Chisoxfn

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 24, 2017 -> 06:14 AM) I pretty much figured that he'd be put on the practice squad once he's healthy. He's never playing for the Bears again unless there's another injury after he heals up. He is better then Langford and a good special teams player. You guys have it all wrong on Carey, he is going to be on the team, unless a bunch of other guys replace him. Bears are going to carry 4 backs and Langford is going to get a shot for the time being. He'll literally miss 3 weeks of the season.

When was Leno set to be a free agent?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 05:04 PM) Kyrie is better but I completely disagree that he's way better. I don't think this trade makes Cleveland better this year but it doesn't make Boston better than them either. Cleveland is still going to win the east(unless LeBron dies) and they're going to have a top 3 pick. Meanwhile, Boston will still finish 2nd in the east and lost a top 3 pick. Agree with everything you said. I can't figure out why Ainge does this but doesn't make the move for Butler (who would have put them ahead of Cleveland in the East). This seemed more lateral, albeit a year from now, Boston is positioned to be the best team in the east (presuming LBJ ends up in the west) and at that point I do like Irving for them (I just can't see giving up the Nets pick + Crowder). I actually think Cleveland stays about as good, since they have Lebron and Crowder is a solid player who gives them more depth and takes some pressure of LBJ. It isn't like IT is a scrub, he has his defensive flaws, but he's a pretty damn good player (albeit, the hip issue is a concern). Cleveland must have had some other pretty good offers on the table for Kyrie.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 04:40 PM) So WTF? Ainge basically thinks he's getting an extra year of security out of the guy and in exchange he gives up the draft pick? Do people think that Irving is a better player than Thomas? I do. That said, I don't get why Ainge is willing to this yet make weak offers to Bulls for Butler (where they could have put him with IT and others). I do think in isolation Irving is better then Thomas. That said, I think in aggregate, Boston paid a hefty price. Very good deal for Cleveland though. Getting the Nets pick puts them in a much better position if LBJ walks (and at that point I presume they'd also move IT).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 08:05 AM) If the guy threw 98 or had a nasty breaking ball or great change up, something, I could see the team's attraction. He just seems mediocre across the board. To me, his upside is still a gas can. I thought Covey had some ability to maybe become a quality reliever, but man, I couldn't fathom how it would be possible to give up as many hr's in as few innings as he has. 17hr in 45 innings has to be as ridiculous of a stat as I've ever seen. Over a hr per three innings. If you extropolated that to 200 innings, he'd give up 75.5 HR's. That is absurd.

I thought this was an interesting read / theory. The points around Arya made a lot of sense. I'll make the bold claim that Littlefinger will die in the next episode. http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/ne...eason-7-theory/

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 02:01 PM) If Sansa really does try to kill Arya now, it would be the stupidest writing ever. I figure if anyone does the killing it would be Arya. Sansa is just smarter and far more grown up. The reality is they didn't get along and neither of them really know what happened to one another over time. Sansa has toughened up a lot and if Arya knew the truth, I think she'd have a lot more respect for Sansa and recognize that they are more similar then different. I presume at some point they are going to figure that out.

