Dick Allen

QUOTE (rangercal @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 11:36 AM) If you compare White Sox Careers: Thomas has a higher OBP, OPS and SLG %. He also has more Hits,Walks, Total Bases, Runs,RBI, HR,Doubles and extra base hits. Collins has Thomas on Batting Average and Stolen bases. Checkmate What kind of fielder was Collins. Frank may be the best hitter in White Sox history, of course the eras issue will always come up, but Frank with the leather was scary.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) Sun = 15 to 20 degrees v. today's overcast Also the snow that we got is more like an inch or two of slush. The field will be more playable tomorrow. It is unfortunate for those that can't change their days off but I think it was for the best. I also hate the off day after Opening Day. Its 37 right now and the Sun is trying to come out. The big snow wasn't so big, in fact downtown had nothing. There was a dusting on the dirt by my house on the Near North Side. There wasn't anymore than that all the way to USCF as I can see it out of my office. Tomorrow is supposed to be better, but not significantly. They received some bad information about today.

QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 11:16 AM) 2000 they were in Seattle....cuz I watched that game on ESPN, Buehrle had blond hair and faced Sweaty Freddy. I meant their home opener. Just remember, the season is starting a week later this year. This crappy weather can hit at any time.

In 2000, the Sox actually opened at night. I think it was a 6 pm start. It was around 80 degrees that day.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 08:54 AM) Frank never hired Boras as an agent. Never went to his own doctors instead of the team's choice. And was dumped anyways. Frank went to his own doctor. His doctor gave Jerry Manuel a note that he didn't have to run some drill in spring training.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 09:31 AM) Flipped image to make it fit. Tomorrow is supposed to be high thirties and sunny: http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgard...from=hrly_graph I would think 3-5 degrees difference is nothing to the thousands that won't be able to make it, but once again, I don't blame the White Sox and actually applaude them making a decision sooner rather than later. I just think Skilling has lost his touch. He predicts extreme conditions more than anyone anymore. WGN was the weather group thinking as much as 6 inches on wet heavy snow, and there is no more than a dusting. I'm sure if they knew yesterday what they know now, there would have been a game today.

Its a shame they canceled the game today. I've been to games in far worse conditions. Tomorrow will be better supposedly, but just a hair. I feel for those who got screwed by this, but don't blame the White Sox for canceling yesterday. I think they need to walk away from Mr. overestimate, Tom Skilling. He used to be the master, now he just is extreme.

The White Sox signed Jimmy Gobble for Charlotte. Released by KC and I believe Texas doesn't sound good on a pitcher's resume. Once highly thought of, now just hanging on by a thread.

BA and Wise now have the same batting average this spring. I think BA has the higher slugging and OBP, and is the superior defender, so it makes perfect sense Wise gets the job.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Apr 4, 2009 -> 03:39 PM) DO I NEED TO EDIT MY POST? I never said ANYTHING about him DHing. I was thinking more along the lines of a 1 day contract. Do I need to edit mine? What does that accomplish? Its a silly gimmick that means nothing.

The Sox have a DH. Frank has nowhere to play. If by bring him back you mean not to play but to retire as a White Sox, I fail to see what that accomplishes. I'm sure when the time is right, Frank will be offered some sort of role with the White Sox. Maybe he can be an "ambassador" like Fisk. Even Fisk didn't know what that meant.

The latest article about Wise says the White Sox don't want him to change his approach. They don't want him to take more pitches or try to draw more walks. I guess its one of those " don't mess with what got you here" type of things. I would think a guy with a .214 career average with a .254 career OBP might want to try another approach. It seems even the White Sox are certain how this is going to go. Why are they even bothering? Why does Wise have to prove the obvious and be a disaster, perhaps costing the White Sox a precious win or 3 before they put him where he belongs?

All I know is the Bears were going nowhere before this deal. If you think they were in good shape with their draft picks and Orton at QB, I think you were kidding yourself. Cutler may not lead the Bears to Super Bowl after Super Bowl, but rolling the dice was the right thing to do.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 02:53 PM) Why does one team have to win a trade? It seems to me that the Bears got something they haven't had in my life time and the Broncos recieved good compensation for it. It's way to early to decide if it was a good trade, but both teams appear to have improved their positions. Not only that, but the draft picks have yet to play an NFL game.

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 02:35 PM) Plaxico was just released. Comes with a lot of baggage, but would you see him as a fit here? It's no question the Bears need to add a top WR. Plaxico is going to jail. Do people remember Tank Johnson? He's probably the biggest reason Angelo will not take on the baggage for Burress or Jones.

