Dick Allen

The White Sox have increased ticket prices by a pretty good percentage on their better seats. Given the current state of the economy, I think this means they will be throwing some money around this offseason. I don't think they would increase prices and make you watch Owens in CF, Fields at 3rd, Nix at 2B all at the same time.

Basically all this move does is opens up a spot to protect someone else in the rule 5 or take another player in the rule 5.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 04:20 PM) would we get picks then? No.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 04:12 PM) If he accepts aribtration we don't get a draft pick AND we can only cut his pay by 20%. All of that for maybe 2nd round pick. Definitely not worth the risk if the Sox don't want Juan. I think people should look at the draft year after year and see how many guys drafted in the first couple of rounds who get million dollar plus signing bonuses and never amount to anything. The Sox would lose arbitration if they tried to cut his salary as well.

No surprise. MacDougal loses his spot on the 40 man roster.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 03:18 PM) Why is it when we are talking about potential trade value of our players they are always worthless, until we actually do trade one of them and we never get enough for them? Its the catch 22. According to some here, you aren't supposed to trade a guy when his value is low, but if you trade a guy when his value is high and his numbers are great and he's helping the team win, your sanity will be questioned as well. Personally, I like KW ridding his team of players who don't perform.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 01:49 PM) Still if you compare who we drafted in 2008 compared to say 2006 with Beckham, Danks and Upchurch up against Kyle McCullough, money isn't exactly the end all to be all, if you can find and draft the right players. I think when the dust settles on the 2008 draft, it will be Gordon Beckham and a bunch of minor league filler. I'm not sold on Danks although he has hit ever since he signed. Picking KW's son as high as they did shows there still is a problem with the system.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 01:49 PM) Rasmus is far too hyped by that org, but you are right in stating that they will never give him up or it would take a lot more than his true value to get him. If the White Sox had a 20 year old who put up the numbers he did in AA in 2007 he would be incredibly hyped. Just reading this board, one would probably be shocked if Poreda isn't a HOFer. Rasmus was hurt a lot in 2008, but this guy is quite a player. I don't think STL has had any thought of trading him, but if Dye and Javy get the job done, it may be worth it to get him and sign some free agents.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 12:44 PM) Keith Law's take I have the feeling Swisher will flame out in NY and Billy Beane will pick him up for next to nothing with the Yankees eating a lot of the contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 12:22 PM) The last paragraph on Nunez is the exact thing that Coop preaches. He could be an interesting darkhorse to this deal. We heard the same thing about Jacob Rasner. Nick Masset was supposed to be a stud. David Aardsma turned a corner with the Cubs. If the Sox get anything from these 2 pitchers, its total gravy. Getting rid of Swisher before his contract goes from reasonable as some here say, to untradeable without eating most of it is something for KW to hang his hat on.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 11:50 AM) I think at least now they're taking steps to rectify that, and our draft haul this year was probably the best it's been for about 5 seasons at least. Still I'd like to get them more involved in Latin America. The White Sox ranked 23rd in shelling out bonus money for the 2008 draft. Not that I think its being cheap, I think most of these picks get way too much money, but it is the way the game is played. If you really want a nice system you have to put your money where your mouth is.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 10:29 AM) Joe Cowley gets his arson job in... http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox14.article If any White Sox was really friendly to Cowley with all the BS he writes, it would raise an eyebrow for me. I expect hatchet jobs on every player who leaves from this hack. I also think the White Sox put up with some of his BS on twitter etc. because they know this "inside scoop reaming" will come and will help with the fanbase on trades that are deemed not so popular. I wasn't a Nick Swisher fan, but it is understandable for a guy who was as bad as he was to be down if he has any pride in his performance. The "pouting" when he wasn't playing didn't bother me either. I'd rather have a bunch of guys who wonder why they aren't playing than a bunch of guys who have no problem sitting out all the time. I wonder why Cowley thinks its wrong for a guy to want to play. I'm sure Cowley already has his piece written for when OC signs elsewhere.