QUOTE (SexiAlexei @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 01:58 PM) I took the conversations with Littlefinger and with Brienne in a completely different way. Littlefinger said something along the lines that Brienne would protect either sister in a fight no matter who started it. So if Sansa wanted to kill off or get rid of Arya, Brienne could not be there. Sansa's whole story about sending Brienne as her proxy to this meeting is just an excuse to get Brienne out of the castle. Sansa started to get angry with Brienne in their meeting because Sansa just wants her gone. She doesn't care what Brienne has to say. I expect Sansa to try to kill Arya in the finale. Either that, or this is a huge mind game with Littlefinger. I can see that as well. The stark characters in general are just fantastic (as are the lanisters). To me the show could do without any of the other families and I'd be entertained. My exception to the rule is Bran.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 12:34 PM) Sansa said she hadn't heard from Jon in weeks. So that, to me, meant he hadn't communicated his terrible plan to her. Sansa sent Brienne away after Arya started coming at her, and after Baelish said, "hey maybe Brienne could help you with Arya." There are literally any number of Northern lords that could have gone to this summit. Sansa sending her bodyguard away as her proxy makes absolutely no sense. Sansa sent Brienne because she doesn't trust the lords (I presume) and also because I think she trust Brienne more then others and believes Jamie would not hurt her. If you were the starks, would you want to send a Northern lord to deal with the Lannisters....don't you think Sansa remembers who the Bolton's were and what they did. Heck, just think about how the Tarly's turned too. The last thing I would do if I was Sansa was send anyone other then someone who is extremely loyal to me to visit Cersei (cause she can and will turn almost anyone). I presume it was the reminder of Brienne's loyalty (from littlefinger) which made her think about sending Brienne on her behalf.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 12:10 PM) I have to believe that Jon has communicated his plan to go north of the wall and get the wight to her at some point. Even if he didn't, that explanation would have been provided in the invite to the summit with Cersei since that's the whole point - come see proof of the army that we all must defeat. She'd be pretty negligent in her duties as Queen of the North if she doesn't at least attend a meeting to discuss a possible coalition to defeat an army that is so close to her territory. And she needs to send someone she can trust. I don't buy that she can't trust Littlefinger (with her life anyway). He's had several opportunities to kill her if he wanted to and hasn't. He had no obligation to bring the knights of the Vale to save her and Jon and win back Winterfell. And I think she's still surrended by northern bannerman. Littlefinger would be foolish to kill her at this point. I dunno, I don't see a problem there. I thought Sansa said she hadn't heard from Jon in weeks (or maybe I'm misremembering). I agree that Sansa didn't want to go to be prisoner and thought Brienne was the best fit, since Jamie would likely protect her. What I didn't follow was I presumed Sansa was going to use Brienne to talk to Arya but maybe there is something else related to this and Sansa/Ayra are just going to have a deep dive hear-to-heart. Honestly, at one point, I thought maybe Ayra was going to kill Sansa.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 11:15 AM) He's a bit off, but it isn't like he was throwing 89. I wouldn't write him off. He needs to find a way to throw strikes like Thornton and Kahnle. I don't know if it will happen, and am sure his head is probably pretty screwed up right now and probably overloaded. His talent is still there IMO, but when you are always behind, its a double whammy because you have to lay it in there, and guys won't swing at stuff out of the zone. Just like a hitter, he's got to get himself better counts, and he needs to convince himself he can consistently throw strikes. I really have no idea why they called him up. He was set up to fail. I agree with you on the set up to fail and that goes back to when we drafted him and rushed him through. Maybe it is all mental, but the stuff just doesn't look special. At best case, he can hone things in out of the