Dick Allen

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 03:19 PM) How many guys did Boston sign the year they signed Moncada? Soler was before the rules. Are you saying that the only reason the Red Sox would have signed Moncada was because they were over the limit? That had they stayed in their lane before he was eligible , they never would have signed him? I get the Sox don't do this, so they probably won't argument. But now you are just being silly. Yes, the odds are he will sign with someone else no matter when he is declared eligible. And I do agree the White Sox chances go up if it is after 6/15. But the other stuff is just noise.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 03:15 PM) They do it when they have a whole string of signings lined up in one year. They don't do it for one person. It was a different circumstance. Ideally, yes the Sox would have blown through, but for those that did, there is no guarantee they can sign him either, and if he is better than the guys you signed, isn't one better than 3 or 4? I am quite sure there are teams unable to offer Robert more than 300k that would take another 2 year penalty to get him signed.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 03:07 PM) I mentioned him a couple of days ago actually. Would a future back of the bullpen reliever be worth giving up two years worth of signings for? You aren't giving up 2 years worth of signings. At least state facts. A lot of the teams people seem to admire have done the same thing in the past and present. If Luis Robert is half as good as advertised, being limited to paying a 16 year old a $300k bonus for 2 years, especially if they have nothing yet for the first year, is no big deal.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 03:01 PM) Ah yes, the old DA argument... The Sox spending $10 million on a 19 year old Cuban has it? No, but I mean league wide. Michael Ynoa got a ton of money as a 16 year old. No one really mentions him much here, although he's on the team. These 16 year olds aren't going to come into play anyways for probably at least 5 or 6 years. I read an article that the average development time for a player from the DR is 8 years. You need to have them, but it is a long ways off. If Hostetler was the guy who said Robert was the best prospect on the planet, would you change your mind? It's not like they haven't tried to sign guys before. They were in on Soler. They were in on Concepcion who the Cubs did sign and he's a bust. They signed Viciedo. Who would have thought they would have signed Abreu? It's different now. They have no reasonable shot of winning. They are doing something different. Trading stars away for top prospects happened when before December of 2016?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 02:52 PM) I think the opposite. Since anyone can bid $300k it isn't much of a number anymore. All it takes is one of the remaining teams to bid $350 or $400k to knock about half of teams out of the bidding. I also think that because so many teams are out of the top bidding that they will be more likely to throw $300k out there to a guy who may really be a $150 or $200k guy because they aren't going to be able to spend their money on anything above that anyway. I mean, I get the White Sox are rebuilding here, but I can't seen them throwing off all of these different things that have defined them as a franchise for decades now. You guys have a lot more faith in the unseen than I do. HOU, OAK, ATL. STL, WAS, SD, CIN, CUBS, SF, LAD, KC will all be in the can't offer more than 300k boat this coming period. The first 6 would be in the same position as the White Sox if they spent a ton before 6/15, and not be able to offer more than $300k 7/2/18. That's 1/3 of the league for this year, and there has already been lots of agreements and teams with not much to play with anymore. Assuming the Sox haven't offered anyone $300k yet, they probably are only really punting on 1 year and not 2, and it's really not punting. They still will spend their money. Spending a couple million on a 16 year old hasn't really proven to be very successful has it?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 02:27 PM) Which means they are automatically out on something like the Top 50 players for each year. Do you really think there is much difference in the 30-50th ranked 16 year old vs. the 80-100th ranked? Using your own theory, the Sox won't sign the top guys anyways. So they go down another peg. Besides $300k probably will get you a little more than it used to. You just have to hope Paddy picks the right guys. Look at BP and BA and MLB.com ranking prospects over the years. They have a hard time with 22 year olds in AAA. If Robert lives up to anywhere near the hype, he's well worth it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 02:23 PM) And if they sign him before 6/15, they won't be able to compete at all for the next two years, which means that advantage is largely wasted. They still will have their pool. They just won't be able to spend more than $300k on any individual player.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 01:20 PM) Interesting. Thanks for the insight. Regardless, everything coming from Boston's camp makes this seem ominous. I have always liked Price and I wish him the best here. The fact that they went to Andrews after an MRI suggests they either think or know something is very wrong IMO.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 01:41 PM) Sorry, I wrote it strangely, now that I read it again. My bad. What I meant to say was, yes, if he clears before 6/15 (who knows if that happens or not), the Sox have every reason to go big and sign him, and I'm guessing they will be very much in the mix. If he clears after, then the Sox have a very good shot at him in the same way they were able to get a lot better Rule 4 draft picks when those rules changed. Either way, the Sox are in it, and it makes a ton of sense to go get him. The Sox haven't done a rebuild like this since the late 1990's. The amateur scouting department has new leadership that has so far shown they don't do things the old ways - in fact they went into penalty range in the Rodon draft. The Sox have less teams to compete with due to current penalties for some teams. The team is projecting to dramatically decrease MLB payroll in this rebuild. The attitudes in the front office have shifted. While it's silly to say the Sox WILL do it, I think in this case it's equally silly to say 100% they won't. It's easy to understand anyone being skeptical the Sox would go after this guy, especially if it would cost them more than $4 million because they just haven't done it. Athough they did give Viciedo $10 million. Borchard was the highest bonused player in MLB history for several years. There are some that still don't believe the White Sox are in a rebuild. They think they wanted to rid themselves of players who love the Drake. Of course the question they would have to answer is if that were true, why did they not acquire one Opening Day 2017 major leaguer in either of the deals?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 01:29 PM) Post July 2nd, where the hard cap comes in to play, more teams are eliminated from bidding big, and the money becomes very close between all of the teams, the White Sox chances go up by a large amount. The White Sox have an incredible case to sell Robert on, once money is largely eliminated. I do agree the chances go up if his eligibility is delayed. But, the teams the White Sox would really competing with are the teams that went over, those are Hou, Oak, Atl, STL, Wash, SD, Cin, Considering Houston was supposedly up against a wall financially with getting another pitcher, and Robertson's contract was an issue with Washington, that leaves Oak, Atl, Stl, SD, and Cin. I am basing this on the biggest bonus given during the period was $11 million, so he would get more and double that with the penalty. If JR is willing, and Hostetler thinks he is great, and they aren't committed to anyone over $300k, and who knows if these other teams are, they have a decent shot. Of course, later is a better bet because the price tag comes way down.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 12:25 PM) What exactly do you mean by "go ham?" They can't go past their allotment. Suck they were never able to take advantage of the old system. They are still on last year's, so what he is saying is if they were going to blow it and get the penalty, spending more earlier would be the play. And he is correct. The only thing is, if he doesn't clear until later, you have zero shot. Assuming they don't have any big agreements not yet know for the next signing period, they are one of the few teams that can be in either way.

