Dick Allen

At least the Sox have a lot of options if Kevin Hickey is unable to pitch batting practice for any reason.

QUOTE(Felix @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 04:13 PM) The same can be said for Blum (agruably, since those games were in Houston), Everett (no other DH option), Rowand, El Duque (arguably, you never know what happens in that Boston series if he doesn't perform his magic), Thomas (the team was at its best when he played) etc. etc. etc. These players are a lot easier to replace than a guy who was your ace at the end of the season. Think of it this way, by not trading Contreras and if you do let him leave via free agency, that will free up money to acquire adequate replacements. Trading him for relief pitching unless its for a sure-fire closer makes no sense.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 04:06 PM) And then you would be calling for Kenny's head if he had another '05 like season somewhere else. The Sox extended him 3 years with the first year probably a little below market value, the second probably a little above, and the third probably what it should be if he has 2 more seasons like last year. This contract just screams of one KW is going to use to try and lure cheaper players and prospects. A lot obviously depends on how he and the team do in 2006. If the season is a dissapointment for the Sox, I wouldn't be surprised to see the sold out season ticket base to take a big step backwards, which could mean Contreras and Garland could both be gone, with McCarthy and either a free agent or Cotts as their replacements.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 04:01 PM) It was the first time he pitched in a game like 2+ weeks. WTF did you expect? And he was anything but the bad Contreras when he was taking his regular turn. He should be OK.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:46 PM) Not if he has another season '05 like season in '06. That's probably true, but I bet either way, he's trade bait next offseason.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:41 PM) We should've traded him earlier when his value was at its peak. His contract is alright for this year. Next year, he becomes ridiculously expensive.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:40 PM) He's pitching in the minor league game I believe. This was the first time I've been to Tucson. If I were a White Sox player, I think I would want to take the trip to Phoenix.

Garland is pitching tomorrow. Hopefully he'll do better than his last outing when he was just abused.

QUOTE(HeGone33 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:33 PM) Jenks went 3 innings vs. Rockies AA and I think gave up 3H, 1R, 1W, 1SO Obviously you can't tell how he looked based on those numbers, but I would hope he would fan more than 1 in 3 innings against AA players.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:29 PM) Javier Lopez is signed to a minor league deal. I believe they can assign him to the minors whenever they want to. Sean Tracey... another guy I would trade for a reliable reliever. Tracey just lost any chance he had of starting the season in Chicago, not that there was much of one to begin with.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:25 PM) So what happens to Lopez if Logan and Thornton wind up making the team? Can we send him to AAA for a few months while they try messing with Thornton, or do we have to get him through waivers? I think he signed a minor league contract. He can hang in Charlotte. I hope the plan is to send him to Charlotte. Thornton is better than him, although I believe Thornton belongs in the minors.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:22 PM) So I take it Elvis, I mean Boone Logan had another dominant outing? I thought it was crazy even considering him for a job with the major league team. But he continues to get guys out, and has earned a roster spot, no doubt about it.

QUOTE(HeGone33 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 03:18 PM) I think Thome is playing in a AAA game today, along with Jenks He and Pods were playing in a game when I was at Tucson facing Wes Whistler. Both doubled. Thome was not allowed to run, however. He did play the regular game the next day and fanned 3 times. From what I understand, he is usually a very slow starter.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 25, 2006 -> 02:53 PM) Looks like almost all of the regulars, pitching and hitting, are ready to go except for Iguchi and Jenks, and both should be good to go in a week. It's very nice to see. What about Thome?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 24, 2006 -> 02:51 PM) I think i've already handled this issue. Hes not noticably heavier, hes still fat if thats what you mean. Maybe the pin stripes will make him look the same size to you. Second, his velocity is down because he is building arm strength. Just like many of the pitchers on the list. Look at D Turnbow, he throws that hard, and is struggling not only with location, but with his velocity as well. It takes time people. I know the White Sox are concerned with his velocity no matter what they may say to the media. When the gun was there at the game I was at, it was on only for White Sox pitchers. There were no readings on Colorado's pitchers. And when Jenks was pitching, Ozzie and Cooper were always looking over for a reading. If velocity isn't important now, there would be no reason to even have the gun turned on, and Ozzie and Cooper wouldn't have been so interested in what it said. Ozzie has been all over him for a while now, and if its just a question of Jenks' deciding to turn it on, I can tell you he is going to have big problems with Ozzie, and won't be with this organization very long. But I don't think its that. He was pretty frustrated when he got shallacked on Wednesday. The guy was great last year, which never could have been expected, and truly help a team win a WS. From the stories about him before he was a member of the White Sox organization, he matured a lot very quickly. Maybe his maturation is actually going to take a little longer than we all thought. Just the fact that he knows and accepts responsibility for the fact he screwed up this off season is huge progress from his Angels days.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 24, 2006 -> 08:41 AM) LOL. Those are two completely different situations. Ozzie is about as up front as you get in sports. I'm not saying you have to believe any of this. I was just throwing out the three sources that said he was hitting 94 consistently. Many others have said it too. But don't believe them. I don't care. It doesn't mean I won't post them to give people the option to read them. I was sitting in sect. 113 row 12 which is really about the 7th row. The gun is stationed right in front and it was easy to read. A black guy with the Marlins was sitting right in front of me and he had his own gun. He only used it for 2 pitches but it read the same as the one that was hooked up. Buerhle never threw higher than 84 that day, and Politte was about the same as Jenks. The one pitch I saw go to 93 was laced for a double. I wouldn't be surprised if the was a conspiracy within MLB to add a couple of miles per hour to everyone's fastball, much like the NBA with height measurements. I couldn't care less if jphat doesn't believe me, but anyone else, I am speaking the truth. Why would I make up what Jenks was throwing? Who knows what is causing Jenks drop in velocity, whether its his weightlifting, tightening himself up, or lack of conditioning, or something else, the fact remains his velocity is down, his mechanics looked a little off, he having a tough time throwing strikes, and when he does throw strikes he is getting hit hard.

