Dick Allen

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 05:58 PM) I know your record - you're a blow hard. And I was referring to your comment about Samarzijia being the worst starter in baseball. The guy has been brutal but is nowhere even remotely close to the worst SP in baseball. Greg does get ripped for saying a lot of things that actually wind up being correct. He goes way out there sometimes, I think he would admit that, but he usually as close as anyone when measuring accuracy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 05:38 PM) Note - in Fangraphs, he's worth 2.3 fWAR (and that number has gone down recently from >3 earlier in the year), in Baseball-reference rWAR he's worth -0.5 fWAR, so at $7 million per WAR he owes us $3.5 million for this seasons. The Sox have a huge difference between their fWAR and rWAR numbers from their pitching staff this year, the biggest in baseball 2 weeks ago when I looked.. I think the difference is reflecting how good of a job they do respectively of turning hit balls into outs - fangraphs is giving too much credit to the pitcher and placing too much blame on the defense, while B-R is giving too much credit to the defense and placing too much blame on the pitcher. Probably "poor defensive positioning" plays into it somewhat too. But beyond all that, "throwing balls that are just really easy to hit" is playing into it too, and if you believe "Jeff Samardzija is throwing a lot of baseballs that are unusually easy to hit", then you believe he's worth closer to the Baseball Reference number. Like Belisario was "unlucky" last year. I read where Shark is getting killed on his slider this year, where last year, they barely touched it. He also has had command issues as he has already thrown 250% more sliders right down the middle than last year.Shark's numbers his last 9 starts I don't think can be blamed on poor defense. If anything, a couple of times maybe his own. But the discrepancy in WAR calculations shows maybe we take that number a little too seriously.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 05:35 PM) I thought advanced stats had him as one of the five worst pitchers in baseball this year. Fangraphs never lies. They say his performance this season is worth $18.4 million.

Sabermetrically he is a 2.3 WAR. At $7 million a WAR, which I think is conservative, that is worth $16.1 million.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) I don't think he'll accept the QO, but the more I think about it, financially, it might be his best choice. Consider this - the best offer Shark may get may be something in the Ricky Nolasco / Ervin Santana range ~ 4 years and $50M. Or he can play this season for $16.5Mish (roughly 33% of the value of said 4 year contract), have a much better season in 2016, and but himself back into the $100M contract discussion. Now, I don't think he'll do that because he clearly doesn't want to pitch for the Sox, but if $$ is his main motivator, he should accept the QO. Or the White Sox can cut him in Spring Training, pay him $3.5 million and he could play for peanuts in 2016. Also, if he takes his $16 million and flops, that 4 year $50 million looks really good. Heyman's guys, as well as Olney's guys have said Shark will do much better than that. He will get a QO and reject it. It's , to borrow another poster's line, 99.9999% assured.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Why don't they give him the QO and tell him not to accept it or else he will be put in a long relief role and blah blah blah..tell him basically everything you can legally, to get him to decline it. They don't have to. Unless he blows out his arm between now and the end of the season, he will not accept a QO. No one ever has. Why would he try to re-set his free agency and come back to a place where he doesn't get along with the pitching coach and has been nothing but batting practice for almost 2 months? It isn't going to happen. I also think the QO contract is similar to the arb contract where a team can cut you in spring training and be on the hook for 20 or 25 %. Shark doesn't want to be a White Sox. The White Sox don't want Shark.

Heyman has an article today that pretty much suggests while Shark has cost himself some cash, probably not as much as we think. He also sort of verifies a rift with Coop. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-he...years-mlb-notes

Considering he said he is confident he will be absolved of doing nothing wrong, it is curious why the Blackhawks and the NHL for that matter, are letting him participate.

Blackhawks are not selling any Kane swag at their training camp.

Avi isn't going to play 3B. We just have to hope he can start giving pitchers a reason to throw him strikes, and stops his downward spiral defensively. Talent is still there, as is youth.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 12:59 AM) I'm more impressed that Mike Powers also used that book. Michael Riley "Doc" Powers (April 22, 1870 – April 26, 1909) was an American Major League Baseball player who caught for four different teams from 1898 to 1909. Awesome catch. That book must be old.

