thxfrthmmrs

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 01:12 PM) Hoping for a good game scoring-wise from Butler. A lot of interesting matchups tonight with Rose-Parker, Butler-Leonard, and Gasol-Duncan. Kirk Hinrich vs. Spurs towel boy

QUOTE (lvjeremylv @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 11:29 PM) I don't know much about WAR, but you're suggesting that .290, 20, and 80, would only result in a WAR of 2? WAR is both park and position adjusted, so playing RF at US Cellular makes that stat line less valuable than say playing SS at Safeco. It also takes into account other aspects of the game - base running and defense. Avi has provided negative value in both areas in his 2 brief seasons. If he makes improvement with his glove, which isn't out of the equation, I could see a slightly higher WAR. FWIW, 2 WAR is basically a league average player.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 07:40 PM) Year and a half? The 2nd half of 2012 he put up a .810 OPS in AA. He tore up AAA in 2013 as a 22 year old with a .991 OPS over ~1/2 a season. As a 22 year old Viciedo put up an .850 OPS in AAA, but he also had a broken hand in spring training and lost some time that year/had impacts from that as well. If you want to say "technically" he didn't have a year and a half year worth of plate appearances, sure. But point is Viciedo never put together a stretch like Avi did in the minors. That's without getting into the Viciedo's poor instincts and stubbornness as a hitter.

Viciedo never dominated the minors the way Avi did the last year and a half. For every DV there's also a C. Lee. I am betting on a .290-20-80 2 WAR season.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 17, 2015 -> 07:39 PM) all man, i am sooo hype that someone like Callis will even reach out for future sox top list. this site sure has grown into something special. on to the subject. yeah i can wait to see the new list of soxtalk top prospect. Pretty sure that was someone from Soxtalk tweeting at Callis asking about the Top 100, not the other way around lol.

QUOTE (Stev-o @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) My point is..."prospects", more often than not, remain nothing more than prospects. IMO, if you can trade them for proven commodities that can help you win NOW, you do it. As some wise dude once said, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.". You need to consider major league ready prospects make less than 5% of the salary of the "proven commodities" you're talking about. No teams can field a team full of "proven commodities".

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 04:33 PM) You're wrong here. This article is from 2013 but it's the same CBA. The pick, or more technically speaking, the slot value, vanishes if the team signing the player has a protected draft pick. So if the Cubs pick 11th in 2016 and sign Samardzija next offseason we would get their 11th pick assuming we offered a QO. So this offseason since the Sox have a protected first round pick, the Yankees and Blue Jays will be awarded sandwich picks and the Sox lose their 2nd and 3rd round slot values. If the Sox had an unprotected pick and the same scenario played out, the Yankees would be awarded with our first round pick and the Blue Jays would get a sandwich pick. The Sox would lose their 1st and 2nd round values. Pretty sure you're wrong here. We do NOT get the Cub's 11th pick in that scenario, we get a sandwich pick at the end of the first round. The scenario would hold true in the previous CBA (Though I believe it was Top 15 protected). That's what also what the last sentence in your quote stated as well. For instance in last year's draft, 4 teams, Atlanta, Texas, Baltimore, Yankees sign free agents who received QO, and their former teams, all received a sandwich pick at the end of the first round, no one received the actual pick of the team that signed their free agents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Major_Le..._Baseball_Draft

