Dick Allen

According to every article written about the Mets and their pursuit of a closer, Jenks is about 6th on their list. Supposedly Jenks' price is very high, they would rather get one of the big FA if they can get them for less than 4 years, or go after Wood or Hoffman. Then Putz. Jenks is after them. So KW is asking for the moon, and maybe Levine is just talking about the asking price.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 08:20 AM) You do realize that Swisher had 497 at bats last year and what you’re asking is completely irrational from a layman’s perspective, right? How about this there are people whose job it is to chart every ball that is hit in one season of Major League baseball. It was those people who upon analyze their results decided Swisher was unlucky. It was all based on his .251 BABIP. Supposedly, that makes him very unlucky. Well good news, the guy that had a better year than him anyway, the guy who people wanted gone so Swisher can flail away at 58 foot sliders in the dirt and then watch the next pitch go by right down the middle, Paul Konerko, had a .247 BABIP. He was even more unlucky.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 06:04 AM) Even if the sox wind up trading Dye, Jenks, Vazquez, hell, even Konerko, they aren't rebuilding in the sense of writing off 2009. They are trying to compete in 2009 and for the long term by getting younger, better players with upside. This is like the Twins plus. The Twins build around Morneau and Mauer, with strong pitching, defense and contact hitters. The sox can build around Quentin and Alexei, and now Viciedo, and Beckham, with strong pitching, solid defense and guys who can hit for avg and power, and still run the bases some. If the sox add a Fernando Martinez to the mix, that's a very strong core to have in place for years. If the sox add a Pelfrey and Edwin Jackson, to Buerhle, Danks, Floyd, and Poreda, with a variety of bullpen arms, that's a strong starting pitching staff as well that can compete for a few years. Also remember that if the trade all those guys for young players, they will be adding payroll somewhere. They raised ticket prices. They have always said what goes in comes out. They wouldn't trim $30 million to $40 off their payroll, raise ticket prices and call it a day after a Central Division title. No way. There is something very big coming.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 06:57 AM) I read this article yesterday, it doesn't say anywhere that there was a better offer somewhere else. Chicago’s willingness to put Viciedo in an open competition pushed them past three other teams, Torres said, one of which was offering more than $11 million. Viciedo’s familiarity with Ramirez, as well as the presence of Cuban Jose Contreras, helped sway him toward the White Sox. Of course he doesn't say how much more, so it could be $1, it could be even more significant.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 09:05 PM) He had so many RBI's because he was a man child during those opportunities... RISP Morneau: .348/.443/.602 Pedroia: .307/.365/.466 RISP w/2 outs Morneau: .329/.461/.573 Pedroia: .231/.355/.359 Runners On Morneau: .330/.418/.574 Pedroia: .310/.367/.453 Hey Felix, How do you explain these numbers? The most overrated player in baseball. Period. hits like this with runners on?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 04:43 PM) Martinez is similar to what Felix Pie was a few years back though so I would not be happy with just those two, but those could be the cornerstones. Martinez has a ton of talent but a lot of his value is still based upon projections as he's yet to even come close to backing that up in the minors (albeit he's consistently been young for his level and has still put up solid stats). So ultimately Martinez is still a very "risky" prospect in the sense that I'd be hard pressed to guarantee success. It seems most Mets phenom OFs don't become the stars they were supposed to be.

Steve Stone in his blog says he expects a couple of trades to come up rather quickly and a couple of acquisitions to come up really quickly. He is a grammatical mess, so I don't know if trades and acquisitions are one and the same or if its a couple of trades and a couple of signings.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 04:19 PM) If Dye leaves, is Griffey coming back? It wouldn't be shocking

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 04:04 PM) I will shocked if one person changes their opinion of Joe Crede (good or bad) based on the contract he gets this off season. The only way that changes if he comes out and rips the White Sox for some reason this winter or spring. There have been plenty of posts mentioning Boras as Joe's agent and there has been some rips, so he is right to a certain degree about how Boras' clients are viewed by the majority here. He is incorrect about how most view players who left for bigger money. I think most of us would take the extra millions. I laugh at all those who have ripped ARod for signing with Texas saying he wanted money over winning. They offered him $100 million more than anyone else. If he didn't take it, he'd have been a moron. If you looked at opinions about Crede in 2005-6 and compare them to now, they are pretty different.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 03:47 PM) I was listening to ESPN Radio yesterday and they were mentioning how people close to the Mets are hinting that David Wright is available for trade. I"d give up an arm and a leg to have him and Quentin in the same lineup for a number of years. Minaya would be out of his mind to trade Wright. Considering money shouldn't be an object to the Mets, trading him is insane.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 03:41 PM) Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous, remember when we almost traded Dye to Boston but didn't because we weren't going to get the value we wanted for him? Baseball is a business, you can take your feel good s*** where you stick with players past their peak value and think to yourself a year from now what you were thinking and I'll take my stance of being proactive. I love Jermaine Dye, but we've got to do what's best for the team. I'm so so so so soooooooooooooo happy you dont run the White Sox. Its not like he's being kicked to the curb either. He's still under the same contract. Goes to a young team that won a lot of games and gets to hang out with Dave Wills.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 03:32 PM) Then that would help KW to follow my best advice, f*** Manny. I'm not a fan of Manny. Why? Aren't you a proponent of what is done on the field is really all that matters? You can't argue his numbers. So what if he doesn't try all the time, right? He still puts up bigger numbers going half-assed than almost everyone else at full steam. BTW, zero chance is probably too high a figure to place on Manny being a White Sox.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 01:42 PM) Was this the Spanish name you heard? Yes. Juan Itwasonthescore. AA pitcher. Has a great sinker.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 01:40 PM) I am not really up to speed on Heilman other than he has pitched for the Mets and is not a stand out on their staff. Jenks would be their second most productive pitcher IMO. For Heilman to not be able to start for them over the crap they throw out there tells me all I need to know. Jackson for Dye is a terrible move. Why? It frees up a ton of cash, and Jackson wasn't bad last season, and will probably get better if 25% of his starts arent' against Boston and the Yankees.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) wait. Why would we do this? I agee, I don't understand that. Heilman wants to be a starter. Unless that something else is something huge like Beltran, it makes no sense.

