Dick Allen

The good news is the Sox don't have to be all that good to compete in their division. The problem I have with the offseason is it went entirely away from the gunslinger mentality KW loves to hear people refer to the way he goes about things. There's going conservative and there's the way the White Sox handled last offseason. I just wish the team wouldn't have been satisfied with trying to compete, but trying to blow away the rest of the AL Central. There were plenty of good players available at discounted prices and short term commitments. With all the money coming off the books after this season, it really wouldn't have been nearly the gamble giving Hunter or Fukudome 5 years just one year earlier would have been.

I wonder if Geddy Lee will be there.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 15, 2009 -> 09:41 AM) Another comment on the overall profitability of sports franchises. Every owner made their money in other arenas before becoming an owner. I don't think anyone believes a sports franchise is a great way to earn profits each year. The real profit taking only occurs when you sell, and most of these guys enjoy their sport too much. And even a not-for-profit charity budgets to have a surplus at the end of the year. You can't stick around for long when revenue does not meet expense. Barry Rozner had a column about a partner with the Bulls several years ago when they were winning 13 games a year. I forgot the guy's name or even if Barry mentioned it, but the guy was quoted as saying he was "embarrassed" by all the money they were making with the team being so bad.

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ May 15, 2009 -> 09:31 AM) They are actually 12th this season behind NYY, NYM, CHC, BOS, DET, LAA, PHI, HOU, LAD, SEA, and ATL. And the only teams who cost more to go see are the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Cubs. Another thing to keep in mind regarding ad revenue. Ed Sherman in his blog on Crains mentioned how Comcast Sportsnet's rating are up for all its programming due to the success of its teams. He said it will lead to increased ad revenue. I think the White Sox own 20% of that station. Its just not the Cubs and Hawks and Bulls games that are higher. Their own shows, like Chicago Tribune Live are up almost double.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 15, 2009 -> 09:08 AM) Sounds about right - that's like $18M per year in gross profit, less in net, which means they are making just a few percentage points in profit. I remember seeing the Sox at something like 1.9% the last year that I looked at Forbes' numbers, and that was better than a lot of teams. This whole conspiracy theory that they are taking money out of the team and going "cheap" on payroll is just manifestly false. They make little money, they have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, and are facing lower ticket sales and rolling sponsorship losses. They aren't juicing the fans, they are doing what everyone has to do right now. And for the love of... Brent Lillibridge is not playing because of salary issues!!!!!! He's the f***ing 4th string option in CF, due to injuries, which by the way no team in baseball would have a good option for. I used to believe what you wrote, but after the past 18 months do not. The White Sox were going to give Hunter or Fukudome a ton of money. Knowing how they operate, that money fit right into the salary parameters of the 2008 White Sox. They did not sign either, but traded for Swisher who was about $5-7 million less for last year. They also had 3 extra home dates, all sellouts. If a family of 4's cost index is $220, 40k people should mean $2.2 million x 3 is $6.6 million. Obviously its not all profit, but it is a significant figure, probably more than enough to cover the loss of Motorola's add on the scoreboard. If $20-30 million profit, again according to Forbes, is little money, than they should be willing to lose $20-30 million in a season in order to win. They are making a huge deal out of Pontiac and Motorola leaving, and I guarantee you they were giving the White Sox nowhere near $20 million.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 15, 2009 -> 08:54 AM) Because its true, or nearly so. The Sox little or no money year to year in net profits - which by the way is true of most baseball teams. According to Forbes, they have made over $70 million collectively the past 3 or 4 seasons, that's after paying the players. Maybe Forbes is incorrect, but I have heard KW use some of their figures when Forbes said they had the highest pct. of revenue spent on player salaries. Face it, the Sox took advantage of their fans this year by raising prices because they had a lot of money in hand from unused playoff tickets, and dropping payroll. You can blame the economy, but the other teams in town have shown that people will still come out to the games and spend money if you give them a good product to watch. The Blackhawks will be freezing prices next year. Could you imagine the percentage increase they would have if the White Sox were running that organIzation? It also doesn't help when trying to justify the Brent Lillibridges of the world, your chairman is quoted as calling your 2008 division championship team boring. I don't know how they were going to pay Hunter or Fukudome had they decided to play with the White Sox. The fact is, the checks wouldn't have bounced.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 15, 2009 -> 08:35 AM) I care a lot, and it's time we started looking at that. Obviously there are a lot of factors we can look at, schedule, when are the best draws coming to town? Weekends? Weekdays? Long term weather patterns? Hell, it beats discussing Fields and CF. The team with the most money manages to stay competitive longer.We need something to happen in CF, but if I thought the team would lose money by bringing in someone who could make an impact, I'd be pissed. If you listen to the Sox, they make no profit whatsoever. There actually are people who believe them.

