Dick Allen

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 06:57 PM) Fowler and Upton are complementary, Cespedes is transformative. Just ask the Mets or the A's. Upton and Cespedes have about double the WAR/game rate than Fowler for their careers.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 05:09 PM) First #1 overall draft pick to get into the HOF. And he goes in with Piazza, a 62nd round pick, the lowest draft choice to ever get elected.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 06:20 PM) Apparently I need to repeat this. So you think if the Mets traded for Fowler instead of Cespedes they would have made the World Seriies or would have come close?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 05:12 PM) He'd help on this but if you look closely his OBP has a clearly worrisome downward signal. 2011: .369 2012: .355 2013: .354 2014: .342 2015: .336 So yeah, better than Cespedes at getting on base, more power than Fowler, but also gets on base less than Fowler and striking out a lot more. Again, if this team isn't competitive with Fowler, they're not competitive with the big 2 no matter how much bigger their names are. If this team is competitive with the big 2, they're just about as close with Fowler and need a tiny bit of additional work to match the bigger names. For the perhaps 20-25 times more often a season Fowler might get on base, I'll take the 10-15 extra home runs.

If you took what Merkin says as gospel, Todd Frazier would not be a White Sox, and Hahn wouldn't have spent hours on the phone with Alex Gordon's agent.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 02:59 PM) In other words, the Sox will swoop in and nab Austin Jackson when all the good outfielders are taken. Not a bad plan. Really struggled hitting with Seattle, but that isn't unique. He's 29. Have him play CF, move Eaton to RF. He's usually been close to a 3 WAR player. Might be able to sign him for a song. I would guess they are still in on Cespedes and Upton, but a guy like Jackson, while not the sexy move, could turn out to be a good one. Signing a beat up Jermaine Dye didn't excite the fanbase, but he earned his money and then some.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 02:47 PM) Sorry DA but I disagree. Writers can write whatever they want and the fans can believe whatever they want but nowhere has JR, KW or Hahn said the Sox were raising the payroll budget to afford such a FA signing. It has been rumored that Hahn has the '15 budget with which to work for '16 and the Sox are already there, its probably why Hahn has said they would need to get "creative" to sign a FA. "Creative" in the sense of trading salary (LaRoche rumors) in order to sign a FA. If fans are pissed it should be at their self for believing the media rumors. Rick Hahn has said he is going to add an OF. Even Merkin confirmed the White Sox would be adding an OF. It might not be Cespedes or Upton, but they are not going into the season hoping Avi figures crap out, and playing the "we'll trade for someone in June if needed" game they have played and failed in the past. Another OF will be added. As HOFer Frank Thomas would say, "no doubt about it."

QUOTE (Sockin @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 02:33 PM) White Sox in no rush to sign outfielder That article should piss some people off. If that really was the plan, I wouldn't blame anyone for being pissed off, but even Merkin reported the White Sox would bring in an OF.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 02:03 PM) Did the Royals actually make the best offer? I stand by the premise of my post. Yes I'd leave 30 million on the table to stay with a team I just won a WS with, where I was totally comfortable with my routine, the way the team does things, the way I like to prepare for games, not having to prove myself to new fans and a new, big city. The reason? Cause I got 18 mil a year for four years from the team I'm comfy with, and that frankly, is enough in my mind. Now if the Royals offer was indeed the best he could have gotten, my bad. If the Royals actually won some sort of bidding war, again, my bad. The only thing I saw was the White Sox offer was 3 years. Maybe a team offered him more, but not significantly more. If a team offered him $30 million more he would have a lot of union pressure because he basically would be suppressing the future earnings of a lot more players than himself.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:51 PM) I'm surprised more players don't do what Gordon did. Stay put if they are that popular. I don't know if any team offered more, I haven't read enough yet, but four years at 18 million a year will have he and all his immediate relatives set for life a couple times over. I would think quality of life would factor in at some point (I know it doesn't) over a few more million dollars. Not every player needs a new city, a new challenge. This guy just won a WS, which means he can just continue to do his thing. If at some point he starts to suck, the fans will be way more forgiving here than anywhere else. I just think the Paulie discount is a smart thing for a player who has won a WS to do. I'm assuming Gordon coulda got 20 mill a year for five years from somebody. That would be 30 more million dollars total. Yes, a ton of money, but again, what price is quality of life and comfort zone when it's all monopoly money. From a Sox standpoint for some reason I despise Melky more than Avi. I won't be despondent if Avi gets the proverbial final chance. If a team offered him 5/$100 million, he wouldn't have re-signed with the Royals. If he's all about winning and life and not about cash, he probably has enough in the bank to live a sweet rest of his life, or he could take $10 million a year, and be fine, and tell the Royals to spend the rest on other players. He, Paulie, who was in the exact same boat when he was a free agent after the White Sox won the WS, will take a discount to a certain point.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:40 PM) This is the way i look at it as well. sign the deal that makes the most sense for this year while keeping the future in mind. They need to start building a consistent winner, not just look to this year. In the years before Maggs, the Sox had a stretch where they did a good job with a rent a RF. DJ, then Burks. Tartabull had a decent year. I miss those days when they had no problem finding hitters.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:42 PM) Serious question here, who would you rather have for 1.5 million if they are side-by-side and unsigned/available? Probably Turner. He is going to be turning 25 in a month or so, and was a top of the line prospect not long ago. But, I think the medical people would make the final decision.

