team is losing out on that revenue stream. We have also had the debate over what team valuation actually means... nothing. That isn't income, profit, capital... nothing. That is a number of a piece of paper. GM is worth billions, it doesn't mean they are worth a dime. It is a terrible argument for if a team is losing money or not. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/18/magazines/...rtune/index.htm I was just pointing out your saying they are losing $40-50 million a year, is far from correct. As of 2008, the ownership group had cut over $100 million from their debt.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 27, 2009 -> 05:17 PM) That may be part of the reasoning here. If Fields gets going, then you have a nice problem - too many good players at certain positions. If he fails, then Beckham is ready. You have staged Beckham for this, as well as provided further motivation for Fields to get going. If Fields needs the Sox top prospect promoted to AAA to motivate him, there's more than a slight problem. Even though I'm not a Fields guy, I don't think motivation is his problem.

I really don't understand the need to "promote" Beckham to Charlotte unless they want to throw Charlotte's owners a bone. They can't be too happy with the White Sox right now.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 27, 2009 -> 06:15 PM) The Diamondbacks might not be under a public mandate to cut salary, but they have been losing $40-50 million a year when the economy was good. With them having a bad time, there very well could be a quiet look into a large salary dump down there. Its not like he's making $15 million a year. If he was available for the same price that Peavy could be had, considering you know he's been successful in the AL, his contract is at least $20 million cheaper if not more, because as far as I know doesn't have a NTC, KW would have been a fool to agree to trade for Peavy instead of Haren. There's probably a 99.99% chance he's not getting traded, and if the .01 % does come to fruition KW is going to have to empty the Birmingham roster to even have a chance. BTW, they aren't losing $40-50 million a year unless you're using Jerry Reinsdorf's accountant The Arizona Diamondbacks are valued at $390 million, placing the franchise 19th out of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, according to Forbes annual list of team valuations released Thursday. That’s up 3 percent from last year, as the D-backs received a boost from their television contract with Fox Sports Arizona and a successful year on the field. The team challenged the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West crown for most of the year, before faltering at the end of the season. According to Forbes research, the D-backs brought in $177 million in the 2008 season. Two years ago, the team signed a reported eight-year, $250 million deal with Fox Sports Arizona, among the most lucrative deals in baseball.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ May 27, 2009 -> 03:32 PM) Oakland did it. And apparently DBacks dont have much of a fan base as is. Not implying that it will happen, just sayin. Oakland couldn't pay him. The D-Backs gave him an extension. Trading him would be worse than the Sox trading Buerhle for some prospects in July if they are out of it.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 27, 2009 -> 03:27 PM) I'd be surprised if you could get Haren without parting with Beckham. I'd be surprised if you could get Haren by parting with Beckham. Talk about wanting to destroy a fan base. Trade a guy signed reasonably and long term who is an ace for a bunch of prospects.