Levine saying its Dye for Jackson. Don't know if its close.

One thing is if KW trades Dye for something relatively cheap it would mean he has his eye on something relatively expensive. They payroll is not going to go down.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:29 PM) But isn't there a club option in that contract (Dye's) for 2010 as well...??? And a $1 million buyout? Furcal to SS, if we can't get a better CF (like Taveras), then we move Ramirez out there and let Getz/Nix/Betemit fight it out for 2B. OR we trade for Roberts, sign Furcal, Ramirez goes to CF and we have the most amazing offseason in recent memory... But I prefer pairing Furcal and Ramirez up the middle and not giving Alexei on the job training for yet another position...not to mention the adverse affect it might have on his offense. The mutual option for Dye is pretty moot IMO. TB trains in FL. I think JD lives in Phoenix. If his play warrants that size contract, I doubt he'd stay there. On the other hand if he stayed with the White Sox, and the option was exercised, he would be a 5/10 guy. So the White Sox couldn't exercise it to trade him. If the Sox could get Edwin Jackson straight up and not throw any money TB's way, I say do it. Jackson was no great shakes but his record and ERA where better than Vazquez's and he gets paid nothing. He also had 9 starts against NYY and BOS. I don't know how the season ticket sales are going in TB, but I doubt they will be drawing 30k a game in 2009, although they probably made a ton of money with the extra playoff games. I don't see why they would be adding a ton of salary. Maybe KW is willing to eat some, but as someone pointed out earlier, that would be something new.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:16 PM) Because it would cost something like 4 years and $50 million to get Furcal here. Plus he would have to adjust to the AL and you don't know how his back is going to hold up. That said, if the Sox signed Furcal today, I would love the move.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:07 AM) I love the double secret loyalty tests. "We're going to close early today, if you are done with your work, you can go home." "Look at them, obviously not team players. Let's get rid of them!" Did you see one of the reasons Penny's option wasn't picked up by the Dodgers? He didn't hang around for the playoffs. Its more like when your boss "suggests" you work some overtime. You don't have to, but its best you take his/her advice.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:20 AM) I heard that there was some sobbing. Then KW is winning. I think KW is the Chuck Norris of MLB GMs.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:18 AM) No details yet, but they say talks are getting rather heated. Are the GMs screaming at each other?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 09:58 AM) Don't forget El Duque the reliever in 2005. A guy who was basted on this board. I remember being at a game in August against the Angels where he was booed off the mound. Also a guy KW didn't want on the post season roster. There were no tears when he was traded for Javy. In fact, he's rarely mentioned on this board as being part of the Javy trade. He helped Contreras out tremendously. Contreras then helped Ramirez out. Hopefully, Ramirez and Contreras can steer this new kid right. There have been some Cuban busts. Maybe there is something to having another player they respect from their country and who know exactly what they are going through to help them along.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 20, 2008 -> 02:19 PM) So we're at 37 now, which means we can make 3 more acquisitions before designating someone for assignment. My guess is a team such as Washington or Florida may make a claim at acquiring Whisler. I guess Richard doing what he did at the end of last season was the end for Wes. Wes is batting practice against major league hitters. If anyone drafts him, he will be offered back to the White Sox next spring. KW may just say keep him.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 04:04 PM) I still have yet to see an argument that claims another player is more overrated than Morneau. I stand by that belief until I'm proven wrong. Your mention of RBIs hardly proves me wrong, but merely shows that you're using a poor stat to pad your argument. That's fine, but don't expect to convince me that way. You also apparently continue to hang on this 'unlucky' business, even though it isn't relevant at all. The argument that I made for Swisher is completely different than the one for Morneau based on one key component: statistically, Morneau was right where he should have been while Swisher was well below where he should have been. Feel free to continue to harp over it without actually looking at the numbers, but it's obviously pointless for me to talk about it since you simply don't accept it. If that's the case there is no point for you to continuously mention in. That didn't stop Morneau from winning it in 2006, when he was the third best player on his own team. What was Morneau's BABIP for September? Looked it up, .256. Would he just be unlucky like Swisher instead of overrated and sucks? You seem to make that an all important and telling stat. I can think of a lot of players far more overrated. Jason Varitek, Derek Jeter, Ivan Rodriquez, Derek Lee. Where someone ranks on the MVP list is not indicative of how they are rated. There is more that goes into the MVP voting than pure stats.