29andPoplar

Yes, Wrigley Field. I think I read somewhere a few years ago, don't know if it's still true, that Wrigley Field still to this day has hosted more NFL games than any other stadium. 1921 through 1970 would represent a lot of games I suppose. Comiskey Park hosted a lot too, from the 20's through 1958 (Cardinals).

Completely agree. Too many good SS in the org. is a good problem to have. These Dominican signings, while promising on the surface, are always a longshot and at age 16 are a long ways away.

I really enjoyed watching the Boston-Cleveland series. Saw the game last night with a few friends and acquaintences, it was a blast talking baseball with these guys. Anyways, I saw this on the Indians website this morning and felt it was relevant to post. The article is "What went wrong for the Tribe" and this part was very telling: *** "The Red Sox drew 31 walks to the Indians' 16 over the series' seven games. The Red Sox also struck out 20 times fewer (63-43) than the Indians. They had five sacrifice flies and two sacrifice hits. The Indians had three sacrifice flies and no sacrifice hits. The Red Sox also hit .348 with runners in scoring position while the Indians hit .286. One more statistic: The Indians allowed four unearned runs. The Red Sox did not allow any. "You knew whoever took advantage of opportunities, or if mistakes were made, that was going to be the difference," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. *** Further down in the article, it discusses other obvious things that didn't go Cleveland's way. In particular, Sabathia and Carmona didn't have their best games, and a dissection of Cleveland hitters' problems (Boston pitchers execution?) in the last three games. I hope the White Sox brass was watching how the Red Sox got it done. Patience, no panic, working the pitchers, drawing walks, low strikeouts, sac flies, not allowing unearned runs, etc. In short ... winning baseball. To sum it up, one guy said last night something like, "Put three things together. One, do all the little things right. Two, insist players play the game that way, and three, make sure you have the players who can do it." Again, I hope the White Sox brass were watching, and taking notes.

Rick is a great guy, extremely smart, and is an expert on contracts, labor relations, among other things. I am very surprised he hasn't been snapped up a while ago. It would be a big loss but I can understand how he'd want the Cardinals job.

Two more signings reported out of the Dominican Republic, I know nothing about them but here are the names, SS Alexander Adame, 16; SS Daurys Mercedes, 17. These were reported by Baseball America. My experience with Baseball America in terms of these signings (and I could very well be wrong) is they report signings with 6 figure bonus amounts, generally. Lots of the low dollar signings don't get reported. Also, they rely on teams to tell them who they've signed. Meaning, they follow up with the teams and ask who they've signed during the "traditional" int'l signing period which is roughly the months of July and August. Again, I could be totally wrong but I see all sorts of players from the DR, Venezuela, Columbia, etc. etc. on team's organizational lists that were never reported by Baseball America. Their list says this is all the signings but I believe it's not. I believe it's all the signings a team reports in response to their inquiries. Either way I'm glad they posted a list of this nature as I do not recall them doing this before, but maybe I've missed it. I am a subscriber and have been in Will Lingo's ear for a while, asking them to do a better job of providing information on int'l signings.

Not in 1978 of course, but the Bears played many times at Comiskey Park, as a road team vs. the Chicago Cardinals. In fact we are coming up on the 50th anniversary of the last time the Bears played the Chicago Cardinals in Comiskey Park, it was Nov. 1957. By the way the football field ran from the left field grandstand toward the 1st base dugout.

Joe Cowley on the White Sox radio show this morning, some interesting thoughts - He believes Torii Hunter is their primary target and he knows "for a fact" two White Sox players are already calling and recruiting him. Cowley says the White Sox will inquire on ARod but sees it as an extreme longshot. He says MacDougal will be back, says the Sox are going to give MacDougal every opportunity to turn things around but he will be a 6th/early 7th inning pitcher until/unless he proves himself worthy of pitching in the 8th. Says MacDougal's problem is confidence and to make it worse, MacDougal's confidence wavers day to day. Also that MacDougal needs to understand this is not KC, here it's every pitch matters from April 1st onward. Says MacDougal has kind of an "oh well" demeanor. Also says they will definetely explore deals for Contreras and Garland but wouldn't hesitate to bring them back if they don't get the deals they want. Cowley mentioned moving Konerko is a possibility but less likely than trading a starter. On Rowand, Cowley says he talks to Rowand "now and again" and he believes strongly Rowand would take less years and dollars to come back here, in relation to the $84M reports out there.

Ok folks Lew Ford was granted free agency by the Twins. What are the odds Williams brings him in on a minor league deal or goes ahead and signs him for a year, and yes I know Ford's been bad the last two years.

