Dick Allen

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 14, 2007 -> 12:29 PM) You can turn it into whatever you want to turn it into, but to say that injuries haven't hurt this team is just wrong. But most of the injuries should have been expected, no? Pods and Erstad are pretty much always hurt. Thome has been banged up each of the past several years. Crede's back shouldn't be a shock to anyone. We laughed at the Cubs counting on Wood and Prior all this time, KW is just as guilty now IMO. I don't see Cleveland crying about Lee and Westbrook being out. Or Detroit with Zumaya and Rogers. They get guys to step up.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 13, 2007 -> 02:33 PM) ? By no means will KW have a firesale. It's not in him, it's not like him to do it. It just won't happen while Williams is GM. Maybe the hitting does heat up, but with our luck, the starting pitching will go down the s***ter. He's had them before. Not the magnitude of what it would and should be this season though. For the team's future, he's got to do it. There are too many holes, too little time, and too many good teams they would have to pass to consider it realistic the Sox have a decent shot at the playoffs.

If I'm JR, I'm thinking long and hard before ever giving KW $100 million to play with. The bullpen is a total disaster and the company line is blaming injuries on chronically hurt cheap players as the reason the team is struggling.

I'm looking forward to the Sox surge in late August and September to get near .500 and convince Ozzie and KW that a lot of these guys are good, so we can be mired in mediocrity for a long time. Hey KW, this isn't working. Change something. Anything at this point.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jun 13, 2007 -> 01:53 PM) on this date last year the twins were 29-34. Just saying. But they didn't have to resort to the guys Ozzie has to resort to out of the bullpen.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Jun 13, 2007 -> 01:12 PM) I get the idea the guy was butting into business that wasn't his. Why would Mrs. Rowand feel the need to say she wasn't offended and it was O.K.? That tells me the guy walked over and said "could you please watch your language, you are sitting with a lady" or something of the sort, instead of saying LaBelle and party were offended. I would say that it also depends on the restaurant. Different places call for different behavior. I will act nice and quiet if it is an obvious place you go for a nice night out. But if you are in a sports bar type of place with noisey people, and I swear a little bit, oops. Yes, I do pay attention to who is around me, but if I am sitting next to some adults and I swear, deal with it. If there are kids, I watch my mouth and correct people with me who might get ugly with language. The whole "there are ladies" present is a bit of a joke in these days. I know more females with nasty mouths than I know guys. It was the Capital Grille. Its a nice place, they have one in Chicago. For some reason I don't think Patti Labelle is going to be hanging in a sports bar.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 13, 2007 -> 12:58 PM) What type of reception did Thome get? It said he got a standing O in the Tribune.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Jun 13, 2007 -> 11:45 AM) Seems to me that Labelle's manager, Make-a-Scene Pierre Paul, was being kind of a douche. After they apologized the first time, that should have been enough. DAMMIT - I should have gone with Drama Scene Pierre Paul. Maybe, but there is something to acting like an adult in a restaurant. People sitting around them shouldn't be subject to that kind of language. He shouldn't have had to go over to the table to begin with.

I only wrote what I wrote before because I responding to a post that basically implied KW traded Freddy to Philadelphia because they wouldn't perform a physical and he knew there was something wrong. I really don't believe that. KW may have suspected something was wrong, I know I did, but the company line was he was overworked with the WBC and playoffs, and that explained his velocity loss. I just don't think it would be wise to employ someone as a GM who trades away damaged goods, and even though I am a big critic of KW, I don't believe he's quilty of that. I don't blame him for Sirotka. Toronto did give him a physical and it came up clean. Also I believe Freddy was checked out when he was having some problems earlier in the spring, and they concluded it was minor.

Wait a minute, isn't he supposed to suck this year? He pitched in the WS last year, he should be totally drained.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 06:54 PM) Lets see, the only one that went down that was unexpected was Ozuna. Pods has how many groin issues. Erstad, well come on now. Crede has spent a few times mending his back over the last few. This is like the cubs blaming their lack of depth in their pitching staff because Prior and Wood went out. Exactly. The other teams ahead of them have had injuries as well. Cliff Lee, Westbrook, Rogers, Zumaya, Mauer to name a few. Each one of them you couldn't get for the entire package of the White Sox injured.

