Dick Allen

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 13, 2016 -> 09:40 AM) These are all great examples of the Sox FO " posturing " in the past. In all honesty, I truely believe the FO does this so they do not get the hopes up of fans in case they fail to deliver and why the FO comes across as being so vague at times. Can you imagine the back-lash if the Sox say they are going after a specified player and fail to deliver? Holy smokes, the back-lash would be beyond furious. The last time I recall the Sox naming a player they were going after was Torii Hunter and we all know how that turned out. Imo, that was a lesson the FO learned from and why they try not to be specific with names. I do believe the budget is tight but also believe the Sox have some excess money to spend and are willing to do so, but only for what they perceive to be the right player and circumstances. Seeing as how I don't work in the FO or have inside information, all I can do as a fan is sit back and trust they are out there doing their best in continuing to improve the team. Hahn has come out said numerous times they have " many irons in the fire " so that's why I remain patient and willing to see how this plays out. I get emotional enough during the season when games are played, no point in me getting started just yet. It's too soon. Patience fellow Sox fans. Patience is correct Gallardo is going to get $40-45 million allegedly Latos got $3 million Signing Ian Kennedy in January cost $70 million

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 13, 2016 -> 08:56 AM) With 2nd tier free agents, does the end justify the means to improve the overall team? Are ticket and SOX apparel sales going to spike signing 2nd tier free agents like they would with players such as Cespedes/Gordon/Upton? Nope. Is giving up a draft pick and taking on the salary of players like Desmomd/Fowler worth the risk? Possibly and that's certainly debatable depending on ones POV. Personally, I think the risk is justifiable depending on the annual salary and length of contract. I would imagine the Sox FO office sees it the same way and are only willing to go so far and I don't blame them in that regard. What has the Sox FO spewed that has made fans so gullible? All they have said is that they are exploring all opportunities with reference to trades and free agents that do and do not come with comp picks attached. They have yet to come out and name a player they were directly going after, nor should they. As far as the financials go, we as fans have no choice but to take their word because none of us know exactly just how much money they have to spend, only speculation based on opinion. Due to the Sox willingness to spend in the past for what they perceive to be the right player(s) and as recently as last winter, I see no reason for me to question them just because some writers and tweeters were wrong with their " inside " information. It's the fans fault for allowing their selves to get suckered by those " insiders " , not the FO. There was 6 positional holes to be filled going into the off season. Did anyone realistically see the Sox filling all 6 of those voids? I sure as hell didn't. So far they have filled 3 of those 6 holes. Let's look at those 3 holes that are left SS, RF or OF and DH. The Sox rolling the dice with Saladino at SS is justifiable based on Saladino's defense and to serve as a potential place holder to Anderson for a season. DH, well we all know LaRoche isn't going anywhere and just have to accept that in retrospect, he was a bad signing. Sometimes FA signings just don't work out and the Sox aren't the only team this happens to. RF/OF, well, that's really what were talking about here and the Sox have actually acknowledged they are seeking an OF bat, preferably a LHB. The off season is not over, opening day has yet to arrive, so there's no reason for me to doubt they are indeed still seeking that upgrade for the OF. If the Sox fail to upgrade the OF before opening day, then you can bet I'll be unhappy about it but, I will still give the FO credit for adding Frazier/ Lawrie/ Avila/ Navarro/ Latos and re-signing Albers while moving on from duds such as Flowers/ Beckham/ Samardzija/ Soto etc. All I'm saying is that I'll withhold any criticisms I may potentially have until I see what the final 25 man roster looks like at the end of ST. Still plenty of time for the Sox to make upgrades and despite what some think, I feel the Sox have come a long way and I'm pretty excited about that. I agree with this 100%. And to me, Nightengale saying the Sox are out of cash is like white smoke at the Vatican. Something must be imminent. They were out of money, they trade for Peavy. Even have less than no money, claim Rios. Busted again, find $4 million to pay Manny for a month. Totally busted Paulie is leaving, AJ is leaving,....sign Dunn, bring Paulie and AJ back.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 13, 2016 -> 08:41 AM) yeah that was last nite on mlb rumors page. so with you statement of bi-polar fans, i guess i am whomever disagree with the masses on this site are regulated to being bi-polar. really nice. however the window of opportunity is do something is now, there is an expiration date on this talent of this team, i would like to max out the success of the main core. not to wait for the money to come off the books in order to make other moves. btw, look at the state of the system, beside anderson, do the sox have other prospect to step in and succeed next yr, look at the fa's do you imagine the sox org to spend money and are there good fa next yr, or fa's that are a better fit than this yr group??? No by bipolar, the excitement generated by a tweet saying the White Sox are contemplating a run at Ian Desmond, and then the total opposite when Nightengale says they are out of cash. I follow these national writers as much as the next guy, but the only things they are really accurate at tweet wise is breaking signings. Signings you would find out about in a half an hour anyway. The vast majority of their information is just noise. GMs are on the phone almost every day, for a good part of the day, but how many deals do they make? The fact is the season doesn't start for almost 2 months. Rosters don't have to be set by this weekend. I have said if the Sox go half assed they should get skewered. Right now it is half assed. They need at least one more guy. But to criticize them now is silly. There is still time. At least at this point they are one guy away from most people thinking they are legitimate.

