Dick Allen

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 03:10 PM) I'll make this real simple for you. Kenny has been hot after Vazquez since he became GM of the White Sox. He pursued him when in was at MTL, then when he became a NYY & finally as an AZD. Kenny's love for Vazquez has never waivered. Kenny got Contreras not because he felt that he would capable of carrying the team in the 2nd half of 2005 but because he felt he would produce more than Loaiza at the time. When they NYY's threw in the dough the trade was a no-brainer. E-LO had lost his cutter that year. Now Contreras & his agent are asking for 36/3. Why would Kenny give up his love for Vazquez to pay a much higher price for Contreras? That makes no sense. Especially when they gained an arbitration yr on Vazquez with his trade demand. They don't have to think about re-signing Vazquez for at least 2 yrs. Contreras prior to the 2nd half of 2005 has not been known for throwing strikes in the ML's. Vazquez is & Vazquez is the much younger arm. What shocks me about your suggestion is you're not even factoring the impact Cooper is going to have on Vazquez. Just look at what he did for Garland Contra. There's no reason to believe he can't make Vazquez a MUCH better pitcher as well. To say Kenny got Contreras not because he thought he could be dominant, but because he would produce more than Loaiza is just plain wrong. The Yankees are throwing in about $3 or 4 million total for Contreras for the 2 1/2 years that were left on his contract. If you have ever heard KW talk about Contreras he mentions the amounts of times he had asked the Yankees about him. Kenny obviously saw the talent Contreras had, and thought correctly that the White Sox could harness this talent. It took time, but it did occur. Hopefully Vazquez can become dominant as well. He has been woefully inconsitent the last season and a half.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 07:37 AM) Which means that resigning Buehrle has nothing to do with Abreu because Buehrle has his contract up after 2007... Abreu wouldn't be on the payroll then. I've read at least in the other deals which were discussed where he would go to Baltimore or Boston, that for Abreu to waive his no-trade clause, his 2008 option would have to be exercised.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 04:33 AM) Looking at this thread has made me apperciate KW even more. I'm glad he doesn't slobber over prospects the way some GMs do. I figure unless you have a no doubt about it guy like Mark Prior, Felix Hernandez or David Wright, any prospect is fair game. KW has the advantage of being a bust himself.

QUOTE(Felix @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 06:38 PM) I know this, but thats not what I'm saying. I'm saying juding a player on 28 innings in the majors is pretty foolish, as I said in my last post Some pitchers you don't need 28 innings to judge. I just don't like the fact his 2005 season was as Donald Trump likes to say, " a total disaster", and 2004 in AAA he wasn't exactly stellar. He is young and cheap, but Abreu offsets that cheapness, and would leave KW in a spot if he has to fill a hole and add payroll.

QUOTE(Felix @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 06:27 PM) I'm not saying this is a great trade for the team, but I think its pretty foolish to judge a player on his first few innings pitching in the majors. He had a lot of control problems last year in AAA. There are a lot of people down on him. After listening to KW this past weekend, I really don't think there is anything to this, but he would have huge balls to make this trade. Team wins its first championship in 88 years and trade your playoff #1 starter and WS MVP both in the same trade. Floyd would be coming into a very stressful situation. For a guy having location problems, that's not very ideal. On the other hand, there are those that think he'll be a star.

QUOTE(Felix @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 06:16 PM) Gotta love that .176 average for Brian Anderson too.. Oh wait... I forgot about small sample sizes. So if this trade went through, the Sox would still have Anderson and his .176 average, and Floyd and his 10.00 era. I know Floyd has some potential, being the 4th overall pick in his draft and all, but the guy had an ERA over 6.00 in AAA last year, and he walks the world. I hope to God this is just a rumor. Abreu is great, but if this went through, it would more than likely leave KW will no financial flexibility for this season and next, and may be the beginning of the end for Mark Buerhle in Chicago.

I don't really care if its a Cub town or a Sox town. I especially don't care if Cub fans outnumber Sox fans 3 to 1. The bottom line is the Sox won a world championship, and have enough support to field a team that has a chance to do it again. As long as they have that support, the other stuff doesn't matter at all.

Floyd's ERA in AAA last year was over 6.00. and in the majors was over 10.00. A lot of walks and even more inconsitent in AAA than Contreras was in the majors in 2004.

