Dick Allen

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 20, 2008 -> 08:41 AM) I was thinking about him the other day, he was mentioned to be available on mlbtraderumors.com. Last I remember of him, his velocity was down around the time that he was traded due to a shoulder problem, if he is closing now he must have regained it. The problem with getting him is Bowden wants about as much for his players as Chuck LaMar used to want for his.

Someone else KW supposedly has an eye on: Ladson also reports that the White Sox and Rays are scouting closer Jon Rauch. Rauch, you may recall, came up as a starter with the Sox and was traded to the Expos in '04. Kenny Williams made that deal with Omar Minaya.

Street hasn't been very good this year. I think he has 5 blown saves and has given up plenty of runs. If something knocks Jenks out, I would prefer Dotel close. He's usually unhittable. But maybe there is something wrong with Linebrink. He hasn't pitched in quite a long time. I just saw the thread on the arm fatigue. Arm fatigue 38 innings into the season has to be a concern. Couple that with Jenks coming off an injury most likely equals KW looking for a big time reliever, and while Street has definitely struggled this year, there is no question he fits that criteria.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 19, 2008 -> 07:18 PM) Does anybody get the sense that tomorrow is a must win now? Definitely. If they lose tomorrow and Minnesota wins, the Sox will be 0.5 games out with only 65 to play. No way can they make that up. KW should be selling parts at the deadline and calling up half of Charlotte's roster to get some experience.

I am an Iowa alum, and if the letter is accurate and Barta, Ferentz et al. lied to this girl, I hope all of them are looking for work. Protecting rapists to me should be a crime itself. I just hope she can somehow move on from this and overcome or at least be able to deal with all that comes with it. I also hope she sues the pants off the University and gets a settlement that sends a message. The Iactions of the Iowa officials with whom she dealt, if the letter is accurate, is beyond sickening.

With a great defense and Hester, the Bears offense should have some great field position this year. They won't have to be all that stellar to put points on the board. I'd rather have Harris think the Bears were going to the Super Bowl than think they will be in 3rd or 4th place in the division.

Chances are Crede isn't coming back. What should worry Sox fans is his designated replacement, Josh Fields, has stunk up AAA this season, and apparently either keeps getting banged up or has an injury he can't shake.

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 06:07 PM) I foolishly decided that anonymity is not for me. Not for me either.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 04:43 PM) I personally believe #7 should be retired, and the announcement should be at Wrigley on January 1st. Yeah. Pit Martin had a great Blackhawk career.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 04:28 PM) Keep the blinders on all year if you want but as of 07/18/08 I think we can all agree that Paul Konerko has had a miserable season. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. The problem I have is he hasn't been healthy so its really not fair or intelligent to write off his career based on his play while he had a bad hand or for a couple of games after sitting with an oblique problem. He did have a down year last year, but it really wasn't that horrible and so did just about every White Sox. So his "downward trend" is based on a season the whole team was down and he still put up decent numbers, and half a season of playing injured. Its beyond silly.

The bottom line is booing Konerko would be a classless act. If you have no class, and must boo, by all means boo. Its just a shame that all White Sox fans, at least nationally will be lumped in with the drunken knuckleheads that wouldn't say squat to Paulie's face.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 11:27 AM) Who exactly are you responding to? You quote me but argue points that I never stated. What chart exactly? What do owens and fields have to do with konerko? What does jermaine dye have to do with this discussion? Are you saying he had a down year last year followed by a good one this year? Not sure how that compares to konerko at all. Maybe if dye was hitting barely above the mendoza line you would have a valid point. I'm still searching for the post where I said swish had a huge year..... Did he have a better year than Konerko, yes, is he entering his prime, yes, that's pretty much all anyone has said. If you want to make a point in this discussion, please enlighten us to how konerko's numbers do not suggest regression, that can be your starting point. So you're running away from all of your posts last year saying how Owens was only going to get better. Richar was only going to get better. Fields was only going to get better. All of your posts where you mention "the wrong side of 30" are also silly. 30 isn't old for a baseball player.My point is Konerko is 32, to take his down year when he was 31 and saying that he has peaked and its obvious he's going into the tank is argued using Dye, a guy who had a down year when he was 33 and seems to have comeback fine. Using the regression charts in your mind, Dye should have been considered toast after last year. Konerko has been hurt this entire year. Get it through your skull. You need to throw away this year's numbers up until now. Please enlighten me as to how Swisher's numbers wouldn't indicate regression. By your chart, I mean the career curve you actually think you know everyone will take, even though you are almost always wrong, he would be on the upswing. Maybe I'm missing something from his performance.

