Chisoxfn

Can someone explain to me why Phillies would be looking to dump Wheeler? He pitched fantastically last year and I wouldn't say his contract is an albatross. I get it if they want to rebuild or something, but I assume they still would expect some prospects headed their way. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to get Wheeler - I just don't quite see why Philly would do it and if they are just shedding for salary sake than I don't understand why we'd trade Grandal who has a big contract tied to him as well. Or am I missing something and Wheeler is like out half of next year or something.

I'll go one step farther - if all the Sox did was get Bauer and just say we are going to go sit around and just grab a vet who sits in the market for RF (to platoon with Engel - not even a Joc type) - I would be 1000% exstatic. It keeps the Sox so well positioned to either make future trades at the deadline and/or bring up more waves later this year, next year, etc.

I don't know that that is someone the Rays will unlock immediately - I think Kopech is extremely special. He will unlock himself anywhere he goes and unless the Sox legitimately don't believe he has interest in baseball, I would absolutely not trade him. He is a true TOR prospect who has plenty of control left and while he may not be as helpful this year and injuries and COVID opt-out set his timeline back, having a COST CONTROLLED TOR guy like that will be huge as the Sox continue to contend and push for the series for a number of years. Kopech is on my do not trade list, unless Sox are getting a cost-controlled horse of an ace (and obviously that will take more than Kopech). Snell is good - but I don't think of him as a true-ace (but that might be because i still think aces should be able to pitch 200+ innings a year, etc). Maybe no ace will do that next year - cause we have to manage COVID workloads after a season with lighter innings pitched - but in general.

Seems like a very fair deal. I'm happy for James but will miss him and I'm sure he wouldn't have taken that same deal with Sox (if it is true) just because this enables him a bigger opportunity from a playing time perspective.

I'll be 100% honest - I don't have a major issue with that.

100 percent in your camp.

Everyone saying this team is a shitshow is wrong. This defense no-showed on Sunday night, but it is not a bad defense. They have good CB's (Fuller & Johnson) and while Eddie Jackson has been a shell of his past self, I am not going to write him off after one down year after a number of electric years (last year wasn't as good either - so there is definitely a trend) and the LB corps is still solid (Danny T is a liability in pass coverage - but almost every team has aspects of that) and the dline is solid and will be better next year with Goldman back. Mack hasn't gotten the production he should, but he is still an above average dlineman and Quinn has been off all year - but that started with him being injured to start, etc, so maybe this is one of those scenarios where a year back is a difference. They have some age issues but I could also see the defense taking a step forward (vs. back) in a year, both due to Goldman coming back (huge to have that run stuffer in the middle) combined with a more aggressive scheme that maybe maximizes the ability for Jackson/Fuller to be in more positions to make game changing plays (plus Roquan who has been a stud all year - although he has had some bouts with poor tackles). The offense - that is a shitshow - no denying that. Period.

I tend to go down this line of thought, but if the Bulls like their internal scouting on Lauri, that is another story. I also presume if he's pressuring he's agent to get a deal done we are talking about something obviously less than max...so I was more putting that book end out there. I'm risk adverse and Lauri seems like a family guy, so maybe he looks at it as, I want a 3-5 year deal with some solid guarantee money - the type of contract that will set me for life (regardless of whether I get injured or not). I could see him as the type who prefers security over risking it another year. I think if I were in his shoes and I could get a reasonable LT contract that positioned me well for life while giving me an opportunity for a potential massive payday if I hit (or worse case another good long-term deal if I'm good)...than that can be hard to pass up on.

It is an interesting dilemma. If you think Lauri is a good player with upside to be an above average player, signing him to a 5yr 80M deal (which I think is his max) probably isn't the end of the world given the various contracts being handed out. That is still probably a moveable deal and if he improves its a nice deal / solid piece to have. It is kind of like Lavine - that Lavine contract is a steal at the moment, nowhere near an overpay and you can clearly move him if you needed to for other assets (depending on the Bulls plans). Now Lauri could totally suck or get hurt and than you don't have a moveable deal, but I don't see his stretch ability dissipating. And I'm not saying he should get 5/80 either, more stating what I thought I read somewhere was the upper limits to his deal.

And I get it - the league came down hard and the Ravens came down hard on their strength & conditioning coach too. And I understand why the league is coming down hard on teams who aren't complying - you need to send a message because it is key to keeping players safe and keeping the doors open and allowing the sport to be played.

Yeah - but at that point, what is so different between them and the Ravens?

None of these posts are helpful. There is already one big TLR page. If people want to vent on TLR - you got a place for it. If you want to sing his praises - you have a spot for it. If there is actual new news - okay - we can have a new thread.

I concur.

Can someone explain to me how the NFL lets that Broncos game go on. Was it purely them looking at things saying Broncos aren't a playoff team and Saints are a lock so lets just move this along? If so - it feels like a really slippery slope relative to all the other cancellations that have happened. I mean if you are a contender for the #1 seed in the NFC you have to be pretty irate about this.

I agree with you - it is pretty apparent there are broader issues and Pace should be shown the door. His misuse of draft capital and salary cap space has been poor and he's had a lot of bad signings. He's had some good ones too, like really good ones like Hicks....but has missed on some high profile picks and while he's done good later in the draft, his misses are just big. He's a likeable guy and actually done some behind the scenes stuff that makes this franchise better for the long haul...but I don't know that you can stick with him another year. With Nagy - I've been on the bandwagon to move away from him, mainly because he clearly isn't the offensive genius everyone thought he was when they hired him, but he also has been saddled with some poor parts and I have no idea how much that is on himself for scounting the wrong guys or on Pace. What I really don't know is did both sides just completely whiff on the offense the past number of years or was one side being too heavily influenced by the other (i.e., Pace bought what Nagy was selling and figured they could do it or was Nagy more of a I'll be rah rah about whomever you give me, you just give me some of these pieces, but deep down he was like, oh boy, Montgomery isn't good or Anthony Miller has big time issues, etc). It is probably both. It just sucks to be in a spot where you are hitting the reset button again. You look at Rodgers and people say well look at how he reads x, y and z, well in many cases that is because he's ran similar systems for 10+ years and has seen everything and the kitchen sink thrown at him.