QUOTE(BlizzardOfOzzie @ Jan 30, 2006 -> 10:12 AM) As has been mentioned here, yes it was entirely too packed at SoxFest. Good thing I'm not claustrophobic. I was all about celebrating with everyone else, but I thought it was a lot of wasting time sitting or standing around. I don't think I'm ever going to go back to SoxFest, either. This was my first time going in many years and I can see why. This event is more for people who like to collect autographs and get their collectibles signed - not something I've ever been much into. I do have one simple question to ask, however. I go to a Beatles convention every year, as well as other music or sports team events every year. Can someone please tell me WHY the HELL people feel the need to bring infant babies and children who are still in diapers who won't remember a frickin' thing about being there? Seriously, people - at an event this large and attended by so many people, is it really a need to be pushing a stroller around just so your little Mikey or Marie can get their picture taken with a baseball player who could frankly give two hoots about your kids, no offense. This baffles me to no end. I'm not a parent and frankly I don't ever plan on being one. That being said I cannot possibly relate to someone who has kids and wants to bring them to SoxFest. At the same time, I can't tell you how many people I saw there pushing strollers with sleeping babies in them and parents holding/carrying sleeping babies on their shoulders. Seriously - for what? They couldn't get a babysitter or something? Fine - that happens. But when I saw the number of handicapped Sox fans who require wheelchairs - their time at Soxfest would have been a little easier for them to get around had there not been so many damn strollers taking up space. Unless your little Mikey or Marie is 5 years old or older and will remember this event themsleves - leave your infants and toddlers at HOME. That was beyond ridiculous. :headshake I don't have kids either, but give them a break. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons parents bring infants. Finding babysitters sometimes isn't the easiest thing to do. If they have the hotel package are they supposed to leave their little ones home alone? Baby strollers was not the reason this event wasn't as comfortable than in the past. There were way too many people for the Hyatt to handle. They knew in advance the number of people attending would be higher, and they did nothing to accomodate that increase. I went to the seminars and had a seat, so I was fine. I took one stroll downstairs to check what the vendors had, and quickly realized I really didn't want to be there. If I need anything from Grandstand, I'll just go there.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 06:35 PM) In 2004, Contreras gave up less hits (166) than IP (170.1) but he still issued a ton of walks (84) for a 1.47 WHIP on the season. If he keeps his walks down like he did last season (75 BB in 204.2 IP), I will believe that he's the real deal. But he's still very old so he may not keep up this level of performance anyways. I know he has to be older than his listed age, but I don't think his advanced age will be a factor in 2006. He still throws very hard, and his forkball is unhittable. His problem in 2004 and part of 2005 was he relied on his forkball way too much, and it is a hard pitch to throw consistently for strikes. If someone hit his fastball hard, be it over the wall, right at someone, or even foul, he would not throw them another fastball again. His slider is also above average, but he wouldn't throw that at all either. If he struggles, it will be because of injury or it will be something mental. The guy still has the best stuff on the White Sox, and has some of the best stuff in baseball.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 06:30 PM) They Hyatt sucks. Would have been way more enjoyable for people had they not over sold the event by 4000 tickets.... idiots. The whole ticketing for Soxfest this year was different. They put the tickets up for sale to the general public before the season ticketholders got their $25 offers. I remember when they said it was sold out wondering if it meant I was out, but sure enough my order form was emailed, and with all the new accounts, unless they changed venues, it was going to be trouble. I am guessing the Palmer House, which by the way is a s***ty hotel, can handle a larger group, although I'm sure enough people were turned off by the huge crowds and are probably pissed they paid $100 a day on ebay, and have no plans to ever return.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 06:18 PM) Yankees' run support will tend to help a pitcher's record. He wen't 13-9 overall in 2004 with a whopping 5.50 ERA. Yes, but he pitched a few great games. He wasn't a typical pitcher with a 5.50 ERA. You don't see many guys with an ERA that high that gave up less hits than innings pitched. I became a Contreras fan in 2003 when he made the White Sox look like 3 year olds. He didn't get credit for the shutout because he didn't go all the way, but he blew a great offensive team away. Considering his history in Cuba, he was the star of their team, considering the Yankees gave him a $32 million contract, he obviously is a very talented pitcher. For whatever reason, it took him a while to put it together, but he certainly did last season. I don't know how his success could be called a fluke. I would think there's a far better chance he pitches like he did in 2005 than in 2004.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 06:07 PM) He also has a career 4.28 ERA (league average ERA of 4.53 during that time) and 1.31 WHIP, which doesn't look like one of the best pitchers in the league to me. And the reason I find a lot wrong with him is because there is a lot wrong with him. Its a good thing the Sox were able to overcome his second half last year, and his team leading 4 playoff starts to win the WS.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 04:53 PM) It takes consistancy to be one of the best pitchers in the league, which is what everything here seems to think Contreras is. Considering Contreras is 35-18 for his career, you sure do find a lot wrong with him.

