Dick Allen

The lights are on and fireworks just went off

QUOTE (hi8is @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 01:54 PM) whats the latest ETA for the game to start? I'm guessing it won't be for a while. I can see the stadium from my office and no lights are on.

QUOTE (almagest @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 01:30 PM) Ok, so I'm still waiting for a coherent justification as to how a hitter with a 79 career OPS+ is good. It seems all you can do is seize on somewhat extreme statements on how bad Uribe is and use them for evidence as to why he's good. Either that, or praise Uribe for hitting 20 homers and still somehow managing a slugging percentage in the low .400s or high .300s. When did I say it was good? I said it was better than his manager. I responded to a post that said Ozzie was ARod offensively compared to Uribe. He may not be good, but it is safe to say he's better than he has shown so far this year. He's also better than Ramirez.

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 01:12 PM) I hate Juan Uribe probably more than a lot of people here, but Ozzie was the worse hitter. No question about it. Uribe is on the list though. Its not even about saying Ozzie was a better hitter than Uribe, it was about saying he's ARod compared to him, the guy who probably will have the greatest numbers of all time, even when he winds up playing most of his career in not the most friendly park for right handed batters as I believe the new Yankee Stadium will have the exact same dimensions as the current one.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 01:07 PM) Is it lonely as the only member of the Juan Uribe fan club. Not at all. At least I'm realistic. For someone to say Uribe makes Ozzie look like ARod offensively is beyond blind. If one really believes that, it shows they would either never give Uribe a fair shake or have no idea about baseball. BTW, the Cuban missle is a huge improvement. He's an on-base machine.

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 12:02 PM) More: Ozzie never had a season with more walks than K's. Juan is 50 walks short of Ozzies career total in 8 less seasons. I will give it to Ozzie though, he didn't strike out much. He just sucked at everything else. I've been told time and time again on this board a strikeout is no worse than any other out. I guess that applies to everyone but Uribe.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 01:00 PM) In regards to being a better hitter overall. Ozzie may not have been a slugger, but he got his hits here and there Then explain to me how Uribe has reached base more often in his career? Did he wake up in the middle of the night and break into where they store the stats and change them?

QUOTE (SoxWS05 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 12:57 PM) At least Ozzie could bunt and move runners along if he had to. Uribe is useless when it comes to producing those types of things. So bad he's in the top 4 or 5 in the league in sacrifices the past few years.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 11:49 AM) In comparison Juan makes Ozzie look like A-rod How? Uribe hits more homers a season than Ozzie hit in his career, and has a higher lifetime OBP. Ozzie's lifetime OBP is.287.

QUOTE (chisoxt @ Apr 27, 2008 -> 07:35 AM) After 23 games last season, the Sox were 12-11 this year, they are 13-10. More disturbing, like last year when the bullpen got off to a great start and fizzled, there is a similair pattern this season. Also, what is it with playing at home?? Last year we started with a 5-7 record and this year 6-6? Even the games that we win at home are an intensive struggle. I beleive there is better talent on this years team than last years, but some of the same red flags are starting to pop up. 13-10 is a 91-92 win pace. That's a lot higher win total than I would ever have guessed they would wind up with this year, and they have just recently struggled. A couple things are different though. The bullpen will be better. Dotel will be a good pitcher. Linebrink has a track record. The guys last year were just a bunch of guys who threw hard and had no idea where it was going. When the weather warmed up a bit, they got torched. There would have to be so many injuries to get to a point where an Andy Gonzalez equivalent leads off, so that's a big improvement. Also Konerko and Thome will hit. The question will be the starters IMO. Every one of them presents questions. Some of the answers will be good, some won't. We just have to hope most will be good.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Apr 27, 2008 -> 07:14 AM) Even if he has not been horrible, Ozzie has been very reluctant to bring him in the game at important times. Until Dotel shapes up a bit, I think Ozzie will have the confidence to use Wass. I agree with the sentiment that he deserved to make the team to begin with. I suppose if it will get Ozzie to quit letting Logan pitch to RH batters its OK.

MacDougal has pitched 8.2 innings this season. Since getting lit up his first outing he's made 7 appearances with 6.2 innings with 5 hits 4 BB and 5 K and 0 runs allowed. He hasn't been as awful as people think. If his replacement puts up the same numbers, it will be considered a great move.

QUOTE (Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Apr 25, 2008 -> 08:25 PM) Pretty s***ty that they made the fans wait like that for 2+ hours to have it called. There were still some hot dogs and beer to sell.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 25, 2008 -> 01:27 PM) Yes, I thought of those other scenarios, such as "showcasing" a player, and what the Rays tried to do with Longoria this year (before Aybar got injured and forced his promotion). But these are all custom within the industry and don't usually have a huge affect on a player's paycheck. You can continue to try and point out other scenarios which are similar to this, but are not. And you can continue to state that the Blue Jays were within their rights, which I have not disputed. But the fact is, this is almost unprecedented in its ethics, and the Jays have had raised eyebrows with their treatment of other players. And as for them waiting another 300 at bats or so, I think the Jays recognized the possibility of them being competitive in that division, perhaps around late July, and seeing the disaster it would be to release a player like Frank Thomas should he be hitting near what he is capable of. There is no way they could have released him then. They had to do it now. Frank appears to be backing down some: "The situation there, they had just spent $200 million on two guys," Thomas said. "I understand it and I respect it. Maybe it wasn't a good fit there for me. I'm just happy to be back here. I wasn't forcing their hand. For them to tell me I wasn't going to play every day and I wasn't in their future plans, it really wasn't a good situation. I respect J.P. for coming out and saying that to me and we parted ways, peacefully."

