Dick Allen

Can you believe the Sox would spend all that money and give up players for Thome instead of relying on Frank?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 07:49 PM) I don't think he's completely done in the sense that he absolutely can't play again. I think he's done in the sense that he won't be able to play and be confident in his health ever again. If you're Oakland, it's probably worth the money to take a shot and see if you can get 200+ at bats out of him, but it's risky to count on getting that many. He still has a very outside shot at 500, but I don't think his body will hold up, and if he tries to push himself back into the game too early again....then it'll just make it harder for him once his foot fractures again. He's actually better than White Sox doctors thought when he re-injured himself last season. They didn't think he would be able to play again. It appears he may, but it won't be for long, and probably won't be very pretty.

It sounds like Frank wants no part of reality. The guy doesn't think he's injury-prone yet 4 seasons 1999, 2001, 2004, and 2005 ended prematurely with injuries. He re-injured his ankle 8 or 9 months ago, hasn't been cleared to run, yet still talks like he will be ready opening day. It sounds like 2005 all over again. If I were a betting man, I would bet Frank is pretty much done.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 03:42 PM) ESPN1000 played a sound byte from Pax talking about how they stood pat because they didn't wanna mess with the draft picks and cap space. Sounds familiar. I hope Pax doesn't have Benny the Bull greeting free agents at the airport. It does make a lot of sense though. The only guy who has been mentioned in trade rumors who could get them anywhere near title contention is Garnett, other than that, they would have a good team not good enough to win it all.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 02:55 PM) I'd still take Randy on our staff, at least for this year (who knows how many he has left). Most people think he had an off year last year, and he still finished 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 211 strikeouts, and a WHIP around 1.12. I know the record is a bit inflated, but that's still pretty solid for about 98% of the pitchers in the league. But yeah, the rest of the staff is pretty brutal. I'm not sure how you think you're going to win when your #2 is Mussina and you don't know who your #3 is because they are all pretty bad. Chacon has always been highly thought of, and getting out of Colorado seemed to do him wonders. Small was 10-0 last year. He'll probably drop off a lot. I am not a fan of Pavano, but with that offense, an ERA below 5.00 could get you a decent record.

Its nice to be confident. I don't think players should be in the habit of critiquing other teams. It seems to usually backfire. White Sox players should just worry and/or talk about the White Sox, unless you are just handing out complements.

Why can't George say his team is going to win? The guy has a payroll over $200 million. Say what you want about the guy, but for that type of cash, he shouldn't be waiting 6 years for another championship.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 06:09 PM) How long did it take Isiah to bankrupt the CBA? I know it wasnt long. I'm not sure, but I think it was less than 3 years. He has to be the laughingstock of the NBA right now.

Larry Brown said Francis can assist in their young players development. The Knicks medical staff must give him very strong prescriptions.

There has to be another trade for the Knicks, there just has to be? Doesn't there? I really think Isiah is so desperate not to finish with a record that gives the Bulls the #1 pick he is trying anything that could help him win a couple more games this year, and possibly decreasing that chance. Francis, Marbury, Rose, Crawford, Curry, Taylor with Larry Brown coaching? You couldn't put together a bigger mismatch if you tried. Isiah is going to destroy the Knicks worse than he destroyed the CBA.

QUOTE(Drew @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 01:20 PM) The main difference I see in the "Let's do it again!" Sox of '84 vs. the 2006 Sox is that the '84 team was built based on plug-and-play formulas and lateral moves with a GM that largely stood pat in the off-season. They brought pretty much everyone back, and they didn't even have a winning season. Rarely if ever are teams good enough to fool the rest of baseball two years in a row with the same mix of players. Even when you look at a team like Boston between '04 and '05 that was kept largely intact with Pedro Martinez being one of the only exceptions, they could not sustain the success of the year before and they had a team full of All-Stars. A lot of people picked them to go all the way again. Offensively, the Sox should be far better off in 2006 than they were in 1984. Luzinski was done. Kittle really fell off, Rudy Law wasn't the same ignitor. Fisk hit .231. But who would have thought Hoyt would go 13-18? Bannister wasn't as sharp, Burns was horrible. Dotson's record wasn't as good, but his stats were very similar to 1983. I've heard Roland Hemond talk about the loss of Jerry Koosman from the 1983 team as a reason for the meltdown. He supposedly was very influential in the clubhouse. It could happen to this team. Its nice they have a guy like McCarthy waiting in the wings if someone gets hurt or falters. As long as the pitching holds up, they will be in contention.

I don't think the Sox would bring him in unless there was a significant injury to Dye or Konerko or Thome or maybe Crede.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Feb 22, 2006 -> 08:15 AM) Compare Bob James to Politte not Jenks. Bob James was a one hit wonder and a junk baller set-up man to Thigpen. He did help in getting Raines. Health and head are the only things keeping Jenks from being among the all-time greats, talent is off the charts. The guy performed as a rookie on the biggest stage and won. Except for the Ortiz bomb most hits were dinks and misplays by the defense. As he matures and gains more faith in his curve and slider and god forbid finds a change-up he will be unhittable. He has 4 major league pitchers. 90% of all relievers have one and most starters have two. The real good ones have three and location. He can be wild but I think this will settle down with experience. The head........well so far so good. You are thinking about Barry Jones. Bob James was a closer from 85-87. The guy sweat more than any human I have ever seen.

