Dick Allen

Remember Hee Seop Choi?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 06:48 PM) Wouldn't bench coach be considered a lateral move? If so, wouldn't the Indians have to give him permission to interview? Honestly, if I had to guess I would say the Indians simply denied the Sox's request for an interview. He definitely talked to the Sox about the job. There were some quotes from him a couple of weeks ago.

Merkin said he was no longer a candidate last week. We don't know if he turned down the job or the White Sox like someone else better. Or it could be the contract situation. Can they really give him a multiple year contract and say for certain he is the permanent replacement if they make a change? Would they? Renteria seems like the best choice left to me of the candidate named.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 12:22 PM) Hamilton is a top 5 defensive CF in the game, the only guy definitively better than him with the glove is Kiermaier. Adding Hamilton and then surrounding him on the corners with Eaton and Trayce may give the Sox one of the best OF defenses in the league. That's also a group that's going to steal a lot of bases, not just Hamilton, but Eaton and Trayce have the ability to get a lot of steals as well. Yea I know the Sox will be insanely lucky to get 30 HR out of all of them combined., but that's not really the point of acquiring Hamilton. The point is to enable the rotation to give up even fewer runs than they would and buy a few small ball runs, which may come in handy if Sale/Quintana/Rodon are keeping opponent's scoring low. Since moving into USCF, if the Sox don't hit HR, they lose. I wouldn't mind the Sox getting Hamilton if they changed the rules and you could steal 1B.

Homeland's best episode maybe ever. That's saying something.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 09:52 AM) That's a possibility. I just think Sanchez would handle the position change better. In 10 seasons Zobrist has only started 5 games at 3B. Probably because of Longoria.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 09:38 AM) If you have Zobrist at 2B, that makes up for Sanchez' weak bat at 3B. Why not just put Zobrist at 3B?

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 09:20 AM) I worked for a single A team in concessions twenty years ago, and the visiting players would line up at the end of the games for leftover hot dogs, so they could eat something without having to spend their meal money on food. Pretty sad that pro baseball players get fed worse than college guys. Brings up another point. These guys are forced to eat leftover hot dogs. It's not going to max out their potential physically. If they do buy their own food, it probably is fast food. Maybe they should provide decent healthier meals. It would help them become better ballplayers.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 08:29 AM) I like the idea of trying avi out at 3b I think bringing Paulie back and having him play CF would give you better results. One guy who probably would never make a career OF a 3B is KW. The White Sox did exactly that with him, and he was a pretty decent OF IIRC. He was horrid at 3B and suddenly also couldn't hit.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 08:23 AM) I don't think Sanchez really has enough 3B experience to play there. I don't think his bat is good enough for him to play 3B. I think he would probably be fine there, but he's great at 2B, so moving him to 3B would be odd.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 08:12 AM) Personally I hope the Sox sign Zobrist and Sanchez and Saladino split time at 3B. Zobrist is a guy I would love the Sox to get, but there are going to be a ton of teams after him, and he'll probably cost a mint, although his play has been worth a mint for a long time. Since 2009 he has been under a 5 WAR twice. 3.8 one year and 2.1 this year. I think he was hurt for a while this year. He really is the Jose Quintana of position players. To me, this will be the most interesting contract this winter. Will he be paid for his sabermetric, one of the better players in baseball numbers, or will he be paid Ben Zobrist, not a name that comes to mind when you mention the top performers in baseball the last 6 or so years numbers. His age will definitely cost him some money.

