Dick Allen

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Jul 13, 2007 -> 08:57 PM) That would sure be interesting. Im fairly confident neither Reinsdorf or Selig would let this happen. I also severely doubt he would even have 10% of the cost. I'm sure Albert's got bank as long as he hasn't spent it all on lawyers with all his stalking and what not. His wife is on fire. She's almost as good looking as my wife. I don't know if he'll ever own a team, but he is not a stupid guy. He's done a few stupid things, as have all of us.

Hawk b****ing about the umpire was pretty comical especially when the Sox are taking strike 3 right down the heart of the plate. Can someone please explain to me again why Andy Gonzalez leads off? He isn't a basestealling threat. He doesn't get on base that much. He doesn't make a lot of contact............its ridiculous he's leading off. Its probably ridiculous he's in the major leagues no matter how much Hawk and DJ gush over his abilities.

One of Hawk's greatest lines was when someone shattered his bat hitting a foul ball. "He'll have to get himself a new piece of ash". Drysdale was crying.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 10, 2007 -> 03:04 PM) Not sure how much I agree with this, honestly. I really do think KW could have gotten Milledge or Pelfrey or some other top prospects for Garcia, but KW pretty much knew there was something wrong with Freddy physically, and he wanted to take the best offer he could get without having to give Garcia a physical. Getting two guys with great stuff for a guy that could very easily pitch like garbage this year (and has pitched like garbage) was all he needed. Or, the possibility remains that he could have gotten Gio, Gavin, and Rowand for him too, but again, the physical would have needed to take place. If Garcia takes the physical and fails, you are going to be lucky to get Gavin Floyd alone for him. There is no way KW traded with Philadelphia and said they couldn't perform a physical. For some reason Gillick chose not to. Garcia did have his arm checked at the end of spring training and they found nothing, so it probably was a moot point anyway.

With as bad as the bullpen has been, a pitcher has to take the roster spot, no? I think Nick Masset being on the roster the entire year is a magic trick of proportions we have never seen before.

GAAAAvin Floyd. AAAA pitcher.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 10, 2007 -> 04:45 AM) Well, I know other posters have brought this up, but who knows why Ichiro would want to come to this team next year in the first place... Assuming he somehow would, I think it's pretty fair to assume he's going to get a deal somewhere along the lines of 4/52 or possibly even more if some team gets stupid. If you're paying $13 million for Ichiro, that really limits your chances of getting Rowand. What does everyone think Rowand will get in FA? Assuming he cools off a bit, but continues his solid play this season, what would he be worth on the market? To the White Sox? What sort of discount would he take? Would he do something along the lines of 4/30? 4/36? For the sake of argument, let's say the average annual salary for both Ichiro and Rowand would be $22 million...can we afford that? Assuming we go cheap at 2b with Richar, the other OF position with Sweeney, acquire a cheap ss through trading Dye and/or Contreras, and keep our bullpen basically the same or with one minor addition, it can be done. But it would be tight- very tight. This would also mean moving or not resigning Mackowiak/Cintron/Tadahito/Pods/Erstad/Toby Hall (although it may be impossible to move him)/Uribe/and possibly Crede. Would something like this work for people? 1. Ichiro RF $13 million 2. Richar 2B $400 K 3. Konerko 1B $12 million 4. Thome DH $8 million 5. Fields 3B $500 K 6. Pierzynski C $5.5 million 7. Rowand CF $9 million 8. SS $400 k 9. Sweeney LF $400 K Bench 1. Andy Gonzalez $500K 2. Pablo Ozuna $1.05 million 3. Jerry Owens $500K 4. Gustavo Molina $500K 5. Brian Anderson $500K 1. Buehrle $14 million 2. Garland $12 million 3. Vazquez $11.5 million 4. Danks $500 K 5. Floyd $500 K 6. Jenks $800 K 7. Thornton $875K 8. MacDougal $1.95 million 9. Masset $500K 10. Logan $600K 11. Vasquez? $400K All this comes in at about $95,875,000 I know it's a rough sketch, but does it work for anyone? Are we better with that lineup out there? This team would probably be worse than the current one. A little more exciting, but Floyd in the rotation and Vasquez the only change in the bullpen would be disasterous.

