Dick Allen

BP's take on Homer Bailey pre-2008: It's been around for less than 50 innings at the major league level, but Bailey's Ebby Calvin LaLoosh impression is aready starting to wear thin. In the movie, by the time "Nuke" reached the big leagues, he'd experienced some life lessons and gained some maturity. Bailey, on the other hand, appears disinterested to coaches and indifferent to opposing players-not the attitude you want to see from someone who still has a lot to learn about the craft of pitching. It's too soon to declare him the latest Texas schoolboy bust, but 2007 was a disappointment for a prospect who looked like he had the pure stuff to take the league by storm. Then came 2008. He's far from a sure thing. If he can't be in the Cincinatti Reds' rotation what makes him so desirable to fans of the White Sox?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 3, 2009 -> 05:58 AM) But why would any team offer KW pitching (except for an exorbidant price?) unless we'd already had these other deals in place and they were waiting on a Roberts deal (conditional)...like the Bailey/Dye swap? KW can't trade Roberts and then be at the mercy of every GM in the league, he's too smart for that. I still prefer a discounted Orlando Hudson to giving up Floyd for Roberts. We can control Hudson's price for 2-3 years, and perhaps he goes to CF as a band aid for that problem. http://masnsports.com/index_blog_roch.html (Getz/Floyd for Roberts is the projected deal) Getting more interesting...apparently the Orioles are really interested in and high on Chris Getz, even going back to his Michigan days. Reading this about Getz, I don't know why, it almost makes me not want to give him up....we tend to undervalue some of our own players and overvalue players on other teams. Of course, the opposite/reverse is true for many Sox fans as well. The only thing I can think of is acquiring Roberts for Getz and Floyd, and I still think the report that KW would even consider it is bunk, especially if Roberts were a one year rental, would probably make Ramirez a future CF. It probably would mean Beckham would remain a SS, and he has said the White Sox want him to continue to play SS in the minors.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 10:46 PM) http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AuPp...p&type=lgns from Moores, who is divorcing. The economy is tough and owners of teams will have you believe owning a MLB team isn't a way to make money, yet all the teams for sale seem to find buyers. You can't sell a house, but a baseball team? No problem. I think owning a team is a little more lucrative than they want anyone to believe.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 10:50 PM) $12.2M signing bonus ($5.1M in 2008, $2.1M in 2009, $5M in 2010) 08:$9M, 09:$15M no-trade clause perks: suite on road Jones to donate $0.15M annually to club charity Very, very generous of him, only $150,000, of which he'll get 1/3rd back in a tax deduction. So he's still owed $22.1 million. The Dodgers would need to eat somewhere between $14-16 million of that before KW would think about biting on this deal for one year. If KW is willing to give a guy who has played like Jones has the past 2 seasons $6-8 million, he's insane. What's going to happen is his salary will be deferred and the Dodgers will wind up releasing him unless someone wants to give up something for a guy who made Juan Uribe look like a right handed Ted Williams in 2009. 76 strikeouts in just over 200 AB. A .249 slugging pct.? I forgot that if he is released, he'll be playing for the minimum, so maybe KW would take a chance there, but I would guess he'd go to a team that appears more of a lock to compete for a trophy especially with his current agent.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 10:15 PM) Andruw's historical numbers are worth much more than that, no matter how bad he is now. No way. He can't crack LA's line-up. He's paid more money than Bobby Abreu will get. If he does anything at all he will be gone in a season. The only thing he's worth is the hot dog vendor who yells "hot dogs" at the top of his lungs every other step he takes.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 07:49 PM) How many mid 20's pitchers making under $1,000,000 per season with his stuff are out there on the market today? I mean, we can't even get Bailey for Dye, apparently. And Bailey hasn't proven anything yet. Gavin was big down the stretch when we needed him, with the exception of his playoff start being so-so. Floyd had his 2 worst months ERA wise in August and September. He could have been tiring or maybe they were catching up to what he was doing. Danks was awful the second half of 2007 so it could be the former. I'm not sold on Floyd and I like Roberts. If he were a White Sox in 2008 and Ramirez played CF, this team would have been one of the most exciting White Sox teams ever. But even with all that, Floyd for Roberts makes zero sense for the White Sox. They don't have the major league ready pitching depth to give up another 200 innings.

