Chisoxfn

RIP and nothing but thoughts and prayers for all of the people impacted by this tragedy.

Epically good game.

This makes a lot of sense - especially the leverage for that last point.

1st place baby!!!

Shock me in a good way this season!!!

You said it way better than I did.

Him and Giddey are doing it. Heck white isn’t even shooting the 3 ball that great during this recent hot streak. Getting to the line regularly is huge for overall efficiency and consistency and we have seen both elevate their game big time post Lavine trade in this category. Giddey is going to get paid this offseason.

Putting him in the pen to see if he can maximize 2-3 of them and benefit from the presumed higher LOE he can do out of that spot isn't a bad thing (if they see the talent there). So I like this move.

Good move

If the Sox had a list of positional prospects which were home grown moving up the charts and the depth there was strong and ascending, I would have graded him higher. But right now I haven't seen it - doesn't mean it isn't happening and to be clear while I wouldn't have made the move to him in the first place, that is not what I'm assessing...rather, I do think he is on year 2 of what probably takes 3 years to start to see the fruit...but momentum has to start accelerating and in fairness it was probably more of a 3-4 year until you start to see the fruit's of the foundation (or the same cracks start showing) just because of how bad the initial foundation was (and it was really bad).

D - He has done some good, and in general I have liked most of his hires. But I also think he hasn't maximized his asset value in trade(s)...albeit the Crochet deal was my favorite of the bunch so maybe he is improving. I will caveat he is probably a full grade below because he was part of the farm system that has developed no one before he took the role. If he was a pure outsider I would not have been as harsh for the current state of the system and lack of general development. I'm also probably a grade skeptic because the only way the Sox have developed players is via trade acquisition - they really have done a poor job building a sustainable minor league model via the draft. I know it takes time - but I am NOT yet there that I have seen him do the same here. I also have NOT seen him leverage shorter term deals on some people who can accelerate their ability to land some picks / players at the deadline (maybe sign a closer to a 1YR deal where you know they'll have value at the deadline, etc). Plus places where they could buy-low and play - haven't seen them do that, despite having a lot of payroll flexibility. So solid D job.

They just need to dumb luck into cooper Flagg…come on lottery balls.

We look like a semblance of a baseball team in September - post trade deadline and with some in season call ups. That is as bold as I can go. Vargas ends up being good is next bold.

Rondale Moore and Mecole Hardman visited the Bears today. I really would love a short term deal for Moore. 24 with tons of speed - coming off injury and I think in right role could thrive as a slot / take the top off guy with some gadget and special teams thrown together.

I tend to agree with you. Now odds they strike lightning in a bottle twice in a row, probably slim, but Burke has electric stuff (maybe not quite Crochet stuff but its pretty darn good). Just like Crochet he has had consistent health troubles that cause us all to not know whether he can actually be someone you can count on. For those reasons - I feel like an ideal Burke trajectory is anything even remotely close to what Crochet did and I'd probably do the same thing if he had that sort of a year - use it to continue to improve the high end talent in the organization...multipliers.

I agree - he has done a very nice job so far this offseason on paper. He also hired Ben Johnson. Now I want to see him nail the draft - and start to hitting more across the draft too.

I don’t disagree with the above. Poles hasn’t had a ton of draft hits. Now if we see Tyrique, Dexter take a big step forward in yr 3 and Kiran has a healthy offseason and full training camp and ends up being a legit LT (beating out Braxton)…than that would go a long way…but overall from a talent addition perspective outside of the no brainer trade I agree…but I like the approach this offseason but also recognize outside of Thuney, it isn’t like they added anyone special.

You forgot the 26 year old rookie who couldn’t catch (3rd rounder in his first draft)…aka Velus Jones

Very true.

I agree - unless Mason Graham or a high upside player is there trade back - problem is it takes two to tango. Not a position of need, but back to got to hit doubles and triples in round 1 - is there a db worth taking early? If this was a year ago - I’d have taken Jared Verse (or Brock Bowers) but this draft isn’t as deep.

That is a good signing by the Bills. Good buy low on a guy with high upside still in Bosa.

I wonder if Jeanty is a smokescreen and they are trying to hope one of top OT or DEs make it there to 10.

But seeing where the free agent market was - I do give credit for the front office being aggressive on the trade front as well.

I will state this - I vowed not to let an off-season hook me and convince me again with the Bears (I need to see wins on the field and real production to start buying it) - but I got to give credit to Poles, Warren, and McCaskey. They have killed it - from landing Ben Johnson, to the staff (on paper) they brought in, and now the way they have upgraded the trenches and put money into the right places is huge. Now I just hope they found the right players - but they are in a position to really hit some doubles and triples in the draft and really position this club for sustained success - and really put Caleb in a position where he has the right nucleus around him to achieve his potential (now I hope he has it in him and is ready to put in RIDICULOUS effort across the board to get himself to the pinnacle and to keep pushing himself to stay at the top too!!!

They are paying for future upside and I think they are hopinlg Odeyingbo has more pass rush than Walker so can be splashier and a bit better against the run as well. Walker was flexible but in general meh at most everything. But his body type was similar and Odeyingbo may end up being the same, we shall see. But I like the combination of bodytypes and talent Bears now have - between Jarrett & Odeyingbo, plus Billings, Sweat, and Dexter (who in my mind is still ascending). If you add one more Day 1/Day 2 pick at a minimum and that should be a pretty good group - and one that has a pretty good balance of youth & veteran leadership. My guess is it would be a DE if they went early in the draft (vs. DT given they have Jarret, Dexter, Billings, and Odeyingbo (who can flex interior on passing downs), plus they have the other 3rd rounder whose name escapes me from 2 years ago who hasn't flashed yet.