QUOTE(wilmot825 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 04:42 PM) What a trooper. I bet Lisa gave him some "home treatment" I think just about any guy dating her would probably have a hernia problem.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 01:58 PM) I definitley agree with you about making it to the playoffs lots of times gives you more chances to win it all, but KW is making a big run again at it this year. I do believe in Bmac, but he has not proven he can do what Count did for us last season. Which is why I think you don't deal him unless someone overpays. That's another thing I don't understand. Some people say Contreras only pitched well for half a season, the Sox should get something for him and put BMac into the rotation. BMac didn't pitch well on the big league level for half a season, what makes these people so sure BMac is a sure thing but Contreras is not? Its all a mute point, KW said he isn't trading any of the starters.

Didn't Crede hit around .330 while batting ninth in 2005?

QUOTE(kman @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 01:20 PM) I seriously doubt this will stick. If we as fans know pods sucks at left management has to know cf is a no no. Its not going to stick. The Score is wrong. KW said Anderson was a CF and said Owens was a CF.

QUOTE(Beastly @ Jan 28, 2006 -> 08:26 PM) Did anyone ask about the following at Q&A or, would anyone bright enough please enlighten me about what was said in that interview? How is Crede's back? Who will compete in ST for the last spot in the pen? How is Thome's back? Or just any questions about our White Sox that were important, like our veteran players, because I could care less about prospects. They don't mean a s*** to me. I hope this Anderson kid does better than when I last saw him. They really didn't mention Crede's back, but KW said Thome's back is a non-issue, that he was a lot more concerned about a couple of other guys backs which I guess would be Crede and Hermanson. As to the bullpen, KW seems to like the minor league free agents he signed, thinking one of them may be the next Kelly Wunsch, or Marte. Ozzie did say Munoz has good stuff, but no guts.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 28, 2006 -> 04:43 PM) Talking ot BHAM, we had a better CF in Chris Young (duh) there daily. But when he took days off, it be Blakely in center, not Owens. Someone asked Ozzie yesterday whether Anderson would play LF or CF. KW piped right in and said CF. I think his attitude towards Owens playing CF may be a case of him wanting no part of Pods in CF. If Anderson and Owens played at the same time, I'm sure Anderson would be in CF.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 28, 2006 -> 04:24 PM) The first step would be to have him actually play center. Today he expanded on it and said Owens had some sort of arm injury that has or will soon heal. They are supposedly going to stretch his arm out in spring training. KW said today that Jerry Owens is ready to play in the big leagues.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Jan 28, 2006 -> 10:07 AM) Seeing how Kenny WIlliams disliked Frank so much, it doesn't surprise me that he didn't issue THomas a courtesy call According to Kenny, he did give Frank a curteousy call. He had to leave a message, because Frank wouldn't answer his phone. Isn't it odd how Frank has found the time to attend the A's fanfest this weekend, but often had excuses to skip out of Soxfest. If he had re-signed with the Sox, chances are he would have used his current injury or recent marriage or some other excuse not to attend Soxfest. He may be a nice guy, but good riddance.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 28, 2006 -> 07:57 AM) Yeah, on that "Friday Football" garbage on ESPNEWS (which I was only watching because I was at home sick as a dog), Merril Hoge said "once people see the tape on Vince Young, he will fall and fall fast.....and come April, be a 4th round, 2nd day pick". Afterwards, he had a 10 minute discussion on it too, so he was obviously serious. Comments? :headshake :rolly Young won't drop that much, but Hoge knows the game pretty well. I wouldn't be surprised if Young wound up being a guy who should have been a 4th round pick.

The other thing KW mentioned was Jerry Owens as a CF.

I was at Soxfest and can tell you KW reiterated he is not going to trade Contreras for a position player. KW also seems satisfied by the dopes he has competing for the 2nd LH reliever role. I'm going back tomorrow and may ask him if Urbina gets out of jail, if he would be interested in bringing him in. For all those wondering about a potential upper deck in RF, the so-called "home-run porch", that idea has been put to rest. Other than that, the q and a's where pretty much thank you's and softball questions, which is very understandable.