Dick Allen

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Jan 19, 2017 -> 10:22 AM) It's not good to count on the teams in front of you to be stupid. I argued the Cubs were lucky Houston picked Appel before Bryant. I was told Appel was the clear #1 choice. Beer might be a HOFer. We won't know for a while, but those thinking if the Sox tank and get the #1 pick the next 2 seasons, those guys will be the baseball version of Michael and Lebron, and will almost immediately be stars, are probably reaching

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jan 19, 2017 -> 09:04 AM) I also don't buy the Sonny Gray and Chris Archer rumors for the Astros. Frankly, Quintana is their only choice left this offseason if they want to acquire a TOR starter. A's aren't selling low on Gray and the Rays are not dealing 5 years of Archer for anything less than a monster haul. Plus the Rays already dumped a pitcher. They don't appear to be going into full rebuild mode. It's Q or bust for these guys. At the deadline if he isn't traded yet, chances are he is the best option. Next winter, Arrieta is a free agent, maybe Tanaka and a 33 year old Cueto. Given Q's contract, do you want to give up prospects or an extra $100 million? He still is looking good. Getting Q for 4 years offsets a good portion of the 6 years of control for a top prospect. The White Sox should be asking for the moon because eventually some team will pay it.

If you take Levine at face value, teams have recently upped their offers, so apparently not trading him previously was pretty wise.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 18, 2017 -> 02:19 PM) Thing is, you'll have absolutely zero clue if his value actually dropped, unless he has a catastrophic injury, or turns into a little league pitching machine next season. Teams are only willing to give up so much. Just look at the Sale trade. If the Sox traded him last winter, I doubt they do any better than they did in December. Assuming Q goes out and does his thing (lets remember that he has historically gotten some of the worst run support in the league and poor defense - really cant get much worse in that regard), his value is going nowhere. That is a much safer bet than acquiring Martes, Tucker and Paulino and hoping like hell one or more of those guys actually turn into a meaningful asset. Plus, you have to also recognize that the Sox really need an infusion of position player talent, and to this point, it seems like the available packages are pitching focused. I tend to agree that you take the best package available and sort it out later, but in this case, acquiring hitting is obviously hte priority. Those of us in the patience crowd are all about trading Q if the price is right - I assure you of that. But the aforementioned package, or even then the supposedly rumored package of Martes, Tucker and Musgrove doesn't exactly get me all warm and fuzzy. I think the assumption is that if the Astros really turned that down, they're offering something significantly less, that is going to be very underwhelming. That's a good question to ask for all those so worried Q won't be worth anything if the Sox don't trade him in the next 24 hours. How much ddi the ultimate package for Sale and/or Eaton deteriorate by the White Sox not trading either of them a year sooner? I am with you, Sale's, I am not guessing much if anything at all, and Eaton's certainly went up. There is a limit on what teams will give up. TOR guys with 4 years or even 3 years of cheap control are hardly ever traded. One reason is because either teams don't have the prospects, or they have to give up so many. Q is in that boat. He will be at just about max price if they wait another year as long as he performs and is healthy.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 18, 2017 -> 12:35 PM) Seeing as Q is still signed for 4 more years, losing a year isn't going to hurt his value that much. This isn't a guy hitting free agency in 1 or 2 years. I think Q is the last big chip we have. Losing him for an inferior return will hurt this rebuild way worse than holding on to him for another year would. I totally agree with this. And "value" is also something where the needle moves daily. You never know what will happen. In a year, they may trade him for guys ranked lower than what they could trade him for today, and they may all be better ballplayers. It's nice to win the trade the day the trade is made. It's more important to win it in the future. They can't screw this one up. If the guys they traded for Q today wind up sucking, no one here will remember they loved prospect xxx. It will be Rick and Kenny and Jerry are total idiots, they should have traded for xxx, who they easily could have received because they weren't ranked as high.

Stretch, you can put it on the board yes, rack em up, mercy, he gone, and this ballgame is ova. Per Merkin.

