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QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 11:23 AM) The Wade Davis low ranking stood right out to me but he's due to regress a bit so I don't think that's necessarily crazy. It's just the guys opinion on who he thinks the best relievers for 2015 will be. I don't think he will regress much. He relieved as well in 2012 and was very good in that role. He became elite in 2014 after adding 2 MPH to his fastball, so last year wasn't just an aberration to his usual performance. If he thinks K-Rod and Soriano, both are currently free agents, and guys like Perkins and Cishek will be better than Davis in 2015, then I don't think his opinion should be published by MLB.

I don't read anything from mlb.com not written by Jim Callis, and I was quickly reminded why. The writer seemed to favor closers to setup men in his rankings, which is probably why Wade Davis was 25th, but then Batences was a setup men last year and was ranked 5th on his list. Also, if Fernando Rodney is the 6th best reliever in MLB then I think we could audition random dudes off the street to pitch in the big leagues.

Anyone find it strange Rollins came out his mic went silent and they cut to commercials all of a sudden?

I can see the DMD situation continuing to fuel the Thibs vs FO rift. GarPax are obviously high on Doug after trading two 1st, a 2nd, and absorbing Anthony Randolph just to get him. We clearly have a need for a shooter out there but Thibs is sticking to his old ways by either benching players who couldn't defend or redshirting his rookies. I could imagine Foreman trying to pitch for more playing time for Doug and Thibs is just blowing him off.

QUOTE (Jake @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 08:23 PM) I don't really see any deficit in athleticism. It's just a matter of putting it all together, being a basketball player. The end to end speed isn't there anymore. In the past, you would watch him grab a rebound or an inbound pass and beat everyone down court for an easy layup, and you just tell yourself, that is the fastest guy in the NBA. I have not seen that from him at all this season. A lot of the layups and easy basket he gave up on fastbreaks would have been chase down blocks in the past. Just from the last Suns game, the soft one hand dunk he put down would have been a huge tomahawk dunk in years past. He was also blocked by Goran Dragic of all people at the rim for a layup. You might say he's just conserving himself so he doesn't get hurt, but I've seen him tried pretty hard the past 2 weeks, he still a premium athlete, but not the once in a generation type of athlete that he was. That's why I said he has to learn to play smarter without being able to out-quick or out-jump everyone else.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 01:39 PM) Having the basketball IQ to understand what's going on out there while you're hurt is a lot different than doing the right things at game speed. I'm okay with how Rose is doing. There is undeniably a dropoff, but he's playable and we often see flashes of that raw talent that made him special. He still does some stuff getting to and finishing around the hoop that keeps me hopeful that we'll be seeing the awesome version of him at some point in the future. I don't think you will see him playing more athletic than he does now, and we can agree that he's not the athlete he once was. 80-85% perhaps. And at 85%, is he good enough to help this team win? We got plenty of great athletes in the league nowadays, especially at his position. For a player who used to get by with athleticism, having his athleticism reduced to closer to the par of the league is the reason why he struggles to score at times. At the end of the day, he needs to learn to play smarter, not harder. If he still relies on his athleticism to get by, he will hurt this team as much as he help this team. He's always one of those players that you wonder how his game will transform as he ages and loses a step. That point has come for him earlier than he or we would like, now we will see how he cope with his game.

Apparently Thibs is more inclined to use Gasol in the post than mid range, and I don't think it's hard to see that Gasol at this stage of his career has a lot of trouble backing down other post defenders.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 07:11 AM) May I suggest that pictures would be a very interesting addition to this thread?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 05:21 AM) His PER and TS% is right in line with Michael Jordan. The Wizards version. He's been painfully inefficient. Let's not even get into his defense. Um no. His defense the past 2 weeks has actually been very good. But the rest of his game is awful to watch. It's like watching a blind artist trying to paint a picture or in basketball terms, watching Javale McGee trying to play point guard. He is the opposite of being cerebral. There are only 2 things he is zoned in on, getting to the basket and throwing up wild acrobatic shots (refs arent doing with favor with the whistle) or keep chucking up ill-formed three point shots without regards to human life. His mid range game is gone, which is sad since he's still a good mid range shooter. The part that annoys me the most is whenever he gets in the painted area, he's always looking to score instead of dishing it off for easy baskets or dribble around the paint to break down the defense. When he does look to dish it off he, without failure, always throws these erratic jump passes that more often that not leads to turnovers. I think his basketball acumen this season has gotta to be the worst I've seen from a point guard ever since I started watching basketball. I don't understand why they don't run the Rose and Gasol pick and pop play more often. That to me is the most effective play for this team.

