Chisoxfn

I think this was more of the three games in a short span combined with the fact that they had two winnable opponents. Same thing with Robinson. If you rush it and than those guys aren’t ready you could have them miss all those crucial divisional game. Possibility they or someone still gets hurt but I think it was the smart play. The hard part is going to be how everyone responds to that many games in a short window. Its terrible the NFL only has one bye week.

He's starting to play a lot better as of late. Been nice to see. Capella was a monster defensively and really shut down Lavine on a number of what would have been "easy" layups. They fought hard but have a few guys that are just awful defenders who don't switch. Some of this could also just be they aren't used to the new defensive scheme they are running this year. What I like is how Hutchinson and Carter have the chance to both be very good defenders.

Machado is going to be the best of all the signings from a pure production perspective (relative to dollars). Mainly because it appears front offices might over-react to his post-season and some negative things that came up in LA during the stretch run. If I were the Sox, I either go for Machado (who I think can actually end up being worth his contract) or you say screw it and go for Harper purely to put butts in the seat and try to win the fan battle. I see far more risk from a baseball production perspective with Harper...because he has had issues staying on the field and is coming off a down year...that said, he's young, in his prime, and can be a total game changer in terms of putting buts in the seats, etc. (he's a must watch player). He also has as good of tools as any player in the game.

They will not be very good...too young. But they won't be in NBA hell...they'll have a ton of cap space and if they actually are winning as you propose...they'd have quite a few young pieces who you could surround by a FA signing or two. Right now, I'd say this season, outside of the injuries has gone about as good as it could and given the nature of the injuries (not career threatening or anything)...those may actually be a blessing in disguise to the LT progress. Lavine has just been fantastic and you could see with better players around him, he'd be even more dynamic. He's still scoring efficiently despite having entire teams focused on stopping him. Additionally, Wendell has shown he can grow into a defensive stopper and offensively he's starting to show some signs as well. He also sets fantastic screens and seems to play unselfishly.

Would he be a fit for the Bears. Haven't followed what he's done since leaving Seattle.

Awesome...thanks for the quick summary.

Anyone kind enough to give a good summary?

Somewhere I saw a post saying he's out 6-8 weeks. Not sure if that is confirmed or not. Would be probably a best case scenario news, if true. Would at least give him a potential shot at playing in some meaningful games. That said, who knows how accurate that timeline is and whether someone else goes down who you need to designate and return sooner? Update: JD Dickerson indicating Nagy has said that Long is "week to week" having suffered some tendon injuries and they haven't yet decided whether to put on IR or not. We are allowed to return 2 players from IR, correct?

The Dix trade was odd. I would have thought they'd have got a comp pick anyway, seems like a strange move to weaken your secondary. I suppose they must think they have existing pieces or another trade fell through (I thought they were going to deal Ha Ha for an asset and get Fowler).

This is such a set-up, I can't even believe it. We are totally going to lose to Peterman. Afterall, Osweiller sucks against the world...but is freaking Mr. 4th quarter against the Bears.

Stupid question...but do scantron tests still exist?

The NBA is laughable at how there is literally zero defense being played this year. Should they just remove the 3 point line? Seriously though, I recognize small sample size, but how much is scoring up this season vs. last (massively or am I just watching too many Bulls games haha). That said, a team that was already going to be lousy (especially defensively) is really going to be bad when you take 3 of your 4 best players and have them miss extended stretches (Lauri / Dunn / Portis). The bright side is, Lavine is looking like the real deal and a legit #2/#3 option on a contender. The downside is, you have to hope you can keep the chemistry and development positive despite the toxcity of what will be lots and lots of losses. Need to keep that "arrow" moving forward despite losing a lot of games and that is going to be tough. Lavine could quickly turn into a massive "chucker", especially now with literally the entire starting lineup (sans him) basically out.

Technically everyone had the same ability to make an offer, correct. Or were we maxed out because of the Robert signing and thus truly limited to the $300K max? The beauty of Ohtani was all about the fact that as a franchise, you could only offer so much.