The Sox won, therefore he is a good umpire. He had a big strikezone, especially on the outer half with either side, but it was the same with everyone. There didn't seem to be too many disagreements, just a couple of minor ones which you get every game, so I would say he did a good job.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 03:54 PM) f***ing sweet... I don't know about you guys, but a core of Buehrle, Garland, Danks, and even Vazquez is very nice. That's what they have now and they are in 4th place. The bullpen is going to need to be improved. I think this signing which totally shocks me will also put an end to anyone thinking KW was going into a total rebuilding mode.

Hawk mentions these guys like they are future HOFers. How come when they bring up pitchers from Charlotte they look like they would have problems against Pony League teams?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 02:49 PM) What if Epstein were more willing to give in to KW's demands of 2 top prospects and a 3rd good prospect if the Sox were willing to take that s*** contract off Theo's hands? Would that still be a fireable offense? Yes. With what they would owe the wife beater, why pay him and pick up 3 guys you hope would turn out as good as Buerhle, if you could just have Buerhle?

On the espn insider, Jayson Stark says KW's asking price for Buerhle is 3 players, 2 of them being top prospects, and that teams are saying no. He said that Boston is back into the Buerhle sweepstakes and are trying to have the deal expanded to include Julio Lugo-wife beater. If Lugo and his horrible average and $9 million a year contract are acquired for Buerhle, KW should be fired.

QUOTE(mmmmmbeeer @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 09:57 AM) Obviously the thought of resigning him did occur or they wouldn't have ever opened negotiations....I mean, unless you believe their intentions all along were to completely destroy his trade value and piss off a bunch of fans just so they could say "we tried". As I posted earlier, if you follow the sequence of events, there were obvious changes in direction on the part of KW over the course of the past year, but moreso over the past 2 weeks. I understand your point, but I'm still skeptical about the whole thing. I just have the feeling that if Buerhle didn't require a NTC, there would have been some other deal breaker there. Under this scenerio, the White Sox may piss some fans off, but they don't come across as cheap, as they technically met Buerhle's financial requirement. And Buerhle can now go to the Cardinals, IMO the place he really always wanted to be, while still not looking to be totally full of it saying his first choice is to remain with the White Sox. If there was no public negotiation and the White Sox either traded Buerhle or let him leave at the end of the season, and he signed with St. Louis, how many people really would have believed his desire was really to stay in Chicago? This way he knows the Sox won't agree to the no-trade, he still offers a pretty nice discount, and he comes out looking like a champ. I think the White Sox would rather look stubborn not offerring a NTC than cheap and not paying the going rate on a pitcher of his calibur. The thing is pitching wins, and losing your best pitcher is really no way for a team thats struggling to get better any time soon.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 09:52 AM) Frustrated a little? Anyway, he doesn't exactly have the easiest role, but he has some decent stuff. I'm not prepared to ditch him... His ERA is over 7.00. His role is to get people out. If that is too tough, he needs to find another occupation. What he does need is some time in AAA. Going in and giving up runs, then getting booed off the field isn't going to help him progress. Who even knows if he can progress anyway.

Ozzie liked the way Floyd threw the ball in his outing. God help us all.

From the White Sox perspective, I think there are a few reasons they don't want to make this committment although it seems very reasonable. I think they are at least a little spooked by Buerhle's second half last year. He appears over it, but maybe they feel if he lose just a little bit of command or just a couple miles of his fastball, he turns into one of the worst pitchers in the league. I think Alex Fernandez may also be a factor. I remember JR talking about how if allowed, they would have broken the team's policy and offered him a 4 year contract because of his age and they thought he had near perfect mechanics. He wound up blowing out his shoulder I believe a little while later. I also think KW may have his eye on someone huge this winter or next, and wants the money to be available. Finally, they probably have a better idea than us, and they probably have concluded they are going to lose a decent portion of their season ticket base this year, with no guarantee it gets any better the following years. Buerhle's been great. Except for the second half of 2006 he's probably been the most consistent pitcher the Sox have ever had. But he has a couple things against him. KW didn't acquire him, and he doesn't sell tickets.