With the HOF announcement tomorrow, I suppose if nothing happens today, we have to wait until at least Thursday for anything. So the Q to Houston, Q to Pittsburgh, Q to the Yankees talk can take a day off.

I'm getting one for sure.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 01:46 PM) He wasnt top ten in any category for QB's his senior year. He was pretty pedestrian and tested like s*** at the combine. Thats why he was drafted where he was drafted. its the outlier of all outliers. He was also running Lloyd Carr's offense. It was a different game back then. Obviously if anyone thought he would be half as good as he's been, he wouldn't have gone #199, but the guy was pretty good at Michigan with what he had to work with. I won a Big 10 fantasy football league with him as my QB.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 01:04 PM) Brady is literally the ultimate outlier in the history of drafts. It proves nothing whatsoever. A guy who wasnt all that great in college ends up being drafted about where his performance and athletic appearance dictated, and then became an all-timer. If I put his stats next to JT Barrett's for example, you would probably pick JT Of course he was an outlier, but he was pretty good in college. He led the Big 10 in passing efficiency and completion percentage. He did alternate for a while with Drew Henson. Who knows, maybe the Bears can draft an outlier.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 12:51 PM) And the Bucs picked Cadillac Williams and decided to roll the dice with Brian Griese and Chris Simms as their QBs. Thanks a lot Gruden.... Gruden said the other day the reason he isn't coaching Oakland was because he picked a kicker in round 1 and a punter in round 5 the draft Brady went in round 6.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 12:50 PM) They believed Rex was their guy. Noone thought Rodgers would fall into the Packers lap, which helped coincide with Favre getting up there in age. You gotta remember even with injuries, Rex was only 2 years removed from being drafted in the 1st round by the Bears. They just didn't know what they had in him since he got injured his first couple of years there. Favre was with GB for 3 more seasons. Rodgers only threw 59 passes total his first 3 years. So maybe there is something to he's as good as he is because he had that opportunity to develop. I have no idea. But there are many teams that wish they had their pick before him back.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 12:41 PM) I'll bet the house the 49ers are still regretting passing on him. Lets just leave it at that. Some teams also drafted on need at that time, not BPA. Hell, some still do. The Bears spent the 4th pick on Ced Benson. It would have been doubly good if they drafted Rodgers because not only would they have him, the Packers would not.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 12:30 PM) Rodgers was a consensus top 3-5 pick in that draft. Hell, Kiper Jr. had him only slightly behind Alex Smith in that draft and that was only because he felt Smith was more NFL ready off the bat. Rodgers just happened to slip in the draft because every other team was set (or believed they were) at QB. (Kind of like Greg Olsen falling to the Bears lap and other players as well) And guys like Brady and Brees are not the usual standard. Noone and I mean noone would've predicted Brady to be the player that he is. One of the rare players who was way better in the NFL than in college. And Brees had questions about his height which was very common during that time. He went 24th. If teams had a top 3-5 grade on him he would have gone a lot sooner. Kiper loved him, there is no question about that, but teams don't listen to him. Sometimes they should, sometimes they are probably happy they don't.

At the time of their drafts, Brady, Rodgers, and Brees would have been considered pretty big reaches at pick #3. If everyone performs to their pre draft ranking, then the Bears shouldn't take a QB at 3. One thing is for sure, they can make the playoffs with a game manager, but for some sustained success, they need a star.