QUOTE (Stev-o @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 11:55 AM) Hello...I've been reading this site for quite awhile, and I finally decided to "dip my toe in the water". I don't understand the posters' infatuation with prospects...other than Gio Gonzalez, when was the last time, over the last 10 seasons, that the Sox traded away a prospect who amounted to anything? You don't happen to be THE Stev-O are you? Anyways welcome to the board! Admittedly Sox haven't been good at drafting and developing prospects up until a few years ago. However, with a change in drafting philosophy and latin scouting, we have restock our farm and there are definitely a few guys who are posed to have a successful career. If you want cost controlled assets like Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, non-Sox players like Longoria, McCutchen, Goldschmidt, you gotta develop them from within. Otherwise you will end up spending $210 mil on Scherzer or $100 on Pablo Sandoval. Unless you're the Yankees or Dodgers who could just go build a team through free agency, you got to keep a good balance of free agents and home grown talents. To answer your question, on top of my head Ryan Sweeney, Chris Carter, Chris Young, Clayton Richard, Daniel Hudson, Brandon McCarthy, have had pretty good success in the big leagues so far.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 03:36 PM) 1. He is leading by example. He's been playing fairly well. 2. Not talking on the court isn't the sole issue obviously. 3. tnt crew isn't the brightest bunch. I'm fine with him voicing his frustration. Should do more good than any harm it could. And he didn't single anyone out. Fact is, the team is playing s***ty. Up to them and thibs to play harder. Where are you reading about this displeasure from teammates with Rose? It's one of the first issues even Rose admitted to. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/...on-sixth-loss-8 The issue is bigger than you would think. Boozer as bad as he was is a vocal guy and called out a lot of the rotations in years past. Gasol doesn't do the same, as evident they have been really bad this year in rotations, traps, doubling, and defending pick and rolls. Whether Rose was calling out guys for not communicating, hustling on defense, or rebounding, I haven't seen him doing his part to make a difference. And up till the last 4 games or so, he was historically bad shooting the ball. I think if you go out and put your teammates on the spot but you're not even doing your part, it hurts more than it helps. Edit: The Rose and teammates rift was speculated over at Realgm. Some players as well as Thibs are not pleased with Jen Swanson sending in notes for Rose and Noah to take a lighter practice or taking days off.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 11:33 AM) Without knowing the internal team dynamics its hard to say 100% "this should/shouldn't be private", but I lean towards the "This is DRose, I can't remember him calling out anyone, so if he's getting on people there's a reason why" side. The true test will be whether it matters in wins and losses of course. If it's clearly his teemmates not pulling their weight then I would have no problem with that. But he's part of the issue just as much as the anyone else on the team. This is going leave a sour taste on their mouth, especially those who kept saying the right things to the media on Rose's behalf for the better part of he last 3 years.

But why should his teammates listen when Rose himself isn't leading by example. I understand he's quiet off the court, but if you know the problem is guys are not talking on court, then start enforcing the habit himself before calling guys out. Being the highest paid guy and having your name called at last during player introductions comes with a little bit more responsibility. I am reading that the internally guys are dividing and some are not pleased with Rose's leadership. It might just be rumors, but pulling off s*** like this isn't going to help. The TNT crew last night thought that this should be something Rose should have said internally to his teammates, and I agree with that.

Derrick needs to stay away from the media. He needs to keep his mouth shut and lead a player-only meeting. He's the highest paid guy on the team and the whole team did nothing but support him and defend him from the media the past 2 years. He complains about guys being quiet out in the court, maybe if he looks into the mirror, he'll know why.

No Chris Sale.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 07:53 PM) Are you the new me? I post this and all hell breaks loose. You're more pessimistic now than you were from '11 to '14 when the Bulls had NO chance of beating Miami. I think as long as guys aren't dead come April the Bulls have as good a chance as any to win the east. This was supposed to be the best Bulls team yet, and it's looking like the same s*** all over again. It gets at you. I never thought the Bulls could beat this Cavs team from the get go and I will stick by it, and until I see it happen, I will say Bulls will not beat Lebron in the playoffs.

This is going to be a pessimistic post for y'all. Don't want to overreact but this isn't a title contending team, and it isn't just because of the last 2 weeks. This team is very much above average, but they have not been dominant and blowing teams out at ANY POINT this season. Even in wins, they were barely winning, and championship teams don't do that. The point differential is simply bad for a team with a 27-15 record. This team has a lot of players who are good at what they do, but has tremendous flaws in other parts of the game. Watching Gasol play defense makes me puke. Brooks is one of the worst defenders in the league. Noah probably couldn't score with a 6 foot rim. Hinrich had his moments but is horrendous otherwise. You can use "when healthy" as a condition all you want, but with the injury history of this roster, "when healthy" would be wishful thinking.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 02:51 PM) Does this effect the next Samardijza contract in any way good or bad? Hahn would probably think outside the box on this one too. Pay the man in bitcoins.

That's why Chris Sale is near the top of every trade value list. Seriously, imagine what he would be worth in the open market. It's also unfortunately Rodon is a Boras guy. If we could work out an extension for him in a couple of seasons, we would continue to enjoy incredible cap flexibility.

