Dick Allen

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Nov 6, 2015 -> 01:25 PM) I'd be happy with 2 and Weiters I wouldn't mind Weiters either, but that is Boras. I am thinking Avila with how they always talk him up. If healthy he can hit. I would rather the Sox pay Avila a little money than send players for Jason Castro.

There were rumors of the White Sox trying to trade for Kendrick last year or the year before IIRC.

I think most of the free agent predictions are nuts.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 6, 2015 -> 12:16 PM) Alas, we don't have a Top 5 or Top 10 farm system to draw from despite six (going on seven) abysmal seasons in the past nine. I seem to remember everyone (including Hawk) predicting how good they would be, it just took Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain and Gordon a couple more years than predicted to finally put it all together. How many games under .500 was Epstein at the 3-4 year mark with the Cubs? Was he also inept because of all the losing? The Cubs at least were in the playoffs (twice) within five years of the beginning of his tenure. It wasn't a completely hopeless situation that every fellow GM advised him against the challenge and the very high probability of failure/career suicide. It's funny, Hawk's a joke if he says something you don't agree with, but you use him as a source when it suits you.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 6, 2015 -> 10:58 AM) I did tell you Jeff Banister was going to do something good with the Rangers. The real answer is nobody really knew at that time...everything was risked on the Greinke and then Myers/Odorizzi for Shields/Davis trade. Just like the Cubs/Astros now recently, they had the best farm system that time, but so did the White Sox in 2000 when they were cruising to a title and how well did thst work out? Very few of those prospects other than Buehrle had anything to do with 2005, at any rate. It took the White Sox until midseason this year to name Nick Hostetler...so while I was a bit late, the White Sox didn't do any better, either. So 6 years into his tenure, with the Royals 134 games below .500 from 2007-2012, even though you weren't posting, you were probably thinking the Royals organization was as inept as you perceive the White Sox organization to be right now. The good news is, KW, RH, and JR should be geniuses in a few years, considering his first 6 years at the helm, he didn't have 1 team win as many games as the 2015 White Sox.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 6, 2015 -> 10:42 AM) By that line of reasoning, KW should have a permanent seat as GM/president. It also discounts the incredible helpfulness of playing in two consecutive World Series/es for a fanbase. Those win numbers quoted, not unsurprisingly, don't include the postseason and 11 extra wins that perhaps are just a bit more important than regular season games. Consistent performance. Not part of the Sox history. If we got to the World Series again in 2006, we wouldn't now have to read hundreds of posts blaming White Sox fans for their current situation. We all should appreciate Ozzie, Cooper, Hahn and KW more for their contributions in 2004-2006. Got it. And we should also ignore one of the biggest media markets in the US vs. one of the smallest and compare them as if they should be on equal footing somehow. Just put the Royals stuff in the proper place Royals boy. Right by the pictures you posted of their parade. It is funny, you weren't telling us teams need to hire a guy from the Braves and the Royals were building a great organization at any time before 2014. 8 years after Moore took the job. Then you hopped on the bandwagon, and they can do no wrong. Why weren't you telling us the White Sox needed to be like the Royals in 2010, 4 years into Moore's tenure?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 6, 2015 -> 10:15 AM) Because those are two more of the buy low pitching candidates available on the free agent market. Every White Sox fan in the world today would gladly trade six abysmal seasons (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013-2015) for having the best record in the AL over the span of three CONSECUTIVE seasons. As it is, we still won't be close to that latter accomplishment and it will be seven abysmal seasons out of the past ten without a playoff reappearance in sight based on every projection of how 2016 will play out. Royals last 3 years 270 wins 1 trophy The dumbass KW and the clueless White Sox from 2004-2006 272 wins and 1 trophy The Royals actually have the worst record in the AL the last 25 years.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 6, 2015 -> 10:08 AM) No, someone brought up Chris Young the outfielder and former Sox prospect vs. Chris Young the pitcher. I did the exact same thing with the Twins in the past, or the Tigers. In order to defeat one's enemy, you must know him/her better than you know yourself and study their ways. Maybe the White Sox deliberately remain oblivious to their competition (KW's quotes about the Tigers now being in a better position to compete with the White Sox serving as a sort of template), but I'd like to believe they are more forward thinking than that. KW's quotes about the Tigers being in a better position to compete were made in December of 2007. 2008 AL Central Champions were the White Sox. Turns out he was correct, and even in hindsight, your ripping the White Sox trumps the truth in your mind.