QUOTE (T R U @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 02:33 PM) Ok, I understand the Bears have not been good drafters in the first round but that still doesn't mean you can dismiss two first round picks like they don't mean anything when they are probably the most valued commodities in the NFL. Also, I would just like to point out that Jay Cutler is NOT an all pro, that was Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. He was voted to the pro bowl, much like Brett Favre was. I think they overpaid, but they had to. Cutler is the best QB they have had in a long time. I know he wouldn't have put up the numbers he put up in Denver if he were playing for the Bears in 2008. He's going to need another receiver or 2. He's going to need Pace to stay healthy. He's going to need Williams to make a transition to RT and stay healthy, but there is no doubt the QB position has been upgraded, and considering his age, if he stays healthy, there is no need to upgrade it again for many, many years.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 12:54 PM) Probably not, but when you get a QB like Cutler, you got to surround him with guys and the Bears lost a couple picks and I believe FS has now become there #1 need. The Bears also still have a good group of vets that I think would keep a guy like Jones in line. Than again, the WR corps is very young so maybe it would be bad to put a guy like Jones around Hester/Bennett. Clearly Jones is the better long-term solution over Holt, but Holt is the steady veteran that could really be the glue. Jones was on pace for 1000 yards, is an elite athlete for a guy his size and seemed to be really finally come close to his potential and would be a badass target along with Olsen in the red zone (combine Olsen/Jones and Forte and you are talking about a ridiculous red zone offense, imo). After Tank Johnson, there is no way Angelo signs Matt Jones. No way. Some other team my give him another chance, but Jerry isn't going to take the chance to get burned again like that.

Looking at Tom Skilling's 7 day forecast, Tuesday doesn't look much better than Monday.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 12:25 PM) tony gwynn jr placed on waivers... When they acquired former Charlotte Knight, Jason Tyner, he had nowhere else to go. Maybe his dad will give him a job as a first base coach at SDSU.

