Dick Allen

Except for assists, Jimmy's numbers are all better than the numbers DRose put up his MVP year. He is annoying speaking in the 3rd person, and all that crap, but he has made himself a top 10 player.

I don't mind Geo, but his yips are like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. The highlight of this is we now may see Geo Soto squared battery.

Abreu put up a .900 OPS the second half last year, and Fangraphs had him better defensively than Eric Hosmer. If no one wants to give up anything for him keeping him isn't a bad deal.

My best friend looks a lot like Ryan Pace. I guess he got yelled at standing in line at the Whole Foods last night.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 02:50 PM) On the bright side, his value is only higher now then it was in the off-season. Yes, but since there almost certainly would be draft picks involved, in season, its not clear where those picks are in the draft and who is available. There probably is very little chance he is dealt during the season. But might as well have your ducks in a row for next June. Realistically, he probably has to go.

Tony Romo can't stay healthy behind Dallas' offensive line. How in the world is he going to stay healthy with the Bears who had 3 QBs knocked out in 2016?

If he's in the game, of the draft picks and available QBs, Romo is probably the best bet to get the offense humming next year, but also the worst bet to be able to answer the bell a reasonable amount of times.

John Fox has never been a media darling, and Pace was unavailable to the media all season except for the team orchestrated interview with Jeff Joniak the last day of the season. Either loosen Fox up, and tell him to be at least a little more straight with the media, or have Pace available. The media didn't like Lovie either because they thought they were being talked down to. It is understandable. Most people want to be treated with at least a little respect. The media has a job to do. Even if they are a pain, without it, there probably are a few less zeroes on their bank account balances.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 11:13 AM) Pace said Alshon did a good job taking care of his body this year. Yeah, he had 4 weeks rest. And they also said injuries weren't an excuse, then mentioned injuries 19 times. These things are a team produced scripted sound bite. Make sure you take the blame, then lay it off a bit. If you look at the transcript from last year, the quotes are virually the same. In training camp, Pace said he expected to compete.

It seems he may be a bit pricey but Mike Glennon could be an option. Would hate to throw a ton of cash his way.

At least the Bears staff gets to coach the Senior Bowl. That should give them a better look at a couple of the QBs. Supposedly, it is where Dallas became intrigued with Prescott.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 08:43 AM) I think Hawk would golf all 12 months if he could(and he probably does). I dont even think that is in question They can do that if they want, as well. Except for day games, they could golf every day. Nice work if you can get it.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 08:05 AM) if you are retiring, you arent really looking to fall back on another career. You are looking for somewhere sunny with a lot of golf courses Besides, baseball only announcers are semi retired anyway. They already get 6 months a year to golf. How much more do they need?

His Hawkins take seems to fit right in with Courtney's performance the last few seasons. The Collins take is with a grain of salt IMO. He's seen him twice. Kopech? Who knows? He's seen him pitch more than almost everyone here, but his criticisms, and they really weren't dire, for both seem to be correctable. The one thing that does concern me a bit with Collins is many guys drafted as catchers but are expected to shift to other positions because of defensive concerns bats seem to not live up to the hype. One exception is Paulie. I think there is hope for him as a catcher. Orton seems to be a pretty good instructor.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 03:36 PM) That's such a short sighted philosophy. Pace's job right now is to add talent. Pace did that job well last year. In FA he completely revamped the LBs, turning that position into a strength. He added 3 starters - two of whom look like truly impact talent - in the draft. They need to address the secondary, and they need to address the QB position this year, but if Pace has a great draft and they only win 6 games, Pace is still doing his job - adding talent to a bad roster. . He needs to add talent that can actually stay on the field. White, Goldman, Floyd, they all might be great, but if they can't stay on the field they aren't good picks. His free agents have had a tough time staying on the field as well.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 04:49 PM) Used to go every Friday, have not gone since they made Friday exclusive to the weekend package holders. It was an awesome event when I would go years ago. Worked downtown it was a hop skip and jump to either venue and a good time. Event took a hit when it moved to Palmer House and now is just an afterthought. The Hyatt, I think it was was really cool. Palmer House seemed crammed in on many floors and the event kind of sucked the last couple of times I went. Seems like an indicative move of the club with the crappy venue for that and the crappy stadium name. Every aspect of the organization seems to be floundering although the new scoreboard was nice. It's not at the Palmer House anymore. It's at the Hilton on Michigan. It's much better than the Palmer House set up. More like the Hyatt.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 02:53 PM) But they don't let it get in the way of the job at hand. They, like Benetti (and Stone, for that matter), get excited when it's appropriate, but they don't start yelling at umpires or whining about umpiring when the next guy is up to bat. Hawk shatters like a broken glass whenever anything unexpected happens and Stone has to do Hawks job to keep the broadcast coherent. Get excited hen it's appropriate? I suppose it would be up to you to determine when it's appropriate, but it does contradict what you wrote. You just wrote we don't understand the broadcast is supposed to be impartial. If that is what you want, why even have the sound on? You can see if a pitch is a strike or the ball his hit to the SS. They flash the stats and the score and the pitch count and the pitch speed on the screen. You want a boring broadcast, it's easy to achieve.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 02:42 PM) Most great broadcasters limit their partiality in order to not lose sight of their jobs. A play-by-play person is meant to give play-by-play, not cheer along with the fans or curse umpires. Of course you don't understand. You want your announcer to be your best friend. The rest of us deserve a real broadcaster for both home and road games. That's a career-long award, but the Hawk they wish to honor no longer calls White Sox games. He's been horrible for a decade. The only one who doesn't understand is you. There isn't a local broadcast in professional sports that is impartial. Even your boys Len and whoever his partner get excited when the Cubs are winning. Not as excited as you perhaps, but not exactly impartial. The only person who thinks having a passion for the White Sox is a negative is you.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 02:27 PM) I don't know why people 1) Require their announcers to love the team 2) Don't understand that the broadcast team is meant to be professional and reasonably inpartial 3) Think Hawk is a broadcaster So a local telecast being beamed out to White Sox fans trying to sell the White Sox is supposed to be impartial? That's pretty funny.