Williams has had a philosophy of trading prospects for proven players. The anti Schueler if you will. If prospects only count for you if they are drafted by the Sox and come up through the system and play for the Sox, well, you are only looking at a portion of the equation. Now you can evaluate which prospects he traded and make judgements there on another level, no question. However, a fairer way to evaluate is seeing if any players they drafted make the big leagues, or were they at least turned into an asset. Anthony Webster, Royce Ring, Jeremy Reed, Josh Rupe, Chris Young, Tyler Lumsden, Aaron Cunningham, Gio Gonzalez were all moved for big leaguers. Is that part of your evaluation process, or no? Does that count? Guys like Brandon McCarthy and Boone Logan fit somewhere in here too. Since 2003, a few of the Sox top brass have been unhappy with the drafting, in retrospect. That's why they launched the head scouting guy. If after a 90 loss season they were sitting around saying "all is well", there is a problem with that. They are making changes behind the scenes, a few of which I pointed out. Philosophically, their approach has been to trade prospects for major league help. Arguably, that approach worked. But that approach doesn't work forever, hence some of the changes we are seeing.

And now to take this a step further I looked at the Twins' Gulf Coast League team, which is the lowest rung of their system, just as Bristol is with the White Sox. They have 18 non drafted int'l prospects on that roster. They show more products out of the Australian baseball academy, including players from non tradtional baseball producing countries that immigrate to Australia to link up with the Australian baseball academy, which is not exclusive to the Twins, but they do sign players from there. Here's their breakdown. Dominican Republic: 3 Venezuela: 6 (3 infielders and 3 pitchers) Australia: 3 Puerto Rico: 2 Taiwan: 1 The last three players are born in Russia, Czech Republic, and Netherlands. Each of these came through the Australian academy. So what does this prove? To me, not a whole lot other than the White Sox might consider spending more time in Australia because you never know where good talent might surface. To my knowledge the Sox haven't done anything in Australia but I don't know for sure. A few big leaguers have come from down under but not a whole lot. It is my belief teams can still find some good players and even bargains in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea although %'s signed vs. productive are likely the same as the Dominican. Further I am quite comfortable with Sox scout Ray Poitevent watching things there as he is highly regarded and mined talent for the Red Sox for several years. Further the Sox still have a great relationship with Man Soo Lee who tipped them off to Po Yu Lin and can help them in Korea, even on a de facto basis. The Sox need to improve, no question. No one can debate that. I'm sure the same is said on other teams fan boards. I believe it was Chisoxfn who said how critical a good (respected) player development system is in terms of landing these prospects. In addition to money, prospects (and their "buscones", in Latin America meaning basically their agents more or less) want to sign with organizations who treat these kids well and know how to get them up the ladder. Even if a kid maxes out in AAA and plays 7-8 years in North America they will be able to take care of their families in the Dominican Republic (using an example) very very well. So it is a very good thing the White Sox are beefing up the player develpment area, and hopefully improving it so they are perceived as one of the chosen teams. One thing which has totally gone under the radar, to borrow a much overused phrase - Williams and Hahn and others have insisted especially the last two years that White Sox scouts and player development people establish excellent relationships and contacts in these countries, particularly Latin America but the Pacific Rim as well. That is why you see a guy like Ruben Amaro Sr. hired, that is why you see a guy like Rafael Santana being transferred to the Dominican operations. In general guys like Amaro and Santana would much prefer to live in the U.S. but if they're paid well and treated well they will go to the DR and help the White Sox there. Again it isn't always about money although that is primary. It is relationships. It is reputation too. All of this stuff never is spoken about, nor is it publicized. But it is in fact going on.

Correcting myself here. 14 players from Latin American countries, one from Taiwan, Po Yu Lin. Of the 14: 9 from the Dominican Republic 1 from Columbia 3 from Venezuela, one of which is Jose Martinez, an OF who was noted by Baseball America for what it's worth 1 from Mexico 2 catchers, 2 shortstops, 1 OF, 1 2B, 8 pitchers.

Just to add to this. Taking a quick look at Bristol's 2007 roster I counted 15 players from Latin American countries. Countries represented include the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. All of those countries have a full time White Sox scout but I'm going from memory on that. Definitely a part timer at minimum.

