iamshack

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 08:47 PM) I know several people who go to auctions regularly for all sorts of things. Some of them have lots of money. Each of them has a price where they drop out, unless what ever is being auctioned has some other value to them. Its called discipline. If the White Sox weren't prepared to give Pods $8 million a month or so ago, what makes you think they would give him $8 million just because the KC Royals really wanted him? Why would the Royals go to that figure just because the White Sox wanted him back? This isn't a highly valued player, and there are more than a couple of reports that basically said Pods wouldn't be back unless he played for close to the minimum. Right, discipline, the strongest trait of the average American... How do you know the White Sox weren't prepared to give him $8 million? How do you have any clue what they were or were not willing to give him?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 08:31 PM) I've been to auctions. People usually don't bid more than what they budgeted especially if what they are bidding for isn't something all that valuable. I don't think Pods is a must-have type of guy or else someone would have paid him more money. How do you have any clue what people have actually budgeted for when they go to auctions, Dick?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 08:31 PM) You have to have 2 parties willing to pay that much on Pods and it clearly doesn't seem like there was a case. Otherwise, when the White Sox were negotiating with Pods early on, and there were other suitors, Pods clearly would've gotten that better deal right? You don't just need suitors, you need suitors willing to pay an amount for their services. It appears that no one was willing to pay this 2 for 8 million for pods OR HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN IT. Lucky for us, we are willing to pay 8 million for Pierre plus two tradeable pitching pieces. Rock and ROLL!!! I'm not going to argue with you about Pierre. I like Pierre much more as a player, but what that difference is in a dollar amount, I'm just not sure. Would I pay 2/8m for Pierre rather than 2/$6m for Podsednik? Yes. But do I know the exact threshold, no. Secondly, your point is flawed in that we are not aware what offers Scott turned down already. Just because the White Sox paid Pierre $8m over 2 years, does not mean that they did not offer Podsednik the same deal, or even slightly higher, only to have him turn it down. Maybe we offered him 2/$7m. We really don't know. Nowhere does it say that he accepted the highest offer, or that the Royals' offer is the highest he was given.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 07:20 PM) It really isn't, it's like saying you were right in declining on a house because their initial offer was too high, so you bought an equal-sized house for 4 million, and it turns out the other house sells for 1.75...and then you rationalize it with Welllppp, their initial asking price was too high, I showed them. Other suitors dropped out, so it's us and K.C., you think that two teams going after a mediocre player drives him up to a 2 year 8 million dollar deal rather than a 1 yr. 1.75 mill? Really? We dropped out, found another piece, and now for an equally s***ty player we are paying double, and have another year to watch his slappy ass. You can "drop out" and still revisit. But yaayyyy we are paying 6 million more for pierre plus 2 mid-level pitching prospects. Yayyy, it's okay because of the initial asking price we can't be pissed that we are paying for a really s***ty player when we could be paying much less for an equally s***ty player. I'll admit, you are a very intelligent poster, but when it comes to baseball, you just don't know all that much. This thing could have gone to 2/$8 in a heartbeat just by having another bidder involved. Have you never seen a negotiation? An auction? All it takes is two bidders to drive the price exponentially higher than had there been just one.

I am really struggling with how you guys can really believe that Scott would have signed with the White Sox for this amount of money. Even had they waited Scott out, he and his agent would have realized that the White Sox still needed a player such as he, and continued to wait. Then it could have gone down to ST and into the season for all we know - especially had the White Sox ponied-up and paid a DH some real money. Sometimes, a player is just not going to sign with a team at a certain price, regardless of whether he is willing to sign with another team for less.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 06:56 PM) I think we all understand that. KW should have waited out and used the 4.5 mil that he wasted on Pierre to get us a decent DH and then tried to wait out on Pods. The more suitors the higher the price for the player. It's not a difficult concept.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 06:53 PM) and i find that irrelevant. How can you find that irrelevant? It's absolutely paramount to the argument.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 05:48 PM) +1 This has been said more than once already, but to make it clear: It is almost absolutely certain that his demands were much higher until most or all of the suitors went in an alternative direction. THIS IS NOT WHAT THE PRICETAG WAS WHEN KENNY WAS NEGOTIATING WITH HIM Ok, sorry.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 06:46 PM) I answered that JPN: Makes no sense. We read the Tribune reports and they all say Carrol would be perfectly fine if Bates left, yet he's now trying to have him come to Seattle. WTF. Carrol might think Bates is much more important to him in Seattle than he would have been at USC.

