Dick Allen

QUOTE(joesaiditstrue @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 11:04 PM) this team isn't going anywhere with jim thome in the lineup, as sad as that is to say because he's one of my favorite players on this team, easily my 2nd or 3rd favorite his OBP is extremely high figuring he never hits, like ever, and its only because when guys ahead of him get on, and steal 2nd, they just walk thome to get to a weaker hitter behind him Yet somehow he hits homeruns more often than even Josh Fields, even with his current slump. Jim Thome is probably the hitter taken for granted the most in White Sox history. He was ragged on last season and look at the numbers. When its all said and done this year, they won't be as great as last year, but they will be pretty good. He's the least of the White Sox problems. If he is the biggest problem, this team would be a lot better than 4th or 5th place which is where they will wind up.

This is really a funny place. It was just a couple of months ago that Thome supposedly walked all the time because Paulie sucked. Now Thome is done. Jim Thome is and always has been one of the streakiest hitters in baseball. Next week or so when he gets hot again it will be interesting to watch the backpedaling.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Aug 16, 2007 -> 04:24 PM) Article on the White Sox site: http://whitesox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?y...sp&c_id=cws Interesting comments, many of them. One, he wants everyone to know he's evaluating players on how good their at bats are. He is preaching OBP. Not a surprise to anyone who's been around him or talked to him at length. He's not getting much info on Crede's back situation. Doesn't mention the Boras camp by name but it's obvious. Fields will stay at 3B. He will not call up players in Sept. just for the sake of calling them up, and those who don't need to be added to the 40 man yet won't be added. Good stuff. Ozzie wants a few callups, Gio and Broadway among them. I wonder who wins this one.

Yeah Thome really sucks. If Josh Fields were putting up the exact same numbers, he would be treated like God on this board.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 11:17 PM) Danks isn't exactly lighting it up, either. If the Southtown is right and we deal Garland, our staff might really suck next season. While I'm not a huge fan of Danks, I think he's run out of gas here and may be just hitting a wall. I certainly don't think he's a future #1 or #2 pitcher, but stranger things have happened. He could turn out to be quite a decent #4 or #5 starter and be reasonably priced for a while. I think McCarthy, healthy, is a better pitcher. But before we say how lucky KW was to trade McCarthy and fleece Texas, lets wait. Maybe McCarthy heals next season and Danks blows out his elbow.

According to SI, Fukudome is having elbow surgery but should be healed up enough to get a 4 or 5 year contract for $15 million per. I think that means the Sox will be looking elsewhere.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 13, 2007 -> 08:41 AM) Good post. I understand that Ozzie makes the final decisions... which is fine by me. He just gets s*** on whether he does a or b no matter what, because there are too many self-professed geniuses posting around here. Think about how smart he would look if he quit at the end of last year and someone else was the manager. That guy would be bashed to no end, and probably would have been canned as well. We would hear how Ozzie would never let this happen under his watch. I'm not an Ozzie fan, but I really think managers get way too much credit for wins, and probably too much blame for losses.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 10:33 AM) Good God. First of all, what a typical bull s*** ending to a loss at Oakland, figures. And DAMN I didn't see it live, but that Fields homer easily cleared that all 388 sign out there, another 415 foot or so home run. He doesn't get cheated on his bombs at all. Great job once again by the bullpen too, they are really showing some encouraging signs for 2008. How can you take what the bullpen does from here on out and possibly think that will translate to success next year? Wasn't MacDougal lights out last year? Didn't Aardsma pitch well for the Cubs the last couple of months? Didn't Masset show signs with Texas and in Mexico of being a solid contributor? In fact the one guy who was pretty bad the second half of last year now has a major league record for consecutive batters retired. Its nice that the bullpen is doing better, but its too little, too late, and as Steve Stone said, the front of the bullpen is "a mess".

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 14, 2007 -> 10:10 PM) Garland sucked pretty hard his first year (69 innings) and took like half the year in the next year before settling down. He was 20 years old. Maddux sucked pretty bad too, but he won 19 when he was 23. Bonderman is 3 months older than Floyd. Comparing those guys with Floyd makes no sense.

