Dick Allen

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Nov 4, 2007 -> 07:49 AM) Dick Allen, You have to remember they told him to not worry about his offense to take the pressure off him. However as time went on and he was still making the same plate discipline errors he took the "woe is me" approach. Not good. That is where a player with good makeup and intangibles pulls himself up from the bootstraps. I blame the White Sox for overestimating his talent so I suppose at one level we agree. The White Sox are not blameless in this, I agree although I think we view it (the blame) from different angles. Which is fine. The "woe is me" approach worked for a .296 average in July and a .313 average in August.

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Nov 4, 2007 -> 07:36 AM) Yes I agree-the Yanks are definatly anxious to fill 3B to make a statement to Bora$$-and nostayRod. Then wouldn't be ironic if they acquired Crede, another Boras client?

The other ironic thing about Anderson's "bad attitude" about winter ball, is the guy who is apparently getting a much better shot, Jerry Owens, walked away from Joey Cora's winter ball team a couple of years ago.

I wonder how yesterday's deadline for season ticket renewels went. It would be interesting to see how big of role that has in the plan. If they talked to KW yesterday, it must be pretty decent. The faster they can get the remnants of 2007 out of their system, the better.

Its probably not a bad idea, although Boston probably will re-sign Lowell and if they don't, I'm sure they would want to see Crede play a little bit before trading for him.

Before Hoops the Gym and back when my brother was a member at the Athletic Club in Illinois Center we played pick-up games a few times both with and against Michael Jordan. I can tell you the guy that he is guarding does usually take a lot of shots just in case he makes one he's got something to brag about the rest of his life. A couple prayers did fall but not many when it was pretty much man on man half court. I do think 5 Michael Jordan's have the potential of shutting down 5 guys who never played high school varsity for 48 minutes, but chances of a shutout if its a regulation game are slim. If you're playing to 15, it probably would happen from time to time especially if it was important to the NBA guys.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 11:07 AM) I've had a conversation with my buddy for many years (before he was a Bull) that I could score a single poitn in a game of 1-on-1 with Ben Wallce to 21. I just know I could! I've never met you, but I would agree. You'd probably have about 80 chances to tickle the twine before he got to 21.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 05:11 PM) The talent is there to possibly be a good MLB player, he just hasn't shown it yet. Releasing him would be a bad idea because he at least as some value in trade, even if it is a low level prospect or an addition in a larger deal. Maybe there's more, but going by what we in fact know, Anderson appears to be a whiner to me. . One thing to keep in mind with Brian Anderson is this was probably the first time he's ever failed at baseball. He most likely has always been a star and treated like royalty. Especially in basketball, its amazing how 7th and 8th grade kids are put on a shrine now. Then something goes wrong and they really don't know how to handle it. I think KW understands. He was a guy who was highly regarded, came in had a nice year as a 22 or 23 year old, stardom was predicted and he then couldn't hit. Up until that point, I really doubt KW had many failings in athletics in his life. I really don't think its as much an attitude problem as it is confusion and frustration as to why everything just hasn't worked out.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 05:01 PM) The big difference between those guys and Anderson is that they have performed at the MLB level. Setting him up to fail? Was Josh Fields set up to fail? Was Crede, Garland, MB, Rowand... Rowand was sent down twice, and he stayed resilient. What's Anderson's deal? I liked him sticking up for AJ as well, but when that's your best argument to bring him up to the majors, we had better start getting into some major brawls in 08. If his attitude is bad and he can't hit and he won't work on it, he's not going to get better so he should be released. But the White Sox aren't releasing him. Something tells me there's a little more to the story.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 03:26 PM) Explain to me how his performance in Sept means nothing? I dont get totally throwing out one month of the season because you deem it worthless. Based on Jerry's numbers, and his improvement, there is no doubt that him and Crisp are very similar players at extremely different price tags. There is no doubt from you. There is a lot of doubt with others. As I stated, Owens was hitting .239 with an OPS under .600 one month before the season ended. How does one month in meaningless games qualify as being better than another player who even in a down year had a higher BA, OBP and SLG than Owens? The games aren't as intense when you are playing out the string. David Aaardsma should have been lights out in 2007 the way he pitched with nothing riding on the outcome in 2006. I didn't invent the September numbers are teasers train of thought.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 2, 2007 -> 12:41 PM) The Newark Star-Ledger seems to think the Sox might non-tender Crede. I find that highly unlikely, but there you go. There's a few people on this site who have said Crede must be non-tendered. To be fair, non-tendering him, although they don't have to do it just yet would cement Fields position as well.

