Dick Allen

I think the Sox have only lost one or two of his blown saves this year.

I see no reason to think he is just going to get worse and worse. The Sox almost gave Cespedes $100 million or so, he went from .861 to .737 to .751 his first 3 years of OPS. 2 years not even as good as this year's Jose. Obvioulsy more worth defensively, but he followed those up with an .870 and a .910. Of course he is playing for a contract these seasons. It would be interesting to see where Abreu would be if he was in the middle of a consistent offense. Of course, this season, he's one of the reasons they aren't consistent. I still think the bat is elite.

That's too bad because he actually was starting to hit. It obviously wouldn't last, but usually he's good for a week or two of a hot spurt every now and then.

They were showing some ARod lowlights the other day. One was when he slapped the ball away at first base. Yeah that was lame. Another was when he ran back to first base over the mound. A baseball no no, again pretty lame ARod. The 3rd is when he yelled "I got it" vs Toronto and the Toronto infielders let the ball drop. Why is that a horrible thing when an infielder can fake taking a throw at second to get a runner to slide if a ball goes into RF? I had no problem with that one.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:43 PM) We got it, move on. LOL

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:26 PM) What a shame, for a little while him and Braun were just a wrecking crew He still has $96 million on the contract. I am assuming it isn't a straight out retirement don't bother paying me, like LaRoche. When he was a free agent, I was leery because his father fell apart around 31 or so. I thought genes might do him in, but this is obviously his neck. I imagine an insurance company is not very happy right now. It is interesting that Prince and Cecil each hit 319 career homers.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:34 PM) Sure. 3 posts ago. Even after he agreed with you, it was turned into being mad or something ridiculous to keep it going. This is the kind of unnecessary stuff that just grinds the board to a halt. We got it, move on. No he gave an add this to your mantle comment.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:24 PM) lol, you really want someone to argue with you. Even when they don't you turn it into one. OK. All I pointed out was 3 straight years of decline is inaccurate. 2 straight years of decline is accurate. But nice to see you want to get involved. I know you have never pointed out a post not being accurate.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:18 PM) Why are you upset Dick? I love your meaningful additions to conversations. You're the one who is upset. I am just pointing out saying in decline 3 straight years is inaccurate. I guess accuracy isn't meaningful when you post.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:13 PM) Great point Dick. Add this to your mantle. Nice retort. Can't stand being wrong I guess, but according to you his rookie year where he was Rookie of the Year and 4th in MVP voting was a decline.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:06 PM) My position is that Jose Abreu has declined. While I would certainly take an .850 OPS from him, it's not exactly the .960 6 WAR player we imagined at the end of 2014 when we accelerated our rebuild into oblivion. I'm open to the idea that him being distanced from his family has caused this steady decline, because being separated from your family in a completely new city with the pressures of a baseball player could feasibly cause this. But, I don't know how you could be both incredulous that baseball players personal issues could affect their play meaningfully and decide that Jose Abreu has not declined because of fun with sample sizes. Abreu may be fine next year, but this is 3rd straight year of meaningful decline. A .780 OPS first baseman who can't play first base is not a part ofa core. I'm hopeful this is just because of personal reasons, because if not, then it's going to be all the more sad when we sign Jason Castro and trade for a pitcher and say we are going for it in 2017. How can it be his third straight year of meaningful decline? It's only his 3 year. Did he decline before he started?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Aug 8, 2016 -> 06:26 PM) Did he have his son around last season or in 2014? No but things change. He did see him in the winter, maybe the bond tightened , maybe there are other circumstances or maybe it's coincidental. All I know is the guy went 2 months without hitting a homer and suddenly has 3 in 4 games right when the kid is arriving. Maybe one less thing on his mind did the trick. Maybe he won't hit another homer the rest of the year. We don't know but perhaps it had something to do with it

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 8, 2016 -> 10:32 AM) Why should he feel bad for that post? Regardless of Jose's personal circumstances, it's ludicrous that the White Sox have cultivated an atmosphere where we as fans wonder whether the absence or presence of a child makes a difference on players paid millions to play baseball. It truly is a circus. It has nothing to do with the White Sox cultivating anything. It is about a father and a son. It may just be coincidental he started hitting with authority around the same time his son was arriving. Or maybe not. Maybe it has nothing to do with it. But it wouldn't be the first time a parent struggled with being separated from their child.

He is doing better against what should be better competition, but you also have guys getting used to wooden bats. The results are spectacular. We will see how he progresses. Hopefully he will still be considered a steal a couple of years from now. I know you shouldn't judge systems on their W-L, but the Sox top 4 affiliates are a combined 79 games under .500. That is pretty sad.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Aug 8, 2016 -> 06:00 PM) No reason to not give him at least 50% of the remaining games. I know they're not going to forget Navarro, In about a week you would probably feel different.

I wonder how much the recent disappointment in several high profile Cuban signings will do much to his price tag. It only takes one team, but there have been some big time busts lately.