According to Rosenthal, the Sox are still searching for OFs including Fowler, and may even trade Avi. So does bipolar Soxtalk get happy again?

QUOTE (shysocks @ Feb 13, 2016 -> 07:18 AM) What you guys gloss over is that the team picked a direction when they traded for Frazier, and so far they've been unable to finish the job. If they weren't comfortable with the costs it would take to make this team a real contender, then they should have noticed the deals teams like Atlanta were making and torn it down. I'm not just b****ing because I'm dumb and believed all the tweets and now they won't sign all the free agents I want. I'm mad because we've traded away a bunch of assets to become a .500 team. I still believe they will get another OF. No one has yet to report what Desmond and Fowler and Jackson are asking. To say the White Sox aren't negotiating correctly by not giving them whatever they want isn't fair. They aren't the only team that could use these guys yet no team has signed them yet. When they are all gone and Avi is flailing away in RF and the White Sox are in 4th place, criticize all you want, they would deserve it. But right now? We all live on every latest tweet, yet how many actually are ever true? There is no doubt the budget is bigger for a guy like Cespedes or Gordon than it would be for a guy like Fowler or Desmond. but unless there is some horrific injury, Fowler, Desmod, and Jackson's prices aren't going higher. They are going to have to eventually settle, Desmond turned down over $100 million. Do you really think he would sign for 2 years $25 million right now or 3/$36 million? Maybe, but IMO, unlikely. There will be a time when he has to settle. It isn't now. Same with the other guys.

Every time the White Sox have cried poor, they soon added payroll.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 03:18 PM) I bet you were saying that the Bears should get rid of Thomas Jones and keep Cedric Benson. Cause you know, RBs over 30 are always worse than younger rbs. LOL Bad example. Jones wasn't even 30 when the Bears let him walk. Forte has a ton of miles on him. Spending their money elsewhere isn't a dumb idea.

QUOTE (SoxSteve @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 01:59 PM) Yes but the power fascination is not working. Getting the Thome's, Dunn's, Loroches, hasn't worked the last 10 years wouldn't you say judging by 1 playoff appearance. We hit a good amount of homers in 05 but the key was Scottie pods and Iguchi at top the order and getting the lead for the first 30 plus games of season. We only play 81 games at home and i think we have plent of power to win judging by what the last few WS winners have done. With our pitching defense is more important and if some here feel with our outfield defense the same as last year and Desmond and Lourie will be better than last year i hope your right because i don't see it personally. But that's what make this board fun!! It was fashionable to say Scotty Pods et al was a different mix, but 2005 was won with power and pitching. They scored the same percentage of runs in 2005 via the longball vs. 2004, hit fewer home runs, but scored a lot fewer runs. What won, was the pitching and homers. Without, the drought would be almost as long as the Cubs.

QUOTE (SoxSteve @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 01:32 PM) What is your fascination with power? KC HIT 97 and 135 homers the last 2 years and were one out away from another World Series win. SF won multiple World Series with little power as did the Cardinals. We have enough power to win if we had better OBP IMO. And Markakis would be a huge upgrade over either on of our corner outfielders hands down. He is not a gold glover anymore but still above average for sure and i think he might have won a GG in 2014. Do we really want to add a guy like Desmond who has been declining the last few years and not just ist half of last year? Averaging 171 strikeouts and 24 errors over the last 3 years is a steady decline and not just a bad half. He just seems like a bad fit for a team that needs better defense and OBP than power. Those teams played half their games in ballparks not as conducive to hitting home runs. White Sox teams that don't hit HR since moving into USCF, with maybe one exception, have totally sucked. The park has played as a pitcher's park except for home runs in recent years.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 01:13 PM) Also remember that Noah entered that series on basically one leg that led to that surgery. Yeah,blaming losses now on injury, LMAO. They have been hurt ever since Rose's MVP year. Even with minutes restrictions. Even without Thibs. Noah used to get hurt before Thibs was ever there. What I don't get about Greenstein and anyone else who thinks Thibs being gone had to happen, how can you say that, but come up with excuses this season? They had the coach they wanted. They had the roster they wanted, and now it's worse than ever. Even their players are saying they are losing games they used to win. Taj getting hurt? Is that something new? He gets hurt every season. If you aren't going to get rid of Gar/Pax, you must get rid of Hoiberg.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 11:45 AM) Desmond and his agent have been selling himself on his willingness to play the outfield. Whether he would actually be good at it is a different question. I have stated before, if you don't want Desmond to play SS or 3B, or 2B, you should probably just get a real OF. For all we know, he might make Avi look like Dwight Evans in RF.