The 2007 White Sox could have had the 2005 version of Pods, the 2006 version of Dye, the 2006 version of Crede, the 2000 version of Erstad and they still wouldn't have won. KW can make great moves to improve the offense, but if the bullpen is as bad as its been the past 2 years, and if Danks and/or Floyd don't make huge strides, it just means that instead of losing 90 they might only lose 78.

QUOTE(rockren @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 02:41 PM) Let us not forget about Podsednik's role that season. We also had Rowand and Iguchi swipe 16 and 15 bases respectively. Putting pressure on the defense and opposing pitcher is a big deal in consistently scoring runs every day. That was overblown as well. Pods scored 80 runs, he was second to Konerko in that category. The Sox were 9th in the AL in runs scored. Hardly stellar. To win consistently, you must keep the opposition's run totals low. The Sox won several more games that year scoring 3 or less runs than they probably have in the 2 seasons combined since then. You can have an all star line-up like the Yankees, but if your pitching staff is average or below, its wait until next year.

The White Sox ranked 11th out of 14 in OBP in 2005. They had a pitching staff that was outstanding. That is what wins.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 02:02 PM) Guillen wanted Allen Thomas to come up with a better program for those guys and others. You may know Guillen has a unique way with the English language. If Brian Anderson were half the blameless saint you paint him out to be, he'd be the starting CF for the White Sox. I'll stand by my comments too, because they aren't speculation, I've heard them directly from White Sox personnel. Maybe they were lying to me just for kicks though, who knows. Your status on the team is what matters. Its Allen Thomas' fault if Buehle and Garcia go eat steaks every night for dinner during the offseason, because the proper program is not in place. Its Uribe's fault showing a lack of desire to get better if he does the same thing. Anderson would still have to hit to be starting. That has nothing to do with attitude. They said there was to be a competition for the CF job in spring training, you yourself admitted Anderson slightly outperformed Erstad, yet Erstad got the job. It really doesn't matter, its not like they would have been any better with Anderson in CF. If he really is this awful human being though, its time to get rid of him. So what if you can't get anything for him. Cut him. I think KW isn't as down on him as most think.

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 01:51 PM) I don't care about overall speed. It's all about finding more guys who can get on-base. I'm still of the belief that Ozzie Guillen is not the proper manager for a team with a 3-4-5 of Thome, Konerko, and Dye. I'm cringing at all the talk about having everyone on the team bunt, etc. With our mediocre pitching staff, playing for one run isn't going to help. This is true. You can bunt all you want, but if your pitching staff has the 12 th lowest ERA in the AL, you're going to battle for the cellar.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 01:35 PM) He's still here because they don't want to give him away, and "not much" is probably what the Sox could get for him right now. It's understandable. He needs to get healthy and show some talent. Unless and until that happens, the only way they'll deal him is if some other team really wants him and will pony up talent the White Sox want. They told him they didn't care what he hit for a reason, they wanted to take the pressure off him and show confidence in him. Maybe they shouldn't do that I guess. They miscalculated on Brian's maturity level though, and it was a bad miscalculation. They didn't think he'd constantly do the "woe is me" act. As for Buehrle and Freddy, they did hold them accountable. Buehrle was in the best shape of his career because Cooper told him he needed to work on conditioning more, and they took Buehrle's commitment into account with the contract extension. Freddy, we know what happened to him. How much money did they pay Buerhle and Garcia for 2006? They were out of shape. Allen Thomas was the fall guy. Buerhle realized his mistake and got in shape for 2007, which is nice, but doesn't excuse not being in shape for 2006. Why was it Allen Thomas' fault? If it wasn't, why did Ozzie say it was? There's a double standard. I've never heard anyone ever question why the two veterans weren't physically fit enough to pitch a full season successfully. Isn't being out of shape a sign of not so perfect attitude? And I stand by my comment. If Anderson is half the poison you paint him to be, a release is in order. Players who have had far more success than Anderson have been released because of poor attitudes.

I wonder if Damon would bring the caveman look back. The only thing that kind of makes me leary is how many times we would hear Hawk mention "Gucci High".

