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Do you have any idea how many free agents remain unsigned?

You could have just stopped there.

Wow. He was on PEDs? And that bad?

I don't think the Bears will ACTUALLY move, though I think Indiana is going to back up the brinks truck to try to make it happen, and extract some pretty ugly gains out of Illinois ot make it happen. Indiana doesn't care about things like it's people, infrastructure, or education, but they do care about big business. They would love nothing more than to steal the Bears, and if they can at least hurt Illinois in the process, that's a win to them.

I get Chicagoans will have a meltdown at first, but they will still go to games. The rest of the country has proven that.

Because we're not talking about distance, we're talking about the actual states and their make ups and demographics and politics etc. Moving an Illinois/Chicago team to Indiana is a much bigger change than moving to the suburbs or a NY team moving to NJ. At least in my opinion.

Indiana Bears would be a huge blow to this teams fandom, No doubt in my mind

The Angels sure love a former Sox infielder

A sub .200 hitter with a 30% K-rate is the last thing the Sox need in LF. Lee's value is his defense behind the plate - moving him off that makes him completely worthless.

100%. It doesn't matter where the stadium is. If Illinois really has no interest in discussing Bears situation in 2026, I honestly think they move to Indiana. Agreed. I'd actually prefer it living in the south burbs.

They need to stop being so damn greedy and just put it all on MLB.TV with no blackout restrictions and be done with it. Stop making it so damn difficult to watch baseball games.

this isn't a "who" guy

TA, Moncada, Yolmer, now Madrigal.

Many of the big name free agents don’t get signed until January nowadays

Some people actually wanted this bum. Turning 33 next month. PEDs or not, he would have been a garbage signing. Even worse now knowing that he would miss half the season and be without the benefit of the PEDs.

If some of the guys like Meidroth, Vargas, Sosa, Quero and Baldwin don't turn into (at least) average, 2 bWAR players, if Colson and Teel don't grow into 4+ bWAR dudes, if they can't develop a couple of 3+ bWAR starting pitchers, then what are we even doing? All I'm describing is natural development. Sure, Colson may play a full season and put up 2.5 WAR. That would be a step back. But imagining that nobody's going to improve beyond replacement level just seems unrealistic. I think this team is roughly a 75+ win team at this point. If the kids continue to develop, as you noted, if some of these young arms become effective or find some success quickly, a .500 record wouldn't surprise me.

Agreed and the other benefit is that Illinois taxpayers won't be on the hook.

I'll say this, I obviously hope you're right and I'm wrong!

Max Kepler 80 game PED suspension.

Why would they have to do away with the song? Is the state going to sue them? Its going to be Illinoisians in an Indiana stadium cheering for Illinois' most popular football team. People will continue to sing the song aside from a couple butthurt reddit bros. The Dutch national anthem sings about honoring the King of Spain, who hasnt controlled the country for centuries. I think Chicagoans will be fine.

Not even close. The Bears can go 0-for the next ten years and they will remain popular.

They would get just as many sell outs in Hammond as they would in Arlington Heights.

Eh, I think it is a hollow threat. Chicagoans do this loud civic pride thing, but they still buy their out of state Frango Mints at Macy's and work in the Willis Tower. The Bears is Hammond is less far out of Chicago than Arlington Heights is. They might get bad, but it isn't going to do anything lasting to the fan base.

IIRC, ND's biggest alumni base is in Chicago.

As was said earlier in this thread, this isn't about distance. Santa Clara is still in the Bay area, that's like moving the Bears to the burbs, not to Indiana. Nobody is saying the Bears would die if they'd move to Indiana but it'd absolutely alienate some of the fan base and hurt the Chicago brand of it all.

I don't think the Bears are less of a brand than the niners. By train it is almost 2 hours.

The Niners' new stadium is something like 50 miles and a 1 hour drive away from San Francisco and is practically in San Jose. Seems like their brand is surviving just fine.

The Jets and Giants also moved there in the 70's/80's so I think it's definitely different given the time structure. The other examples aren't even close in comparison. The Bears moving to Indiana would definitely hurt the brand.

The Bears would be committing brand suicide by moving the team out of state.

Indiana Governor Braun has said the negotiations with the Bears are going full speed ahead. He said they will do everything he can to bring the Bears stadium to Indiana.

Gun to head, I think the Sox end up trading a catcher. Obviously Lee is most likely, but could see Quero get dealt as well. Theoretically you can carry four catchers on the 40 man roster and we have done so at times in the past, but Romo feels like he’s purposely being added to be the 3rd string / AAA guy who can be called up (and sent down) in event of injury. I really think Getz has some more things cooking.

I always thought they’d go this route with Blake Sabol when they signed him (or claimed him on off waivers I forgot) last year and there was talk of trading Lee. If they go 3 catcher route (beginning to believe they won’t), it’d be nice to have one that can play a couple other spots even if it’s just 1B and LF.

Has to be in spring training though because he’s out of options along with Sosa, Mead and Ramos

Vinnie Pasquantino likes playing for Italy. Might be fun for him. People's heritage means a lot to them especially if they're close to a grandparent from the old country.

Lee is a perfectly cromulent backup catcher. As an older fan I appreciate that he's around, and GMs do as well. Seasons are lost on a catcher injury and a -2 WAR "regular" suddenly playing every day. The smart play is to just hold onto Lee until someone inevitably goes down and trade him for a lotto ticket. You do that 20 times over a decade you hit on a couple.

2 hour rain delay at the United Center. Jerry really needs his concessions.

He's 100% getting traded now. You don't come back from that.

It would have to be

“This guy here is DEAD!”

They had 6 catchers going into ST last season (Quero, Teel, Lee, Hackenberg, Thaiss, Narvaez). Romo gets them back to 5 after the departures of Thaiss and Narvaez. Charlotte needs help there, so probably another depth add or two coming.

Well cross him off the list then.

I have no idea who Bew Cowles was.

How is it states make money building stadiums for these teams? If it is so lucrative why does the state still owe more money for Comiskey Park II and the Soldier Field renovation than the total cost of their construction?