Dick Allen

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 02:24 PM) However, if your requirement for competing next year says "we need one of these guys to be all star quality", you probably should rethink your plans for competing next year. You are already in for the Sox will suck the rest of the decade, so you really shouldn't worry about 2016.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 01:53 PM) Tyler Flowers is one player. Generally, there's a strong correlation between high-minor walk rates and major walk rates: And I'm not even saying Trayce is going to be good, I still need to see a lot more for him to be a starter, I'm still in the "probable good fourth outfielder" camp, all I was saying is that some people talk about Trayce like he hasn't really produced in the minors because all they're looking at is batting average. Assists don't mean that much when you are as terrible as Avi is. He is a huge liability in the field. That's where you start and end with his defence. He is also a really bad baserunner, ranking 141 of 153 players this year in baserunning runs. Assists mean outs, and it's not like he's Juan Pierre and everyone is running on him. He is a bad fielder, there is no question, but his assists and home run saves have made up for some of that weakness. Avi is also playing his first full season in the major leagues, despite his ABs which have been flung around. I just think if you can't get off the Avi Garcia is awful and always will be, you should probably lay low on Trace Thompson for the time being.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 11:19 AM) Trayce also has a long, long history of walking a lot, whilst Avi has a long, long history of not walking. What do you think of their respective defences? So did Tyler Flowers. Once you get to higher levels, it's a new game. Trace has been great, but his defense has been shaky. Several curious routes, a huge error, and also seems to be thinking about that error at present. Avi is a bad defender without a doubt, but also leads the league in assists, and at least 2 home run saving catches. If you want to say Avi is horrible without a chance to be any good, saying Thompson is a guy who is going to be good is a long reach. Fangraphs isn't the way to identify prospects.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 09:01 PM) a) There's probably not a huge difference in what you should expect from them offensively in the majors, but Trayce can be valuable with a 90-100 wRC+, whereas Avi cannot, due to his horrendous defence and baserunning. b) Avi's BB:K rates were very poor in the minors and his success was often dependent on extremely high BABIPs. Trayce always ran a nice BB%, his problem was striking out too much, he has shown signs of improving on this weakness. c) Avi has had over 1000 PA at the MLB level and has been almost the exact same player throughout them. Avi's walk rate this year was higher than Trace's in AAA.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) One thing people sleep on because of low batting averages was that Trayce was an above average hitter for EVERY league he played in bar rookie ball in his debut season and 20 PA in his first go at AAA. (wRC+, far right, 100 is average) If that is a sign of future success, explain to us the hate for the younger Avi Garcia.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) They must have, because no other team hits him as hard as they do. They certainly didn't look like they knew what was coming after he departed either.

There is no question in my mind Minnesota has figured out how Sale tips pitches.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 08:04 AM) Second wc and the one game play in gives incentive to win the division over one of the wc slots anyway. That is why I really like it, it gives huge advantages for winning the division, and keeps several teams in the playoff race until the end. IMO, it blows the old way out of the water. What it come sdown to is the Pirates will have to beat Arrietta to continue their season. The Cubs will have to beat Cole, and they won't be line-ed up for the next series. Back when they had the one WC there were several times teams would have rather won the WC than their division based on match-ups. That is not the case anymore. The ome thing I am not understanding is the media in Chicago. For a team that is currently a second WC, if you just listened to the media, the Cubs are easily the best team in baseball. Every time they beat a bad team is proof. When they lose to the Phillies, it is just a bump in the road.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) So I noticed a lot of "extend QO to Shark for the pick" on this thread, but what if he takes the QO? That's a distinct possibility at this point given how much he's damaged his value this season. Not really. He damaged his value for sure, but he was looking at if not 9 figures, close to it before this year, and no injury. He isn't going to take a $15-17 million guarantee for one season. Why would he think next year would be any different if he stayed in the same place? He is a goner and appparently both sides are ready to move on.

The WhiteSox did shiputdown Danks in Sept 2007 and he came back much improved in 2008, pitching a gem of a game 163. Of course he was getting tatooed in 2007. Skip a start but don't shut him down.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 03:01 PM) Probably because someone with a spreadsheet convinced JR that spending money on draft picks will often save you money in the long run. Baseball has changed rapidly in the last 5 years home grown talent gets locked up. The best talents never reach FA and the mediocre vets that do reach FA are so expensive and not "sure things: thus it's incredibly variant and silly to rely on them for wins. Mediocre talents Panda, Hanley and even La Roche and Melky are what you can buy on the FA market. Mike Trout isn't walking through that door. Hell, neither is Albert Belle. Yet the Cubs are the envy of a lot of Soxtalk, and besides Schwarber and Bryant, how many of their own draft picks dot their roster? I am pretty sure the White Sox have more of their own picks on theirs and what they do is wrong.