The Sox would seemingly have a far better shot if he were cleared after June 15th. Before, all it takes is someone to offer a Moncada contract and that's that. But if the money is about the same, the Sox might be dealing from a position of strength with a young Cuban. Not mentioning Minnie, but the recent big time Cuban players with some White Sox influence, Contreras, El Duque a little, Alexei, Abreu, now Moncada, might make the team very attractive. Of course most teams have a lot of Cuban players now either in the majors or minors and he may have someone in the STL or SD system that he's close to.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 06:42 AM) He spoke truthfully as far as anyone can see. He was asked if he spoke with the Russians specifically about the campaign. He answered no. It was not an open ended question. I did not have communications with the Russians He's a liar.

Durant will be back when he's 110%. He has graduations to attend down the road.

Even if they blow through, they can still sign 10 guys for $300k each both this year and next, correct? How many do they usually sign for more than that? I am thinking with the new rules, th guys getting 500k may start getting 300k. It will be interesting and if he clears quickly the Sox would still have to win a bidding war which seems unlikely. But he is 19 not 16. There is at least a little more to go on.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 02:39 PM) Shields? They paid him something like $5 million last year. LaRoche was $12.5 million. There's some cash in the kitty.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 01:46 PM) [/b] Um, ok. Sure. Normally you would be 100% correct here, but I'm thinking there may be something to this. They didn't spend much of the LaRoche money.

Are you sick of winning yet? I really am surprised Trump keeps on mentioning Chicago violence. You would think under his leadership, the problem would have been solved by now.

Not a fan of Rahm, but I am glad he said something. Trump is all talk and tweet. T think he actually likes the violence. It gives him something to point to that is terrible. Fix it then pop off: "We have repeatedly made specific requests of the administration for greater law enforcement integration and resources; a higher priority placed on federal gun prosecutions; and funds restored toward mentoring and after-school and summer jobs programs that have proven to be positive alternatives for our young people,” Emanuel said in a statement following Trump's address. "Because this is so important, I’ll always be ready with this list whenever the President asks." Emanuel added, "The better question, I’d suggest, is whether the President cares enough about violence in our city to do more than talk or tweet about it."

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 08:35 AM) Like how Trump continues to call the Yemen raid a "great success". A raid that killed 30 civilians, including women and children. People living in one of the poorest countries in the world. Morally bankrupt. He also blames the previous administration for anything that went wrong, since it was already in the works when he took office. That doesn't stop him from taking credit for anything that went right that was in the works before he took office. One question I have, if he thinks McCain is a loser for being captured, what does he really think about the troops who lose their lives?

So Lebron shows why it's good he's the coach/GM of the Cavs.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 08:09 AM) Ah yes, the Gordon Beckham approach to handling and developing young, supposedly elite talent. Screw that development time in the minors! Bring 'em all up ASAP and let's get this thing going at the MLB level immediately! Terrific idea!! There are many cases of guys being brought up too soon, but I don't know how Beckham is constantly used. He obviously was ready to play in the major leagues at that point and dominating the minors wasn't going to do anything for him. Maybe failure in the minors would have helped him, but it wasn't happening, and he was so rushed, he was the Sporting News ROY. These guys are going to stay down for a while no matter what, but I think that is more about service time being wasted while they totally suck then about being ready to be called up. If the White Sox weren't trying to win in 2009, Beckham probably would have stayed in Charlotte until September. That is probably what will happen here even if these guys are dominating.

No one is ready to play yet. To take anything away from these games, good or bad, is really stretching it, except for maybe if a guy is showing some great defense. The other stuff, who cares? The pitchers aren't ready, and even if they were, they aren't throwing what they will be throwing. Hitters aren't seeing the best stuff. They are all at a different place in terms of preparation, so if they are ripping the ball, it doesn't matter. If they are looking bad, same thing. Worry or get excited in 3 weeks, and even then it probably doesn't mean all that much until the games really matter.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 01:13 PM) I also dont understand why people blame ACA for rising rates, the healthcare companies are making record profits, why are they not the issue? One of my largest customers is a giant healthcare company, they are f***ing SWIMMING in money. And they always will. It's fool proof. Everyone needs them.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 12:54 PM) Trump: "Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated." Uh, I'm pretty sure anybody paying any attention to the ACA for the past 8 years knows that its incredibly complicated. Just watch him when he is reading teleprompters. The guy can barely read. Of course he didn't know it was complicated because he didn't even know what it was. Remember the comment his employees didn't use it much because they didn't like it?