All I know is Nick Swisher had an OBP 16 points lower than Luis Terrero had in 2007. He also had an OPS only 19 points higher. Terrero was released. Swisher was owed at least $22 million. No one complained when Terrero was jettisoned. Swisher is awful. I don't blame him for being upset when he didn't play. I would think guys that didn't care if they played or not would be a bigger problem. He had no position. Betimet may be able to help out a little bit. Maybe one of the pitchers shocks the world and develops into something useful. The money is the big part. It will be used for something else. KW cut his losses.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 10:00 PM) Nobody wanted Swisher SUPER badly, Which is shocking considering how unlucky he was last season and his very reasonable contract. Even though I am a critic of his and don't understand how some people think every move he makes is gold, I am very proud of KW for cutting his losses quickly. He traded 2 pitching prospects and a major league ready player for Swisher and that's what he got back. I wonder if that's coincidence.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 08:09 PM) I don't know if it's been posted already, but here's a scouting report on Marquez... I think he has a chance to be a decent starter in the league, if that scouting report is indeed accurate. http://mariners.scout.com/a.z?s=318&p=2&c=347065 Its a scouting report from 2005. It has his ETA as 2007. I'm thinking he hasn't lived up to the report. KW has hit the jackpot on a few pitchers, he's also crapped out on several. I think expecting either of the 2 guys acquired today to be contributors in 2009 is a reach.

Daily Herald Sox beat writer Scott Gregor's take: I really liked Nick Swisher during his one-year stay with the White Sox, but it was a bad fit. Playing a game where failure occurs daily, Swisher was fine and dandy when things were going good _ mainly on a personal level. But when he was going bad, like in April, May, July, August and September, Swisher tended to withdraw. At the end of his one and only season on the South Side, Swisher resembled a soldier who had served one tour of duty too many, and there was no way Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was going to put him on the field. Knowing Swisher, he's going to be outwardly pumped up about Thursday's trade to the Yankees. Deep down, maybe Swisher knows New York is the worst place he can go. If Swisher thinks the Chicago media and fans push the negatives too far, he hasn't seen anything yet. The Yankees are always being poked and prodded, and the heat figures to be turned up even higher after the Bombers failed to make the playoffs this season for the first time since 1993. Good luck in the pinstripes, Nick.

QUOTE (That funky motion @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:57 PM) Wow, I thought all MLB players have ins. The last 5 years or so, its become hard to get and very expensive.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:46 PM) I do not like the fact that he is resembling Matt Stairs or Prince Fielder already. He needs to get his butt in shape. His agent said he was in great shape. Although looking at his agent, Refrigerator Perry looks like a marathon runner.

Well if this guy is supposed to be MLB ready and play 3B next season, KW just said Betimet and Fields are his thirdbasemen. They said some teams were looking at him as a RF, and Dye is supposedly being shopped. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............................

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:45 PM) -Dotel goes from 5Mil to 6Mil next season. -Linebrink goes from 4 to 4.5 next season -MacDougal jumps from 1.95 to 2.65 -Thornton jumps from 875K to 1.325 -AJ jumps from 5.85 to 6.25 -Lexi goes from 950K to 1.1 next season.(There are also bonuses in his deal, which I'm sure he met a bunch of them) -JD jumps from 9.5 to 11.5 That's about $6.5 million. Quentin will get a few more dollars, but there is money to add players, and KW will probably still trade one or two or three who are making money. Also, a couple of home playoff games adds a little cash in the coffer.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:33 PM) For any trade to be compared to the Carlos Lee deal proves it was terrible. I wouldn't expect a starting pitcher through FA, nor would I want one. We're better off holding on Vazquez and plugging Richard into the lineup. You're going to be disappointed if you believe all the money from Crede/Uribe/Swishers departure will be used for FA. Does anyone know how much our payroll is increasing over last season? A significant portion of that money may go towards the raises of players currently on the ballclub. Dye, Konerko, Vazquez, Buerhle, Contreras, all will make about the same amount of cash. The only players getting fairly big bumps will be Thome, if Philadelphia isn't eating some more contract and Jenks. Everyone else is relatively minor. Swisher $5 million Uribe $4.5 million Crede $5 million Hall $2 million Cabrera $9 million Thats $25 million. Considering they were willing to bust the budget for Torii Hunter, there should be plenty of money to play with.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:30 PM) Not really, unless you are saying Uribe had a higher batting average than Swisher which is a fact, not an opinion. As a whole, Swisher was a more effective player than Uribe last year. Swisher's .595 road OPS was stellar. I can't understand why the White Sox would want to get out of the $22 million he's owed the next 3 years.

I heard there was none. BTW, the Mets don't have any on Billy Wagner.

I can't believe KW compared Marquez to Jon Garland. When Garland was his age he had 250 more IP in the major leagues than Marquez has in the minors.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:17 PM) That explains why his BABIP was significantly lower than it ever was in his career, right? Also: Juan Uribe had a .287 BABIP last year. Uribe hit the ball better than Swisher. Do you not agree?