SD has to have something in-house better than Lillibridge. I would take some used gum for him.

I think if things don't work out, anyone expecting the White Sox to be able to dump their larger contracts for halfway decent prospects are going to be in for a rude awakening.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 14, 2009 -> 01:24 PM) Why is it that against all logic that people LOVE to make season projections off of small samples? Sure if Fields continues to hit like he has recently he'll strike out 200 times. And if what's happened so far this year continues... Dotel will finish the year with a 0.00 ERA. Linebrink a 0.75, Jenks a 1.50... shoot if these trends continue, we may have the best year of any bullpen in history. And Buehrle? Projects to win 23-24 games. And the Blue Jays, Rangers, Reds, and Brewers will ALL win 100 games. There is nothing to indicate Josh Fields' strikeout rate is an abberation. He's struck out 189 times in 540 major league AB and struck on 512 times in 1682 minor league AB. He might not strike out 200 times, but he's going to be up there.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2009 -> 10:44 AM) That 5.18 ERA and 1.54 WHIP that he's putting up in Arizona against the weak NL West with no DH and facing the pitchers would fit in beautifully in AAA next to Jose. He's had 2 awful starts and 5 good ones. He's doing a lot better than the White Sox #3 starter at the moment.

QUOTE (bighurt574 @ May 14, 2009 -> 09:11 AM) 7/10 On the balk question, I could swear that the ump can register a "ball" in the count even if no one is on base? There are was an umpire can call a ball with a pitch being thrown, but its not a balk.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 14, 2009 -> 09:38 AM) Don't get me wrong, I agree that Lillibridge does not belong on the roster, at least not now. I just don't know that bringing up a guy for two games or whatever is really worth it. A few weeks ago, when Lillibridge was really more an infielder because we had fewer OF injuries, we probably should have replaced him with Nix at that time. Nix was hurt, so I can maybe understand they needed another guy who could play SS, but once he joined the team, there really was no reason Lillibridge needed to be here. Granted he can "play" CF, and they were short there, but I'd rather have Carl Everett out there than him if he hits like a pitcher.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ May 14, 2009 -> 09:42 AM) Crede's fanboys are pretty predictable. As is your response.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 14, 2009 -> 09:03 AM) Get creative? Look, I'd love to see Kroeger up here as a backup OF instead of Lillibridge, but Anderson comes back from injury rehab tomorrow, and will take Lilli's spot anyway. Why bother getting "creative" for 2 or 3 games? 'Why not? One game can make all the difference in the world. Why not send Lillibridge down when Nix came back? They had the back up infielder. Lillibridge has shown over and over again he has no business collecting a major league check. His performance is almost historically pitiful.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 14, 2009 -> 08:36 AM) On a side not, Lillibridge is on pace to K 126 times in 430 AB's.... solid. At least he has 0 RBI.

His ERA means nothing. He needs to be able to throw his forkball for strikes. He even admits he has no problem throwing strikes in the bullpen, so I think its just a matter of time. This is a guy who usually shows up in spring training ready to throw 115 pitches. He wasn't this year, he had an extra long layoff, he's older. The Sox are going to need him.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 13, 2009 -> 09:27 PM) Ricciardi actually participates in a fan call-in show on Toronto radio, as alluded to by Kyle here, and ARGUES with the fans! You want to talk about a guy with an ego? KW gets fired up at fans at Soxfest Q &As. At least he used to. I haven't gone the past couple of years.