bullpen, but I haven't seen any indication of the stuff that made him a top 10 pick. Not sure if there were mechanical changes that threw everything off or what, but even when I ignore the command, I just don't see sharp crisp pitches (even in flashes). And I like to think I'm relatively patient with prospects. Only reason I could see having him up right now is if the Sox think they have a solution to his woes and want him to work with Cooper and they need to let him start so he has more chances to repeat the tweaks, etc (i.e, more innings to practice) vs. letting him get that work in while pitching in the pen. Reality is the major league coaching staff is part of the development team for the foreseeable future during the rebuild.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 09:21 AM) I just hate that he was relegated to 3rd team where he gets less reps during preseason. I want to see Trubisky take over after the bye week. I am unconvinced by the notion that sitting behind a QB for year 1 is this magic want that turns raw QBs into their highest ceiling. Good QBs are good because they can make adjustments during the game, during the season. The bears offensive line is good. They have a good running game. But they have a bunch of same-y receivers. That plays better into the game of a QB who goes through progressions well. That said, I think the Bears may actually be good this year. Good in the "we see the final pieces they need to be playoff team" good. I just think there are key things a QB needs to be able to do so they can have learning moments. If we can only implement a small portion of the playbook, I think you are giving Trubisky a disservice in the process, vs. allowing him to get comfortable taking snaps, getting familiar with NFL preparation, etc. Even get to see Glennon go through adversity and challenges. It also positions the fan base to be in a better spot vs. throwing him in after a couple preseason games and expecting the world. We can't just play him in shotgun the whole time and if he isn't ready for the snap (Mike McCarthy had some good quotes talking about college QB prospects these days and how much they need to learn about just the basics...getting plays in / out, calling out the line protections, taking snaps from behind center, etc....before you even have to think about reading defenses, understanding the complex blitz schemes, etc. That takes time and you kind of need those basics down before you have enough to really be able to "learn" from your mistakes. Taking an elite A ball talent and putting him in AAA and letting him fail miserably probably doesn't teach him anything, because he isn't yet ready to comprehend/benefit from those teaching lessons. Having a good six or seven weeks to watch is not a bad thing, not at all. I can't see anything going sideways in Mitch's career from sitting 7 or 8 weeks and getting perspective. I could see things go sideways if he isn't ready, fumbles a ton of snaps, sucks massively, and loses confidence because he isn't prepared (and NFL D's know he doesn't have a full arsenal of plays to work through and can really lock him down). I see nothing but bad coming from that. Now that point is obviously an extreme, but I've heard from more then just McCarthy talk about the adjustments between college to pro's for most college QB prospects these days...and the reality is, it takes time to get those basic NFL pro-style offense traits down (this is to no fault of Trubisky). The spread flat out doesn't prepare you and to assume you can just pick it all up over a couple months of practice and be ready to actual learn from your challenges is just too aggressive a notion, imo. Bears D looks like it should be good, albeit, the CB play is still too weak and we still need another pass rusher + more playmakers. However, I like the direction it appears to be headed (at least with Bullard being a pre-season beast). Offense should be able to run the football, but we lack playmakers for the QB and that will impact the ground game to some extent (since we have no one who can stretch the field). Still....while we will likely have an awful year, I think we are headed in the right direction...of course Mitch being the guy to drive the car is a key piece to all of this (and having a deep ground game to help him and a solid defense would be nice...we do need to get him that flashy wideout though and hope Simms/Shaheen can be that piece from the TE perspective).