QUOTE (quickman @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) He didn't sign here because he wanted a two year deal. Well if he doesn't get a two year deal, he might want a new agent. He was out of options. He played chicken with KW and lost. Without inside knowledge I can only specualte that if he would have signed a one year 2 million dollar contract we would have taken him and forgotten about Juan Pierre. Now he and his lovely bride will be playing in KC in front of 10, 000 fans for last place. When your that old and a contending team who you know likes you and wants you then you sign. Dumb. Honestly, the guy is trying to support his family.This was most likely his once chance to make some real money in his career, and he held out for it. Sure, the gamble didn't pay off because the economy is in rotten shape, but I would hardly call him dumb. I'd like to see how we would act if it were our wallets and our futures at stake.

I'm thinking about driving over since I am in Vegas, but would have to come out before the NCAA tourney starts or in between the 2nd and 3rd rounds...I guess I need to look at flights too...Glendale is close to Phoenix, correct?

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 02:06 PM) Not shocking at all. I told you guys last summer that the sox had decided he wasnt going to play 3b and most people here said it was premature. That was before we knew that you knew stuff....

QUOTE (striker @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) I'd be open to trading Danks if he doesn't extend, but I wouldn't include Hudson. I don't think the Padres would want Danks though. He will probably cost more over the next two years than Gonzalez. Yeah, you would probably need to swap John out for prospects first, then send them to SD.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 12:37 PM) The Road is great/ very depressing. McCarthy's style of writing is different but fit very well with the book. Time to dig into No Country For Old Men next. Agreed about McCarthy's writing style. My first book of his that I read was No Country, and I really struggled to get through it, which is not usually a problem with me. I picked up The Road about a year ago anyways, got about 3 pages into it, and gave up. I just can't read his writing style...

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 12:54 AM) So does Vernon Davis. In fact... I thought he would be a mega star by now. Notice the common denominator here....bad quarterbacks throwing to under-developed TE's...

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 10:06 PM) I want to be the first to preemptively blame any struggles Gavin has at any point from this point forward on his marriage. All sexist comments suggesting she is nagging him will be used. I second the notion. If he was uptight before, he will be even more so now that he is getting laid less.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 10:18 PM) He better end up having one hell of a bat. Otherwise this was a wasted investment. Well you really didn't think he was signed for his defense, did you J4L? I mean, his supposed ceiling is what got him eight-figures, not his footwork...

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 11:16 PM) I was thinking that I liked Steve Zahns character more as well, lol I rang Steve Zahn up at Abercrombie & Fitch once. I think it was right after Out of Sight came out...

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 11:10 PM) Scott Merkin gets on my god damn nerves. He seriously needs to take the White Sox dildo out his ass. And whoever it was that scouted Viciedo needs to be fired or something. A 1B? Whoopie! I know it's not as exciting as 3b, but come on, judging from the guy's size, did we really think he was going to play third? They scouted him and paid him for his potential with the stick. I don't think his defense was ever a huge priority with him. Personally, I'm just happy to know we may have someone who can step in for Paulie after Kenny has dealt CC and Brandon Allen.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 07:01 PM) Obviously numbers don't tell the whole story. Its been a pretty common theme all year long that Olsen's development has been a huge disappointment. Hmm, I guess I didn't see it that way. I saw him as more one of our lone bright spots...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 07:56 PM) He wasn't expected to be a decent TE. He has all of the ability to be a star in this league. Especially with a real QB coming into Chicago, big things were expected from G-reg, and he didn't even come close. He didn't come close? Didn't he have 7 TDs? What would "close" be? 12 TDs?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 01:59 PM) Bingo. For all practical purposes, Olsen has been a bust so far. That's blasphemy. He's not exactly been a star, but you try developing under Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton. I think they utilize him incorrectly. Additionally, he was basically the first weapon opposing defenses tried to take away in the passing game this year, as opposed to Clark or Witten, who are the second or third weapon a defense tries to contain. Perhaps he will be utilized better under the new OC and we will see him develop even further.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 12:08 PM) Until Porcello last year, did they really get a major impact at the big league level from guys they dumped money onto? Miller is the other one who comes to mind, but they dealt him. Well, it's a relatively recent phenomenon, so that impact will probably be felt more within the next several years, I would surmise.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 12:56 PM) Post-2004 was when they really started spending money, it took them a couple years to really get results, but don't forget the size of the hole they had to dig themselves out of. Ordonez, IRod, Sheffield, Polonco, Kenny "what's that on your hand" Rogers, Nate Robertson, Todd Jones etc. They had some decent performance from the draft as well, but that's also expected when you get top picks from being awful (Verlander). That and being willing to pay over slot.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 4, 2010 -> 09:58 PM) I would support that actually. Martz is a very good coach and a proven winner. Just tired of seeing the Bob Babichs of the world get jobs when they suck. I mean some of these issues they have is obvious which is what Turner was lacking (especially with Garret Wolfe) Guys like a 6'7 Kellen Davis would have been ideal to use for Cutler in the red zone, Hester could have been used better (I know Slav likes him as a Wes Welker type of role in the slot) etc.. etc.. If they were to hire Martz, that would be reason enough to install field turf.