Dick Allen

QUOTE(AbeFroman @ Nov 13, 2006 -> 10:08 PM) I really think the white sox are sitting pretty. They've got what no one else has... starting pitching. Realistically they could trade two starters (including broadway) and not miss a beat next season. The sox are THE prime trading partner in this hot-stove year. We're going to see some crazy contracts in the next few weeks. That may actually help the sox. Suddenly, Freddie Garcia's contract won't seem so nutty when we start hearing about the deals happening this offseason. For a team that has starting pitching that nobody else has, they really didn't do very well finishing 3rd in their division, and it would have been nice to have 1 or 2 of them have an ERA under 4.00. White Sox starters all have question marks. Hopefully not too many that would keep their value down to other teams.

This Rowand love is ridiculous. Anderson and Rowand had similar offensive stats the season they were 24. When Rowand turned 25, he was hitting so poorly Carl Everett had to play CF. A late season surge made his numbers respectable. Rowand hit well in 2004, but has been fairly mediocre ever since. I would take Anderson any day of the week over Rowand defensively, I don't care how many times Rowand crashes into a wall. I think KW would be better served using the money on pitching.

The Sox could go after the Rocket all they want, but unless they pay him about $20 million for a full season, allow him to stay in Texas with his family when he isn't pitching, and kissing his ass any number of other ways, he won't be signing with them. Let him go to Boston or the Yankees and get lit up.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Nov 11, 2006 -> 08:22 AM) Note to ARod Fan Club: Please note which AL third baseman won the silver bat. It wasn't number 13 in pin stripesl. it was number 24 in Chicago. Keep Joe. ARod had more homers, more RBI, more SB, a higher BA a higher OBP and a higher slugging pct. than Crede in a great year for Crede and a down year for ARod. If the numbers were reversed and ARod got a Silver Slugger award this board would be full of posts about what a joke the Silver Slugger Award is. Don't get me wrong, Crede had a great year and is better defensively than ARod. But offensively it isn't a contest. Also keep in mind ARod plays half his games in a graveyard for right handed power hitters. With Crede's back and contract issues, trading him makes some sense. I just don't think Fields is the guy you want playing 3rd base in 2007 when you are trying to win a championship.

Sheffield was with Leyland and Dombrowski in Fla. He still will hit, and might not be the clubhouse cancer it seems like he would be almost anywhere else. I still think Detroit's pitching is going to take a step back next season. They weren't .500 post all star break, but then again, neither were the White Sox. The Tigers may find Rogers pitching his age next year, and one or 2 of the other guys taking a step back. I still think this is a better idea for them than trading Bonderman, but they would have been better off signing a free agent.

Guys that are constantly hurt during their prime playing years usually don't start getting and remaining healthy in their mid 30s. Roberts is better than Pods, but I doubt he'd be able to match the numbers he put up this past season if he signed with the White Sox. It would be acceptable to me if the Sox signed him and used their remaining available resources on pitching. A lot of people complained about the inconsistent offense this past season, but the White Sox scored 3 runs or less a lot fewer times than they did in 2005, and I believe scored 3 runs or less a lot less than any other team in baseball.

Keep in mind the White Sox don't have the playoff revenue to play with they had 1 year ago.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 10:34 PM) You have a problem giving $2 million to our fifth man in the bullpen yet you advocate going after a guy, represented by Boras, whose $12 million option was just declined because he had a year full of injury. Someone please remind me how many bullpen guys the White Sox currently have that are making over $1 million? Thought so. The only other teams that can say that are the D-Rays, Marlins and Royals. I don't have a problem spending the money, in fact I have been screaming about KW blowing off the bullpen last season, but at least $2 million for Riske is insane. The guy sucks. Cleveland, which can use some pitching, made Boston take him. He can't handle pressure situations. He had 0 holds in 2005, something unheard of for set-up men making $2 million a year. He's no better than the minor league crap Williams signed last season. In fact, a piece of that crap was used to acquire Riske.

QUOTE(Kenkait Sox Fan @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 08:24 PM) If talking about relievers, how about a low risk flyer on Keith Foulke if his option not picked up. If he were healthy, he would probably accept setup role and act as a potential insurance for days Jenks can't close. I think Foulke has a player option for $3.5 million. If he turns that down, he'd be looking for more. I wouldn't pay him that to set up especially with all the physical questions, and I'm a huge Keith Foulke fan. He bought me some libations in 1999.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 05:48 PM) I'd be shocked if the Pads got Sheffield back. He had a huge impact in his only year with the Pads and they still moved him onto the Marlins (albeit they got some quality in return) but there was a reason the Pads moved him and the org still has a lot of the same people around that were there than. I still remember the days when Sheff was playing 3rd. I remember when he was with the Brewers and actually stopped trying as a ploy to get them to trade him. Its a shame that kind of behavior actually gets some what they want.

That's $2 million that could be better spent. I think there is zero chance of the White Sox offering Riske arbitration, and zero chance that a team signs him before the White Sox have to make it official. He's a reliever who can't be put into tight situations. You always need guys who pitch garbage time, but pay those types around the minimum. Do you think there is any chance the White Sox go after Eric Gagne? I think Boras is his agent which would present a problem, and he probably would balk at being a set-up guy if he's even healthy enough to pitch, but for some reason I think the Sox may be interested.

Anyone else besides me find Ozzie's reaction to this exidous puzzling? He seemed not to mind it at all even though all these players needed the work, and those who were playing were really struggling. Considering the reaction they had when Owens went home last year after having a great year in AA and hitting the crap out of the ball in the Winter League you would have thought he really would be pissed at these guys walking away. He basically said they weren't ready for it. If they aren't ready to play in Venezuela, they aren't going to be ready to play in Chicago. Maybe he figures they did him a big favor. It probably won't be that hard to send any of them back to AAA even if they have a huge spring. BTW, trade Fields while someone will still give up something worthwhile for him.

