Dick Allen

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 29, 2009 -> 12:11 PM) We have ALOT of lefty bats on this team right now. Calling Wise a bat is stretching it. Once I saw Wise had a double in Charlotte, I figured this was going to happen.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 29, 2009 -> 12:51 PM) I just don't have the time or energy to summon this well of phony self-righteous indignation when I hear of athletes doing unethical things. It's too common for me to give a s***. Call me when one of them commits a crime or hurts somebody else or does something otherwise has an obvious negative effect, then I'll care. Hell, I posted an article this morning about an NBA player saving this woman from drowning and nobody responded (yet), but people are on here blasting Rose because someone changed a D to a C... what's that say? As far as I know, Rose had nothing to do with that. He did have someone take the SAT for him, and if he's not bright enough to know that's wrong, he's not bright enough to attend college. I'm all for my alma mater (Iowa) winning, but I don't think it should be at any cost. When all the football players kept getting arrested, it was embarrassing. Putting up with Pierre Pierce because he might help you get into the tournament was embarrassing. When I was there and the wrestling team was winning NCAA title after title, being at party after party these guys showed up at and started fights every single time made me wonder if it was really worth having these morons on campus. College isn't for everyone. Just because you're exceptional at something athletically shouldn't make everyone ignore everything else.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 29, 2009 -> 12:16 PM) Why even give these guys grades then? Calling all of these players student-athletes is a sham. I think in a way it degrades everyone's degree from that institution. They should pay these guys and the guys that really aren't there to go to class and get an education, put them in a separate group. Give each school a few spots a year for hired guns. Guys that are there to just play sports. Derrick Rose went to Memphis one semester. he dropped out after the tournament in 2008. They go through all this trouble just for that. Same with OJ Mayo.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 29, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) This also shows how Illinois had no chance at Rose...ever. Weber was not going to give a kid's brother some money and deal with all his shenanigans. There's probably some shenanigans involved at just about every school, Illinois included. What has been discovered about Rose at Memphis is most likely the tip of the iceberg. If the only things illegal were a grade change, someone taking his SAT and $2600 for his brother, Memphis actually must be fairly clean.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 29, 2009 -> 11:00 AM) So take away both of their abilities to compete in amateur sports. Done. Cal cant coach in college anymore, Derrick cant play in college anymore. Calipari hasn't been coaching amateurs since he left UMass.

The big sham is that Rose went to college in the first place. There's no excuse for his cheating. It shows a lack of character IMO. The grade change he might have had nothing to do with. A fill in for his SAT, that's a problem with me.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ May 29, 2009 -> 09:58 AM) How has the name Hunter Pence not come up? Wanna rebuild a farm system..... Hunter Pence was selected in the second round of the 2004 draft. The White Sox had 5 of the first 60 picks. They picked Fields, Lunsden, Gio, Whisler and Lucy before Houston selected Pence. Its one of the reasons while I don't get excited late first round and second round compensation picks.

Lloyd Christmas would love those odds.

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.