Ozzie has been telling Lillibridge he needs to cut his swing down for weeks. He hasn't done it. Maybe when they show Walker the door, Ozzie should be right behind. I'm being sarcastic, but I think way too many people here think the correct hitting coach can make everyone a .330 hitter.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2009 -> 08:05 PM) Kicked my dog? GMAB back. I've been one of the bigger defenders and cheerleaders of KW through the last 2-3 seasons. Yes, I think there are better ones out there, but there are many more that are worse. Name me another GM whose quotes are in the papers more often about silly things like Frank Thomas and "pitching inside" to opposing players? He's a smart guy, but he can't get out of his own way sometimes...but I'll wait for your list of the GM's with bigger egos. I'll give you Billy Beane and Theo Epstein, who else? I just saw something on rain delay television the other day, KW was bragging about the the minor leagues being ranked #1 when he was in charge. He didn't mention they were vastly overrated though. He's pompous without a doubt. He has the false modestly thing going. At least he used to be aggressive. I don't know if JR neutered him or not, but he's turning into Ron Schueler now.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2009 -> 10:12 AM) Not so fast. WHITE SOX TEAM ERA on the Road (the best independent variable we can use to compare the offense and pitching) 2008 5th in AL, 13th in MLB 2007 7th in AL, 15th in MLB 2006 8th in AL, 18th in MLB 2005 1st in AL, 1st in MLB 2004 7th in AL, 19th in MLB AVERAGE ranks for White Sox pitching on the road, 5.6/14 in AL, 13.2/30 IN MLB Runs Scored Per Game on the Road 2008 12th in AL, 23rd in MLB 2007 14th in AL, 29th in MLB 2006 4th in AL, 8th in MLB 2005 8th in AL, 11th in MLB 2004 7th in AL, 13th in MLB Average ranks for White Sox RSPG on the road, 9th/14th in the AL, 17/30 in MLB 2008 Buerhle ERA home 2.65 away 5.05 Contreras ERA home3.25 away 5.85 Floyd ERA home 3.55 away 4.18 Vazquez ERA home4.25 away 5.10 Danks ERA home3.66 away 2.92 From 2004-2008 there is less than 0.10 difference between the collective home and road White Sox ERA.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 13, 2009 -> 07:08 PM) And even with that, if we can get a little luckier and get Quentin, Alexei, and Floyd out of their current slumps, the only thing that will stop us from making another run this year is someone really taking off. This team is just going to be deadly the next few years...we reloaded on talent like the Pirates or Rays do out of the draft, but we did so with only 1 losing season. Before you break KW's back patting it so much, Beckham, Danks and Viciedo are 3 guys 99 % of Soxtalk could have come up with. I give him credit for getting Tyler Flowers although he is a PED guy. I also applaud him for ridding himself of Nick Swisher. The economy argument is BS. The economy is so bad and professional sports is such a bad business to be in, 72 year old JR is contemplating adding a bankrupt NHL team to his portfolio. The Blackhawks, Bulls, Bears and Cubs have shown that putting a winning team together will draw fans in this particular economy. They talk about lost advertising. Comcast, which the team owns 20% of, has had its ratings more than double which will increase ad revenue. There were plenty of players available to help this season at discount prices that KW passed on. He claims to be the gunslinger like what's been stated above, but what he did this offseason is act like a turtle going back into his shell. There is absolutely no reason Brent Lillibridge should be with the team right now. The team has potential in the future, but pitching is everything. If they don't develop a few, they may be a fun team to watch, but probably won't win anything.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 13, 2009 -> 02:26 PM) How many times Sox been shutout in 6 weeks or scored 1 run! It is not just about today! Look at the line-up. Tell me who the Sox can bring right now that will make a line-up like that vs. a Cy Young award winner score the 5 runs necessary to win. Not Gary Ward. He was run out of town.

QUOTE (Baines3 @ May 13, 2009 -> 02:19 PM) When a team gets shut out as many times as we do, that points to the hitting coach to me. We have guys who can hit on this team, Konerko, Thome, Dye and others. That tells me that Walker has to go. The team now has been shutout as many times this year as they have allowed 8+ runs. What about the pitching coach? Sox starters minus Buerhle, have a collective ERA over 6.00. It didn't take a genius to know today was going to be a very tough day to score runs. I suppose you can blame Walker for JD taking strike 3 with the bases loaded and then getting kicked out of the game, or blamed him for Quentin flying out with the bases loaded. Of course, that would just be silly.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 13, 2009 -> 02:13 PM) Let's pretend for a second that I agree with you (I don't). Who exactly are we replacing Gavin with if the White Sox were to somehow adopt your doom_and_gloom scenario? You do realize that this team has ZERO depth. I mean NONE. And this is mostly on Kenny and our scouting department. We have no viable options (and this has already been proven) waiting in the wings in the event of injury/poor performance. I agree with him about Gavin and agree with you about a replacement. The Sox can't upgrade an 0-5 8+ ERA Contreras. What is the next guy in line going to do?