Its good and predictable to hear Hawk start with the injury excuses. Pods goes down.....Erstad goes down.......Ozuna goes down.............Crede goes down.........You lose your speed and power. Good to know that the Sox success hinges on an almost always injured not very good Pods. A usually injured had a tough time finding a regular job Erstad, a six year minor league free agent Ozuna,and a guy with known back issues in Crede.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 03:03 PM) So, we know now why KW jumped at the phils offer. He was probably going to deal him to the first team that wouldnt do a physical before the trade. As soon as the Phils said they wouldnt, he pulled the trigger. If KW knowingly traded a hurt player, no matter how much it benefitted the White Sox, JR should get a new GM.

I fully expect the moment Walker is whacked, that everyone on the Sox starts hitting .400.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 02:07 PM) Could you? Why would you assume that Kenny Williams turned down better players in a trade than what he got back from Philly? The guy was, and is, hurt. The whole Sox fan base knew that a starter was getting dealt this fall, and they found someone stupid enough to take Garcia without giving him a physical, while receiving a couple of good prospects in return. Like I said I know that everyone thinks we have to do this RIGHTNOW because in some fantasy world all of these teams are offering all of these awesome players for our broken down pile of s***. It doesn't work that way. If Kenny Williams had gotten some incredible offer that would set the team for 2008 and beyond, he would have done it already. He has already proven that by executing the ballsy McCarthy trade. Dispite the popular opinion he isn't borderline retarded, and he isn't going to make a trade, just to make a trade. He has to wait until he gets a good offer, not just an offer, before he does anything. If he does something stupid the local fan base and media will turn on the Sox, just like they have done many times before. I think he does have to do something right now because his team is in free fall. 1. If he's trying to salvage this season, we have been waiting for a team to get hot for about a calendar year now. Its probably not happening, and change would be a good thing. 2. If he's looking to deal, the more teams in contention and the longer a team would have a guy like Buerhle would only increase his value. I think KW could get something good for Buerhle right now. He probably could get something halfway decent for Dye as well. He could also save money. Who knows maybe the savings would allow him to bring Buerhle back after the season. I've been a season ticketholder for a long time. If the Sox are going to lose, I'd rather see younger players out there than veterans playing out the string. Barring an unbelievable hot streak and a playoff berth this season, the ticket base is going to take a beating this offseason. You may as well cut your losses and prepare to get good again as quickly as possible.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 12:04 PM) That's the fun part, Kenny is making a decesion by not putting the farm up for sale after the first week of not having any rain. He understands that you can't portray panic to your fanbase and expect them to show up anymore. Kenny Williams gets it. Why would trading a successful starting pitcher for a bust like Floyd plus a AA pitcher in the offseason be OK then? Leaving everything status quo or bringing up more guys who can't play from Charlotte will do just as much damage to the fanbase if not more if it doesn't work than at least trying something. Not dealing with reality and thinking the White Sox still have a realistic shot at the postseason with the current roster isn't "getting it" IMO. Getting it would be realizing the current team isn't good enough. For some reason or another, the performance you expected out of certain players isn't going to happen. The sooner KW gets this, again my opinion, the better for future seasons. We have been waiting for this team to get hot for a long, long time now.

At least its better than the slogan for the team on the other side of town. "same s***, different year"

Freddy's MRI today showed fraying of the rotator cuff and a problem with the labrum.

The offense sucks, but Eaton has thrown a few good games this season.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:53 PM) Correction - Vazquez is not awesome. He has very good starts, and starts, not so good. He's a 3rd or 4th starter. He's the highest paid pitcher in White Sox history.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:51 PM) How can you not walk Howard there? I applaud Ozzie for making the sane decision. He pitched to Aaron Rowand. THE Aaron Rowand.

I like this move by Ozzie.

Javy Vazquez is awesome. I'm surprised he doesn't win 20 every year.

Dye is just brutal right now.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:27 PM) I hope we can still work out a 3 or 4 year deal for Buerhle. If we don't keep the one strength on our team, starting pitching, we are not going to be competitive in the AL Central. I would hope that they would try again before they decide to move him. I know he can get us back nice prospects, or players on the verge of the majors, but we're not going to win anything with kids in our rotation in the AL. Buerhle isn't going to take a 3 or 4 year contract IMO. Think 5-7 years with big money. The Sox don't go that long with pitchers. It really is a pretty good policy.