I don't think there's a chance in hell Iguchi signs with the White Sox unless he wants to play in Charlotte.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 02:45 PM) In a strange way, so do I....and not just because he passed so quietly away either, barely a blip on the celebrity-obsessed radar screen. In fact, Calderon and Carlos Martinez were two of my favorite players of that era...I guess I still think of Calderon as a more talented, mercurial outfield version of Uribe...and I have fond memories of supporting the White Sox in Old Comiskey in the late 80's when you could almost have a guaranteed foul ball the number of fans in the stands was so pathetic. That's why the 1990 team will always be #1 in my heart, on par with the 2005 team. People forget what it was like to be a White Sox fan from the late 70's (with the exception of 1983) 'til the late 80's when Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, Fernandez, Bere, Alvarez, etc., all came together at almost the same time. Hawk the GM acquired Calderon for Scott Bradley. As bad as Hawk was thought of as a GM, he made a few good moves in his one season. He claimed Bonilla in the rule 5. Then traded him back to the Pirates for DeLeon, who wasn't bad and was eventually turned into the One Dog. He just inherited a team that was destined for disaster.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 02:34 PM) BTW, DeRosa is really good and I hate to have him in Cle, and the Cubs will miss him a TON. Supposedly one of the pitchers is a decent prospect. A good enough piece of crap Hendry could pawn off in a package with more garbage for an ace.

Olney said in his column today that last offseason, the biggest contract signed after the new year was Dotel for $11 million. There are a heck of a lot of pretty good players still available who are about to become desperate.

I know nothing about these pitchers. DeRosa was pretty good with the Cubs although I feel a dropoff is ahead.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 01:30 PM) You are missing some factors here, which will keep the Sox from getting that far down anytime soon... --The stadium renovations have made for a ballpark experience much greater than the Sox have ever had before --The excellent marketing programs, particularly those aimed towards families and kids, have permanently added draw --The World Series factor is still important --The Sox have really raised the amount of solid, young talent in the system the last few years, that will allow the team to be more competitive for less money in 2010 and forward --Lots of expensive contracts drop off after 2009 --The new Metra station, and the dramatically improved neighborhood aspects near the park, make the area much more appealing to casual fans --The relative recent success of the Sox - 3 divisions, 1 WS, and only one really bad season in the last 9 - has bred a new group of fans that won't all just drop off --The kids-specific marketing and park aspects that have been added are breeding many more young fans than before - and this is a huge win for the future Yes, the Sox are a team that draws based greatly on winning. But the floor is now much higher than it was. There still were a lot more empty seats in late August/ early September of this year than I'm sure the White Sox would have liked. I think maybe if the economy wasn't so bad, you would be dead on, but its something that could easily bring this team back to the mid 90's/early 2000s where even winning didn't guarantee good seats weren't available. They will be fine this season win or lose. But if they lose and they go with what they have now, I see a huge dropoff especially if a lot of people are correct and the economic situation is even worse a year from now. At least they are set up for that possibility with all the money coming off their books. They won't have to be pawning stuff off for pennies on the dollar or paying parts of contracts to unload guys.

The problem with Texas going with a 4 man rotation and training their pitchers for it, is during the course of several seasons you wind up acquiring guys from other organizations who aren't accustomed to it. How many teams have a starting rotation comprised entirely of pitchers who worked their way through their system? I think its a good idea, but it won't work unless the majority of teams hop on the bandwagon with Ryan.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 11:14 AM) A drop from 2.5 to 1.6 isn't terribly dramatic? The point is if you piss off the fans they will stop coming...in a hurry. And raising ticket prices, lowering payroll, and putting a sub-.500 team on the field is a pretty good way to piss of the fans. I'm pretty sure they have 2 million pretty much a lock for 2009. I don't know about suite renewals. That is one area that probably will take a huge hit. I do agree that they are playing with fire IF KW is being straight and they do lower payroll as much as they have. If they don't win, it will bring attendance back to "The Kids Can Play" era. Talking about being broke and asking people who are facing losing a job and/or other financial crisises for more money usually doesn't work. If the Sox don't win, the $.50 vs. $1.00 argument will be one heard by every ticket rep a year from now when the renewal rate goes bad.