Jenks may have added more muscle, but he also added more fat. Also if he was lifting weights not using a program the White Sox would give to him, that would be stupid. I don't care what the televison speed gun shows, I was at Wednesday's game and I saw the guns in TEP. He basically was throwing 91, he did hit 93 once, he also was at 89 a couple of times. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Bobby was irresponsible this offseason. Its one reason I advocated the Sox going after a closer this past November and making Jenks a set-up. Bobby's gut is HUGE.

I went to a minor league game on Tuesday morning. Wes Whistler was pitching, Pods took him deep to CF for a double. Thome lined a double against the RF wall. Thome didn't run, but seems to be alright considering he was in today's line-up.

I am in Tucson and was at the game behind home with the scouts. The radar the scouts were using had Jenks at 91 most of the time. He hit 92 once or twice,and 93 on the 2 run double. Real games are a week and a half away, I think Jenks may find he is not the closer if improvement isn't immenent. I don't think it means anything, but all of the scout's interest picked up when Politte took the mound. He hit 92 a couple of times. I don't know what the gun on television was showing, but Buerhle looked good, and he never got higher than 84.

If Nomo's the best KW can do for middle relief, he should just give Tracey the job. Nomo pitches batting practice. TB released him. That should speak volumes. I'm sure KW signed him to draw some people in Charlotte.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 19, 2006 -> 04:33 PM) I'm sure glad the refs got this call right and called the foul on Arnold. It's not like that would make a difference in a game that is decided by 1 possesion. Do you have the photo a split second before this showing the push of the Washington player? Notice his legs, he's probably grabbing the Illinois player so he won't fall down.

Over half of Indiana's shots were 3 point attempts. You don't go to the line much playing that way. Gonzaga had about 1/6th 3 point attempts. Besides, the Hooisers didn't exactly fair well with the free throw attempts they were allotted. Read what Dee Brown had to say about the Illini, he said the Illini were hacking and not executing. He's not blaming their loss on officials. A fairly called basketball game doesn't have to end with similar free throw attempts.

Although there was a huge difference in free throws in both the Indiana and Illinois games, I think thinking a fix may be on, or that the officials cost each of these teams the game is a stretch. Indiana was hoisting up 3's and fouling. They had a game in the Big Ten this year where they didn't shoot a free throw at all until about 5 minutes was left in the game. When Killingsworth got a T, the replay showed an obvious foul.Indiana also had 3 lay-ups in the little over a half of the game I saw that didn't even graze rim. Illinois had an 11 point lead, which they blew. They didn't execute offensively and threw the ball away a lot. I think it was wharris1 who mentioned the officiating during the Big Ten season, and I think he has a good point. For as long as I can remember the Big Ten has been very physical and officials let you get away with a lot more than what you would be able to get away with in other conferences. Considering the Big Ten is usually a flop in the tournament, there obviously have been exceptions, I wonder if the loose way games are called during conference play hurts Big Ten teams when its tournament time.

We should have a poll afterthe next post about a player the Bears are interested it, guessing which of the other NFL teams will sign him.

3 years, $25 million? Has Jerry Jones been paying attention the last couple of years? The guy is a great talent, but has acted his way off of 3 teams. SF, the trade to Balt. and Philly. Nothing would please me more than if he were to continue his cancerous ways in the Big D.