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 09:23 AM) Bran/Sam, which weren't good storylines to begin with, should be paying off now. But they didn't have time so they became unbearable. The 3-eyed raven could not be more insignificant. Honestly...I don't like the 3 eyed raven story. I'd have been fine without it...although I presume there is more of the story still to tell. There were good parts, such as hodor and other information that came out because of him. All these critiques aside, I love the show.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 09:32 AM) Giolitto better look awesome tonight, or he's a bust as well. Did you see what he did last year? Moncada, Fulmer, Collins....confirmed busts Lopez, huge questions. ERA over 6.00 and hurt.....most likely bust Giolitto, big game tonight will determine his status....very well could be a bust. For people who wanted full rebuilds, the patience is amazingly short. I would agree with you on all things, except Fulmer. He is a bust. His stuff is just not good. Don't know what happened, but he lost something. I wish he were hurt cause I'd at least have a reason for why his stuff become so non-existent. I've seen zero flashes of "special" out of him. I also think it tends to be easier to evaluate pitchers then hitters (as well).

I just want to say, now that I watched the 2nd presason game, the thing I like most about Trubisky is how freaking accurate he is. He just seems to lead his receivers and backs perfectly. He still has to build reading defenses, etc., but from the small sample size, when he makes up his mind to throw, he throws the ball on the money.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 08:33 AM) Maybe someone already mentioned this but the army of dead doesn't seem very scary anymore. Jon and his 5 or 6 friends literally killed a few hundred of them without suffering a single casualty. I guess you can count Benjen although those were odd circumstances. Still scratching my head as to why he didn't jump on the horse as well. I don't know...they killed the weaker footsoldiers with a strong hold position. The white walkers obliterated a dragon and Dany is going to have to think twice to bring dragons back. They have mass numbers...they are not necessarily expert fighters.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 08:44 AM) My thought here is simply by leaving a dead body lying around, you give the White Walkers a chance to come reanimate the body. By burning the body, there will be nothing left to reanimate, so to speak. That makes total sense. I was asking myself that last night and didn't have an answer.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 08:07 AM) Yeah, I'm not entirely clear on the strategy with Cersei. Like, they need a cease fire so Dany + dragons can look North, but Dany could just do what Stannis did and, you know, go North. An actual battle with the army of the dead doesn't work unless and until you get to the Night King. Right now, any losses by the army of dead are offset by any losses in life on the side of men being raised as wights. What value does Cersei bring to the table (other than maybe the mad genius of Qyburn?). I think she is asking for a truce...not necessarily joining of the armies.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 08:05 AM) The banter between the Magnificent Seven was perfect. Yeah...that was great banter. I enjoyed it...I do think they are rushing the pace too much, but if they dragged it out over more episodes, a bunch of people would probably complain (I'm not one of those people). They had a lot to cover in 2 seasons, but I also understand that the actors probably want to do new projects, etc.

I don't want to send Trubisky to the wolves, so Glennon is a needed piece right now, imo. If we play Trubisky too early, I think you do more harm then good. Maybe he overcomes it, maybe he doesn't. I'd much rather let Glennon go out and play mediocre (I hope he does well, but I think he can be mediocre) for a while until we aren't in contention. Trubisky has had more time to get reps, etc, and then turn things over to him (with lower expectations, etc and more prepared to play and read defenses). Putting someone out too soon could actually mean they regress because they aren't yet ready to learn. Trubisky isn't perfect, that said, he's shown a lot of skills that make you excited. We just need to calm that excited. I do think he needs to get more reps though (he got a ton in that 1st game...not enough in the 2nd). My presumption is he will get more reps in the 3rd game (probably play most of the 2nd half) and then get tons in the 4th game. And if Glennon is bad, then at least we've given Trubisky a few weeks on the sideline (and lowered expectations due to Glennon's poor play). And in the unlikely scenario that Glennon is really good...well I'll deal with that problem. I should point out that we should expect struggles...new system..new offense, minimal playmakers at the wide receiving position (somehow I hope White becomes good but I'm not holding my breath).

