Dick Allen

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Mar 25, 2007 -> 03:55 PM) I'm surprised they haven't talked about the Bmac/Danks deal at all? You would think they would try to sell the public on it, especially with McCarthy's stats this spring. The only problem with that is they would have to ignore most of the White Sox pitching staff's stats.

At least KW bit the bullet with Floyd. I am not enamoured with the thought of Danks being in 2007s rotation, but I do hope he does well obviously. I would be shocked if he didn't suffer some growing pains during the season, and also believe he will most likely be a resident of Charlotte, NC at some point this summer. One thing about him is even if he does get his brains beat in and he isn't ready, he doesn't appear to be the type that will let ruin any chance of success later on. It will be interesting to see how he and McCarthy compare this season. I do like the fact that Danks throws strikes. Ozzie also said earlier that he wanted Logan to be the long man. I guess this would mean that Sisco will be on the team as a reliever. QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 07:36 PM) No doubt he pitched the best, so he deserves it. I like how he is a fighter and will pitch in the strike zone. He's got good enough stuff where when he pitches in the zone, he won't get lit up. I think Danks will be a top-rookie of the year candidate. As the fifth starter, he should be going up against other teams s*** starters and I like Danks' chances to have a 4.5 ish ERA or maybe lower and with our offense, being in the fifth spot, 14 wins is not out of the question. Considering he won 9 games combined in AA and AAA last year, and is making a pretty big leap, 14 wins is a little unrealistic.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 12:07 AM) He'd never come back to the Big 10, and it has nothing to do with how Illinois fans feel about him. Actually, Pearl has kept in touch with many of his Iowa City ties. If the offer is big enough, he would take the job in a heartbeat. That said, I don't know if the university wants to have the Pearl/Thomas/Illini story go on and on an on, as it most assuredly would if he came back. He's a great coach. Alford leaving is going to be good for Iowa basketball and good for Alford IMO.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 23, 2007 -> 10:14 PM) Tracey has a 91/92 mph fastball with no control. He won't be making any major league team. Tracey's stuff isn't on the same planet as that of Thornton. That would be like comparing Buehrle's stuff to Santana's stuff. He's sort of like the present version of Bobby Jenks. I'm a little higher on Tracey than you are, but he if he is to be successful, chances are it wouldn't be with a team run by Ozzie Guillen. He gets to go work with Mazzone, he may find some sort of success.

If the Phillies didn't examine Freddy, I would be willing to bet the White Sox didn't examine Gio or Floyd. Maybe if they did, they would have found out Floyd had no balls, and moved on.

Does this mean that Ozzie is in the wrong for worrying about Jenks even though its just spring training and he "always" throws in the low 90s in spring training and struggles?

I think Alford is avoiding being fired. I heard the hot name for the Iowa job if,and it appears to almost be a given at this point, Alford leaves is Lon Kruger. Illini fans have to almost be relieved though, as now they probably can say they have officially bottomed out. With all the off the court problems, the injuries during the season, Gunther wigging out at the tournament, Self, Kruger and Pearl all still alive in the tournament, and Alford leaving Iowa. An Illini fan's nightmare. I am an Iowa alum, and this is good news. I just hope they bring in someone who has had success and can recruit. Kruger is a good coach, but there are questions about his recruiting IIRC. There is no reason the Hawkeyes shouldn't be in the tournament yearly and win games in the tournament yearly.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 11:40 PM) Are you suggesting compensation from the White Sox if Garcia requires surgery? If that's what you mean, Philadelphia can whine all they want -- they're not receiving s***. Physicals are done for a reason. This isn't like an apparently healthy Gary Majewski magically developing arm troubles following a deal from the Nationals. Garcia's velocity has been rather stagnant for over a year. Believe me, if there's something wrong that's going to keep him down, and they feel he came over as damaged goods, they will inquire. I don't think the White Sox would be obligated. I saw him last year and figured something had to be wrong. I would imagine they examined him. If they did, they missed it, tough luck. If they didn't they were fools, tough luck again.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 11:32 PM) The Sox could send Gavin Floyd back.... Seriously though, if Toronto didn't get compensated for Mike Sirotka I can't see the Phillies getting it here. Actually taking Floyd off their hands should be compensation enough.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 09:43 PM) "Velocity concerns since Spring Training began?" LOL, try velocity concerns since last season. Guys just don't drop that much velocity and then pick it right back up again. The White Sox sold his velocity drop on the extra workload in the playoffs and the World Baseball Classic. A lot of people bought it. There had to be something wrong. Then Freddy says he had some problems last year in his introductory press conference in Philadelphia. It wouldn't surprise me that if something is wrong that requires surgery, the Phillies ask for compensation. It would be ridiculous if they got it.

It may make the trade look better, I have often said I think Garcia will be bad in 2007, but we will never know what KW could have gotten elsewhere if he just waited a couple months. I always liked the Garcia trade, until they dealt McCarthy and left what I believe is a hole in their rotation.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 05:06 PM) I was hoping otherwise. But I am starting to wonder if there is something to that. Anyone know how Bobby threw in spring last year? He was in the low 90s, not impressive at all. He did pick it up a bit once the season began, but they blamed most of it on his being out of shape. No one really says anything about it, but Jenks post ASB ERA was a DFA's Shingoesque number.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 04:55 PM) How many PB and WP was that from Jenks in one inning??? That is worrisome. With the earlier tightness, I believe its all a sign of an injury.