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 01:09 PM) Hopefully Posada goes to the Mets so we can dump Hall on them as well. If KW can dump Hall on anyone and not eat most of his contract, he is a better magician than David Copperfield.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 08:42 AM) At what age does a man need to be responsible for his own actions? If someone struggles and is too proud to ask for help, how receptive is he going to be when you offer it? The Sox seemed prepared to offer him the help anyhow, and he is b****ing about winter ball. I mean, we have super stars playing winter ball, and this guy thinks he's beyond it. Well then they should be consistent with all the players. Their best players should also be personally responsible for their shortcomings. Anderson is still not 100% physically, but why is everything his fault when in 2006 when Buerhle and Freddy Garcia were both pretty out of shape it wasn't their fault? Ozzie blamed Allen Thomas. Of course, it wasn't Thomas' fault that Uribe was fat, but I digress. Blame Anderson for a bad 2006, but I blame the White Sox for setting him up to fail, with no reasonable back up plan. Telling him that they don't care what he hits, then crying that he's not hitting.They had no back up plan. As for all the talk that he was a bad teammate, I seem to recall that when AJ got sucker punched, the 2 players that had his back the most were Pods who was right on the play, but I still give him credit, and Brian Anderson. We here all the "inside info" about Anderson watching TV not working on improving, he's a bad teammate etc. If that is 100% accurate, what is he still doing in the organization?

If the Yankees pick up some of Damon's contract it could be a good deal. Fields is not a LF. Considering they aren't having him work on it this winter speaks volumes IMO. Fields does make some great plays at 3rd, and some horrid ones. I'm not all that high on him, but I do find him adequate defensively, with what seems like a desire to improve. I'd like to see him make more contact. I see him in the on deck circle with a short stroke that gets very long when he gets to the plate.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 10:07 AM) I don't think Cora will get the job because he's the only candidate without connections to the Pirates new front office. It will probably drag through next week due to the GM meetings. If Cora leaves, in my opinion Guillen will go outside of his circle for a bench coach. The hiring of Jeff Cox signals a shift in direction and I think it's a good shift. Sox brass are examining and questioning everything, as they should. Guillen mentioned Rene Lachmann as a strong candidate when they hired Cox. Cora must not think he has a reasonable shot at any better jobs if he really wants the Pirates job. Leyland was able to parlay success there into other options, but unless they evaluate players better, perhaps open the checkbook a little wider, this job appears to be a dead end. Of course, if Ozzie is still around when Cora loses the job (if he's hired) because they continue to lose, he probably will find a place for him on the coaching staff. So maybe that's what he's thinking. If a miracle occurs, he becomes a hot commodity, if not, he runs the show for a few years and comes back and does what he's been doing. Cora has gotten ripped a lot on this board, including by me mostly for some decisions he's made coaching 3rd base, but he does have more than a few people around baseball who think pretty highly of him. I would think he would want to hold out for a better job, because losing at Pittsburgh doesn't appear to get you more opportunities, whether that losing is the manager's fault or not.

21 points, 12 rebounds,3 blocks, 42 minutes. Not bad for a lazy, unfocused, out of shape joke.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Nov 2, 2007 -> 09:01 PM) Why must you make stuff up to try and make a crappy point to begin with. I never said anything about him hitting .340, but when he was called up for good this season he out performed Coco Crisp for the same spot in the order they would both fill. Crisp not only costs too much, but he is way overrated by some, especially with how much people crap on Jerry. Check out the numbers, if you disagree so much, tell me why, instead of trying to fabricate my theories out of thin air. I did tell you. You are basing all of Owens success on one successful month in the major leagues. As I said before, on August 31 he was hitting .239 with an OPS of under .600. That is not good. I also told you maybe if he were a lot younger you may have some sort of point, but the guy will be 27 next February. Your claim that Owens is better than Crisp based on meaningless games vs. a guy where games do matter, both playing in different parks etc. is almost obnoxious. The other problem is Owens hits very few balls hard. I know the argument he's a leadoff hitter his job is to get on base, but in the AL with no pitcher batting before him, the leadoff guy bats with more men on base and in scoring position than they do in the NL. A big percentage of Owens hits are hits that advance runners only 1 base even with 2 out. Its not that I don't like Jerry Owens. I really was a big fan a couple of years ago, but he's not a regular player for a championship calibur team which the White Sox are trying to be. While you might not like Crisp's pricetag, its probably pretty reasonable considering Hunter may get $15 million a year and his OBP is under .330 for his career, and Rowand will get 8 figures and it wasn't too long ago he was such a bust KW had to get Carl Everett to play CF. If Crisp resembles the player he was in Cleveland, he's a bargain. If he's like he was in Boston, he's probably slightly overpriced, but USCF is a place where he could flourish. He's hit pretty well there the past 3 years.