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 8, 2016 -> 03:12 PM) That's what happens when you have an incompetent GM Didn't their minor league system get a real high ranking from many of the "experts"?

Abreu's son was at the game today, and it was the first time Abreu saw him since the winter when he was back in Cuba. That was the first time he saw him in 3 years. 3 hits today, has been hot lately. Maybe a reason for his decline this season.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 7, 2016 -> 04:35 PM) Check out the K/9 and BB/9. Not good. The walk rate sucks but 9.8 k/9 i.

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 6, 2016 -> 12:36 PM) Ever think that maybe their price is ridiculous and they might never get traded? Or do you just automatically assume that whatever price they are asking for must be correct? There's a reason they will probably both be on the roster during Spring Training. The price is silly and no one wants to pay it. I think Rick Hahn fully understands that and he doesnt actually want to sell them. Plus let's shoot down this whole notion that because more teams are involved that definitely means they'll be traded. There's something called free agency. Now whether you think that talent is scarce in free agency doesnt matter. Free agents only cost money. Chris Sale costs prospects. That's going to hold up the whole process for months. Teams will wait for Hahn to lower his price if he even wants to trade him which I really doubt. Not all teams can afford to sign free agent aces, but probably every team could afford Chris Sale. Unless you can tell us a package that the Sox rejected for Sale, you are advocating trading him just to trade him. And they might both be on the roster next year, but if you really are gung ho for a rebuild, trading your biggest pieces and settling is really setting you up to suck for a real long time.

The longer this goes, it makes you think Trump basically was running to guarantee Hillary the presidency. No one can really be this dense can they? If he is, these intelligence briefings he's about to start receiving should scare everyone.

I'm sure a couple of those guys were available. Maybe not everyone, but I'm sure they want these guys to think the organization is so high on them, they wouldn't move them for anything. A guy just called up thinking he was trade bait a few days ago isn't going to make his transition any easier.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 12:56 PM) Couple things... 1. In regards to the fan base not being ready for a rebuild...I agree...if we had to endure a rebuild with the guys currently in our system, we would all invest in brown paper bags for the next decade--until 2 or our mostly blown 10 top 3 draft picks hit pay dirt--and subsequently get moved for other prospects or aging vets. However...the types of prospects we would get for Sale/Q WOULD be worth watching and hoping for! I think I'd be ready to root for the best prospect in the nation to pan out for us, rather than watch the likes of Jimmy Rollins and Mat Latos try to rediscover their lost form from 7 years ago. Neither model is fool proof to failure--but one is MUCH more interesting to watch. 2. Dick Allen...I might be alone on here but I love your posts! You're grounded in your thoughts and I enjoy reading what you have to say. Now to poke the bear a little...you mentioned the GM's comment about being mirrored in mediocrity and how he was going to change that--"because he said he would." Couldn't help but to chuckle at your confidence in him to fix this : ) Now jokes aside...knowing what we know about RH, how do you predict he's going to change it? Free agent signings? Will he trade Sale/Q? New manager? 2016 waiver adds? He literally could go anywhere with this...just curious to hear your take based on what we know. The reason I ask is because I think your thoughts will be closer to reality than anyone else's predictions on this site. I don't know if anyone should have confidence in Hahn, I am just pointing out that they aren't going to try to make it work with the same players again. It will be a very different mix. Whether they still will be mired in mediocrity, I don't know. I choose to hope not, but I can understand if people think it won't work. But many of the same people who say KW, JR and Hahn have no clue, want these guys to get rid of all of their good players and choose prospects to replace them. I have no idea why someone would think that's a good idea with no confidence in the management team. The fact is, if you are going to totally rebuild and you are trading pillars of a core, you have to have the utmost confidence in the people tearing it down. If not, you are only going to make a bad situation worse, and worse for a long time.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 12:52 PM) Where do you see the scarf? I don't see that on the calendar? I think it's one of those where you have to buy tickets on line and they give you a code you print up. They keep it to a few hundred people.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 12:34 PM) I think the bolded is a myth. The issue isn't that these guys themselves come up and struggle a bit. The issue is that these guys are placed in a position where a team designed to be competitive needs them to succeed in order to actually be competitive. This creates an atmosphere where the organization, the team, the player and the fans are placing so much reliance on the prospect to immediately contribute that it sort of ruins the entire mood for everyone. If we were to rebuild, I think there would be an acceptance for struggles and growing pains because of reduced expectations that simply doesn't exist when you are trying to compete year in and year out. What is the difference now when they really don't have much of a shot? Are you saying the Anderson and Fulmer questioning wouldn't be happening if the traded Sale and/or Quintana at the deadline and instead of losing 2-1 the other day, they lost 9 or 10 to 1? We are at the point where the White Sox intention at the beginning of the season is irrelevant. They are playing out the string. If you can't take an 0-4 from Anderson or Fulmer giving up a HR, you aren't going to accept a season or 2 or 3 or 20 of it where the entire roster is players in the same boat. The team waved the white flag in 2013 and for the 2014 season. The roster, the record, the play, were still held against any and all management.