Dick Allen

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 13, 2008 -> 08:35 AM) Aaron Miles isn't going to be coming back to Chicago, although the symmetry would be interesting with Uribe finally leaving after five seasons. He's very blahhhh/mehhhh defensively, and we already have Betemit and Lillibridge who are much more versatile. Lillibridge, in particular, has the combination of youth, speed and athleticism that KW craves. I guess there are SOME Miles Fanboys/Fangirls from back in the day that would love to bring Miles and Rowand back, but it's not going to happen (note, I didn't say NEVER, just highly unlikely!) I don't think Miles is a target or should be, but if these other guys are more versatile, it would be an upset. Miles played 2b,ss,3b,lf,rf,cf and p last season.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 13, 2008 -> 07:24 AM) The more quality arms (like John Van Beschoten, Cabrera and Ledezma) that we throw into the 4th/5th starter mix, the better off we'll be obviously. You're kidding, right? Why would the Sox be better throwing resources at garbage? Van Beschoten is 28 and has a career ERA over 9.00. Teams don't want him to pitch anymore. Cabrera never had an ERA at or below league average. Ledezma has never thrown more tha 85 innings at the big league level. KW already tried signing a bunch of garbage and having them compete in spring training for a job. That was the 2006 bullpen. We know how that turned out. In fact, it turned out so horribly, KW had to go get Mike MacDougal and sign him to an extension. Might as well throw him into the mix.

I was watching something yesterday, the Yankees signed those 2 but how much have they improved their staff? Mussina won 20 last year. Maybe CC wins 20, but then its a push. Burnett gets hurt all the time, if Petitte doesn't come back, I don't think they are any better especially with Riviera a year older. Father time has to catch up to him sooner or later.

Jayson Stark's guess at non-tenders: PITCHERS Daniel Cabrera Chad Gaudin Jimmy Gobble Brandon Backe Takashi Saito Tyler Yates Wil Ledezma HITTERS Marcus Thames Gabe Gross John Buck Jose Bautista Chris Burke Willy Taveras Jonny Gomes

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Dec 12, 2008 -> 12:14 AM) They may not necessarily be giving up on Bailey, but instead getting the best out of a guy they don't even need. Check their rotation, it's great. Harangatang ( A great pitcher coming off a bad year) Arroyo (If they trade any pitcher it really should be him, but his 15 wins should trick the team into finding him worth keeping even though wins don't measure how good you are) Cueto (Could have higher ceiling than Bailey) Volquez (Amazing) Owings (Good pitcher, good future, great bat) They just lost their biggest bat in the lineup and they need someone to replace it. Dye would be perfect, and Bailey could be the key to get him here. Why hold onto Bailey? To form a six man rotation? If the Reds project Bailey to be as good as some people on this board do, and from what I can tell, they aren't scouts either, but seem to rip people who aren't so high on him asking for their scouting credentials, I find it hard to believe they would trade him for a 35 year old OF, fading defensively without the luxury of making him a DH and is signed for one season. That said, I would trade Dye for Bailey if they used Dye's money for a capable replacement, thus making the trade Dye for Bailey + replacement. Then at least, if Bailey is a bust, its no skin of the White Sox backs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 03:49 PM) Ah, so now we can determine how good a top prospect in the baseball world is by the time he is 22. Dye for Bailey+ 2 other prospects is an absolute steal for the White Sox. Aren't you being hypocritical? If you can't tell a guy isn't going to live up to the hype after he's been bad, how can you tell he's a steal if he hasn't been good? Although if they spent the money saved on Abreu or Furcal I think it would be a steal as it would be those prospects for basically nothing.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 03:45 PM) Well of course "f***ing trash" is hyperbole, but Homer Bailey is not very good. It absolutely astonishes me that ANYBODY smart enough to be a White Sox fan would have positive thoughts about a potential deal like this one. Are you kidding me? This guy at one time was a top prospect, just like Joe Borchard. You have to ignore any bad he's had in his career. Trading a guy you can almost guarantee will hit 30 homers and drive in 90 runs for someone like this is a steal. Just look at KW's record. Every former top prospect bust he's acquired turns out like Gavin Floyd. They will teach him a cutter and he'll be unhittable.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) I think you can also non-tending players that are in the pre-free agent years, correct? Yes. Most if not all of the non-tenders are arb-eligible guys who are going to become more expensive than they think they are worth and cannot trade.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 03:18 PM) What's the difference between "non-tendering" a player and "releasing" a player I don't think the non tenders go through waivers. Its basically the same thing.

QUOTE (R.J. @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 03:16 PM) I have no problem signing a non-tendered Willy Taveras to a deal. I have a huge problem counting on him to be our starting CF and leadoff man, but I digress. As of this moment, the Sox are relying on .220 AAA hitters and guys with 4.80 ERAs in AAA to contribute. Why not have a non tender who can't even get traded for Tim Redding lead off and play CF?