If someone told you there were no injuries and on Sept. 11 John Danks' ERA would be .29 lower than Samardzija's, in March would you think that meant Danks was exceeding expectations or that Shark was turrible.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 12:25 PM) Absolutely agree DA and you make a great point about the money saved by Samardzija rejecting the Sox extension. Do you think this means the could extend the payroll some for next season? Imo, they should since, as you said, they had money allocated for the extension but since that money has not been spent and the Sox are in need of hitting, there should be some money available towards bringing in a positional player to help the offense. Not necessarily through FA but maybe acquire a player through trade. I would think yes. Maybe they were pinning everything on making the playoffs, but they did hedge it a bit and say they weren't where they wanted to be. I would think the $15-20 million a year it would have cost to sign him was coming from somewhere other than hoping the fans would show up if the Sox were close. They didn't in 2012, even in 2005, there were a couple of real clunkers attendance-wise in September. Hopefully the can make a couple of good trades, maybe get lucky with a reclamation project, maybe sign a free agent. When they fixed their defense a bit, they did start playing a better brand of baseball. The OFs aren't missing cutoff men. There is an issue with pitchers not backing up bases (Sale in particular) but that can be fixed. The dumbness seems to have gone down a bit from where it has been. Hopefully, next year it will not be a pronounced as it's been, and they can play no dumber than any other team. There are still some really good pieces here. A couple top of the line pieces. They do need some offense, especially some on base and power.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 11:59 AM) Thankfully in that I am happy the Sox did not work out an extension before Samardzija stunk up the south side of chicago. Samardzija's insistence on going to free agency has turned into a Sox blessing. JR, RH, and KW should send his agent a case of the finest champagne after every one of these starts he stinks up the joint. On the plus side, they did try to sign him and had every intention of signing him, and they knew what he turned down, so that money should be available to be allocated somewhere else.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 11:42 AM) IMHO, it was park of the Sox trying to woo Samardzija into an extension. Same with giving him his own K-zone. Thankfully it did not work. Why thankfully it did not work out? If it did work out, the Sox would have a shot right now. Just Samardzija's second half alone, if he was just average, they are probably over .500 even as poorly as they have played overall. I wish they didn't trade for him, but do wish since they did, it worked out.

One thing they need to do is stop letting people go down the aisle during the inning. There are 2 types, either the people who pay no attention, or the people who have to stop and watch and block the view making it unsafe for many. That is not even mentioning the disruption they cause when they get back into their seats. Make it like hockey. Make them stay on the concourse until in between innings.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 08:21 AM) Ausmus will be out after the season. Rosenthal reporting Ron Gardenhire and Rick Renteria are likely candidates. I read a couple days ago Gardenhire was a done deal. Ausmus is an Ivy League educated ex-catcher. I don't know how he can be blamed for the Tigers sucking this year, but it looks to be a case of a new GM wanting his own guy in there.

Coop doesn't even go talk to him when he is getting hammered. Maybe Kaplan knows something

Accordimg to Hawk, Brantley just fisted himself.

The Sox do seem to like Brantly.

I wish Robin would tell more guys to hit home runs.

If there is no merit and no chance Kane can get convicted, it seems unlikely the case would go to trial, and it seems like bad legal advice to give the wrongful accuser cash. Makes it look like something happened where Kane isn't so sure he wouldn't get convicted. If he settles, I bet he gets suspended, and if Lazerus' story is accurate at all, he's probably done with the Blackhawks. As I said earlier, a legal expert on ABC said yesterday the fact that it was even going to a grand jury indicates prosecutors thought they had a case.

Fool's gold. Hero worshipping...Frankly, I would not exercise the option but try to sign him to a lower figure. If someone wants to pay him $10 million or $9 million, thanks Alexei, despite some of your boneheadedness, you have been a really good player but it's time to move along.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 10:08 AM) So image conscious that habitual wife beater Bobby Hull is a fixture of the organization. Yes he is. The fact is, if Kane wasn't a star 99.99% of people would think he's done enough to be kicked to the curb. When a Blackhawk gets in some sort of trouble, why is it usually Kane? Hull was a star, Kane is a star. Stuff that shouldn't be ignored gets ignored.

It isn't looking good for Kane to walk away from this with nothing. I was watching the news yesterday, and since this is going to be presented to a grand jury, the legal expert said prosecutors must be pretty confident they have enough to take it trial. Lazerus also wrote last week that the Hawks are very image conscious. Enough so to where they always have to put a Blackhawks cap on during interviews. In his story he mentioned how Hossa had to delay being questioned after a game until he found a hat. He also said he was told Kane was told that the incident in Madison was his final strike. There is a decent chance Kaner is done with the Blackhawks.