I wouldn't mind Desmond. I think Fowler makes the team better.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 08:33 AM) Heyman "Reds believe orioles do have prospects to make a Bruce trade. O's also looking at fowler, alvarez. Likely to add 1 hitter." https://mobile.twitter.com/JonHeyman/status...986467390427136 Go ahead Orioles, trade for Bruce! I would think most high schools have the prospects to trade for Bruce.

The one thing I always get from a Soxfest minor league seminar is everyone raving about Marco Paddy. I think it depends on his and his team's evaluation. As the article pointed out, these, for the most part, are 15 or 16 year olds. Buddy Bell said something interesting that I didn't know. Most of these guys are training for showcases, not playing in games, so not only are they children, they aren't actually used to playing much baseball. They are training in a combine environment. They have to be taught which base to throw to, how to round bases, etc. I don't think I would go over with the real young guys. The guys I would go over with are the more advanced guys . I don't think I would give a 16 year old $20 million and the league $20 million for signing him even if 3 or 4 years down the line it may look prudent.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 08:25 PM) He claims to have an actual quote. Doesn't mean it's true. You really think he would make up a quote? What would be his motivation? He doesn't have a horse in the race. I really don't think he cares where Desmond signs. Plus, the quote sort of shoots down a poker game. That ship has sailed followed by a contract offer would make no sense. Perhaps they talked to him earlier this week and perhaps today, and realized they weren't going to come to terms, where then both stories were correct.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 08:17 PM) When was the last time Nightengale broke any sort of news? He has an actual quote form a White Sox official.

Well somebody with "sources" got played. I don't think it is Nightengale. If he is using a White Sox official as a quote, I doubt he is making that up. Certainly doesn't seem like they are preparing a big run, and really that was the first clue it was probably BS. That isn't how they do business. I wonder who Hayes' source was,

QUOTE (oldsox @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 06:05 PM) Anybody know which side originally wanted the QO system? MLBPA or ownership? Or was it just a product of negotiation? There is zero chance it was a players association idea.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 05:28 PM) Do they really though? All of Hahn's recent moves we've known pretty well in advance they had interest. Samardjiza days in advance. Frazier interest for months. Lawrie was telegraphed like a glove. Latos was only "surprise" Peavy to Boston, etc etc Those were after the fact. It wasn't seriously thinking about making a big run type of stuff. Melky and Robertson were surprises. P

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 05:14 PM) Herman reporting that the Sox are "Seriously considered making a big run at Ian Desmond". Said he thinks he's a great fit & talks like it will be more than 1 year. The White Sox don't operate this way. Hahn even said they like to keep the competition in the dark. I think this is a plant to try to get Fowler to move. Or a plant by Desmond camp to try to drum up business.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 03:16 PM) my bad, that's the last time I rely on MLBtradrumors, they had a blurb on him saying Boris was his agent. Unless he changed recently it's "Sports One Athlete Solutions". One thing you were correct about was Heyman when he is mentioning Boras' clients. Boras uses and abuses him.

Can't field, can't hit, can't go to the minors, and if he does figure it out, becomes a free agent. That's attractive.

None of these numbers matter until Royals Review posts theirs.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 12:58 PM) I love Jo, but he's not a complete player, and it absolutely kills this team. It's 4 on 5 with him out there, even when healthy. They need to look elsewhere. Same with Pau. The rumors about resigning him for 20 million is absurd. Find the next superstar to pair with Butler. Hope Portis develops into a Taj-like contributor. Hope McDermott can hit open shots. Hope Mirotic plays with a brain. And then draft well. For the Bulls to be a championship team in the next 4 or 5 years, they are either going to have to miss the playoffs and get unbelievably lucky in the lottery, or sign a free agent star. You would think signing the free agent star would be easier, but I don't know. I just think you decrease your odds of signing a star when Gar walks into the room, considering with the cap, the money is all the same.

Bottom line is Gar got exactly what he wanted, and it blew up in his face. He needs to go. Someone else needs to clean his mess.