On RCN, they show one game in HD. Its pretty sweet.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 09:43 AM) So he's been in a 2 year slump? Come on. We all want Paulie to succeed, but it obvious at this point his production has seen its peak. And once again, Swish is about to enter his prime, we havent even seen his peak yet. Because Paulie had a down year last year? Didn't JD? Isn't he about the same age or older than Konerko. How do you know you haven't seen Swisher's peak? You thought Jerry Owens, Richar and Fields were guys that had to be playing this year. They were only going to get better. Konerko is fine when healthy. I'll take a .259 avg. with a .350 OBP with 30 homers and 90 rbi in a "bad season" anytime. Is Swisher did that, he would be considered godly around here. Paulie's "slump" of 2007 .259 31 homers 91 rbi .351 OBP Swisher's "huge" 2006 35 homers 95 rbi .254 avg. .372 OBP. About the same, and I would take Swisher's 2006 over his 2007 which I would take over his 2008. But he's going to a peak, Konerko is falling off the ledge. OK. Dye is 2 years older than Paulie. Last year he hit fewer homers, lower average and lower OBP than Paulie. According to your charts, he should have been taken out to the back and shot.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:36 AM) Its also going to be hard for you to base your entire argument on the fact that Konerko was hurt the first half of this year considering his numbers were trending downward already last season as well. Hasn't Swisher's numbers been trending down? Konerko is 32. He has plenty of time left. He can't run. He can do everything else. He's been injured. Almost the entire team trended down last year. He's a couple of years younger than Cabrera.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:25 AM) Konerko is on the downside of his career and the trend is he wont produce those numbers on the back of his baseball card, Swish is entering his prime and odds are he will improve on his career numbers. Swish is also superior defensively. Its not exactly rocket science why people prefer Swisher. And Owens, Fields and Richar are only going to get better.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 09:10 AM) Why do you keep saying "except for June"? Because Swisher had a great June. Except for June, he has been very, very bad. As I stated earlier, his .214 average in July is his second highest monthly average so far this season.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 09:12 AM) Swisher I have seen an improvement from. Konerko hasnt looked the same since 2006, Im sorry you disagree. In July, Swisher has 42 AB with 1 homer 12 strikeouts and a .214 AVG. Its a small sample size, but if Jim Thome does the same his next 42 AB, we will read countless posts how he sucks and is done. If that is improvement and satisfactory production then I would take my chances that Konerko can do better than that.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:02 AM) Right, and Konerko has been just wonderful Why can't you get it through your head that Konerko has been injured for most of the season. First with a hand problem and then the oblique? Have you looked at the back of his baseball card? Its pretty good. If Konerko is the garbage a lot of this board thinks he is, then so is Swisher. Instead of replacing garbage with garbage, why doesn't anyone have any better ideas?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:54 AM) Vazquez and Contreras's situations are not comparable... please, just stop that. And if I'm challenged on that, I'm not going to bother explaining why because I shouldn't have to. I might as well be explaining why Carlos Quentin is not Jermaine Dye if I have to explain obvious things that people pretend not to know. They both started out pretty well but have been getting hammered for the better part of 2 months. You can't explain so you say its different. Why are they not comparable? The Sox only have to pay Contreras through next year. They have a bit longer with Vazquez. Javy Vazquez gets a break on this board because he gets a lot of strikeouts.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:55 AM) Thats because when he did take over for Konerko, the team was much better, defensively and offensively. Since he's been back to stinking up the joint. Yet, he must play.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 07:41 AM) Im not digging up threads to oust Vazquez from 2006 because he couldnt make it past the 5th inning, but here are two threads about Swisher struggling and taking him out of the lineup http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...t=0&start=0 http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...t=0&start=0 Did you read most of the posts? And you can't find anything on Vazquez and he's been just as bad as Contreras. Except for June, Swisher is having his finest month in a White Sox uniform batting average-wise in July. He's hitting .214 for the month. He's the guy everyone wants to replace Konerko. Most people on here are like little kids the day after Christmas.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:31 AM) Are you kidding me? When Swisher was batting .200 there was bench swisher threads, and Vazquez has been a hot topic since he has been on the White Sox because of his inconsistent nature. You guys reserve your right NOT to boo, thats fine. Im not less of a fan because I would choose to boo a player for poor performance. Where are they? Contreras needs to be replaced. We see that just about every game. Vazquez has had a mirror image season, but the threads aren't there. Konerko, they guy that help bring a trophy to the southside, plays hurt, so he needs to be replaced and booed, and the guy who KW needs to replace him with immediately, has had exactly 1 good month in a White Sox uniform.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 08:31 AM) Are you kidding me? When Swisher was batting .200 there was bench swisher threads, and Vazquez has been a hot topic since he has been on the White Sox because of his inconsistent nature. You guys reserve your right NOT to boo, thats fine. Im not less of a fan because I would choose to boo a player for poor performance. If booing a guy busting his ass playing hurt makes you feel better about yourself go ahead. It just will make you look silly to the rest of the crowd.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 12:13 AM) Not saying that Billy doesn't know how to assemble a talented team but in any of those seasons have the A's REALLY been a contender or just good teams without the juice to go all the way. I like what Billy does in working with a low payroll but he does continue to sell off all of his talent for prospects seemingly year after year. This goes all the way back to Giambi, Mulder, Hudson, Tejada, Haren, Harden, Blanton, anybody else that I've forgotten? I'm sure there is, the only big name player that they signed to a long term deal was Eric Chavez who has had his career derailed by injuries. Guess my point is that eventually you have to stop selling off your talent and take a shot at winning it all. In the late 90's early 00's he had a rotation of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito yet chose to break up the trio by trading Hudson and Mulder, at that point all three of them were dominant pitchers, if you aren't going to make a run at the title with those three anchoring the staff, Keith Foulke closing games and Giambi, Tejada, and Dye in the lineup then when are you???? He doesn't seem willing to take the necessary risk to make a title run. That is one thing that I respect about KW- at least he's got balls. Well he didn't go out and get Geoff Blum if that's what you're referring to. The money situation is a bit different in Oakland than in Chicago. He's taken several shots as the record would indicate. It just hasn't worked out. I know the criticism he gets is he builds a team that is great in the regular season but isn't built to win in the playoffs. I think that's totally unfair. He's now being realistic and going to try to acquire enough young, cheap talent to get his team on another run. I think he's a good GM and it would be interesting to see what he could do with a $100+ million payroll. Of course, sometimes guys are a lot better on the cheap.