I think they should be given a livable wage, and have it increase as you move up a level. As to college scholarships, this has been written into bonus contracts for a long time. Apparently the obligation is very rarely fulfilled. I think Shawon Dunston was suing the Cubs a couple of years ago to honor his contract and pay for him to go to college. I don't know how that turned out.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Oct 26, 2015 -> 07:50 AM) He will hit arb in two years. I'm also not sold on him being able to start healthy. I heard Bruce Levine on the score, and he actually thought soler was destined to be a DH, even more so that schwarber. This was due to a combination of awful defense and being very injury prone There have been a lot of media saying Schwarber isn't really a bad OF. From what I have seen, he makes Viciedo look pretty good with the glove.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 07:35 PM) Kansas City's "plan for success" was simply to suck for a decade and a half. The reason they're in the World Series and the extent to which we talk about them as a success is due to a handful of players. When you suck, you get really high draft picks. In the 15 years between 1999 and 2013 they had a top 9 draft pick 13 times. They had a top 5 draft pick 9 times. Looking at the 10 picks from 1999 through 2010 (the more recent picks' value not yet determined), 6 were total busts or rather insignificant. So they hit on 40% of their 1st round top 10 picks. Among that group of "busts", the most useful player is Luke Hochevar, a #1 overall pick who has amassed 2.8 bWAR in about 900 major league innings. Jake Petricka, by way of example, has amassed 3.4 bWAR in 144 major league innings. The picks that panned out for them were: Zack Greinke #6 in 2002. The 2009 AL Cy Young winner factors into this team because they were able to trade him to get Lorenzo Cain. Alex Gordon #2 in 2005 Mike Moustakas #2 in 2007 Eric Hosmer #3 in 2008 As you see, 3 of those are even top 3 picks. And those 4 players are the reason the Royals are so good. Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer. 16.7 fWAR this year. 4 guys who are young and cheap and hit and play defense. You just need to suck so bad you get a lot of top 3 picks. Anyone who wants to throw Sal Perez in here should note he was worth 1.6 WAR this year. Their starting pitching is nothing special at all. They have a great reliever in Wade Davis and a couple more good ones in Holland and Herrera, but neither of those guys were as good at keeping runs off the board as, say, Matt Albers. I really think this year is KC's last great hope. Gordon will be the first of those guys to leave after this season. They'll lose Zobrist and Cueto as well. I think they're a playoff team but not as good next year. And Cain, Hosmer, and Moustakas are all free agents after 2017. They won't trade those guys to restock with new young talent until their run has ended. It took them 15 years of sucking to wrangle the talent required to make this run, but I don't see how it can last very long. Since KW was named GM, here is KC's draft position: 2001 9 2002 6 2003 5 2004 14 2005 2 2006 1 2007 2 2008 3 2009 12 2010 4 2011 5 2012 5 2013 8 2014 17 It is amazing how awful they have been. They took the Houston route, 4 years in a row of having top 3 picks, skipped a year and 3 years in a row of top 5. Dayton Moore's "genius" is 6 top 8 picks, and 5 top 5. I wonder where the accountability was in 2012. This year was an awful year for the White Sox. They are drafting 10th. KC has had 11 years worse than this since KW was given the White Sox reigns.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 08:03 PM) I'll bet you right here that they will trade Castro for something worthwhile. Just hope its not with the Sox. Some GM will overpay for him. Castro last 143 PA .353 avg. .960 OPS. He was Trayce Thompson. Probably good enough for Theo to get something for him.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 04:45 PM) If you claim Theo wouldn't trade Baez straight-up for Quintana then you definitely have. I would think exactly the opposite. How is saying Theo wouldn't do something he should do buying his hype. I am just telling you the Cubs think he is a stud and are not going to trade him. Which you will see. They would rather overpay a free agent than give him up.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 04:08 PM) Russell & Bryant are untouchable, but you're completely over-valuing Baez if you include him they group. You do realize that GMs will occasionally exagerate their opinion or even lie to help give them leverage in negotiations? Castro is clearly the guy they want to move, everybody knows this, but he has almost no value to due to his contact and lack of performance. Theo can and will continue hype him as a significant piece, but there's a reason other GMs aren't biting. Baez is the guy he'll end up moving in a package for a front-line starter (along with Soler and/or prospects). And guess what, Theo will be ecstatic because he'll have greatly improved rotation and still have an offensive core of Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber, & Russell (amongst others) to build around. I'm not sure if you're simply under-valuing Quintana or doing your best Jed Hoyer impersonation, but you are way off base on this subject and have officially bought into the Theo hype machine. LMAO. I am one person who has never bought into the Theo hype, but he isn't trading Baez.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 02:50 PM) He said that? Caufield? He does appear to like KC but did he say that? Wow. I didn't see that. Nah. He either edited it or I misread it, but he certainly is a Royals fan, something he has denied many times.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) What Cubs prospect is named Castro? Starlin? He's no prospect. Soler is terrible on D - he'd fit right in here. YOu may be right, based on what they say. But I also know that both Theo and Maddon are in PR mode 24/7, and they hype their players incessantly. (one would have thought that Castro had an excellent year, listening to those 2). There is a further purpose for hype beyond PR. You aren't getting Russell, Baez, Schwarber, or Bryant if you offer Q. their guys still in the minors, Soler, and Castro are their trade pieces..