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 30, 2008 -> 03:20 PM) No it was the bone spur the size of a golf ball. His 2001 injury was the triceps.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 30, 2008 -> 11:41 AM) The basic overview of the market is alot like what happend with the Cards. Teams have made offers, waited, waited, waited, their agents say they want to look at other offers because the initial offer was lower than what they wanted, the team pulls the offer. And here we are. I think all these guys are getting lowballed and no one wants to set a precedent and sign a cheaper offer. Once one or two of these guys sign for less, it will snowball.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 30, 2008 -> 09:13 AM) The lack of a floor with the luxury tax is the biggest problem I have with our existing system. If you are taking in money from the system, you should be obligated to spend it if you are turning a profit. The MLBPA will never agree to a floor. They believe if a floor is established, a ceiling would be next.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 30, 2008 -> 10:08 AM) OzzieWorld, lol? Well, David Wells was also "coaxed" out of retirement by KW, and he was/is also a former Yankee, so perhaps stranger things have happened in the history of baseball. As far as Ramirez and Dye being expected to put up similar numbers in 2009...well, I'll leave that for others to decide. It would be a huge gamble. There's no doubt about that. And I haven't even really seen the question posed to KW or Ozzie in the last 2-3 weeks, when it's become more and more obvious that no team will give him more than 2 years at $20 million plus, nor are many teams capable of dealing with "Manny Being Manny" playing on a one year deal if he's not happy with anything at all around him. However, KW and Ozzie have pretty healthy egos...I think there's a part of them that believe they could control/manage him. Whether that's true or not, I have my doubts. David Wells was a disaster from the beginning of his White Sox tenure, and Albert Belle wasn't as helpful as his statistics would indicate either. It's not quite so crazy as Bonds or Sosa...I don't know, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense, if there's a team out there willing to bite on Dye for young pitching. I would be pretty surprised if KW offered Dye for Jackson to the Rays and was turned down in favor of Matt Joyce, but stranger things have happened this offseason I suppose. If that is/was the case, maybe we're overvaluing Dye a bit...or maybe overvaluing him because he's more valuable to the White Sox because of our stadium then he would be to almost any other team in baseball. Wells wasn't coaxed out of retirement. He was coming off a big year. He didn't do too much for the White Sox, hence his $9 million option for 2002 was declined, but KW only gave up a whole lot of garbage to get him. Wells actually started out fairly well, pitching a great game in Min. IIRC, but his back couldn't handle it and he was back with the Yankees the next season. Ozzie has been on record about Manny saying he wouldn't fit in with the White Sox. Also, there was a report from someone in Boston at the trade deadline, that Boston offerred Manny to KW for Ken Griffey Jr. hours after he acquired him. I have no idea if its true but a Boston radio station did report it. They probably have their share of Offman's as well.

It really doesn't matter what the team looks like now as far as what it will look like on opening day, and maybe KW feels he has a much better chance of pulling off whatever his plan is by not being in the news. What does hurt the White Sox now is the fan who has been contemplating buying season tickets for a few years. Saying you're slashing payroll and going with young guys who have failed before doesn't sell season ticket packages. Of course if his big moves are made a month or two from now, those packages could be sold then, but you always risk that money that was going to be spent on White Sox tickets being spent on something else. Maybe the fan decides, I'll get a big plasma and home theater system instead and watch Hawk and Stone.

Everyone who hates the Yankees for spending all this money, saying its bad for the game, would think the owner of their favorite team was the greatest if he shelled out this type of cash for players. The Yankees had $85 million coming off the books and are moving into a new stadium. What did everyone think was going to happen? The only thing that shocks me is they don't appear like they will add Manny as well.

I doubt SF would want Paulie's contract. I think he's worth more to the White Sox than most teams. The Sox have to have some offense in 2009.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 27, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) They have Brett Gardner waiting in their system. He apparently is very, very fast, draws a lot of walks, and has good plate discipline; just a few things that make a leadoff hitter. They also have Austin Jackson, who is very athletic, from what I've read. You don't spend over $400 million on free agents and then promptly entrust your leadoff job to a rookie, although I suppose they could move Jeter back to the top.

QUOTE (jenks45monster @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 04:36 PM) Gracias. No doubt about it their best bet is to trade either Matsui or Damon. I can't see them getting much in return for either of them, though. They won't trade Damon, they need a leadoff guy and he was pretty productive in 2008. Matsui they would love to trade, but they would have to eat a lot of contract to do that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 12:52 PM) Just because things aren't being done correctly/legally in our current system doesn't mean that it's impossible for things to work correctly/legally in a totally different system. Part of the reason why these online gaming things are loaded with scams right now is the fact that they're forced to go to great lengths (run outside the country, etc) just to exist. There is therefore little regulation of the fairness of those games, because they've already ducked out of the country to places that aren't going to regulate their right to exist. It wasn't the site that was doing the scamming, it was numbers of guys working together to snag money. You could be at one of those poker tables with 4 other players who may be on the phone with each other. Its pretty hard to win money that way and all their money is basically pooled. One of the guys accused is a former WSOP champion, but because of it being international, they can't really do much to him but they estimated he and his group have basically stolen 10's of millions of dollars from gambling addicts.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 12:45 PM) http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson...lization-122308 I don't know how I feel about this... personally I'd rather see the legalization, regulation and taxation of prostitution, on-line gambling, sports gambling and here in Illinois firework sales, before marijuana. Imagine if the US government, similar to the Casino licenses here in Illinois, put up to auction 3-4 on-line gambling licenses. How many hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars would be spent to get those licenses and in addition, at a 40% tax rate (which I believe is the gambling operator profit tax rate) how much revenue that would generate and how many new "high-tech" jobs it would create. Too many scams for on-line gambling. I watched some expose on current on line gambling and people are getting played.