Most of your questions can be answered by reading this site. As I mentioned, there are several very knowledgeable people here who post very good and insightful information (and no I am not lumping myself in with those folks). Actually that was my primary objection to your post, you made a statement which is totally untrue, with information to the contrary being right here at your fingertips on the Future Sox section, adopt a prospect, etc. They are very good sections of this site and everyone is encouraged to read them and digest the information. As for your questions, I'll do my best to answer them, as long as you do your best to dig a little deeper. I do not know what % of their minor league teams have Dominican players vs. league average. Those numbers aren't readily available, short of someone counting birth origins of all 30 teams' minor league teams over the past 6-7 years or longer. I do know the Sox sign several (more than 5, probably less than 10) out of the Dominican just about every year. I keep an eye on their Bristol roster which is their lowest level farm team. There's an influx of Dominican talent every year. Also a few Venezuelans, Brazilians, etc. although signings from Brazil in particular is sporadic. A list was posted, by me, about 2 months ago and maybe someone who knows how to search the old threads in Future Sox section can find it, it's a list of all the White Sox scouts, their territories, etc. On that list you will see they have a presence in just about every baseball player producing country in Latin America, and a particularly heavy (and growing) presence in the Dominican. They just added (transferred) Rafael Santana to help run one of the Dominican academies. They added a 2nd Dominican academy in the last two years. They've had a Dominican academy since '98. As for how come Ozzie was talking about "a lack of Latin Americans" in the minor league system ... I don't recall him saying that. I recall him saying the organization needs to do a better job scouting at all levels, including the Dominican. I specifically recall him saying the Sox should play the "numbers game" in several countries, i.e. sign a handful of guys, at least, every year because it's extremely hard to tell at age 16 who is really good and who isn't. Then I heard him mention, actually question, the Sox minor league development process, insinuating they needed to look at it very closely and make changes (they have, and they are ... see signing of Buddy Bell and keep your eyes peeled for more changes). On the Carlos Vasquez acquisition, where did you hear it was to keep Ozzie happy? Please tell me you didn't hear that from message board posters from WSI who infer Guillen is a racist or prejudiced (there is a great thread now in the roadhouse over there where a guy raises the issue based on his own opinions and gets smacked down with facts). If you really believe Ken Williams and Rick Hahn would go out and acquire a player based on his nationality just to keep Guillen happy, then you don't know those two men's motives at all. Is Ozzie familiar with what's going on in the organization? It's too broad brushed of a question to answer. Just like any big league manager, I'm sure he's more familiar with some things than others. Do they need to do a better job sourcing and signing talent? Of course they do. Every team needs to do better, no team is perfect. Some are better than others, and it is a constant cycle of examing what's being done and doing the right things to improve.

Not crazy at all, very good post in my opinion. There was some talk earlier this year the White Sox having interest in Conor Jackson and the White Sox have a very good working relationship with the DBacks on several fronts. There does seem to be a matchup, on the surface anyways.

Did not notice that, thanks! Forgot I even said that, must have been around the trade deadline or something.

Somehow I just knew my post would elicit this type of response, laden with sarcasm. It seems to happen a fair amount on this site, I don't know why, but it seems to happen when someone points out the truth. If you'd read his post, you'd see he said the following: "The question is why did it take so long for this team to go after talent in Latin America". To which I responded, factually, they have been signing Latin American talent, particularly Dominican Republic talent, for years. As I have pointed out many times on this site, check the rosters of the Sox minor league teams and go back a few years and check the rosters of the same teams. There are, and were, lots of Latin American talent on those teams. Then, further on in my post, I said the following, which you may have missed, or glossed over in your haste to post a comeback: Now, if your beef or argument is the Sox have not had an influx of impact talent from their efforts in the Dominican, you have a point. But that isn't what you said. So you can interpret meanings all you want. I'll go with what the man said. What would be interesting would be to find out what % of players signed out of the Dominican have reached the majors, for all 30 teams, going back say 15 years. I don't think such information is available because many of the signings aren't listed/publicized/reported. But my point remains, the White Sox have been sourcing and signing prospects from the Dominican for years. They have to get better at getting 16 yr. olds who turn into impact players. That means better sourcing, better development, more money. Note I used the word "better", not the word "begin".

Your statement is untrue. I'm not sure if it's because you're unaware of how things are, or some other reason. The White Sox, and many other teams, sign young Dominican players every year. The Sox sign as many, or more than many other teams. This message board has a Future Sox section where these prospects are discussed, there is even an adopt a prospect feature where the background and other info is presented. You may want to read it, you will learn something. Take a look at the Bristol White Sox roster, you can find it on the Baseball America site. Click on players names, it will take you to a profile page, and you will see how many of those players are from the Dominican and Venezuela and Brazil and others. In addition, they are not "late to the party" at all. Where do you come up with these statements? They have had a Dominican Academy since 1998 and were scouting and signing players well before that. It has not been a case of not signing players, not at all. Now, if your beef or argument is the Sox have not had an influx of impact talent from their efforts in the Dominican, you have a point. But that isn't what you said. Bonuses through the draft are all but mandated. They are basically slotted, so teams pretty much have to pay a certain monetary bonus. One thing the White Sox have done, they've signed their top picks. Not true for many other teams, especially in rounds 3-6. You are intimating the Sox should forego signing picks because they will get a better bang for the buck in the Dominican? Please tell me you're not saying that. Based on sheer numbers, the odds are a lot worse in the Dominican, we are talking about 16 year olds vs. a 20 year old from the draft. If you want more information, please ask. Someone on this site will provide it for you as there are many knowledgeable people here who know what's what.

