Dick Allen

Obviously Trace Thompson is the new savior. I hope Rick can sign him to a team friendly extension asap, buying out arb and a coupe free agent years.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 02:55 PM) I'm not even sure what you're suggesting here. The extra $25 million in TV revenue would be allocated somewhere other than revenues? There's a cost associated with that not being included somewhere and thus the White Sox's break even point is even lower than I've suggested? They're going to get $25 million in extra TV revenue and somehow that will result in $40 million in extra payroll spending? Weren't you saying last year the payroll would be $100 million at best? Just remember JR's quote during the infamous "all in" press conference where everyone assumed AJ gone, Pauly gone, no one signed. Dunn signed, AJ back, Pauly back. JR's response to reporters who asked how he could afford it, "You save a little here, a little there". They supposedly are one of the most profitable teams in baseball, and the owners supposedly haven't been taking anything out. They have plenty of money.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 01:50 PM) And you've never made an incorrect call either right? So either tell me where my logic is wrong, tell me where this extra money is, go through the numbers and do it yourself, or I get to bring up your predictions about how well Victor Martinez will age because all you're willing to do is make it personal. Do you use Forbes to determine your money totals? If you do, and you trust their figures to be correct, they are sitting on about a quarter of a billion dollars in profit the last 15 years or so. So any logic about how they have no money is out the window.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 01:05 PM) Both seem to have great range and instincts. I think Saladino has a MUCH better arm. Definitely. The only question with each is are they going to hit? Sometimes it's easy to say no way, sometimes you have to think something is there. On the board the other day it said Sanchez led AL rookies in doubles. Considering how long it took him to get hits, that's pretty impressive. Saladino has struggled lately, but if we judge everyone by their first few hundred plate appearances, we would be right a lot, but miss out on some really good hitters.

Balta has said the White Sox won't be relevant the rest of this decade. He also stated the Cubs reaching the wild card will pay all by itself for Jon Lester's bloated contract, and Balta is never wrong, just ask him. Seems like perfect motivation for going for it again. If you arrive a year too early it's worth over $150 million. Think about what it's worth if it's 3 or 4 years too early.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 11:51 AM) Devil's advocate - Let's say the girl in question is making it up. What did Kane do wrong? Have a one night stand? I'm not defending him, either. I think the way athletes and entertainers use women is pretty bad. It's also really dumb for them to put themselves in a situation where they might be accused of something by someone they don't really know. But, I don't think one night stands are uncommon in sports, so I don't see why the Hawks would have a higher standard for Kane in this regard than they would for any of his teammates. Still, trouble always seems to find him. How could anyone be sure if this goes away, there won't be another. The Blackhawks have more information than I do, and supposedly they have asked him to watch his behavior a lot more than has been reported the past several years. If this goes away, he can still bring back an awesome package in a trade. One more incident, which if you had to bet on it, you would have to say the odds favor it, and he may be toast. He's a face of the franchise. He can't keep getting in trouble.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 11:43 AM) Given how players are rushed to the big leagues today (the days when guys like Gary Peters and Joe Horlen spent five years in the minors learning their craft are long gone) maybe it would be to the Sox benefit to actually work with players every day no? ESPECIALLY if other teams aren't doing it. Makes you wonder if the coaches feel they shouldn't have to do it, what exactly do they do and what are they getting paid for. And don't overlook the impact a coaching staff can have, I refer back to this quote from Tony LaRussa when I interviewed him. He was talking about when he first came on-board and the Sox started to develop in the early 1980's: "For a long time coaches were just friends of the manager or guys getting their time in to get a pension. But jerry Reinsdorf recognized that because kids were being pushed to the major leagues earlier, the role of coaches as teachers became crucial. He embraced the idea of putting together the best coaching staff you possibly could, that the staff of a manager should be a force for developing players..." Note the last part of Tony's comment. This team has been putrid fundamentally and baseball stupid overall for the past five years or so. Some of that falls on the players, some on the manager and the coaches. This team was also totally unprepared for this year coming out of spring training. They were on a record pace in terms of poor defense and base running according to Fan Graphs. Again some of that falls on the players but in this particular case the majority of the blame goes to the manager and his coaches in my opinion. Mark Actually, the guys who were pushed are probably Micah, Ventura worked with him every day, Sanchez, he seems to have a clue, who else? It was pretty much a veteran team, yet clueless, so take the easy way, blame Robin. They worked on all the drills in spring training over and over again. For some reason when the bell rung things changed. It happens. Look at Geo Soto. Watch him get loose in LF before a start. Watch him warm up a pitcher in between innings in a game he is not playing. The yips aren't there. He is normal. Sometimes the practice field doesn't translate to the regular game, but they did start out the season with Micah and Conor who are bad defensively. Alexei and Eaton started out bad defensively, and Avi is bad defensively. I know Melky is supposedly bad, but to me he has made too many plays and throws to call bad. The defense killed them, and they couldn't score runs to save their lives.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 08:42 AM) A writer for a small website speculated that the Bulls should trade for Rudy Gay. That led to all these Facebook/Twitter posts reading "BREAKING: Bulls pursuing trade for Rudy Gay." My point is, if you see anything like that, don't believe it; it's all speculation. That being said, Gibson and McDermott for Gay- who says no? Brings back memories of Rick Majerus on TV discussing the draft Gay was in and proclaiming, "I am not a Gay guy". The others on the set were trying not to laugh.

If you have players that reached the major leagues but have no clue when it comes to fundamentals, you have problems other than your major league staff. A major league baseball player on day 1 should understand how the game is played.