QUOTE (Saufley @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:33 PM) Yes!! The next big bat is needed for 2016. The White Sox know what they need as much as anyone. They didn't get Gordon. As long as KC was willing to pay up, they and every other team weren't going to get Gordon. Now it's on to their next target. If that fails, the next one. Eventually they will have another OF. Hahn has admitted as much. Who knows, sometimes, your 2nd or 3rd or 4th choice works out better than choice #1. I would have loved it if they signed Gordon, but it didn't happen. There are other teams that could use his services that didn't sign him either. No need to panic, there are more than a few guys left that give the White Sox a pretty solid upgrade.

QUOTE (Sockin @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:17 PM) You don't trade for an All Star third baseman to be a stopgap. Or 3 of your better prospects. They will get someone to play the OF and hit a bit. I'm not too worried about that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:10 PM) We already committed ourselves to the "risky compete next year move" when we traded for a 3b who is a FA in 2 seasons. Next offseason's FA class is weak enough that we can't solve the current problems next season as easily as we can right now and we have no choice but to put a roster out there all-in by the end of 2017. Plus it's not like we're waiting on the arrival of franchise-reshaping talent from the minors in 2017. We're all doomed

Oakland is paying Alvarez to basically rehab this year. I read he can throw off a mound in March, maybe games in May, but that never works out. Plus he's coming off shoulder surgery, you know, like John Danks. You do control him for 2017.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 11:14 AM) This just puts them in a better position to compete with us. When KW said that after the Tigers traded for Cabrera, the White Sox won the division.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 10:57 AM) Not improving the 0 WAR LF and RF makes the Frazier trade absolute madness. This is where hero-worshiping comes in. Frazier's here, not because the Sox will win, but to have a home run hitter to watch. Might as well get full hero value and let him participate in home run derby this year, if that's the plan. They will sign another OF. It might not be Cespedes or Upton, but Hahn has pretty much confirmed another OF will be coming in.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:32 AM) I used to have season tickets for 20 years but the past few seasons it's be a hard sell to get my business partners to go in on Sox tickets. Customers don't get excited about the Sox anymore so they decided to go in on Cubs tickets. I don't have the time to go to all the home games although I would if I could. But if more fans bought any kind of season tickets it does help. It'll also help if they start fast and create a buzz early in the season to help fill the stadium. I had full season tickets for the longest time but my ticket partner and friend died in an accident a few years ago, so I didn't want to make that commitment anymore. I have a weekend plan and go with my wife the last several years. She doesn't get into it much but puts up with it for me. But they probably don't have the phone lines it would require to open the amount of season ticket accounts that would actually pay for Cespedes. Like they didn't last year when they added players. It's an ongoing process. Every account helps, but most of what is dropped isn't their most lucrative accounts. It's the people with the $200 per seat corner upper deck plans that are the first to jump ship.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:29 AM) Yep. A few of us were speculating last week that Gordon could have been using the Sox in negotiations with KC while the Sox were using Gordon in negotiations with Cespedes. We'll see if the second part of that speculation come to fruition. I don't think there was much using. You don't offer someone a team record contract as a ploy. I'm sure the Sox were very interested. The other thing that was rarely mentioned about the benefit of signing Gordon was not only would they have strengthened the White Sox, they would have weakened a division opponent significantly.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:28 AM) I will say this much if we somehow end of signing YO I will buy partial season tickets within hours of the signing. I know people say that all the time but that heart of the lineup will be something come summer on the south side. I will be as excited as just about any other signing the sox have made with the exception of when we actually landed Abreu. ?????????????? That ought to cover it.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:23 AM) Why does todays pick matter when the offseason isnt over? Because Royals. The guy who told us when it appeared Gordon was moving on, what a mistake it would be for them to bring him back, has the baby oil working right now.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:23 AM) Unfortunately with Boras as his agent, we'll be saying the same thing about Rodon as well before too long. We don't have to moan about that for 6 more seasons.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:12 AM) We are really good at finishing "this close" but just out of the running. 2nd place. Another White Sox niche. Loyalty is a two way street. One significant consequence of not developing enough position players and having to rent them on the free agent market. Haven't you told us the White Sox loyalty is a bad thing. Loyalty got Sale, Quintana, Eaton, agreeing to very team friendly extensions. This situation is very similar to when Konerko was a free agent after the 2005 season. What did he do?

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 08:56 AM) The Royals re-signing Gordon, prevents the Sox from making a huge mistake. Gordon is in the decline of his career and not worth a comp pick. MLB Network just said that Hosmer, Cain and Moustakas are all free agents in 2017. Their run could be ending. If it took them this long to bring him back, money is going to be a huge issue. A couple of those guys are rep'd by Boras, so they are going to be free agents. Gordon is a great player. I wish the Sox signed him. But if they had problems or doubts signing him after winning a WS, think what happens when all of these guys get a raise, and what if they don't make the playoffs and have that extra revenue? The break up could start at the trade deadline this season if they aren't contending.