Who were the playmakers on the 2014 Bears defense? If their players are worse than they were 2 years ago, that's on Pace. The fact is 17 forced turnovers in 2015 set a franchise record low. The 11 this year shattered it. I don't know if it's coaching, what is emphasized, lack of players , luck, or all of the above, but it needs to change quickly. They have had no talent before and forced a lot more turnovers. Pace can draft 6 future Pro Bowlers in April, if the team is 6-10, neither he or Fox will be around for the annual post mortem press conference.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 12:53 PM) I think the bolded is the key. We saw this with Sale, and we may very well see it with Q if he's traded this offseason. Teams are only willing to give up so much. I think you can get the same for Q value-wise next offseason, or even in a year and half, as you can now. That doesn't mean you hold for the sake of holding, as there obviously is some risk there (but with Q its minimal), but you don't take a lesser package. You wait until your asking price (or at least what you realistically would take - see Sale trade), is met. I have been harping on this since before Sale was traded. Yeah technically he will be worth less as time goes by, but the package isn't going to be less unless he gets hurt or horrible for at least a year or year and a half.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 12:21 PM) You ever hear Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Buck, or Jason Benetti (who I actually like) tell you the difference between hitting ahead and behind in the count? I'll answer it because I have probably heard them more than you. No. I will say Stone does mention a lot more of Hawk's thoughts when he is doing a telecast with Jason.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 12:12 PM) There has also been talk, later denied, that LA is also working against MLB debt limits. There are ways around that. They could sell a non controlling small portion of the team like Ricketts, and problem solved. But I do think anyone with any desire to sign a Machado or Harper or Kershaw wants to be re-set on the luxury tax.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 12:02 PM) Hawk has been objectively bad at his job (like can't see what's going on, doesn't actually do any analysis) for years. 1995 Hawk isn't walking through that door and he's only going to get worse as his faculties (mental and physical) abandon him. Benetti is fine. It doesn't surprise me DA loves Hawk, of course he does... LMAO.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 11:22 AM) Hawk is good for only one part of the broadcast now - emotional cues. That's it. His insight is restricted to Yaz, Catfish Hunter and Buehrle. He gets angry in the booth at every slight - big, small or imagined. He relies on catch phrases in lieu of analysis (that's a Kansas City special!) and tries to suppress Stone constantly. When the Sox are good, it's great to have Hawk for emotion. It's the one thing Benetti lacks. I'm much more inclined to believe that Jason, as he gets more comfortable, will begin to provide emotion than I am that Hawk will give a single piece of insight regarding the future team that we haven't heard before. I never once heard Hawk mention Yaz or Catfish during a 2016 telecast. Hawk offers a lot more insight than his detractors want to admit. He was talking about Frazier pulling off the ball. Many would think if you are pulling off the ball, you might want to stand closer to the plate. Hawk told everyone he should back off about 6 inches, all about the thought dictating the mechanics. Yes, he has slipped a bit, father time catches up to everyone. And he goes overboard on umpires, but the guy has been terrific. He was advanced before anyone had ever heard of sabermetrics. He has been yapping about working a count since he began. No one else did. He knew the importance of having 2 hitting coaches 30 years ago. Now most teams have 2. I hear about his huge ego. I doubt anyone who thinks his ego is so gigantic has ever met him. Truly one of the nicer most pleasant guys to fans that there is. He also says all the time the players today are a lot better than they were in his era. He really isn't as stuck in his ways and he and others want you to believe. He doesn't imbrance sabermetrics consciously, but everything sabermetrics embraces, he has embraced forever. He goes a little further believing there is also a human element to the game, which most people would agree. Hawk and Stone were better together in 2016. I just find it funny that without really knowing the issues between the 2, it's always assumed it's always Hawk's fault. Yeah, Stone works well with Jason, but Hawk works well with Stone's substitutes, and many people have mentioned meeting Steve as not being the most enjoyable experience. I read here a few years ago, he wouldn't sign baseballs on the sweet spot because he thought people would sell them, like there is a huge market for a Steve Stone signed baseball. Hawk has been great. He is slipping, but still gets the job done. If he wants to work 4 more years, the Sox owe it to him as long as he's able, to let that happen.