Royals signed LHP Horacio Ramirez, who had been with the White Sox, to a one-year, $1.8 million contract. I cannot believe Ramirez can get almost $2 million. The Royals also paid over $4 million a year for Farnsworth. Their GM must be trying to get fired.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 11, 2008 -> 01:12 PM) Dye is a righty. Abreu is lefty. Different needs for different teams. Abreu plays everyday and hit lefties at least in 2008 pretty well. .315 with a .372 OBP. I would think if you didn't have to give up prospects and could actually pay him less than you pay JD, it makes a lot more sense to sign him. Maybe he doesn't want to play for Cincinatti is my only guess.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 04:31 PM) Cedeno is as well. I just checked, Pie is out of options as well. And THIS is the crap they are packaging for players. It truly is amazing how much junk Hendry can trade for good players. Like fathom said, he must have naked pictures.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) I meant Pie has no options left. So when he's sold as the savior in SD and he hits .175 because the park is tough to hit in and he can't hit anyway, they can't even send him to the minors without putting him through waivers. Classic.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 04:14 PM) If you want a CF who is relatively buy-low right now, but has the talent when healthy to do very well, we should really be looking at Kotsay. And I'd bet that KW is doing just that. I'd much rather take a chance on Kotsay, than Taveras or Pie. He seems too much like Darin Erstad for me. A guy who will play more than he should, plus he's not the defender he used to be. I still don't understand why Pie would be non tendered. I don't think he's eligible for arbitration.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 04:04 PM) Interesting note on the Redding/Taveras trade... it apparently fell through because one of the two players did not pass their physical. Another thing to note, Taveras was also mentioned as a candidate to be non tendered.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 03:51 PM) Danks I'll give you. Loaiza had something else going on it seems like. Also Loaiza started throwing his cutter in Toronto. The Sox didn't teach it to him, and his success was pretty short-lived.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 03:50 PM) All I'm saying is that a few starting pitchers that we've had over the past such as Esteban Loaiza and more recently John Danks, learnt the cutter, because their fastball wasn't really enough of a strikeout pitch to begin with, and from reading Marquez's stuff, he seems like a perfect candidate. And you're not going to teach guys like Ramirez a cutter during the season (especially when he was only on the team for what 2 or 3 months). I'm only comparing Marquez to Garland because they're both sinkerball pitchers, and KW has gone out to try and acquire those type of pitchers, to negate the flyball effects of the Cell. So, the Sox can't teach one on the fly, but will be able to in spring training and Marquez should be ready for the rotation? I don't think that makes much sense. Javy Vazquez was popping off about being in Atlanta will help him because he's a flyball pitcher. Maybe he should look at his splits. He pitched better and gave up fewer homers at USCF, as do several White Sox pitchers.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 03:48 PM) pfff nobody on the yankees throws an above average cutter Well, the do have that one guy who supposedly has the best one of all-time...........................

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) I'm reserving judgement on Marquez until they teach him a cutter. Could be another Jon Garland I think. But the Sox could still go and trade for Bailey, which would make him the 4th starter and Richard / Poreda the 5th starter, with Marquez starying in AAA, and then you go out and sign a replacement in LF (which I think the Sox would do, because KW says that we're right on our payroll limits as of this moment). If all he needs is a cutter, don't you think the Yankees would teach him one? And if they teach him, what is the guarantee it will be any good? If its that easy, why don't they teach MacDougal a cutter? Why didn't they teach Horacio Ramirez a cutter? I love how everyone compares Marquez to Garland. It must be because he strikes no one out. As I stated before, when Garland was Marquez's age, he had more IP on the major league level than Marquez has on the minor league level. It also took a long time for Garland to be considered trustworthy.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 02:52 PM) Here are some of the notables selected after McCullogh: Preston Mattingly, Emmanuel Buriss, Adrian Cardenas, Joba Chamberlain, Chris Perez. Another guy referred as a safe pick. The only thing safe about these guys (McCullogh and Broadway) is the assumption that they will be busts.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 02:40 PM) We all remember where we were on 6/7/05 when a terrorist regime of scouts and cross-checkers bombed the subways of Sox fans' hearts with the selection of Lance Broadway in the first round, 15th overall, of the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Let's all take a moment to click on this link and reflect upon all those great players that were needlessly passed over. We can never go back in time and change things for the better. What is done is done. But it is time, Kenny Williams, that you trade Lance Broadway for a bag of baseballs so we can all move on. I don't want to see him on the 40-man roster anymore because whenever I do I'm reminded of how we could have had Matt Garza, Ellsbury, Buccholz, Lowrie, Bowden, Volstad, Colby Rasmus, and on and on and on, because that's just the first round. Broadway was the most horrible draft pick I can remember, because at least McCulloch was taken near the very bottom after we'd won 99 games and the WS. Broadway was fifteenth!!!! That's f***ing sick. Please Kenny, get this guy out of here already. One thing I've never understood, how in the world was Broadway the "safe" pick that he's always refered? How about just horrible pick? I'd take a rosin bag that's out of rosin for him.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 02:13 PM) Be patient, things will pick up now with C.C. signing. My prediction now is we sign F. Garcia and J. Hairston Jr. Wow. I need to get some Jim Beam Club season tickets. Adding those two will make those seats just like courtside Bulls tickets when Jordan was winning championships.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 02:11 PM) The Marlins already shed some salary, they dont need to trade Hermida anymore. Also, i'm pretty comfortable with their trading history to believe they wouldnt trade someone as coveted as him for that kind of crap. The Marlins get a revenue sharing check larger than their payroll. They don't NEED to trade anybody.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 01:38 PM) Yes. Giambi, Mussina, Pavano, etc. Another key thing about the Yankees and Mets...both of them are opening new ballparks next opening day. That is sure to blunt the impact of the economic collapse on those teams. There are a few seats at the new Yankee Stadium that are $2500 a game. I hope they come with hookers. Multiple hookers.