Dick Allen

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:01 PM) No word on what his next step is or reasons. Mods, if you think this should be merged with another thread please do He's going to Mike North's web-based sports station with Offman and Coppock and Huebner.....

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 01:26 PM) Gonzales also reporting Kelvin Jimenez was added to the cut list. I think Jimenez, German and JVB, have probably been sent out of a major league camp for the last time.

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 01:00 PM) Geezus... this is exactly how ridiculous rumors get started. As of today, he has the same number of at-bats as Fields and has played in the same number of games as Alexei. The reason he hasn't been playing lately is because he developed shin splints, not because of a double-secret probation rules violation. The guy was front page news for weeks, and after this happened, and only Cowley had it, and I stated it may not have even been a big deal, he hasn't been playing as much. Perhaps it is shin splints as the reason, but he has played in B games.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 12:57 PM) Viciedo must had some huge problems to send him down after 25 at bats, while at the same time hitting homeruns over 400 feet to opposite field. I'm interested in seeing how he does down at the lower levels, hopefully this will piss him off enough to get his s*** together, even though I know he is still young. I think he was going down unless Fields got hurt or hit .100 and Viciedo hit .700, anyway. I do think his "punishment" is being sent to minor league camp early, but that also could be to give him time to adjust to that as well. Anyway, I think it would have been a mistake to have him play in the majors right away, and fully expect him to start out slowly in AAA, but I'm sure he'll be with the White Sox at some point in 2009, unless he gets hurt.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 12:52 PM) Missed a training session? I didn't catch anything about that. I think its just clear that Viciedo needs some refinement. Cowley had it a week or so ago. He was scheduled to go work out, but he went home. It could have been a misunderstanding, but ever since then, he went from being constantly talked about and hyped, to close to MIA.

I would have thought they would have kept Viciedo around a little longer. It seems ever since he missed that training session, his name has been kept out of the newspapers and for the most part, line-ups.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....ng-viciedo.html

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2009 -> 06:37 PM) Yeah, that was mentioned in the news clip above. I interviewed with IB a couple of years back, and got to see the insides of it. There is a beautiful courtyard/atrium in the middle, and all of the innerwindows look in on it. It also has a stairwell that goes through it. I think Interactive Brokers is in the Rookery Building which was across the street from the fire.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 17, 2009 -> 03:14 PM) maybe with that crazy K rate, some team desperate for bullpen help picks him up for nothing Considering what real players are signing for, I don't think anyone wants a project as big as MacDougal for $2.5 million.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 17, 2009 -> 03:10 PM) He's a wild and crazy guy. He has a ton of talent. If he ever learned how to throw strikes, he would be amazing. At this point, its probably not going to happen.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 17, 2009 -> 10:49 AM) I'd put more faith in the potential of Nix than that, he may actually turn out to be of some value. But I agree on Raines 2, he's AAA filler. Just remember, Nix compiled his numbers in Colorado Springs in his 3rd year of AAA. I think the team batting average was higher than his. I wouldn't expect much.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2009 -> 09:03 AM) He's also been putting up ok numbers in the PCL. He's prob just AAA fodder for life. Like Jayson Nix. These are guys that will help the win totals in Charlotte, but if they are playing in Chicago, its garbage time.

I really don't know what everyone was expecting from Lillibridge this spring. He hit .220 in AAA and .200 in the NL last year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 10:07 PM) This data is from 2005 so slightly out of date but it's illustrative. It does not take in to account cost of living or the amount paid by the federal government (i.e. you kind of expect CA to have a higher tax burden than some other states because simply running a school out here costs more, and places like MI get more tax dollars back from the Feds than us) but it is illustrative. The %age given is an attempt to average out over everything, not just income taxes but income, sales, property, hotel, fuel, etc. Ah, here's the new data. In 2008 Illinois was still 30th. Instead of the state average, I wonder where Chicago ranks. It seems everytime you buy from a store, its like Ticketmaster is being used at the register.

Signs for 1 year $1.5 million. Toby Hall 2008 money.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) I suppose this is a very good point, but there isn't much alternative for our leadoff/#2 spot. If it's not Alexei batting #2, then I'd have to say stick AJ in there. The issue is we don't have great personal for traditional #1 and #2 hitters, so we have to deal with what we have. The other problem is if you have Alexei bat second he will most likely try to be the best #2 hitter in the world and may try hitting behind guys, taking more pitches, etc.......and that really isn't his game. It could really screw him up. For some guys its a good thing, for a hacker, I'm not so sure. Its similar to when Frank Thomas was young except exact opposite adjustments. There were a lot of baseball people who thought Frank should swing at more pitches, they thought he would hit even more homers and drive in more runs, but the White Sox, and I believe they were correct, didn't want to mess with a good thing, and didn't mind him taking a pitch a half an inch out of the zone.

