Dick Allen

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?

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:16 PM) One Down year! One! Have you even paid attention to Swisher other then what you saw last year? Last year was so statistically abnormal that it be attributed to bad luck. Nonthing prior to last year ever suggested that Swisher's as bad as last year implied. Swisher, is a good hitter, his disipline is an asset. just becuase you don't like what you see doesn't mean it doesn't have value. He's a .244 career hitter with a strikeout in less than every 4 AB. Maybe you like guys who bat 7th and the best thing they will give you is a walk in front of the teams 2 weakest hitters. I aim higher.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 07:10 PM) Or they'll blame the abnormally low .249 BABIP he had last year which still resulted in a .743 OPS. That's okay though, keep thinking what you want. I love the unlucky argument. The guy struck out how many times? So unlucky. I watched most of the games. I didn't find anything unusual about his luck. Guys that aren't good hitters have low BABIP.

Swisher cannot be the Yankees everyday firstbaseman. If he really is and I was one of the people who bought the 850,000 suites or the 2500 a game seats, I'd tell Hank and Hal they have some explaining to do.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 06:56 PM) Out of players with at least 250 PA's, Swisher outslugged only Michael Bourn on the road. Quentin led the AL, but was 8th in the MLB. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/battin...&qual=false The Swisher apologists don't care. They blame the White Sox for his struggles. Why did the play him in CF that's what screwed him up some say? Well, in 2007 he played more games in CF than any other position.

I heard the reason Wood is now an ex-Cub is because he wants a 4 year contract. A straight jacket and a rubber room should be issued to anyone who gives him one.

Betimet probably takes Uribe's place. He's built like him. The minor league pitchers are throw ins who at one time were considered to have a shot. The key to the deal is the $24 million they now don't have to pay Swisher over the next 3 years. This way of trading is the best way to get some value for a guy who has regressed and has nowhere to play on the current White Sox team. They take the savings and bring in other players, either taking money on with a trade or signing FA's. What if they signed Juan Cruz and Henry Blanco with Swisher's money? You still would have some cash left and Blanco, Cruz, Betimet and a couple of minor league pitchers would be a pretty good haul for a guy who hit .219 and couldn't get AB's in front of DeWayne Wise during the stretch.

I think this is in part a salary dump. KW will be taking on some salary soon. Almost a Carlos Lee/Pods deal, the difference being Lee actually could hit.

QUOTE (Sox It To Em @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:20 PM) Could the acquisition of Nunez be a precursor to a trade involving Jenks? No way. This guy is still in AA, 23 years old with his 4th organization. I really doubt they expect him to be in Chicago this year.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:17 PM) did you not happen to see giambi's stache all year? That's all the Yankees will allow.