Dick Allen

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.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:14 PM) Swish is gonna have a tough time in New York. That goofy facial hair ain't gonna fly with the Yankees and if he gets off to a slow start on the field but keeps up his wacky act off the field the fans and media will destroy him. His facial hair days are done. He can only have a moustache with the Yankees.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:12 PM) I'm going to look at it from the other side of the coin. While I'm not thrilled with the value we just got for Swisher, if Williams hung onto Nick, and he had a 2009 similar to 2008, the posts of "Williams had too much pride to show that he made a mistake" would be out in full force. Williams missed on Swisher. It was a fantastic idea on paper, but Swisher didn't come close to his Oakland numbers. Williams decided to cut his losses, and move on. Its like trading stocks and commodities, the quicker you are willing to realize you made a mistake and move on from it, the better.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:08 PM) My problem isn't even this trade. Although we did sell low, getting rid of Swish in general is something I have no problem with. The problem is the fact we traded what was left of the farm to get him last winter. Even had we got the Swish we expected to get in that trade, we overpaid. But considering what we got out of Swish and got for him today, that trade is perhaps the worst one in KW's tenure considering what we gave up (nothing) in other bad KW trades in the past. All the high hopes that Swisher brought, even the fantasy guy at espn.com was saying 40 homers 130 rbi, and to get what the Sox got, has to be dissappointing. I have a feeling KW suspects Swisher's success earlier in his career may be related to something else.

QUOTE (G&T @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:06 PM) Garland for OC was not a massive bust. Maybe not technically, but I get where he's coming from. KW wanted to sign OC right after he traded for him. Once he got to know him, he couldn't wait until he left. Supposedly OC had a lot of disagreements in the clubhouse. Not to mention KW may have had an opportunity to move Garland for a guy that would have been around more than one season.

KW had to trade Swisher. Another bad start or bad season and he would have been an albatross. It appears Betimet will replace Uribe and be the back-up at all IF positions. The pitchers don't excite me, but there's probably just as good of chance they are useful at some point as there is of Swisher hitting .250 and striking out less than 130 times.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 04:00 PM) Betemit has a lot of power potential and can play any IF position. Low OBP, strikeout out a ton. Has some power.He's basically Swisher without the walks, or Uribe without the glove.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 03:56 PM) Anyone know stuff about Jhonny Nunez? Well he's in AA and the White Sox will be his 4th organization.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 13, 2008 -> 03:52 PM) Also this means that KW is going to target a CF now, I've got no doubt about that. That's nothing new. He already ruled out Swisher playing CF a couple of weeks ago.

Its amazing how bad Swisher was and how much slack he continues to get. He hit .219. He fanned at an incredible clip. He hit below .200 after the AS break. He couldn't beat out Wise for playing time when Quentin went down.

There has to be something else although Swisher was god awful and still has $24 million left on his "reasonable" contract. If this "prospect" is all they got back, the Swisher trade of last winter probably will go down as KW's worst so far.

One other thing to keep in mind with Dye, if he plays 2009 with the White Sox and the option is exercised, he'd be a 5 and 10 guy.