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 01:10 PM) Even the walks have stopped. He's one for his last twenty with 10 strike outs and no walks. He's not struggling, he's drowning. Anyone still convinced he'll climb out of this is deluded. You don't have to take the exact opposite point either, but now it's time to seriously consider that Moncada is a complete and total bust. It has gotten so bad that the Buxton comparisons are starting to look generous. I hope he turns it around, but watching him play leaves almost zero room for encouragement. Lol. Any hot take over 20 at bats should be totally and utterly ignored.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 09:43 AM) Got me too. Have to keep an eye on that Jose Abreu fella. Delmonico looks great at the plate so far. Really like his bat speed and that swing looks awesome when he's sitting on a pitch, very sweet swing. Don't know what to expect from him so I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride. IMHO, the next Sox contender will probably need some help from a few current roster players, maybe Delmonico is one of them? We'll see. A guy like Delmonico becoming a good "DH" to me speeds up the window we can contend. Similarly, Avi actually being good, also speeds up the window. That gives you two solid complimentary position players, before bringing on guys who you are hoping to be "stars". We need that...depth matters. You hope Davidson / Leury others maybe emerge too (even if you get guys who show more as being platoon/bench guys..that can help). Of course we also need to hit on some of the top guys as well.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 07:43 AM) .825 would be pretty shocking. His MiLB OPS for his career is .773. He put up a .768 in his 100 games at Charlotte. He will go through some pretty serious regression here soon. He has a ton of raw power though. For some reason, whenever I have seen him (albeit on limited ocassions), he always struck me as a guy that could hit and who would actually hit better at the major league level. Quick hands, very pretty swing and seems to unload on pitches in the zone (something you generally see more of at the major league level). No idea what it is, but he looked the part to me in spring training and continues to look the part offensively now. I could never figure out how he wasn't putting up better numbers in the minors. It could actually be that at AAA he generally sees a lot more "junk" and that is something he struggles with more then good ole power pitching you'll see relatively often at the major league level (with guys around the zone more, etc). Could all be a bunch of horse s*** too though...haha.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Aug 14, 2017 -> 01:28 PM) Love your posts and certainly don't mean any offense by my thought and don't really aim this to entirely to you, but I always thought it was interesting how people could take such a small sample size out of such a long season on a player so young and let themselves make general assumptions about that player's success. During his development years, there were COUNTLESS 10 game periods (roughly 30 ab's) when Paulie couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if you held it still for him and he turned out to be a pretty decent fastball hitter. It's the story of slumps...some all-star caliber players stay in them for weeks. Some start their career with a long one. Maybe it's just because there have been so many "top prospects" to bust--people already sit high on the skepticism meter on new players. To me it takes 3-4 abysmal YEARS of being in and out of the lineup, up and down between MLB and MiLB for me to start wondering if someone just can't adjust to MLB pitching. In other words, the Gordon Beckham story! Even then, there's been too many cases where a player figures it out later to end up being able to contribute on an MLB team. 30 at bats though...10 games...whatever--that's tough! Mike Trout was 4 for his first 30 (.133) with 8k's. With us--Moncada was 4 for his first 30 (.133) with 11k's. Someone with Moncada's hype got hyped because he CAN turn gear up for MLB caliber pitching. Just because he hasn't done it in the MLB games doesn't mean he hasn't hit his fair shares of 99mph fastballs between pitching machines and facing some of the top talent in the game at the minor/international level. I'd be more concerned if he couldn't hit a change-up--but even then, I'd give him a few years before I assume he would perpetually struggle with them. This exact post is why I would like the White Sox to find a way to target guys like Joc Pederson. Dodgers have a glut in the outfield...will probably consider moving Joc and while the Sox don't have anything to offer, I would be all for being a 3rd team and potentially leveraging prospects to facilitate a transaction that worked for all sides. If people want to think patience, think Joey Gallo, ultimate top prospect, very early call up, saw his stock slip a bit and then re-emerged this year as a great player. He was always really young though and it wasn't that long until he re-emerged, but I'm sure if it were a Sox prospect, we would have went that entire next season talking about how Gallo was a bust.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 10:07 AM) That is missing a guy who has 40 homer and 40 double potential, plus seems to have a feel for hitting for average at the same time. He makes contact, and has a K rate in the 20% range so far this season. It is a tough call. I think that Moncada has a higher ceiling because of his speed, but I think Eloy is much closer to his ceiling. If I had to bet on it, I would guess that Moncada may have a path that more resembles Avi's while Eloy could be a guy who could hit more like Bryant and hit from day one. I can't put Moncada and Avi in the same sentence, because Avi has zero OBP skills, while Moncada has ability to have elite OBP skills. Reality is, Moncada should be good (even with a high k-rate)...however, if he gets his k-rate in check (and presumingly as a result hits the ball with solid / strong contact on a regular basis, while leveraging his power tools, etc), we are talking about someone who can be elite. Jimenez has elite skills as well...more raw in the sense that he needs to prove himself at higher levels...but someone who has proven more from an ability to reduce k's, etc. I continue to say, it is very very difficult to be a very good offensive player if you strike out a lot. Similarly, if you can't draw walks at all, your ability to be well above average offensively is also limited. The nice thing about quite a few of the newcomers to the Sox system is they have demonstrated strong walk abilities (which can be hard to teach) but most do have the flaw of high k-rate's. That said, you can hope with time/development, you can see improvements to those factors on the down-side and potentially more noticeable improvements. I continue to be of the believe that advanced stats don't accurately account/negate for the strikeout.