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 25, 2008 -> 12:19 PM) How was Frank's option year far from customary? Who are the other "several" players who have been benched so their teams could avoid option years vesting? How many of them were first ballot Hall of Famers, Dick? What does the fact that he had a signing bonus have anything to do with it? His signing bonus was $9.12 million, but his regular salary for 07' was only $1 million. I'm not sure why this has any bearing on anything. You keep saying the Jays "paid him before he ever played a game" for them. What does that matter? The money was guaranteed. Even if he had injured himself before every playing a game for the Jays, and could NEVER play a game for them, they still would have had to pay him for 07' and 08'. That's how baseball works. This is not the NFL. You keep bringing up that Frank was not hitting, and "mired in a 4-35 slump." Give me a break. That's like a week's worth of games. You honestly believe that the Blue Jays decided to bench Frank Thomas, for baseball reasons, indefinitely, over a week's worth of at bats? If you do honestly believe that (and I don't believe you do), than you're one of the very, very few. As for Juan Uribe's situation, his option was a CLUB OPTION. Completely different from a vesting option. The Club chose not to exercise Juan's option at their discretion. It was strictly a business decision. That is not even close to analogous to a player having a vesting option or performance incentives, WHERE THE CLUB'S BUSINESS DECISIONS OVERFLOW ONTO THE FIELD AND INFLUENCE BASEBALL DECISIONS DURING THE ACTUAL SEASON. I don't know how I can say it any more clearly. Additionally, Juan Uribe had underperformed for a period of two years, not a mere 35 at bats. Wouldn't trading players at the deadline for squat, Durham, Lofton, Mackowiak, Iguchi be business decisions influencing baseball decisions during the actual season? Wouldn't keeping players in the minors to keep their arb clocks from ticking also fall under this category? The Blue Jays were within their rights. If they are as guilty as you say and really thought Frank was going to break out of it, they still have a lot more ABs to play with.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 11:58 PM) I noticed you have not once addressed my argument in re what is "customary" in MLB. Once again, this is not a valid comparison. Trading Paulie before his 10/5 rights vest has no impact on his paycheck. Additionally, trading a player is an accepted and customary business transaction in MLB. Benching a player to prohibit him from reaching a performance incentive or having an option year vest is not. Why do you continue to struggle to see that offering a player an option year in his contract, and then making a baseball-related decision to affect that contract, as opposed to a strictly business-related decision is almost unheard of in MLB and therefore, being judged by many to be extremely unethical? Frank's contract with Toronto was far from "customary" and several players have had their playing time cut in order for options not to vest. Bengie Molina for 1, with guess who, Toronto. Frank signed the contract.Frank grabbed a $9.2 million signing bonus. He was paid before he ever played a game with the Blue Jays. Maybe I might sort of see your point if Frank was benched while actually hitting, not mired in a 4-35 slump. Or maybe I might see your point if after a week or 2 Frank wasn't getting any time, and then popped off. But he popped off immediately and compounded it by blowing off his teammates after the game. He's a diva. Juan Uribe had an option for this year. KW took money out of his pocket when he said he wasn't going to exercise it, and Uribe signed for $500k less. Its business. He wanted him on the team, but not at the original price. No one wants a 40/41 year old Frank Thomas for $10 million a year. Frank was also quoted after he received his requested release that a lot of things were going on in Toronto that he didn't like. Evidently for $10 million in 2009 he was willing to overlook them. Is that a baseball or business decision?

I think there are a lot of members of this board who owe Joe Crede an apology.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 03:54 PM) For some reason, you're not wrapping your head around the idea that there's a right and a wrong way for an employer to treat an employee. If a GM wants to dump a player's salary or move him at a time when he's worth more as a FA, that's fine. But be honest about it. Don't disrespect an accomplished veteran by benching him "indefinitely" for some complete bullcrap reason, when it's obvious to everybody that the reason is to keep said player from reaching a vesting interest in his contract. So, no, I wouldn't have a problem with Kenny moving Paulie before his 5-and-10 rights vest, as long as he handles the situation professionally. Nor would I have had a problem with what Ricciardi/Gibbons did to Frank if they had been honest and treated him with some respect. The question was Is trading Konerko now because of the no trade about to vest with the thought that if it wasn't about to vest they wouldn't trade him, really any different than cutting the playing time of an aging veteran with a huge option so that option doesn't vest? Another question for you specifically after reading this post, do you have a problem with the Frank/Toronto situation because they sat him or because you don't buy the reason they gave? In other words, would you still have a problem with it if they came out and told Frank they thought he was declining and didn't want to pay him $10 million so they weren't going to let the option vest? As for how they treated Frank, they paid him $18.2 million and granted him his release when he requested it so he could play wherever he wanted. I wish my employer treated me that poorly.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 02:56 PM) As I said earlier, that would depend on how the Sox handled it. If they told Paulie that they wanted to go in a different direction, that one be one thing. But if they made up some bullcrap excuse like "you haven't been hitting well over the past two weeks", then it would obviously reflect poorly on KW. The premise was trading him days before his 5 and 10 rights vest. A lot of people on this board think not only is there nothing wrong with it, the White Sox should do it.

Ryan Howard is getting benched for a couple of games. I wonder if he'll pop off.

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 12:00 PM) I very much want to watch Gavin Floyd take on the New York Yankees. Masochist

The Sox currently have 27 outs to do something.

Speaking of bottled water, the city of Chicago does not consider Smart Water bottled water. You don't have to pay the $.05 bottled water tax on it. Must be because of the electrolytes.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 10:22 AM) Silly rule.....do they have rules for all this stuff?? This pic is from visitors clubhouse. Can your gum only be bazooka? Seeds only be David? What if a guy wants a redbull? Actually Crede was chugging a Red Bull after his homer last night.

I think this is the Yankees only trip to town this year. They will do everything possible to get the game in.