I don't think Ramirez should hit second. His OBP is fairly low. He really doesn't work counts, and since the White Sox probably won't have a guy ahead of him who will get into scoring position by himself very often, he would be forced to give himself up too much. Keep him lower in the line-up and let him rip.

QUOTE (Soxpranos @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 02:49 PM) Ok his defense is good, but again people don't realize he gives those outs back when he cant execute a simple bunt or move runners over with less than 1 out. If he is so spectacular there should not be 3 guys fighting for the job . Wise and Owens each have a lot of flaws offensively. The other problem is if one of them is in the line-up they are almost guaranteed to hit first. Having one of your weaker offensive players batting first makes zero sense. No chance Ozzie would lead off Anderson. I hope BA can put it together and become the player KW envisioned when he sent Rowand away. The White Sox thought he would be a far superior player to Rowand. He still may be, but he cannot if he's not given an opportunity. I think if the Sox sent him elsewhere to a place he would play everyday, he would be a very nice player.

I don't know how anyone could say BA cannot hit major league pitching. He's been given one chance to do it, really. In 2006, playing on a defending World Champion he was thrown into the role. He didn't hit, but a lot of guys don't hit initially. He started to hit a little bit that year. He hit about .300 in July/August, and then KW made one of his worst moves in stunting his growth in bringing in a washed up Erstad. Since then, BA hasn't been given consistent time. 2007, with the team as bad as it was, would have been a great opportunity to get him consistent major league ABs, but for some reason Erstad had to play as did Owens and Pods, who was certainly on the way out. BA has a ton of talent. With the other options being Wise and Owens, giving him a legitimate shot at playing everyday, now that he has adjusted his attitude a bit should be a no brainer IMO. Unless KW goes outside the organization for a CF or moves Ramirez to CF and plays Beckham at SS, BA behind Wise and/or Owens is just dumb.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 06:33 PM) The only thing pushing Contreras this season is $$$$$$ free agency. That is silly. He's never been one to give anything but max effort.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 05:47 PM) The Sox havent sounded all that interested in leading off Getz or Lillibridge. So BA has always been kind of cemented in 4th OF to me. And of course late innings replacement, they liked the way he handled that role last year. Lillibridge hasn't shown the last 18 months that he could be anything close to a good leadoff man. I'm still hoping KW makes some sort of trade.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 05:42 PM) And somewhere in Glendale, a lone tear slowly rolls down Jerry Owens' cheek. He's been given opportunities most would not have. If he blows it, he can only blame himself. If he doesn't make the team, I wonder if a team would claim him. I can't imagine him having better opportunities than he was presented with the White Sox.

BA sucks. It appears reports of his demise was premature. I still think he should play CF everyday.

Edmonds could be a nice stopgap. Wise isn't a lead off hitter and really Owens isn't either. Edmonds isn't the CF he used to be, but he is still better defensively than Wise, and throws much better than Owens, and is an upgrade of the Ken Griffey Jr. statue they set up in CF the second half of 2008. As far as rejecting coming to the White Sox before, he said he was given just a little window to make up his mind and didn't want to rush so he had to say no. I really think if KW was going to sign him, he would have been signed by now. He supposedly is high maintenence. KW and I agree the best of the 3 is BA, but either Ozzie doesn't agree or he believes the CF must be a guy batting first.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 05:12 PM) How many times do we hear that BA hit two homers off Felix Hernandez...as if they means he has a lifetime get of jail free card??? Probably about 1/10th of the time you hear BA's 2006 performance means he cannot play well at the major league level. These games mean nothing. I don't know how many guys tell management, " I hit .400 in spring training, I need a raise" I would imagine its zero. Right now, even the good pitchers don't want to be peaking. With Beckham, its just a matter of time. Who really knows if he's ready right now? But if his mechanics are good, and he appears ready, they probably will give him a shot. He's going to be at 2B or SS real soon anyway. What's interesting about Beckham is he changed his swing a little bit in the Fall League and changed the opinion of the scouts who thought he wouldn't amount to much. He may turn out to be one of the top 2 or 3 players from that draft.