Dick Allen

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:27 PM) Sadly, you know which route KW thinks would make the fans forgive him. And that would be paying Aaron Rowand more money than anyone would have ever imagined.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:25 PM) This organization is a disaster right now...that's all that needs to be said. KW needs to go. I've decided to take in Soxfest this year. It may be fun.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:22 PM) This move made a lot more sense for the Cubs than it did for the Sox. As long as the Cubs had to pay a substantial price for Fuku, I don't really mind. KW though is caught between a rock and a hard place. He promised a dynamic offense. He said he's going for it. Then people had to pay their season ticket money on that premise. He needs to rebuild starting now, but if he does, he will lose a lot of credibility with what's left of the bandwagoners, and some others as well.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:19 PM) Ha. When its 5/65, we dont exactly "lose" That's the way the market is going. The White Sox are eventually going to have to pay that kind of money or become Pittsburgh. They really need to back up the truck and get some young talent. Building through the draft is a great idea, but it will take a very long time. Instead of draft picks you have to pay millions to, trade for a couple who already have received their bonuses and have shown they can play.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:19 PM) Whatever he signed for, I bet it's more than makes sense for a guy who's never taken a Major League at bat. Paying him big money and expecting him to be good makes a lot more sense than the White Sox GM saying the pitching will not be a problem the way the staff is currently configured.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:17 PM) No, not happy at all. Cubs get better, and Sox lose out on another target. The reason that I knew he was signing with the Cubs is that the Cubs hired a handful of Japanese workers in the last few weeks to help with the transition. The Fuku/Cubs thing has been a lock for quite a while. A reason KW and the White Sox were really laying low with their interest. They knew they probably wouldn't be able to hang with the Cubs for this guy. Does this mean KW now overpays for Rowand and claims he was the main target all along?

Jeff Abbott, there's a name from the past. That was a guy who when you look at his minor league numbers and check out his swing, you would have thought he would have had a much better career than what he was able to put together. He's an example of why you should take minor league numbers with a grain of salt.

We should all be thankful that Kenny Williams doesn't sell crack or any other hard drugs. Considering people are actually buying the pitching won't be a problem when 40% of the rotation is Gavin Floyd he of the career 8-10 record 6.30 ERA, and John Danks 6-13 record he of the 5.50 career ERA. Another part of the rotation is Jose Contreras, a guy I do like, but a guy coming off a year that was awful. The White Sox #5 pitcher in 2006 in now the #2 guy. I'm thinking if they buy KW saying the pitching won't be a problem, they would buy just about anything he sells.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 02:17 PM) So Fields get shipped back to AAA. Thats great. I'm surprised you're a Fields guy, considering 95% of the time he's trying to hit it on to the LF concourse.

See Gavin Floyd September 2004. Unfortunately his September numbers meant didley in 2005,2006 and 2007. It would be unwise to count on anything from him, just be pleasantly surprised if you get anything.