We have to look at the bright side, Dayton Moore is probably the greatest GM who has ever lived. The Royals are probably now the greatest team ever assembled really in any sport. We can cry incompetence with KW and RH, but they are obviously using the Royals blueprint: 69-93 75-87 65-97 67-95 71-91 72-90 86-76 The records of Dayton Moore generally managed teams before he made the playoffs. I won't count 2006 since he took over halfway through. Sure it was the worst record in the AL, even with the winning season. Sure the Sox will suck so bad for a few more years, but then, if a couple things break right, we will be able to call them one of the greatest franchises in sports, and every move they make will be the model that other teams will follow.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 05:31 PM) This actually is the off season plan thread I will edit.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 05:23 PM) Because the White Sox used to be capable of hitting on the type of moves that Schoenfeld outlined. They did it in 2004-05. As much as we see retorts of thirty years of losing and look at all those high draft picks, the Royals won largely because of the plethora of free agents they (cheaply, except for Rios) brought in over the last two seasons. Sure, they had their core, like the White Sox have now...but it had to be supplemented with the right mix of players. Why have the White Sox been complete failures in this category for the past decade? Why do we always seem to have the same recurring problems/issues with talent evaluation and/or scouting, forgetting for a moment the role of the coaching staff. http://www.wsj.com/articles/building-royal...?mod=rss_Sports But mostly just for Greg to get a kick out of an Alex Rios quote about winning it all in the Wall Street Journal of all places...revenge for all of his incorrect predictions this postseason. We get the Royals won and you have had an erection for more than 4 hours, but this is a White Sox off season thread that has nothing to do with Rios or Gordon or taunting Greg.

Why is Royals crap in this thread?

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 04:45 PM) Why would any team reject a $10 Mill option, only to make a 15M QO? I know it's hard to believe it now, but Sox life will go on without Alexei. The org. will find a way to endure. Not only that, but pay $1 million for that ability.

It won't be Samardzija, but I predict this year will be the first someone accepts the QO.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) Do you think they'll give Beckham a Qualifying Offer? I doubt it, but Geo Soto should probably get one. If he accepted it would be the steal of the century.

A lot of White Sox announcements are due. The assistant hitting coach seems to be filled but not yet official. The bench coach, is Steve Stone returning? Who is the PBP guy for home games?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 12:20 PM) It was a scenario (like I explained if you actually took the time to read the original post) where Alexei made it clear he wanted a multiyear deal and wouldn't negotiate a one year deal at a reduced cost and they talked about it when discussing a new deal for next season before declining the option. Being far apart, they decide to offer a QO knowing he wants more than 1 yr/15.8 mill (maybe he thinks he can get 2-3 years 18-30 mill on the open market? Fa market isn't exactly good for infielders). I'm not saying this is what happened and in all likeliness didn't, but it was an angle I felt like tossing out there. Again, the White Sox held all the cards. If a team wanted to give Alexei more than the QO and relinquish a draft pick, the White Sox certainly wouldn't have spent $1 million buying him out. They simply would have exercised the option and traded him, saving $1 million and adding talent to the organization. If you don't want to pay a guy $10 million and are willing to pay $1 million to get out of it, you don't go risking almost $16 million to hopefully obtain another draft pick.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 12:02 PM) I don't know about deferred money. Are we still paying Konerko? Buyouts happened in '15 not '16. As far as Turner and the other spots I made it pretty clear I was saying X amount of players costed Y amount of money. I know it wasn't perfect but more of where we are at with the most likely candidates on the roster. I think Paulie gets $1 million a year for 5 or 6 more years.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 12:09 PM) This was all under the assumption that they knew he'd decline it due to wanting more guaranteed money (not more annually than the QO but still more than he could make accepting a QO, sucking, and then finding no work next season). I know it won't happen either but it was just a topic I felt like bringing to the table. I'm actually one of the few in here that believes he will re-sign with us on a year (with option possibly) deal. If you think he will re-sign for a year, why wouldn't you think he wouldn't take the $15.8 million QO? Plus the million, that would be almost $17 million for 1 year.

Wife and son being criminally investigated. If it turns out they were involved, I think all of the outrage, and more that would surely come would be more than justified. People gave money, their time, other donations....it's one thing to screw over some Explorers program that nets you less than $100k, but to keep taking advantage? Some innocent family will someday need the support this family received, and there will be some skeptical people. There was a cop or ex-cop who was busted early in the investigation. He called in and made a threat, and also mentioned it was a suicide.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 11:54 AM) Bulls tend to play well against better teams. Rose also tends to show up when he goes against top line players. That said, I think Rose's game is being impacted a lot more significantly then we all think from his eye. It must suck playing with that mask. No way he could possibly be used to it yet. He looked really good in the exhibition, but since the games have counted, seems a bit tentative. The talent is still there, but I just wonder if the head will ever allow him to get back to anywhere near what he was.

Why would the White Sox decline a $10 million option on Alexei, buy him out for $1 million, and then give him a QO? It appears we have a poster or 2 that has a serious crack habit. You don't pay $1 million to get out of a $10 million commitment, and then give something that is worth more than $15 million. If the White Sox didn't want Alexei and thought he could get more than $10 million on the open market, they would have saved themselves $1 million, exercised the option, and traded him.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 10:01 AM) Guys who are in decline don't usually add 216 OPS to their first half OPS in the second half. His second half OPS was .757, and above his career numbers. The guy had a really bad first half, but recovered and had a very good second half. Then he should have no problem getting paid.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 09:37 AM) I'm not saying it's likely, but I meant a team like the Dodgers/Yankees/Red Sox if they needed a SS, or even a 2B/CF, where he played in 08. They don't, and even if they did, there is zero chance Alexei would get that much. If he could the Sox would have exercised the option and traded him. He's going to be at least 34, coming off a below replacement level season. Those guys don't get 3 year guarantees with raises.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 5, 2015 -> 09:20 AM) I agree, but I could see a big market team giving him a ridiculous contract, like 3/36. No chance, and if they do, good for Alexei.