This team is not the physical team they once were. Opposing offense just takes they want from them

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) Quintana has been a 200 inning guy both of the last two years. He doesn't have any more of a problem going deep into games than any other guys in the league now. Also, the logic is flawed -- in a short series with lots of off days, going deep into a game is LESS important than in the regular season, where day-to-day durability and rest of the bullpen is concerned. You're right, bullpen is important in the playoffs, but you are not looking at this in context. Many say that this team is built better for the playoffs because our top 3 is among the best in the league. But come playoff time, are we really comfortable saying we have an edge in our starting pitching if Q can only go 4 or 5 innings for us and we have to rely on a shaky bullpen to hold down the fort? If you're the Royals, sure, if you're the White Sox, no. That, along with no playoff experience, and Sale's second half fatigue really poke a lot of holes in the claim that "we are built for the playoffs".

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 11:14 AM) And once again, the Sox are a team that is set up better for the playoffs than they are for the regular season. So if we can sneak into a Wild Card spot, we'll be extremely dangerous. Nitpicking a little bit here. But I don't think you can really count on this yet. The trio of Sale, Q and Shark has exactly 0 playoff starts at the moment, it isn't the biggest concern in the world, but it matters to a certain extent. On top of that, Sale has looked gassed in the last month of the season each of the past 3 years. We'll need some creative planning to keep him fresh in the postseason, but that will come at the cost of valuable regular season wins, and that matters a lot to this team as it stands. Lastly, I am not convinced Q is a quality playoff starter, at least not one where I would say he a clearly a better number 3 than the other team's number 3 in a series. Without opening a can of worm, Q doesn't go deep in games, and always seems to blow up in the 5th or 6th inning because hitters hit him better the second time around. It's hard to trust a guy like that, especially if he has to pitch 2 games in a series.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 07:23 AM) Can Soto hit lefties any better than Viciedo? I don't think so. This whole Beckham/Viciedo charade is crazy. Hahn is taking a big chance here. If LaRoche doesn't hit this year, if he turns into an old guy real fast, if he is the 2015 version of Adam Dunn, Sox are in trouble. Viciedo at least represented a RH DH alternative, now it's Soto? Sox are now a weaker team than they were a week ago, and we take back Gordo to clog up the infield even more? Where does this leave Bontifacio and all his speed? If Hahn wants to use Gordo as a RH third baseman because Gillaspie can't hit lefties, why didn't he do that last year? Sorry, I don't get it. Looks like a Forrest Gump move to me. If they do not acquire a more capable RH OF/DH to platoon with LaRoche, then Soto is a better candidate as a backup catcher than Kottaras because he could get some looks vs. lefties DH. Again, nothing is set in stone, we still have to wait and see who they bring in as the backup OF, and how both Kottaras and Soto fare in ST. Now, is Soto a better option to backup DH than DV? Let me put it this way, the upgrade in defense, position flexibility, and the salary saved in swapping DV for Beckham is more significant than the drop off in production with Soto as the backup DH than Viciedo there. I also don't think you should have expected DV to take more AB's if LaRoche doesn't hit. For as bad as Dunn was he was still getting regular AB's vs righties, because you simply don't sit a player with that type of contract or reputation in favor of a bench player. I think LaRoche will be better than Dunn, so we wouldn't have used Viciedo as much as you thought we would.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 07:18 PM) Soto may get the job, but he doesn't have more power than Kottaras. Soto can spell LaRoche against lefties, Kottaras can't. That's the key.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 05:03 PM) I had forgotten about Taylor, and I have a mancrush on him. I think his swing is a little long and he lacks good contact skills, but he can hit the ball a long ways, and as I recall, he's a lot better than Viciedo in the corners in that he appears to actually know what he's doing, even if he's athletically limited. I'd be on board the Taylor train. I was one of Taylor's biggest supporters too. But after his cup of tea last year, I don't think he could ever make the adjustment to hit big league pitching. There's a reason he's already 29 years old and only has 100 AB's in the big leagues.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 04:52 PM) He posted a .6 WAR last year. The fangraphs article I found from last season put the cost of 1.0 WAR at $7 million. 60% of that is $4.2 million. It isn't crazy to think we are at $8 million per war now, and 60% of that would be $4.8 million. Previous to last year he posted 0.8, 0.8, and 1.2 from 2013, 12, and 11 respectively. The number isn't that crazy is you subscribe to the WAR numbers. Net present value for WAR in the FA market is still between $5-6M, depending on which model you use. I doubt he could post .6 WAR as a bench player, but for insurance in case Sanchez and Micah doesn't pan out, $2M is well worth it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Never, ever, count out a LeBron James led team. Yep, unfortunately. I don't believe we could actually beat Lebron in the playoffs, not until I see it with my own eyes.