Why the hell did GB call the timeout so soon. Leaving too much time for Seattle.

WAR sometimes doesn't agree with the eye test, but FWIW, Flowers had a 2.3 bWAR and 1.8 fWAR last year, so he's considered to be a league average catcher. $2.7 mil for a $10 mil value ain't bad at all.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 05:15 PM) I actually really liked what I saw from Surkamp out of the pen. I know about his profile but admitted I only watched him pitch maybe twice last season and nothing stood out for me. What did you like about him?

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 04:50 PM) I think I read somewhere he had the worst "inherited runners allowed" stat on the team with Zack Putnam having the best on the team, last season. He might have, but those things varies greatly from season to season. He's pitched respectably 3 of his 4 seasons in the majors, and does have a good fastball. So I wouldn't hold it against him yet. QUOTE (Mike F. @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 04:50 PM) What about Eric Surkamp? Does he not make the team? The guys he's competing against clearly are better or have better track records. With his repertoire, he profiles better as a 6th starter anyways. If we need an emergency starter, he or Beck will get the call from Triple A.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 04:38 PM) I wonder when the last time we actually went to arbitration? I think it's a good thing to settle amicably. But, what role will Guerrra hav with this team? I like it, his arb was projected to be $1.3 mil. He didn't do bad last year, we could do worse with $900K. Robertson, Petricka, Duke, Putnam, Webb, Guerra, Jennings/Garcia. Guerra bumps out Cleto.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 11:42 AM) Jax is obviously terrible, but Bradley deserves 5 years there with the roster they gave him. Put it another way, nothing Bradley has done so far would endorse the hiring of a Seattle assistant based on their success, which I think is attributed to the talent and the competitiveness of the players as much as it's on the assistants themselves.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 11:00 AM) And it has forced Jimmy to play a ton of minutes. Not sure if sarcasm. Jimmy has been playing big minutes all season, he probably played less since Dunleavy went down.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 10:45 AM) All of the assistants are a crapshoot. Even experienced head coaches can be one too, depending, but in terms of experienced HC's, unless you are looking at Cowher / Dungy / Gruden, Fox is that next class of experienced coaches (along with Shanny). Shanny should be in the breath of the 1st three coaches, however, the stink that happened in Washington still follows him (and he might actually deserve more credit than he ever got for Washington given what a disaster Snyder is). The reality is, you know what you have and that is a good NFL coach who can hire good assistants on both sides of the ball and help you win football games. He is still going to need talent to win, he can't turn water into wine or part the red sea. He needs talent but if you give him talent, he'll get you their and won't get in the way. At the end of the day, that is a rare commodity and when you have that known, go get it. He instantly establishes a winning culture and overall stability to an organization which has lacked it, really since Lovie got additional roster control after the superbowl (albeit Angelo / Lovie did bring one of the more successful Bear windows and periods...one where we contended every year...didn't make the playoffs as much as we'd like but we contended). Fox is a class above Lovie, mainly because he has demonstrated the ability to hire offensive talent. Fox also has a long history of being able to work with his GM's, etc, which is a really major plus and the way he handled the last year in Denver despite Elway being a prick, is also pretty admirable, imo. Quinn has only been a DC for 4 years, and only 2 years at NFL level. To go from College DC to NFL head coach in a matter of 2 years is a pretty big leap, the skepticism for his ability is not uncalled for. You are right that he needs talent to win, and he was given the best deck of card in Seattle. Those boys in Seattle had the talent and had the drive to win. Sherman is about the most competitive guy out there and Earl Thomas is as hardworking anyone guy you will see in the NFL. The Seattle defense was already top of the line before Quinn took over. (Interestingly, Gus Bradley, the DC Quinn replaced went on to Jacksonville and that's been a failed experience so far) If we are looking for Quinn to do his magic with this Bears team, I am afraid it's going to end up in a disaster because one, we don't have nearly the talent nor the competitiveness or pride in the defensive side of the ball as Seattle does, and two, his track record, especially for other parts of the game is very limited. Unless they see more in him, like you mentioned, the "it" factor, it's hard to not be skeptical about the move.