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 12:00 PM) Ha ha! You've done it now! Dick Allen's gonna be by real soon and you'll be labeled a "complainer", a "whiner" and/or a "moaner" faster than Grant took Richmond for laying out these facts here. You know he doesn't like that, and Hell hath no fury like a Dick Allen scorned at Soxtalk!! How many games over .500 were the White Sox in 2010? The goal posts moved to 10 games over in 6.5 years, KW did that in 2003, 2005,2006, 2008, and 2010, and you were miserable. It is interesting that the key for KC from the Royals fan was hiring a Braves guy. The guy he supposedly learned everything from was a KC guy. But, if you think Moore is a genius, I am sure you would have no problem with JR hiring someone like him, and 9 years later win your first division. The fact is the guy you are referencing is a moaner and a KC fan. He mentioned in another thread how he hated when the White Sox used to beat up on the Royals.

Dayton Moore is so awesome. He took over as GM in 2006. 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 they wee horrible. Decent in 2013 , WC in 2014. So it took him 8.5 seasons to reach the playoffs. KW gets ripped for not reaching them in 7. Their first division crown in his 9th season. Amazing how that works.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 01:36 PM) Based on what exactly? Based on the fact he is 22 and they think he is going to be a stud. When he was 21 he was considered one of the top 5 prospects in the game. If the Sox want Cubs prospects who played this year, Castro is the guy they would dump, maybe Soler. It is just fantasy to think the Sox could get Schwarber or Baez. Maybe if they traded Sale. You can tell me I am wrong, but when you see the Cubs 2016 roster you will see I was right.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 01:23 PM) You think the Cubs wouldn't trade Baez for Quintana? I'm really hope you're messing around, because it's Hahn who would reject that trade not Theo. Neither would Theo.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 12:29 PM) I'm not against the idea but it depends on the Sox pitcher that's traded and the pitcher the Sox sign. The pitcher traded would almost have to be Johnson. If one of Sale, Q or Rodon were traded that lower tier FA pitcher would be a significant downgrade to those three and Danks is likely going nowhere ( contract/performance) which leaves EJ. Since Baez name was mentioned I'll roll with that despite my reservations with his defense. Let's say the cubs were interested in EJ, what else do the Sox include with EJ to get Baez in return? Would Johnson and Johnson pry Baez and say, Vogelbach away from the cubs? Just a guess but I'd bet the cubs would rather trade Castro to keep Baez and play him at 2nd. I still doubt the Sox and cubs would actually make a trade but it has happened in the past, albeit years ago. I was watching something yesterday where they said there are people with the Cubs that think Baez is a better SS than Russell. The Cubs aren't going to trade him in a trade where Eric Johnson is the headliner. They probably wouldn't even trade him for Q

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 10:48 PM) New offense give Rose lots of space to create, he looked good. And McDermott hit the game-winner He is easy to rip and brings most of it on himself, but DRose may be turning a corner. He is nowhere near 100%, he can't even open his eye all the way, but he played. That is definitely a huge departure from the past. Maybe someone other than Reggie got through to him. Hopefully, his speech about his next contract providing him financial stability was rock bottom. I hope he can stay healthy. Obviously that seems like a pipe dream, but his knees seem fine. He was explosive on the floor, easily as fast and quick as I have seen him since he won the MVP.