From what I've heard on local sports talk (I live in OC/LA area), the general consensus is Dodgers won't spend the money on Machado and will look an alternative direction. Doesn't mean that holds up though and it is more "speculation" based vs. "fact". The media here has been anti Machado and more of it has just been shoddy reporting, imo, than factual reporting. Everyone loves a scapegoat and he was it.

I've said it when we started the rebuild and I'll say it now....having guys like Sale, Q, and Eaton to trade may have helped jump start the rebuild, but the only way this organization will have sustainable success is if it has also massively enhanced its drafting & talent development programs. If it can't identify and develop players at the lower levels who go on to be good-to-great players, than this rebuild is for nothing and an entirely new regime needs to be brought in. If you are an optimist, you'd point out to the fact that the Sox had new people in draft of player development and drafting (Hostetler / Getz / etc). If you were a pessimist, you'd say those changes weren't enough and you had the same overall leadership that had failed to effectively draft and develop from the early 2000's onward. I would say both parties are probably partially accurate, but as fans, we have to hope the 1st camp ways out. You could point out to the Robert signing as a sign of "something new", however, it is still a pretty small sign, since the Dodgers or Cubs would have not just "signed" Robert...they'd have knew they were going all in on that particular year and signed 5 guys to large deals.

I'll at least give them credit...he'd be a top my list....whether you can pay enough and give enough draft picks to steal him from the Rams is another story and likely highly unrealistic. He's just been insane for the Rams thus far.

Dodgers appear to be out on Machado. One thing I have to ask...if you are the White Sox...would you rather offer a ton of money to Harper (who is literally one of the "faces" of MLB) or Machado (the better statistical player)? There is a component to the Sox of landing star power (I.e., Harper...who also has obviously oodles of talent...albeit has had health and other things pop up which have got in the way of fully maximizing it). Or are you better off staying completely away from all of these big name guys and going bargain shopping?

Really really hope somehow the news on Long isn't what we are all thinking it will be. Dude has always given it his all and could certainly use a good "break" in terms of health news. Seperately, I presume Mack and Robinson are both going to be out this week. I think its best to take your chances against the Bills with our existing squad (sans those guys) and hope you have enough to built the Bills and ensure those pieces are available (and healthy) for the key divisional stretches.

I agree and I think the accuracy is something we will see improve over the course of the season and especially heading into next season. Your footwork and fundamentals aren't as sharp when you are thinking and processing. He's gotten better from the first few games, albeit, will have his ocassional lapses and I think it goes back to him still thinking a lot, however, his progress on going through reads, poise in the pocket...all have gotten significantly better from those first few games of the season and give you reasons to think that the arrow could continue to point "up". Hard for me to gauge his accuracy this week as the wind conditions looked pretty tough. I was surprised the Bears attempted as many "deep" balls as they did given the conditions. That said, it helps keep the defense honest.

Quite frankly...for most of the years, so have the Packers.

Gotcha, back when I worked at Deloitte I had a client who was in Surety.

Brian - What do you do? Are you on the P&C side or Life side? Credit analyst/portfolio manager?

This. I think he clearly has the offensive talent to keep up a pretty high-level scoring production. The key to me is that he can stay healthy. He is a fantastic shooter and an electric athlete who has enhanced his ability to finish at the bucket (presume he got a bit stronger and obviously had a full off-season to focus on his game). There is zero reason he can't be a highly efficient and effective scorer with his ability to slash into the basket...but if you give him too much space to cut his ability to drive, the guy is a pure shooter as well. He'll never be a great defender but to me offensively its a matter of staying within his game and being smart and efficient about it. The dude has so much offensive talent and capabilities. I'm sure he won't keep his torrid pace up (its been absurdly efficient) but the game is there. I sure hope none of this is foolsgold (when it comes to Lavine's production).

That was good.

I'm legitimately bummed out, because I looked forward to watching Lavine, Dunn, Lauri, and MCJ developing. I don't have a problem putting blinders on when watching basketball (as long as I don't have to do it for too many years). They are going to have a tough time winning games with their lack of depth at PG.