QUOTE(mmmmmbeeer @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 07:47 AM) Edited to add: For those of you wanting KW gone after this, don't think JR isn't noticing how badly KW handled this. JR is a good business man who understands the importance of strong management. This wishy-washy, non-committal mode of "management" that KW just displayed couldn't have gone unnoticed. This is the type of situation that can cost someone their job. I don't think JR gives a s*** about losing MB, that's not why KW would be canned as many of you imply. He does give a s*** about incompetence. JR is just as responsible for the they way this has been handled as KW. KW has pretty good job security no matter how bad the Sox play this season, or probably the next several.

The Knights scored their runs off of Arnie Munoz and Felix Diaz.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 02:16 AM) unless something else comes out, this just seems to me the Sox had zero intention of signing MB. IMO what happened was Sox made one final "run" at him for PR purposes and MB really wanted to stay and tried to work with them on a deal that the Sox never had any intention of going through with. I have no clue where KW and the Sox are going to go at this point. they're going to pull the whole "free agent contracts are out of control" routine they pulled this year. I'm really left clueless as to what the big picture plan is This will be one of the biggest slap-in-the-face to the fans during this ownerships regime. I agree 100%. If the Sox won't accept this offer, this whole dance was a publicity stunt.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 7, 2007 -> 11:17 PM) KW had some quotes tonight....he said he doesn't know where the agent's comments came about things being taken off the table. Of course, no one believes this. For someone who "is sorry that negotiations" became public, KW sure does get quoted a lot about it.

The Sox are 4 1/2 games behind the Yankees for 6th place in the WC standings and only 3 games ahead of Tampa Bay for the worst record in the AL.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 6, 2007 -> 11:39 PM) The competition level in the International League is brutal. There's a reason Timo is one of the top hitters in it. And I don't know if this was mentioned anywhere else, but Masset has allowed 51 base runners in his last 17 innings in relief. Besides for two games with the Sox, he might be the worst pitcher I've ever seen stay on the team for 81 games. Out of the 10 guys the White Sox have used out of the bullpen this year, 6 have ERA's over 6.00. 8 have ERA's over 5.00. The only 2 below are Bukvich, who is not a major leaguer, and Jenks. I think I read where the Sox starters ERA was second in the AL, probably not after today, but KW just might have assembled the worst bullpen in team history. If Jenks second half is like his second half of 2006 it will be. He's probably the only guy in the bullpen who would make every other major league roster.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 6, 2007 -> 11:28 PM) Did you like his mound presence, especially when he went into the stretch after allowing Morneau's first homer? He sucks. Maybe if some things go his way he can be a journeyman pitcher and bounce around from team to team as a #5 starter. If he lasts a while there's a lot of money in that. People getting excited about his mowing down hitters in this his 4th season pitching in AAA were setting themselves up for dissappointment. The knock on him is he has no balls.(Maybe they hit those over the wall as well) It doesn't appear he had them put in in Charlotte.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 6, 2007 -> 10:57 PM) Being there all day today was quite the spectacle. It's amazing how poor this is fundamentally, with horrible base running, pathetic defense, and just idotic things like Gavin Floyd pitching from the stretch with no one on base and Jerry Owens not stealing 2nd base when he's not being held on. And as for Ozzie...all I know is that 36 runs later, I can't believe we didn't throw a purpose pitch. The entire White Sox organization appears to bow down to the Twins. Pretty amazing considering the White Sox payroll is $37 million higher.

Gavin Floyd made a nice attempt at getting everyone sitting in the bleachers a souvenir of his first White Sox start. Its getting to the point where I'm not angry, I'm not breaking things like WHarris. I was sitting in the stands laughing. At least we know there's about a 99% chance Floyd improves his next outing, if he gets one.