Dick Allen

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 02:07 PM) Actually, I was quite high on the White Sox going into 2005 because of their pitching staff and the addition of a true leadoff hitter and a catcher who could actually hit. Do you remember before 05 when we had 5th starter woes? What do you think of 3rd, 4th, AND 5th starter woes? Garland was worse in 2004 than he was in 2003. El Duque was the 5th starter who had pitched very little the previous couple of years. Contreras was a guy 95% of this board hated, even wanted traded halfway through the 2005 season as part of a package for AJ Burnett. That would have been disasterous. People can cry that Fields is in AAA, but he was hitting .229 with a .284 OBP halfway through Sept. last year, before he beat up the KC Royals in a battle for last place. I fail to see how a couple of months at AAA will ruin his career. Ramirez has played in Cuba which is compared to high A ball. Sure he's looked good in spring training, but there's no way to project what he will do when the games count. People on this board ripped the Cubs for Fukudome, saying the level of play in Japan isn't up to snuff. Its considered a higher level than the Cuban league. The guy probably has never played in a game where it wasn't at least 60 degrees. Uribe has had success in the major leagues, but hasn't come close to his potential. Maybe fighting for a job and playing for a contract will help him put together a full season. If he plays like he did his first year with the Sox, he's far and away the better player for 2008. I don't think the Sox will win their diviion or make the playoffs, and I don't think the reason will be Crede and Uribe.

QUOTE(Princess Dye @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 09:44 AM) A true long reliever is more important than a true leadoff hitter? I doubt that's your intended point, but it kinda comes off that way. The three guys you mention aren't stealing any bases. Now, Owens... if he can have even a .350 OBP, he's going to have a way better chance of taking second regularly than any of those guys. He doesnt have to have an amazing OBP to make us significantly better than a three inning reliever would. Also keep in mind that moving Cabrera and Swisher up to leadoff takes them out of what they do best as well. Personally, I would much rather have Swisher lead off than bat 6th. Why not have the high OBP guy bat before the guys who drive in the runs than after them? I don't care if he doesn't steal, he can hit himself to second or homer much more often than Owens will. Maybe if Owens was a premiere guy it could be an issue, but September and spring training aside, he's been below mediocre. The long man in the White Sox bullpen is going to be more important than usual if this team is any good this season due to the fact that the rotation isn't filled with innings eaters and the bullpen is stocked with 1 inning guys. 2 or 3 short outings by the starters in a 6 or 7 game stretch can really tax the bullpen if there is no one who can go 3 or 4 inning in it. I don't want Masset on the team, but if Wasserman can't give you those innings, the Sox are pretty much stuck with him.

QUOTE(Princess Dye @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 09:14 AM) yr argument for keeping Masset is that no one else around fills his role. Who fills Owens' role as leadoff hitter? again, you could slot someone in. But to me it's a bigger detriment to slot someone else in here. Swisher vs. LHP is a .348 OBP last yr, he hit .250.... career #s lower i'm confident Owens will get a long look when healthy to provide something better than that vs. righties. even if the other young OFs start strong. You have options for a leadoff hitter. Swisher, Cabrera, Ozuna vs. LHP. You need someone in the bullpen that can go 3 or 4 innings even if it isn't a very effective 3 or 4 innings, especially with the back end of the current rotation.

"My groin isn't where we want it to be," Owens said before undergoing tests. Don't we all have this problem.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 08:33 PM) I mean I worry as well, what if Uribe puts up .270 with 30HR's this season? Do the Sox re-sign him to a big contract? Because I think he would pack it in ALA Beltre, because he hasn't performed any other season when his contract hasn't been on the line. I'm Uribe's biggest fan, but I would never give him a huge contract. If he has a big year, if your out of it, trade him at the deadline, if your in it, thank him very much for his efforts for $4.5 million at the end of the year and be done with it. Too many people are worried about guys leaving and getting nothing in return. You do get the player's performance that last year of his contract. I would guess most playoff teams have a couple of key performers playing on the last year of a contract, or at least were playing on the last year coming into that season.

Fields got hot the last 2 weeks of the season. On Sept. 14 he was hitting .229 with a .283 OBP. He could use a little seasoning in AAA.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 06:20 PM) Does that sound like something he might need surgery to correct or is that re-hab-able? Its basically a groin strain. No surgery.

Its really too bad the Sox don't have the prospects to get McFail to bite on a Brian Roberts deal. He would be a perfect fit for this team.

By Mark Gonzales - 5:56 p.m. TUCSON, Ariz. -- White Sox center fielder Jerry Owens will start the regular season on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Monday, after an MRI Tuesday revealed a slight tear in his right adductor muscle. The rest of the blog said he aggravated it running out the triple on Sunday. He did seem gimpy after that. One less toy for Ozzie.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 06:05 PM) If the Sox are "fortunate" enough to get Crede signed, I'll probably start s***ting bricks of gold. And neither would be fortunate. I don't think the Sox have any intention of signing Crede. I think the time that KW claimed he "reached out" to Boras about an extension was probably when the Sox thought they were going to get Cabrera. I think Fields would have been a part of that trade, and you don't want Cabrera playing 3rd. A couple of weeks of watching him there, and Fields glove gets talked about like Brooks Robinson.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 05:45 PM) Apples and oranges again with you huh? We all know you dont like Josh, just put it in your sig. My condolences you'll have to travel to Charlotte to watch Josh strikeout and hit an occassional homer. He should be back by July though.