Absolutely. Plus the Sox are looking for guys who can hit, guys who are natural hitters. Look for them to bring in at least two. Kendrick though, I don't think he'll be traded, although with this GM change anything is possible from the Angels. The Angels need a bat so it might be a long shot they trade a guy who can hit. Scott Merkin, if he is to be believed, came out today and said Richar will be the starter at 2B. OK then. We'll see about that, but they almost have to have a veteran to spell Richar and protect him from tough matchups.

Agree 100%, it's a lot of money. The Sox are in a position now where they have to gamble like this. It is true that only a small fraction of these kids pan out. But if they really like a kid and he plays a premium position like SS, sometimes you have to take the plunge. Plus as we have been discussing here, if it's $600k, other teams must think highly of him as well. Other teams with arguably deeper pockets are spending money and signing Dominicans and others. For some of the teams, if these kids don't pan out, it's "oh well, let's just go sign more". The Yankees and Mets come to mind. But ultimately, the White Sox have to compete with those teams. The Sox won't compete with the Yankees on the major league free agent front, practically never anyways. So they'll have to compete in other ways, and this is one. The Sox should be able to get middle IF prospects down there, and this is a start. The key is allocating a greater % of revenues in the Dominican and other countries, and getting the right people. If a scout has worked as an agent, that's a huge plus. Agents know how to get players signed. It is one thing to scout and identify players, it is quite another to get them signed and commited to your organization. So the Sox have to be able to compete at multiple levels, financially and having a strong network and having good aggressive people. No team will sign every Dominican prospect they want, not even the Yankees. But they will absolutely need to be competitive with these teams in terms of being a preferred organization. This same approach and mindset needs to occur in the Pacific Rim as well. It's a totally different process and economic plane vs. the Dominican but nonetheless there needs to be a consistent systematic approach.

The cost factor certainly is one aspect to look at. If they went to $600k on this kid, they were definitely bidding against other teams, probably multiple teams. Signing bonuses, while extremely important, are only one aspect of recruiting talent in the Dominican. Facilities and teaching life skills are very important to these kids and their families, as are relationships with team personnel. Loyalty is a big thing in the Dominican and a team can get a leg up by having the right people in the right jobs. Mets, Yankees, Braves to name three do this very well. Some will say it's always the teams who throw around the most money but that is not necessarily true. I believe the White Sox, who have always had a presence in the DR, are beginning to capitalize on their network of relationships, a direct result of having well connected people in the right roles. It was unusual for the Sox to mention this SS on their website - they sign lots of Dominican kids every year but the average fan never hears about it. What I do know is they've upped their financial commitment, they have added staff both at the scouting and senior administration level, and opened a 2nd baseball academy. All of these activities should result in more signings. Whether they are all at the $600k or higher level, we will see.

Sorry, didn't mean to get anyone all excited but I saw this brief mention in an article on the Sox website. Scroll down toward the end, they discuss a 16 yr. old SS they signed out of the DR. They appear optimistic about this guy. http://whitesox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?y...sp&c_id=cws

On Sweeney, the chat guy said Int'l League observers were disappointed in Sweeney's unwillingness to make adjustments which would allow him to drive the ball. It was mentioned he appears content to just flick the ball the other way. They added that he's just 22, has great physical tools and is far from a finished product, which sounds like a "don't write him off yet" comment. On Broadway, he said Int'l League managers really liked him, especially the big frame and the power breaking stuff. He rated somewhere from 20-30 on the list. Noted he needs to command the fastball better and cited his 78 walks.

I am hearing there's some gallows humor going on at 1901 W. Madison, sort of a "who's next" dead pool. Frontrunners: DeMaria, scout Rob Pulford, and sales guy Jim Sofranko moving over to Peter Wirtz's Bismarck empire from wence he came. By the way Barry Rozner is on a high right now. Just wait until Rocky Wirtz makes a move he doesn't like. Translated: one of Rozner's buddies gets moved out. Then his columns will take a different turn. Hopefully R. Wirtz makes the right choices, the one he made yesterday was a huge positive. As for some or all of the home games on TV, it's just a matter of time now.

Twice they have to fly out to the West coast for a 3 game series, and then right back. That's nonsense. Once is in between the two Cubs series. They play the Cubs for 3, fly out to LA the next day and play 3, then fly back and play the Cubs for 3 more starting the next day. They need to do a lot better in interleague play, but the schedule makers don't do them any favors with this scheduling. They do the same later on, flying out to Oakland for 3 games and flying right back.

He's going to be club president of the Braves.