Kane did say he was confident he would be absolved of doing nothing wrong. Does he realize he just admitted f***ing up?

Why aren't other teams knocking on Ozzie's door?

Did people really think Kane or the Blackhawks were going to talk about this case? The press conference was predictably ridiculous, and the criticisms will be predictable as well. I do agree with the why have a press conference group. It isn't like you are going to be saying anything groundbreaking.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 03:00 PM) Yeah, Tyler has played, but they sure dropped him like a bad habit when someone marginally better came along. I have no doubt in my mind that the top of Hahn's To Do list this winter is a 3B. Probably because Saladino is going to be moved over a few feet.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 02:52 PM) I might be in the minority, but I actually like Olt. His defense might be mediocre, but at least he has some pop, which this team desperately needs. Chances are he sucks, but pre-2013 he was a top 22 prospect, and he plays a position of need, with, like you mentioned big power, another need. I don't understand why some are so upset he's playing in September. If his eye issues are being him, if his adjustments work out, he could be a huge find. If it doesn't work out, who cares, you paid him the minimum for a month to find out. He actually has made a few nice plays at 3B. Some of his throws have been a bit off. If you need his roster spot this winter, so be it, but if you don't, bring him the spring training as see what you have. It probably isn't much, the people not wanting him to play are probably correct that he won't be the White Sox starting 3B, but this is exactly the kind of guy who should be playing right now.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 02:35 PM) Whenever he runs out a ball to first, he looks like he's about to have his knee go out. He is always grimacing. I know he had some back issues as well. He seems to be able to run straight lines fine, but watching him in between pitches in the OF last night, it seems he was always trying to get stretched out, and did a lot of walking around. I don't think he's fully healthy.

QUOTE (bjm676 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 02:25 PM) Garcia could have trouble in slow pitch softball. Ever since he hurt his knee a couple of months ago, Avi seems to be in constant pain.

Cut Olt immediately.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 12:16 PM) and don't get me wrong, I love Avi and I think that he still has a ton of potential. There are just a few things he could work on and he'd be a great player. Although I don't ever see him being elite if he can't hit a high fastball. What if he learned not to swing at them?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:52 AM) Did he fall into a bad mechanical funk possibly? Adjust his arm angle from pain possibly? He and the Sox make no injury claim so I take them at their word. Did he have problems with Cooper because Cooper wanted to mess with his delivery, or Shark messed with it against Coops wishes? I know it's all speculation but the drop off in velocity is a troubling fact ad I wonder about control. He is a battler out there though and I don't see him blaming anyone but himself. I am sure they have looked at video from when he was successful and try to find differences. Levine asked him if there was any injury and he said no.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:37 AM) As much as Abreu has dealt with nagging injuries in both years, I have no desire to play him at a more physically demanding position. Plus watching him at 1B makes you think Conor Gillaspie probably looks like a good defensive 3B compared to what Abreu would be over there.

Supposedly Kane was told after the Madison incident that he was out of strikes. I don't think it will be immediate, but even if Kane is cleared, I wouldn't bet he is a Blackhawk a year from now.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 09:36 AM) The organization has done stuff like this before. They tried to turn Viciedo in playing 3rd. Even Cora couldn't do anything with Fields. I never understood where the Sox ever thought this would work. You might be able to do this with someone is who is extremely talented in baseball but the organization never gets or can recognize those players. They even try this with veteran players playing positions they are not use to and sometimes it effects their overall play. He is the fans' new whipping boy. I wonder if that would be the case if the veterans weren't so unproductive. I think Viciedo was signed as a 3B. Same with Carlos Lee. The one experiment that ended horribly was when the Sox tried to convert KW into a 3B. Not only was he brutal there, he then forgot how to hit.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 09:22 AM) He is also throwing way more cutters this year and way less 2 seam fastballs. I'm not really sure why the Sox decided to change his pitching style so much or why they haven't tried to have him go back to what was successful for him last year but I wonder if that has played a role in his struggles as well. Seems pretty weird, unless they were trying to prepare him for the inevitable drop in velocity he will face down the road. Whatever it is, it obviously has been a colossal failure.