Funny how a guy who had 140 ABs less than Juan Uribe last year, but hit 3 more homers, hit .010 higher, that's 1 more hit than Juan Uribe per 100 ABs, and had an OBP .025 higher than Uribe, that's 1 more time on base every 40 ABs and struck out 13 times more is a sure-fire star to a lot of people here.

Aaron Rowand hit .171 in spring training last year. The scouting reports said his bat had slowed so much he might be done. He only got $65 million this past winter. Crede probably won't hit .300, but he'll be fine, and while he did struggle defensively at the beginning of spring, he's been much better the past couple weeks.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 03:51 PM) A contract we apparently don't want to waste. And some hellish facial hair. They want Toby to hit the buffet and empty it before Uribe gets there to keep Juan's weight down.

If a few months at AAA is going to "ruin" Fields, he would obviously lack the mental toughness to succeed long term anyway. I thought KW was posturing, thinking Crede was gone, but he will be gone, and Fields will be at 3rd base. Whether he's as great as a lot of posters think remains to be seen. What we should be concerned about is a team that made a big effort for better spring training results this year, limping to the finish line. I think they are 1-7-3 their last 11 and are hitless through 3 today. I think Ozzie should use his relievers like it was the regular season from here on out. Its time to get used to winning, so what if Jenks faces a guy who will be in AA. I'm pretty sure he knows how to get major leaguers out.

Hall assures White Sox he is physically healthy, and the Sox announce no roster moves would occur today.

Evidently they had another meeting with Hall that lasted 45 minutes and he came back out to practice. They probably want to send him down and want him to accept the assignment.

Tribune reporting Sox could make their final cuts today, and said Hall was called into the office after the big organizational meeting, but he was back to pre-game practice shortly afterward. Maybe a DL stint?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 11:56 AM) You're comparing two different eras. Not to take away from what Paulie did in the '05 playoffs, but Crede and Contreras were the real MVPs. It's unfortunate that neither were recognized. Harold played for about 20 years, has 384 career HRs, came relatively close to 3000 hits, and is a legitimate HOF candidate. And he did the majority of it prior to the steroids era. Paulie has put up some impressive numbers, but has only been playing for about half the time and is nowhere near HOF status. I understand that being the "all-time Sox leader in..." carries a significant amount of weight, but I don't see how that makes him more deserving than (or as deserving as) a HOFer who "only" played for the Sox for half of a 20+ year career. Paulie's a very good player, a great guy (from what I know), and does a fine job of representing the Sox. It'd be nice to see him recognized with a statue at some point, but I think that it's WAY too early to call him a "lock." I'd say that Mark (who is has been more dominant at his position) probably has a better chance. But, again, it's too early to call. Baines also had his number retired about 35 homers and 150 rbi short of those final totals. If Reinsdorf is still around when Paulie retires, he's a lock.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 07:08 PM) Why does this seem to be more of an issue over the last couple of years compared to say 25 years ago? Since they added a round to the playoffs and changed the ALCS from a best of 5 to best of 7, the season starts about a week earlier than it used to. Before that, it started even a week later than that. A lot of the cold weather teams wouldn't open at home, so there's 2 weeks or 3 in some cases. You're obviously not going to avoid all of the foul April weather, but they should at least try to do something about it. I have a stub somewhere for the opener of Comiskey Park II. I think the date was April 18th.

Harold Baines gets a statue, nobody is aruing, but Konerko's White Sox numbers are similar and if he gets to equal at bats will be better than Harold's AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG. OBP 6149 786 1773 320 44 221 981 .288 .346 HB 4886 727 1386 256 5 269 866 .284 .356 PK Add an ALCS MVP and a WS title and GS, one of the biggest homers in White Sox history, if not the biggest, considering how highly JR thinks of him as a person, he's getting close to a lock if he's not a lock yet for having his number retired and getting himself a statue someday.

QUOTE(Princess Dye @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 06:18 PM) any other long relief candidates? I'd be fine with seeing MacDougal in that role til he proves he's a setup guy again. That's the problem. He's also a 1 inning guy. I was surprised they cut Ohka so quickly. The long man doesn't have to be Cy Young, but it would be nice if he could keep the score down. The good news is if the long man is the White Sox biggest issue this year, there will be a lot of wins.

QUOTE(lostfan @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 06:13 PM) The reason he hasn't been stealing bases this spring is b/c he's not going to overexert himself and get hurt trying to steal bases in the spring when he has no reason to prove he can do it. I agree. If he knows that's there, stealing in exibition games is only going to take its toll physically although watching the game yesterday, even though he hit a triple and had a diving catch, he did seem a little gimpy at times.

If Wasserman could go 3 or 4 innings, Masset would be either picked up by another team or a Charlotte Knight. The problem is the Sox have 3 starters capable of being on the ropes in the 3rd or 4th or 5th inning and a bullpen loaded with 1 inning guys. They need someone who can go 3 or 4 in the bullpen, and right now Masset is that guy even though they probably won't be quality innings and his propencity for not wanting to throw strikes will make vendors around the league very happy.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 05:31 PM) Opening Day @ Cleveland, Forecast: High 44, Low 21, 60% Chance of Precip, Wind 14 mph. I know it is still a week away, but that is ugly. Its stupid scheduling. I know the teams in warm weather and that have domes don't want their home games being played in April when kids are in school, but they should at least put as many games as possible into those locations until at least the middle of April. The Brewers with their dome come to Chicago twice in April. I know the games will sell out, but what about possible rainouts or coldouts or just the disinegration of the quality of the game when its ridiculously cold.