Gonzalez totally snaked every quote in his "article" from Cowley's blog last week. They are all in the Miguel Cabrera thread I believe.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 10:01 AM) The NFL is the wrong sport to reference in this case. They suspend people for off of the field problems They suspend people for drugs and prefomance enhancers They enforce the intergrety of the game by making rules to keep their sport classy MLB wishes it was the NFL, because at least the NFL has integretity. Yeah they have a lot of integrity, just ask the old injured players looking for help paying their medical bills while the McCaskey's and the rest in their fraternity count their money.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 05:34 PM) Jerry Owens has had what, less than 3 full months in the big leagues, and in 1 of those 3 months he put up a .396 OBP and in another he put up that .333 OBP you mentioned? My point is pretty simple. Post All Star Break last year, he put up a .340 OBP in essentially his first continuous half season where he was starting most of the time. The jump from .340 to .350 is not huge and is something he should be expected to do just from learning the league better (indeed, his walk rate did in fact improve from July to Aug/September and it's visible in the stats). Is it possible he won't put that up? Of course. But even a cursory reading of his stats suggests that it is certainly reasonable that he would, and you would really, really have to be determined that he was bad to find a way to spin those numbers to suggest it's impossible. Considering his first 2.5 months his BA was .239 and his OBP was.288 while it might not be impossible for him to achieve the numbers you suggest, I think its a longshot at best. I guess what I'm trying to say is yes his August was decent, but with as little power as he hits with, even those numbers aren't that impressive, the majority of the good numbers he put up, he put up in September. Its very dangerous to judge someone who was on a bad team by September numbers.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 04:53 PM) Are you telling me that Arod wasn't their top wish going into this offseason? Maybe, but I'm also sure he was at the top of KW's list. He wasn't targeted though because it wasn't realistic. If you count that as a missed target along the lines of Hunter and Cabrera for the White Sox, every team probably is into the 100's. I bet KW would love Verlander and would like to give up Masset for him but doesn't bother. If ARod was the Angels #1 target, I would find it curious as to why they apparently didn't make an offer to him being an unrestricted free agent.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 04:14 PM) You'd be wasting at least $4M possibly more, why would he come here for $3.75M if he could get the same deal from a much better team in the Yankees? You'd have to top the Yankees offer in order to steal him away. Have you seen Hawkins splits vs. AL East teams? I agree. Let the Yankees waste their money.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 04:31 PM) He's certainly not a lock for it. But those numbers are certainly within reason for what we can expect from him if he has a decent year. He could be better than that, he could be worse than that, that's baseball. Jerry Owens had had 1 month in the major leagues with an OBP higher than .333. To say its reasoanble to expect a .350 OBP from him is unreasonable.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 02:22 PM) KW likely talked to Cashman about a number of players (Melky, Matsui, Damon, Abreu) since the end of the season. I doubt they've talked since the acquisition of Quentin. It wouldn't surprise me if KW has Quentin penciled in as a 10th man type. Playing LF, RF and DH. Getting 3 or 4 starts a week.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) You can also put Anaheim on that list, don't forget ARod was their #1 target, followed by Miguel Cabrera. What did they offer ARod?

According to rotoworld, the White Sox have talked to the Yankees about Matsui.

I think Rowand will be back, and if he does, I predict the White Sox say he was their first choice all along.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 8, 2007 -> 09:27 PM) 200 innings of what? I'm sure a few of our guys could give us 200 innings as well. Just depends on how effective you want those to be. At this point, I'm not sure if Dontrelle giving them 200 innings would be a good thing or a bad thing for them.... Who? Danks was gassed after 100. Floyd? That could get ugly. Garland gave you 200 innings of league average pitching. I wasn't his biggest fan, but that's worth something, maybe not $12 million a year, but something. The bullpen has not been used all that much innings-wise since Ozzie took over. As bad as its been the last couple of years, overworked really could never be used as an excuse. Now it might, especially if Contreras can't bounce back.

1 year $10 million.

QUOTE(max power @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 04:33 PM) Absolutely but some people are calling him a good SP or better, when all he is to me is a question mark. But then again Buerhle was as awful the second half of 2006 as Willis was at anytime during 2007, and I'm sure everyone is happy the White Sox gave him $56 million. The thing about Willis is even if his ERA is 5.00, he's going to give you 200 innings and that will save your bullpen especially if he's a #5 starter. The White Sox right now have to count on Floyd and Danks to pick up a ton of innings Garland ate up. It will take its toll on the bullpen if they can't show they can pitch a lot more efficiently in 2008.

QUOTE(max power @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 04:30 PM) Everyone knows that willis used to be a good pitcher. The question is if he is still. He was terrible last year. They say he was only throwing 85 last year. He's making about $7 or 8 million in 2008, he's worth the gamble if it means you get Cabrera in your line-up.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 04:24 PM) Nah, ill believe the Miami sources that said that we werent all that close. One of the reasons he had any hope at all is that we were basically one of the only teams at the WM that was making a serious offer. Your sources say OCabrera was the White Sox #2 target. You need new sources.