I don't see how anyone can be to blame when you have zero idea what is really going on. It could be a team has offered enough for the White Sox but they are holding out because they like another team's players a little more and maybe they will cave. Until he is ultimately traded, and even then we should wait a while, judging is silly. All we get is rumors.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 17, 2017 -> 09:17 AM) I just go to the local fitness center that's down the block for $25 a month. The workout equipment is a little lacking but there is a indoor track, pool, basketball, racquetball so that makes up for it. They just opened one of those huge FFC gyms nearby. It looks impressive, but I think it's almost $70/month, with a $400 enrollment fee, and an annual fee. Hard to justify the massive jump in price if I probably don't need the extra amenities. I'm in FFC. They have one in the building where I work, and a couple within 4 blocks of my home. I can use any one of their gyms and it's $78 a month through work, and my company contributes $35 a month if you make 8 visits. So it's pretty cheap. They keep the place really clean. I used to belong to Equinox at 900 N. Michigan. It was about $120 a month. Since I don't take many classes, the equipment and pool are about the same at FFC, so it makes more sense doing what I am doing. I do miss the many celebrity sightings at Equinox though. That was kind of fun.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 02:06 PM) I think they'll do that sort of signing but my guess is jason Hammel, who I believe we've heard wants to stay in Chicago Area anyway. Hammel is a terrible fit in the AL and small park, but so is Derek Holland.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 09:39 AM) There was a point that Levine said all other 29 teams had conversations with the Sox about Q. LOL He always has to leave the door open to be wrong and still right at the same time. They ll do that. Baseball "insiders'" favorite term is fluid. When they throw that one out there, they really aren't too sold on their info. Bruce has been around for a long time, he has more legit sources tHan a lot of others. He is also wrong sometimes, and I am sure used. We will see.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 16, 2017 -> 07:25 AM) Who will be today's conductor to strike up the band? Will it be Bruce Levine, Bob Nightengale, Ken Rosenthal, Scott Merkin, Phil Rogers, Jon Heyman or Chuck Garfien? One of them is bound to strike up some conversation. Maybe Levine comes out with some more tidbits in relation to his article yesterday. Too many teams involved. I would think we will have ample warning when something is imminent by all you have mentioned.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 14, 2017 -> 06:04 PM) Again, they need a 5th starter. They're still the best team in baseball. Next year they'll need a 3rd starter, and it'll make sense to pony up then. Yes, as a general rule -- except it turns out we have four serious suitors anyway. We are not suffering from a lack of demand. Ok, challenge it. But you'll need to provide evidence against the universal economic adage that "price sits where supply meets demand." Supposedly they may use a 6 man rotation at least initially to try to offset any postseason fatigue.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 14, 2017 -> 04:43 PM) I know Tanaka & Cueto can opt out of their contracts and they would be foolish not to if they have strong seasons next year. Cueto will be 33 and will be passing on about $85 million. Tanaka looks like he will do well, but I would Imagine he stays with the Yankees, and the Yankees have him and still want Q. And Q has been a better pitcher than him anyways I just don't think the market will be as flooded as believed, and Q's contract makes teams that can't or won't pay $150 million for free agents players in his services. I don't think it will come down to it, but if they held him another year, assuming he is still the same pitcher, there will be plenty of interest

Besides Arrietta and maybe Duffy, who are the top of the rotation free agent starters available next year? Looks like a bunch of junk to me.

I was in LA with a buddy many years ago and we went to TPIR with Bab Barker. They were passing out tickets in front of the Chinese Theater. We didnt get on stage but saw ourselves a lot and the guy we met in line did get to play. His name was Bud, he was from South Dakota and was on vacation with his daughter and ex daughter in law in an RV. He won the initial bidding because everyone but himself went over, he then had the game where you pick numbers out of a bag and there put them in their proper place for the price of a car. His was a Corvette. You have 3 strikes. He picked out numbers 3 times that were wrong, picked those same numbers and tried to put them in the same spots. It was unreal. He still wound up winning the Corvette. Of course he then spins a dollar so he goes to the showdown where he bids $11 k on a showcase that winds up being around $40k. The other guy was over so Bud wins about $90k in cash and prizes. You wouldn't beleive how crazy the place went. Watching it didn't do it justice, but Bob said Bud you have a lot of fans. We went back to the theater and they were passing out free tickets to watch them tape Seinfeld. So we went to that as well. It was the one Poppie peed on the couch. I was never on a TV Show but I was on Sports Jeapordy on the Score and made it to the finals, where I lost. I was in studio when it was on Belmont with the heavy rule crew. They wanted to know my job. I told them I was a petroleum transfer technition. Terry thought I drove the big boats.

Frazier had an off year for him but he still put up a 2 4 WAR. He isn't a bad player.