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 3, 2006 -> 06:19 PM) The writing is on the wall....Juan Pierre will be our starting CF next year. I wouldn't mind him in LF. BTW does the Sox current LF have any trade value whatsoever? I would think he could fetch a B or C prospect at best.

I don't think Anderson will be traded unless KW brings in a big name CF. Anderson had a tough year, but people must remember he was a rookie. While guys like Ron Kittle have their best years when they are rookies, I think Anderson is going to get better. He probably isn't headed to Cooperstown, but he hit .257 after the all star game last year I think. If he does that for an entire year and hits 14 or 15 homers, he's better than Aaron Rowand at a fraction of the cost.

Crawford is a better player than McCarthy is a pitcher. There is no doubt about that. But.................the White Sox have a lot of high priced pitchers coming off some subpar years. They have almost $100 million committed to 12 players. Their pitchers are due to start breaking down. These pitchers are still very valuable commodities. McCarthy is even more valuable because he works for about 1/30th of what the other 5 do. The Sox are going to half to shave some payroll somewhere. This is the obvious place to do it. Crawford would be a great addition. But acquiring him for McCarthy while it seems like a steal for the Sox, could really come back and bite them down the road. The payroll would be maxed and probably then some. The starters all paid well and starting to get a little long in the tooth. Moving one of the other 5, pares some payroll, giving KW some flexibility to get other things done, and gets McCarthy into the rotation. McCarthy doesn't have to be very good to post numbers like all the members of the greatest rotation ever assembled did in 2006. And it won't cost JR $10+million.

Ramirez puts up great numbers, but as stated before, the guy is a dog. The Cubs would be far better off without him. If they really are raising their payroll to $120 million as been reported, they will be able to spend a lot on free agents, and Hendry usually has no problem finding teams that will give him something good for nothing if he picks up a contract. As nice as Ramirez numbers usually turn out, this is addition by subtraction if you ask me.

I've got no problem with Buerhle rooting for the Cardinals, but at some point in time he must show respect and maybe even some love for the team that drafted him in the 38th round,(the Cardinals passed quite a lot of times) and will have paid him after 2007 $28 million. Any picture you take is liable to be put on the internet. Wearing a Cardinal hat when you have been an All Star pitcher for the White Sox and the supposed ace of the defending world champions' staff, and getting photographed in it, maybe isn't wrong, although I think it probably is, but it certainly is stupid.

It seems his agent has to put out the same press release every offseason. I wonder what he's going to say when Buerhle eventually makes his way to the Cardinals because there will be no way Buerhle won't say that is where he's always wanted to play. The press release is spin.

He's better than Pods, but like fathom pointed out, he rarely if ever has been able to stay healthy a full season. He has his big season during a contract year, that scares me, and he's 34 years old. That's a time a lot of players whose game depends almost entirely on their legs fall off a cliff. There aren't many 35 or 36 year olds who steal 45 bases a year. Maybe he can be one, but I wouldn't bid too high.

As I stated earlier, I don't have a problem with Buerhle cheering for the team he has loved all his life. I don't think it was necessary for him to wear a Cardinals hat, even though nothing is technically wrong with it. He's fully aware of the firestorm all these little Cardinals stories have had over the past few years. He has to know getting photographed with the hat on is just going to start those up again. I'm sure his agent is sick of damage control, and I'm sure KW and the White Sox organization are a little more upset with this than tarp sliding. While it may not be true, all these little things give the impression Buerhle would rather be somewhere else.

Kudos to a guy who gets ripped quite often, Joe Buck. He has been a Cardinals fan all his life, just like Mark Buerhle, and I believe is an announcer with them now. He was very professional in how he called the national broadcast. When the Cardinals won last night he sounded no more excited for them than he was for the White Sox, even though you know deep down how happy he was.

I think its pretty obvious and always has been that his dream is to play for the Cardinals. I'm not going to buy the comments Buerhle and/or his wife had about "hoping" the White Sox don't pick up his option. This guy said Buerhle has already spoken to the Cardinals. That would be tampering. The White Sox aren't playing so I have no problem with Buerhle putting on a Cardinal hat and rooting for the team he was a fan of long before he came to the White Sox. There's very little chance the option won't be picked up. If they pick it up and can't afford him, they easily could deal him for cheap prospects. I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox seeing what they could get for him though. He was getting battered too much just to write it off as fatigue and saying he will bounce back next season. I

Considering the Cardinals played only 2 less games last season than the White Sox, its amazing they aren't all tired out now and are in the driver's seat for a world championship. The White Sox were bushed after 11 postseason games last year. The Tigers will be exhausted next season. They really shouldn't even bother fielding a team.

Getting Cora out of the 3rd base coaching box is beyond great. Adding Shines to the staff is also good, and even if it means weakening minor league instruction a bit, Shines was going to get a major league job soon. If not 2007, although I think it was beyond likely, definitely in 2008. It also appears Man Soo Lee is going back to Korea. He will be missed. He truely is one of the greatest guys ever to wear a uniform in professional sports. His absence probably won't mean anything to the White Sox on the field, but put smiles on a lot of fan's faces anytime they were able to interact with him. Maybe Alomar becomes the new bullpen catcher.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 06:40 AM) Well that ended up being more true than I ever would have thought... and it only took 12 hours Boras isn't going to have the kind of leverage he usually does though. There is a finite period where the sides must agree on a contract or the player goes back to Japan and the team has to pay out no money. He also can't play one team off on another one. It may be as good of time as there ever will be dealing with Boras. That said, I agree the White Sox will most likelynot be competing for this guy's services.