No Bobby Jenks tonight. He's out with a minor ankle injury.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 14, 2007 -> 08:52 PM) So truthfully, how quickly would you have traded off Jon Garland his career? The second year? How about a guy like Greg Maddux who got off to an awful start, or even a Jeremy Bonderman? You have 5,000,000 posts and this is the first really silly one I've ever seen.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Aug 13, 2007 -> 07:15 PM) Haeger hasn't gotten AAA hitters out this year and didn't get major league hitters out in his stint this season. As to why Floyd deserves a shot over Haeger? It's simple, really, and not very hard to understand -- Floyd is out of options beyond this season, Haeger isn't (at least that I know of). We can afford to be patient with Haeger so he can learn to get AAA hitters outdo his work. Haeger has had just as much, if not more success in the minors than Floyd and I look at Tim Wakefield when I say be patient with Haeger. The knuckleball is all cute and dandy, but I'll say it again -- there's a reason there's only been ONE successful knuckleballer over the past twenty years. Me? I see it more likely that Haeger becomes Steve Sparks than Tim Wakefield. Floyd has had his shot. How many times do you have to bang your head into a wall before you realize it hurts so you stop? That's what I think when people say he needs a chance. Seriously, what would Floyd have to do for the White Sox to say, you know what, that guy is the fifth starter next year? Aren't we really past the point of no doubt with him? Even if he was pretty good the rest of the year which is about as likely as Pratt and me buying Floyd jerseys and starting a fan club for him, you still couldn't count on him. These games are meaningless to evaluate. Its going to come down to next spring no matter what happens the rest of the year, unless he is so horrible they don't even bother with that. Put him in relief and pick his spots, maybe he'll get some confidence and will get that look that he is about to cry off his face. I doubt it, but the rotation is a waste of time. Put Contreras back in the rotation or give someone else a shot, whether its Haeger or Gio or whatever. BTW Tom Candiotti was a decent knuckleballer as was Charlie Hough.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 13, 2007 -> 11:07 AM) If they have a clause they they don't have to sign then they shouldn't be on the list to sign anyway. There are only 6 signing stations on kids day. I don't think the entire squad has ever been out there at once. And IIRC, 2 of them are usually for the manager and bp or bench coach. Maybe that was the solution, because a couple of years ago, the entire team or close to it was out there.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 13, 2007 -> 10:19 AM) I think you're right and it's not true. It is absolutely true. 2005 Kid's days from about August on, some players were exempt.

I wonder what the longest previous streak was for a relief pitcher.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 13, 2007 -> 09:27 AM) Somehow, this doesn't surprise me... I'll just leave it at that. A couple of years ago they were complaining and this board supported them because they were winning. IIRC Ozzie said the starting battery didn't have to sign that day. Its total BS on the player's part. If signing a few autographs for kids is really that bothersome, maybe they should get a regular job with a regular paycheck.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 09:02 PM) Well I'd guess on his stuff, the fact that not many knuckleballers have made it over the past 20 years, and his record this season in the minors. Just on Floyd, how did his curveball look in his start yesterday? From what I heard in Detroit it was really working for him. If he's missing his 1st pitch strikes as well, really sounds like the problem Jon Garland had 3-4 years ago. Its a pretty bold move to say he has no chance, but Floyd does. Haeger has had just as much, if not more success in the minors than Floyd and I look at Tim Wakefield when I say be patient with Haeger. Charlie hasn't been throwing the knuckler that long. Wakefield started out great for Pittsburgh but the next season was awful in Pittsburgh and the minor leagues, the following season struggled at AAA, got released, but has been a pretty decent pitcher for the past 13 seasons in Boston. I would say there is a far better chance of Haeger being an average pitcher than there is of Floyd matching Wakefield's career.

Gammons latest blog has some of the top rated players at every position in the minors from 2002. Pitching is hard to project. Of the top 25 rated right handed pitchers there are 3 that have done anything worthwhile in the major leagues. Bonderman who was ranked 8th or 9th, Wainwright who was ranked 5th or 6th and Aaron Cook who was 8th or 9th. Gavin Floyd was ranked #2 right behind Jesse Foppert. Joe Borchard was ranked the #4 OF.

It is amazing Jenks gets this record as a reliever. Especially one who pitches an inning at a time.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 03:14 PM) Which is just another reason why ERA by middle relief isn't really worth dilly. Honestly, why should Seattle keep trying to score runs? They're up by 6, Weaver is shutting us down, and our offense is cold. That didn't seem to stop teams from running up the score at the other garbage KW claimed was a strong bullpen.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 02:08 PM) Shutout so far by the hapless 3-10, 6.07 ERA Jeff Freakin' Weaver... GMAFB. The Tigers must have been on suicide watch after Floyd shut them down. Even bad pitchers have decent days every now and then.

Suddenly all those who said KW fleeced Daniels in the McCarthy trade are silenced. One of the big things on this board on why McCarthy would never be any good, funny how that can be concluded already, but Gavin Floyd needs a chance, was the propencity to give up the long ball. I said maybe that total can go down, but was told no. McCarthy has allowed 8 homers this season. Danks-25.

QUOTE(GreenSox @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 09:35 AM) If he finds his form, he still isn't worth $10 mill a year, when the Sox have glaring holes at short and in the OF. Dump him for salary. The guy won 17 decisions in a row before he hurt his back. He was the ace of the Sox staff when they won it all. Explain to me how if he finds his form he's still not worth $10 million a year? He would be the 4th highest paid starter in the Sox current rotation in 2008.

QUOTE(kwolf68 @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 09:40 AM) This move is dead now from what I read. Which is wise. As much as I never have cared for Pods, unless the Cubs were offering something you just couldn't turn down, if KW traded him for garbage just to save some cash, which the Sox could benefit from in 2008, and he somehow helped the Cubs win, Houston, we have a problem.