Crede is hitting .167 this spring and scouts say he isn't moving well, yet there is optimism. Rowand is hitting .190 and many scouts feel he is near done. (Maybe yet another bullet KW dodged when the Giants went to 5 years) Of course they said the same about him in the spring of 2007.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 03:51 PM) There's one other big variable you're leaving out...the economy. This year's liable to be rough, really really rough, on everyone outside of NYY. Next year's looking like another of those years when raising ticket prices isn't a good move, and this year we could see single game/walkup attendance really down, and next year we may see a decently large hit to the season ticket base as well. Either way, barring some shocking mid-season move by KW, I fully expect our payroll next year to be a few %age points lower than this year, given that we're dropping Contreras's salary and we appear to have at least 2-3 pitchers ready who can fill the 4/5 slots, and we'll be dropping Dotel and we probably have a young guy or two who can step in there. And Beckham's going to have to play somewhere. Ditto Viciedo. With Thome, Dye, Dotel and Contreras, thats $40 million coming off right there. They said after getting rid of Vazquez and Swisher, they were at their payroll limit. Seems to me, trading away a guy making $11 million and getting back prospects, then saying you are at your payroll limit is a salary dump. Personally, I think owners could be using collusion with the fans. Some cities will see drastic dropoffs in attendance. Some, like the White Sox , are expecting the same to higher attendance. I really think the White Sox next year, if they aren't going to raise payroll and continue to use the economy as a crutch, freeze prices or lower them, and come up with a dollar menu at the park like many teams are doing. The White Sox are using the economy as an excuse, yet not offering their paying customers any of the perks other businesses usually have to offer in times like these. I don't think things are as bad for them as they want you to believe.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 03:13 PM) Uh, yeah, it is. While people here justifiably rip Javy for his lack of testicular fortitude, the truth is that he's still a very good back-of-the-rotation starter who won the Sox quite a few games over the past three years. The last time I checked, a win in Baltimore on a Tuesday afternoon in May counts as much as a win against the Twins in late September. Javy's salary was pretty much the norm for a good-but-not-great veteran pitcher, in the same neighborhood as Jon Garland and Gil Meche. If money wasn't a factor in this decision, why would Kenny go with a perpetually-injured and washed-up Bartolo Colon or an inferior Clayton Richard? All other things being equal, I'd take Javy over either of those guys in a second. The COMBINATION of minor league talent that was given up for Griffey AND Swisher. Way to cherry-pick there. Griffey was never going to play 1B, RF, LF, or ride the pine as a backup last year. He was thrown into CF almost immediately, and stayed there even after Quentin broke his hand. And don't kid yourself: he was never brought to Chicago as a "backup plan." He didn't hit with power or play even average defense in CF, yet his lack of meaningful contribution still guaranteed him a spot in the lineup. Ozzie had no plans to bench a future HOFer like Griffey for Nick Swisher, and Kenny probably wouldn't have let him if he tried. A "salary dump" means just that: a dumping of salary. There is no qualifier attached for the reason. The rationale can range from trading a player not earning his paycheck (Swisher) to trading a solid starting pitcher and creating a massive hole at the back of your rotation simply because you want to cut payroll (Vazquez). When KW says he used the savings on Swisher to sign Viciedo (albeit one year of Swisher) you are correct, the purpose of that trade was to reduce payroll. If Swisher made $400k , he would still be here. Vazquez was a dump as well, although I think it was a smart move. If Vazquez made $4 million, he would still be here. Next offseason will be the interesting one with money with all that is coming off the books. Will they bring in higher salaried guys, or go cheap and young? I think only a disaster of a season in 2009 will force them to spend much next year. If they play .500, they can get away with saying Beckham and Viciedo are coming, we don't need to spend money. If they are brutal and their top prospects not very impressive, JR will be forced to break out the checkbook just like he was for Linebrink and Dotel.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) Pat Burrell is worth $8M/year over 2 years on the open market. Milton Bradley is worth $9M/year over 2 years with a $12M option for a third on the open market. Dunn is worth an average of $10M/year over 2 years on the open market. So now JD is worth about $5.5M on the open market? What Hudson, OC, and Abreu signed for is NOT market value. Why can't people understand this? Those players priced THEMSELVES out of the market. Baseball lost a ton in sponsorships and teams were forced to lower payroll expectations. Agents didn't get the memo until it was too late. You cannot say Hudson, OC, and Abreu signed for market value when 90% of the market was already done spending by the time those players signed. There was virtually NO market at all by that point. Players signed for the salaries they did because they were asking crazy figures when the market opened and teams were unable or unwilling to meet those demands so they looked to meet their budgets in other ways. There is NO WAY that the Giants would have given $18.5M guaranteed over 2 years to Edgar Renteria if OC had been asking for something similar or even less. As scenario mentioned, the returns for both players were good. Actually, the return for Swisher was good, and the return for Vazquez was great. It was more than I thought we'd be able to get at the time. Also, Swisher makes $5.3M this year. The Sox are paying Dayan Viciedo $5M this year. Coincidence? Dotel is in the final year of his deal and makes $6M. You're crazy if you don't think the Sox could have dumped that if they wanted to. Linebrink is another story. And I disagree on KW overpaying at the time he acquired them. Both players were looking for closer gigs at the start of that offseason and KW paid the price of a premier setup man in Linebrink and a cheap closer in Dotel. Linebrink got too many guaranteed years, but the market was different then. Those were the days when players like Jamie Walker and Scott Schoenweis made bank. Luis Vizcaino as another example makes $3.5M, and Linebrink only makes $1M more than he does this year. When you can acquire a player like Josh Anderson for very little and pass, or when you can take a flyer on a guy like Edmonds and pass, or when you can turn your nose up at a reasonably solid complimentary player like Chris Denorfia who can also be had for very little, then it certainly sounds like you have quite a bit of confidence in what you have. If the Sox didn't like Wise or Owens as starters they wouldn't have been in camp in the first place. Simple as that. Dye at 35 market value is going to be less than $11 million and I think KW would have had a hard time dumping a middle reliever (although I am one of Dotel's biggest fans) making $6.5 million. According to you, I'm crazy. KW definitely overpaid in money for Dotel and years for Linebrink but that was because he was forced to after throwing garbage at the position (he obviously didn't learn his lesson as he is now doing the same thing with a leadoff hitter and CF) for a couple of years.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 02:11 PM) So it's a repeat of last year? Why wouldn't it be? Getz for Cabrera, Fields for Crede/Uribe, Wise for Swisher/Griffey. Probably just as inconsistent and although faster, the team is far from speedy, or savvy on the basepaths. They will explode some days and struggle others.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 01:29 PM) The stats actually kind of disagree with you, at least for the regular season, and yes I know it's a hell of a small sample size. Close and Late last year Anderson hit 8/27, good for a .296 average. If you go through his stats on B-R, he's actually quite a bit better when the game is close than when the game is wide open. In what B-R defines as "High leverage" situations, he hit .300 with a .797 OPS. Fascinatingly, he hit 5 home runs in the 5th inning last year, and had no more than 1 HR in any other inning. 1.640 OPS in the 5th inning. Don't pitch to Brian Anderson in the 5th inning. The toughest part of the game for Mickey Mantle was the bottom of the fifth.