His elbow is the main concern. His stuff is good enough that as long as he possesses it, he will never be "figured out". I would like to see him lose a little weight. I know the reports said he lost a little from last year, but the pictures indicate otherwise. He reminds me of Bob James, former White Sox mammoth reliever, who was very good for a little while but just flamed out. Jenks throws a little harder than James and is a little bigger. James had a big year with the Sox in 1985 when he was 26. He struggled the next 2 seasons and was selling cars by the time he was 28. If he took a little better care of himself, maybe he would have lasted a little longer.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 03:37 PM) It's a good thing the Sox have games on TV during ST. It might allow Hawk to get all the "I told you so." out of his system. It's not likely, but it might help. I love Hawk, but he's going to be insane this year, since the epitome of his homerism has happened. Hawk will never get anything out of his system. He jabbed Manuel again at Soxfest. I love Hawk, though.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 06:43 AM) Speaking of Dmitri Young, is he even on a team right now? On his player page on ESPN.com, it still says Tigers at the top, but I'm pretty sure he was a free agent. He's still with Detroit, and supposedly lost 20 lbs.

Anything can happen. I don't know if you remember 1984, but after the 1983 domination, the Sox acquired Tom Seaver, who turned out to be their best pitcher in 1984. With Hoyt, Dotson, Bannister, and Burns, it, on paper, was one of the most dominant 5 man rotations ever. For some reason or another, things didn't work out in 1984, probably they kept too much intact, and they finished below .500. All you can ask for at this time is a team with a legitimate chance to win. The Sox are clearly that. They made a lot of changes, I think for the better. I think many of the players can have better offensive years. The bullpen is my main concern.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 05:44 PM) He did? Granted he wasnt the problem, but the Sox were in the playoffs once when Magglio was here. If Frank, or Paul, s***, even a guy like Podsednik left like Maggs did, I would have a hard time holding a grudge just based on what they brought me in 05. Maggs didnt bring us s***. Im sorry for the harsh posts, I really just have a HUGE hatred for Magglio. His departure helped bring the financial wherewithal to field a world championship team.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 07:10 PM) Yep, Dye was offered more money by both the Rangers and the Diamondbacks but kept his word to KW because they had a handshake deal. Maybe, but he didn't offer the A's a reduced rate even after they paid him $32 million for 3 injury plagued years. He wanted the money, and if the team that supposedly offerred him more than the Sox did, offerred it to him BEFORE HE AGREED to sign with the Sox, he would have signed with them. He and his agent had no idea the offer or offers where coming.These guys almost always go for the money, and really, who can blame them?

My advice to people without tickets is to be patient. There are a lot of people that have tickets to a lot of games they aren't going to be able to make, and they have no experience selling them off. I would suspect that tickets to most games will be readily available on craigslist, ebay, stubhub, the season ticket exchange, for face value or very close to it for most games. There is panic buying going on right now for Sox/Cubs, and opening day. People are paying $150 a seat to sit in the top row. You will be able to do better than that. Remember the playoffs. Ticket prices went down as game time approach, except for maybe the WS.

White Sox fan's bitterness over Magglio's leaving is so puzzling. HE DID THE WHITE SOX A FAVOR. If he would have re-signed, the Sox would have come in second AGAIN.

QUOTE(Steff @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 09:22 AM) Yes they do. Everytime we take our nieces and nephews they walk us around with the stroller and they turn the wheel for each one of us. I've never seen that. Learn something new everyday.

QUOTE(Steff @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 08:02 AM) They still count. And yes you can have more people then tickets sold or comp'd. Children under turnstyle height don't need a ticket. And if they are under turnstile height, they aren't going to get counted by the turnstile or anything else.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 07:06 AM) See my thinking is this. Borch may never get it. But I still think he would provide the same amount of power, that Gonzalez would (and then you've got to take into consideration Gone's injury problems). And with the whole roids issue, I think the Sox are probably gonna stay away, but that's JMHO. You may be right, but KW has been on Juan's tail for a few years. If that Ordonez/Garciaparra trade would have happened a couple of years ago, Gonzalez would have been Magglio's replacement. As to the roids issue, one of minor leaguers the Sox signed and invited to camp was the first player MLB suspended for roids last season. I do think if the Sox were really considering this, we would have heard more about it by now.

He would come very cheap. Cheaper than Timo. If he accepted the fact he was a 4th outfielder, pinch hitter, and a once in a while DH against tough left handers, he might not be a bad guy to have around. There is no way you could count on him for a full season, but picking his spots, if he hit like he hit in 2003, he would be excellent.