Dick Allen

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.

QUOTE(almagest @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 05:08 PM) And how many runs has Ramirez scored or driven in this spring? Probably more than 2. Also, the pitcher is the person who has control over the batters before and after the error occurred, not Ramirez. Do you have anything else that's substantial, or just this one piece of anecdotal evidence? Crede sure has looked good being so healthy this spring, hasn't he? Can the Sox afford to wait until he's got his "timing" back, which stunts Fields' growth at the ML level, and with no guarantee Crede'll be able to put up numbers near his 2006 campaign? Also, hasn't Crede played in more than ONE major league season? And wasn't he spectacularly mediocre in those seasons? Why are you ignoring the rest of his career, then? Selectively pulling data that only supports your points doesn't make Crede a good hitter. It makes him a mediocre hitter with one good season, two years ago. Which is why strikeouts are so valuable. Also, while it's true that pitchers have little control on a ball after it's in play, they DO have a good deal of control over where and how it's hit. I'm just pointing out that defense is critical. BTW, does Pablo Ozuna look a lot bigger and stronger this year to anyone but me?

QUOTE(almagest @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 03:57 PM) A pitcher has WAY more control over that bases loaded double than a fielder does. Great defense is seldom going to save poor pitching, and great pitching seldom needs to rely on great defense. I'm not saying having good defensive players isn't needed, I'm questioning the logic of having no-hit, good fielding players anywhere NEAR the starting lineup. Crede fits these criteria, based on last year, this spring, and a good chunk of his career. Did you happen to see the pop up Ramirez let drop yesterday? Cost the team 2 runs. Crede hit over .280 with 30 homers in 2006. He was hitting over .300 with 28 homers in August when his back locked up worse than normal. He's healthy now. No hit is not a good description.

I want Crede to play 3rd, but I really feel KW will unload him this week. He doesn't want to send Fields down, other teams offering not much figure that as well, and KW is holding out, but I think he will settle for garbage for Crede. I hope I'm wrong because I think that's a mistake.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 01:23 PM) He's also the only ALCS MVP in team history. That's gotta count for something too. He also gave the correct person a nice WS souvenier.

Get the slump out of your system in spring training and he'll be due for a hot streak.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2008 -> 01:38 PM) IIRC, when the Sox won the title in 05, they were damn good on the road. Don't those long road trips by definition get balanced by a lot of games at home? June is a good month for the White Sox. They are in TB on Sunday the 1st. Go to Detroit June10-12 play at the Cubs 1 weekend and have 3 games in LA vs. the Dodgers after 1 of the 4 off days. It all evens out. 7 games total outside of Chicago in a month. There are a few series that end on Monday this year which is odd.

If you want to buy some time and increase debt there's always grad school.

He'd be worth taking a flier on, but the Sox have guys in Anderson and Quentin that are probably better and don't have the playing time for.

He'll miss the first week of the season, and the Sox play the Tigers. Maybe he'll even fall a litttle behind and be out of whack for the rematch a week later at USCF. Don't like to see players get hurt, but a broken finger missing a few games isn't too bad. I hope the Sox are able to take advantage.