Dick Allen

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.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 03:21 PM) I don't know where you got the idea that Swisher was 'my boy', but I feel obligated to inform you that he isn't. I was incredibly disappointed in him last year. However, despite this disappointment, I feel that he's a good candidate to bounce back, especially given how amazingly unlucky he was last year (and no, Morneau was not unlucky last year; his .312 BABIP was above the league average but in line with where it should have been given his LD%). However, MVP voters (and fans) continuously tout Justin Morneau as an elite talent and one of the best players in baseball. Unfortunately, this isn't true. He's an above average player who happens to be lucky enough to be hitting behind the best contact hitter in baseball, but is not an elite talent alone. He finished the season 12th in VORP and 15th in OPS (American League rankings). He was tied for 18th in home runs with only 23 (which shouldn't matter, but is worth mentioning since his mythical power isn't really there), and only had a high number of RBI because of his major league high 400 AB with runners on (and league high 558 runners on). Morneau even ranked 10th in the AL in OBI% (other batted in, which is basically the percent of runners on that were driven in), slightly behind other MVP candidates like Carlos Quentin (9th) and Kevin Youkilis (8th). Interestingly enough, David DeJesus led the AL in this with 21% of runners on driven in. More importantly, Morneau completely disappeared down the stretch when his team needed him the most. He hit .267/.350/.481/.831 after the All-Star break when his team needed him the most. This includes his amazing .243/.298/.398/.696 line in September, which has already been mentioned by just about anyone arguing against him as a candidate. I'm not saying Morneau is a bad offensive player. He had a good season, and was above average. However, the majority of sports writers (and fans apparently) seem to think that he's one of the best offensive players in the league and easily the best player on his team. They are wrong (which Rob Neyer covers the case for Joe Mauer pretty well here). In that sense, Justin Morneau is overrated. Feel free to bash me and tell me that my apparent man-crush on Nick Swisher is just blinding me, but it doesn't change the fact that Morneau is not one of the elite offensive players in the league and should not have been in the top 5 for MVP voting this year or in 2006. If you want to prove me wrong, feel free, but it certainly shouldn't include anything about my opinion of Nick Swisher (which isn't really my opinion in the first place). You didn't say Morneau was overrratee, ou said Morneau was the most overrated player in baseball. Period. You can try to spin your error anyway you want, but he's not. He's driven in 370 runs the last 3 seasons. There are a lot of players more overrated than a guy who puts 3 seasons like that together. Maybe he was just incredibly unlucky when he made outs. You know the argument you made for Swisher.

I'd like the White Sox to start collecting some players who can really run and make decent contact, maybe can even drop down a bunt. Hinske had an unexpected decent year. I think he'd be a waste of space.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 11:48 AM) He led the majors in at bats with runners on.. there is no reason he shouldn't have gotten as many RBI as he did. Fact of the matter is that he choked down the stretch when his team needed him the most. Whether you look at it from a statistical viewpoint (12th in the AL in VORP, 15th in OPS) or from the opinion that the MVP should have been the most valuable to his team (again, not Morneau given his choke job down the stretch), Morneau simple wasn't the caliber of player that an MVP should be. Simply put, if you aren't the best (or most valuable) player on your own team, there is absolutely no way you should be considered for MVP of the league. You called him the most overrated player in baseball. That wasn't enough, you emphasised it with Period. Your wrong. Maybe he was like your boy Swisher most of the season and just extremely unlucky down the stretch. The bottom line is he's a good player. Not nearly as overrated as you boy Nick.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 10:34 AM) as did raul ibanez Valentin junked if for a season I think.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 10:26 AM) My feeling is that they will try to trade DeJesus. He can be susceptible to injuries, he's not a CFer, he can't hit for enough power to play the corners, he's getting into that stage where he is overpaid for what he brings to a small market team...like Johnny Damon Lite. The Royals parted ways with Beltran, Damon and Dye when they became too successful, holding onto one-time franchise player and most popular Royal Mike Sweeney. I don't think DeJesus will be there long-term...Moore knows he's a complementary player on a great team, not a superstar. DeJesus signed a 5 year $13.8 million contract prior to the 2006 season. There is also an option for 2011. If Nick Swisher's contract is "reasonable" his is a downright bargain.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 07:38 PM) Justin Morneau is the most overrated player in baseball. Period. Congrats to CQ, hopefully he tops it next year. I'll take overrated .300 hitters with power who drive in 130 runs any day of the week. If Swisher put up the exact same numbers many on this board would be on suicide watch if he wasn't the unanimous MVP pick.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 08:21 AM) Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I wonder how many times Joey has gotten interviews and failed? He really wanted this job. He was jockeying heavily for it. (If someone looks like he can jockey, its Joey) He had Ozzie, KW and JR call on his behalf. The Mariners have a chance to actually be decent in time. I think Joey will eventually land a job where he's doomed to get fired after a couple seasons of losing. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, something like that.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Nov 18, 2008 -> 06:50 PM) I have absynth sitting on my shelf right now, taunting me Its not the real stuff. Its probably the slimmed down version. The real stuff is still illegal I believe, here and most of Europe. I was in Amsterdam and they were touting it, but it wasn't the real stuff. I think you can find it in Prague.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 01:29 PM) If they ever have an MLB channel (well I guess directtv does, but a national one) than I believe it would be cool if they televised things like AFL games and other random big minor league games where two stud prospects are battling, etc. I'm pretty sure the MLB channel is coming in January. Its supposedly one place DJ may work.