The Bears picked up Archleta from Washington for a 6th round pick, and re-worked his contract. Could be the end for Mike Brown.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 06:09 PM) Jason Schmidt put up a 6.50 ERA in the NL his first 85 innings. Roy Halladay put up an ERA of 10 in 13 starts in 2000. I'm sure there are more examples out there. The kid may very well wind up sucking, but 100 innings over 3 seasons isn't going to convince me very well. Greg Maddux first 186 innings, 8-16 5.59 ERA Tom Glavine first 245 innings, 9-21 4.76 ERA That's in the NL no DH.

QUOTE(Y2HH @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 06:26 PM) We won in 05 because of pitching, and doing what the situation dictated. We didn't win the last game of the world series with long balls. We won it doing the right thing at the right time. That team had a way of finding ways to win, and they did it any way they could, with or without the HR. Yes, the Sox hit a lot of HR's (and have for a while), aided by our bandbox ballpark...but you have to win it inning by inning -- not always swinging for the fence, no matter what park you play in. I just don't buy into sitting on HR's as your only way of winning ballgames. And no, I also don't buy into smartball/smallball -- 05 was a combination of everything at the same time to achieve success, not only Hrs. At the point of the season last year when the White Sox hit their 200th homer, I think that was the team total in 2005, their team runs scored was almost identical, like with 5 or 6 to the amount of runs they had scored with 200 homers in 2005.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 06:26 PM) Just because hitters can't hit it doesn't mean he's throwing strikes though either. Regardless of who the 5th starter is, there's going to be inconsistency throughout the year, be it Haeger, Danks, or Floyd. Granted it only was 18+ innings last season, but the AL hit .182 against him.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 06:25 PM) Lieber is a 37 year old pitcher who got rocked in a horrible NL. I think I will pass on that. He had groin issues last year. He won 17 I think in 2005. He's only signed for 1 season, and for a 5th guy, a veteran who doesn't walk a lot of people, I think he would have to be considered. I doubt they do. Ironically, he is the guy KW thought Todd Ritchie would be when he traded for him.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 06:15 PM) Trade bait? I hope not, but I do find it strange how management (ie, Cooper) seems to have the 'race' between Floyd and Danks. If they traded him and got a guy like Lieber, I'd be fine with it. There is no doubt in my mind though that Charlie would outperform Danks and Floyd in the 5th spot in 2007. Considering all of the White Sox overhyped prospects from the late 90's on, you know the prospects as a whole that were ranked #1 and ultimately got KW the farm director, the GM job, the one who wasn't as hyped as all the others, who had the biggest success, was Buerhle, hardly a flamethrower. Haeger has a reasonable chance to have a Wakefield-type career.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 06:08 PM) That's why, IMO, whether Danks or Floyd are chosen you have to bring Haeger along in the bullpen. There may be some brutal starts where someone is needed to eat innings. The organization may have already pegged Masset as that person, though. We heard that last year. Haeger had a BAA against him last season in the major leagues of .182. He averaged over a strikeout an inning. He walked a few, but his ERA was 3.44. He didn't allow a homer. His numbers, and obviously its a very small sample size, where much better than Javier Vazquez's and the Sox have him for 4 more years at over $40 million. How come Haeger doesn't get a fair shot?

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 05:59 PM) His ERA might not indicate it, but he could probably be just as bad or worse than Floyd or Danks. With Haeger, you can't just look at his ERA because of how many passed balls he has. Then again, I've never been a fan of knuckleball pitchers, so bias is also entering the picture. Its not just his ERA. He's getting wins. He eats innings, and if catchers can't catch it, hitters can't hit it. Its better than watching Danks and Floyd pitch home run derby, which is probably going to happen if either one of them is in the rotation.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 05:50 PM) For the comedy value? Considering he is 28-11 the past 2 seasons in the minors, and was not too bad in the majors after his initial start (I'm sure nobody ever is nervous their first major league game) its unbelievable to me he's not the frontrunner for this job. It really should be his to lose.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 05:31 PM) As long as we are debating the 5th starter, let's throw Charlie Haeger out there again since nobody is running away with the spot. If Charlie had the exact same results last season but he did it with a reportiore (sp) that featured a 92-96 mph fastball, there would even be a competition for this spot.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 05:20 PM) It just boggles my mind how KW put us in a position where we didn't have a sure-fire candidate for the 5th starter spot coming into this season. It's as if he learned nothing at all from the 2004 season. I really hope he wasn't expecting Floyd or Danks to be a bonafide starter in the majors this year. He was boasting a couple weeks ago how everyone would see why he did what he did by March 15th. Well, we're waiting............................... The thing is, the Sox need a guy that can give them at least 5 innings in the 5th slot, or you'll kill your bullpen especially if Buerhle doesn't snap all the way back. You could get away with a little less when Buerhle was a lock to give you at least 6 and usually more. Now, with Contreras the #1, he gets into high pitch counts and doesn't go as long as Buerhle did, and theoretically he should be up next after the #5 guy most of the time. Plus Buerhle may not be the bullpen savior he was before in his slot.

I just went through this gamethread. Its interesting that Wells gets hammered and he sucks and needs to retire, and Danks gets hammered and the wind is blowing out and the umpires have a small strike zone. Danks is young. He's going to struggle if he makes the team. He's struggled initially on just about every level and then became good. That's a good sign, but remember the jump to the major leagues is the biggest leap you can take. If the White Sox are relying on good results from him in the major leagues in 2007, the offense better be the best in team history. I really hope KW is looking for a 5th starter outside the organization. I think Lieber would be perfect. He struggled last year, but he was hurt.