That Joe Maddon is a genius. Had them wear pajamas on their flight home. Who, other than a genius thinks of these things? I am really surprised they didn't win last night. It must have been the hangover from winning the WS the night before. Kaplan on his show yesterday, "If I told you the Cubs would be 2-4 on this past road trip, would you take it" Every panelist's answer..........yes. The Cubs can do no wrong in Chicago. A WC team 3rd in their division, and this panel was comparing them to the 2004 Red Sox. This disappointment is going to be tremendous.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 06:24 PM) The average ERA of pitchers across all of baseball at home is 3.71. The average ERA of pitchers across all of baseball on the road is 4.14. The average pitcher, if there was such a thing, is 0.43 runs per 9 innings worse on the road than at home. Therefore, it is totally unsurprising that most Sox pitchers have higher ERAs on the road and the White Sox having a split slightly above average could happen in any given year with a small amount of variance or with one pitcher who really likes pitching at home. Then don't use USCF as a reason Coop can do no wrong. If you are going to use it, shiuldn't they have a split well below average?The 1st inning runs this season have been ridiculous. It hints at pitchers not be ready when the game starts. They seem to be warming up just as much as other teams, but something is missing. Maybe they aren't mentally ready. That would be on the pitching coach. If Coop gets praise for the good, he needs to be ripped for the bad.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 05:19 PM) In a ballpark that's generally considered a hitters ballpark and in the AL where you don't have to face the pitcher, you can be one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and still meet that standard. While there are some issues with using it on its own, fWAR is a good double check to see if that fits. Here's where our staff has ranked in that stat in all of MLB over the past 7 seasons: 2015: 5th 2014: 23rd 2013: 16th 2012: 12th 2011: 2nd 2010: 1st 2009: 4th Most Sox pitchers have higher ERA's on the road. Explain.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 05:12 PM) I don't blame Cooper or Stevenson at all. Get better players. Says the poster who said Hahn's offseason was great before the season started.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) Why is Steverson considered some brilliant mind? Sans Addison Russell, what hitter has come out of the Oakland organization where he was the roving minor league hitting coach? I follow this board religiously and I feel like I'm the only one to bring up Steverson, and I just don't get that. Why does Coop get a pass on White Sox starter 1st inning problems? Whoever gets designated the punching bag, gets punched. There is no ryme or reason, and now with almost 4 years of managerial experience, the experience card still gets played.

All the Gardy lovers would be complaining about him if the Sox trotted out the same players. It is funny KW and RV get ripped for supposedly not using sabermetrics. Gardy and another Soxtalk favorite, Dombrowski, aren't very well known for using them either. In fact, there is actual proof they really don't use it, while the White Sox supposedly lack of use is based off of a guess, and not reality.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 03:05 PM) Tell me, how many division titles does RV have? And Balta, I think they are mostly partially guaranteed on a case by case basis. There's no CBA to abide by. They guy has averaged 95.75 losses his last 4 years as a manager. Robin hasn't done that. And you have already gone from not guaranteed to mostly partially guaranteed in one post. It's not important that you know, but I am quite sure the vast majority of managers' contracts are fully guaranteed.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) There's probably some exclusivity agreement where the Sox could save money if he was hired by someone else, but every coach contract I've ever heard of is guaranteed, maybe with option years somehow at the end. It would make no sense for them to sign non guaranteed extensions. If the team wins, they become more valuable and the price goes up. If they lose, they get fired, plus no guarantee would really give players even more leverage in a player/manager relationship.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) Amen. To the Robin supporters ... seriously, we are all in this together. We want the White Sox to win! So please Robin supporters tell me: "Do you really think there is ANY chance the Sox will take the field under Robin's direction next April and have a chance to not get swept in the series opener by a fellow Central Division team" and be able to fare well in the 76 Central Division games? I'm just saying it's guaranteed to be the same ol same ol. He's had enough time. He's blah to lousy. He's got to go. If you can make me feel better about our chances NEXT SEASON under Robin, please do so and assure me. I'm listening. I really am. That doesn't mean the next guy will be great. We already blew it by not acquiring Madden before the Cubs did. Now rectify the error and GO GET GARDY!!!! 63-99 66-96 66-96 70-92 Gardy's last 4 years.

If you are sitting close and nervous about it bring a glove.. You will look like a geek, who cares?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 02:46 PM) I don't think they are guaranteed, are they? If they fire him he's done getting paid, not like DFAing a player. They are guaranteed. Ozzie is still getting paid by Miami.

Robertson is no longer on waivers.

Avi is actually a really good hitter when pitchers accidentally throw him strikes, and on the rare occasions he actually makes them throw him strikes. There is really no reason to throw him a strike at this point. If he figures that out at all, he can be a force.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) No one is forcing you to read my comments. I'm positive where positivity is warranted, however this season has been extremely tough to swallow with the FO and coaching staff messing up every step. If you don't want to complain, stop watching. Problem solved. No one is forcing you to keep watching something you think is extremely tough to swallow, with everything always being wrong.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 10:09 AM) It's unbelievable people are defending Robin when his performance is so far below deserving to be fired. So you are admitting all your posts complaining endlessly about the talent level are just BS. The Sox apparently have plenty of talent to win, it is Robin Ventura holding them back.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 08:28 AM) Surprising because we've heard absolutely nothing regarding us placing anybody on waivers, and with a few hours to go, we hear something. Pretty much everyone gets placed on waivers. I bet Mike Trout has been on waivers.