I know we saved $4M, but I kind of wish that we kept DV on the roster. Bonifacio, Beckham, Soto and Viciedo would give us one of the best benches in the league. The drop off between Viciedo and Shuck or Taylor is pretty significant offensively. Ideally, Boni would backup 3B/CF/LF, Beckham backs up 2B/SS/3B, Viciedo backs up LF/RF/DH, Soto would backup C/DH. As of now, I think the chances of Soto winning the backup catcher spot increased a little bit. Historically, he's pretty good against lefties, so it wouldn't surprise me if he gets some look as the DH for LaRoche along with Beckham. Boni and Beckham alone just doesn't provide enough pop at DH. Now let's see if we are tabbed or if we could use some of that money saved to bring in another bullpen arm or reclamation project starter.

I am worried about the Cavs in the playoffs a lot more than Wizards or Hawks. 20-6 in the last 26 games Lebron played, tons of shooters, improving team defensively, and one of the few teams that could legitimately out rebound us. We're pretty evenly matched with the Wiz and there's a chance Hawks will cool off, but Cavs will always be the tougher matchup.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:14 AM) If I take his line, on espn's box score and add up the first number in every column...I get 16. 5pts 1 TO 2 PF 2 Steals 1 Asst 2 Rebounds 1 3PM 2 FGM BOOM! Uncanny. The person came up with the 16 +/- almost has to be discerned genius. Sikeeeee QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:25 AM) First off, if you didn't just flat out enjoy this game, well, you aren't a basketball fan. That game was fun, exciting, etc. Had the feeling of a playoff game out there with both teams flying all over the place. The energy levels from both teams were crazy high and it was damn exciting. Rose had about the oddest game you'll ever see. On one hand, he was extremely aggressive offensively and did a nice job getting points in the paint and didn't settle too much for the 3 (until late in the 4th where you could tell his legs were getting tired). Defensively Rose was sick. It is what this team has missed all year, imo. When Rose plays D, he is a well above average PG defender and it is critical cause it makes everything else easier. Passing though, I cringe all the time with Rose. He does so many things that are fundamental no-no's and they lead to cookie turnovers and way too many. However, I think we are seeing more of them cause now he's bringing his game to a quicker level, higher energy, etc, and that means he's getting caught in more positions where he hasn't really gotten enough practice and still has a lot of rust. Noah played huge tonight. Was running the court better than I have seen all year and much more active on the glass. Whole team was active on the glass (yes they gave up that tip in). Some huge shots late and big stones keeping in the game despite Golden State going on a few different runs. Klay is the best 2 in the league. Dude is insane. He hit some extremely difficult and clutch shots in the 4th. Damn that was fun. The game, especially in the 4th quarter, had the feel of a heavyweight boxing match. Both teams put their best on the line and was trading punches back and forth. Warriors wanted to prove that they are as good as advertised and are unbeatable at home. Bulls wanted to prove that they still belong in the conversation of championship contenders. Definitely an enjoyable game to watch, outside of iffy officiating.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 12:36 AM) In fairness to Derrick's effort today, I thought he made things really tough on Curry defensively. Offensively, he was clearly winding Curry too, which probably harmed Curry's offense. That Curry still had an okay offensive game is just a testament to how good he is His defense was superb in the second half. It seems he knew Curry's tendency really well, probably benefited from those Team USA scrimmages. Turnovers were frustrating but not unexplainable. Warriors are one of the best teams in the league in forcing turnovers, and with Jimmy out, Derrick tried to do a little too much. I think he would have had a better game if Jimmy played, and they had to put Klay on Jimmy instead, and leaving Curry and a small dose of Iggy on Rose.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 12:14 AM) It's not a back-to-back, he's gonna play. It's against the Lakers. I like our chances even without him and save him for the Suns on Friday.

Hey guys, I got two words for the Warriors, SUCK IT! Officiating was lopsided up until that last foul on Iggy, they had momentum all game long and could have ran away with the game. A heavy dose of reality check for them, when they are not hitting the 3's, they aren't that good. Great job on D by Rose and Hinrich all night.

HINRICHHHHHHHH

More interesting than Rose's 11 TO to no assist ratio is the fact that he hasn't attempted an FT, despite the number of drives and amount of contact in each drive.