Chisoxfn

Small sample size today, but he passed the eye test in-person today. Good at bats and he had quick hands on that HR (crushed it). The AB where he raked that double was nice. If he could play defense, we'd be on to something. I don't know if he'll hit good enough to be a DH.

I'll be at the Saturday game too. Will shoot you a PM.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 16, 2017 -> 10:39 AM) Almost every name that has been "connected" with Illinois so far I'd rather have than Alford. Obviously who knows how much truth there are to these rumors but that's my opinion on that. So you are saying every coach tied to Illinois is a better coach then Alford? I can rip on Alford, but he has UCLA in a really strong place. He's a much better candidate (at this point) then anyone UCLA is looking at.

Great read on the state of the Bulls from Ken Berger (with quite a few comments from "sources"). Not a lot that we don't know, however, the statement around the teams long-term plan (2018) was interested and really going back to the market kind of collapsing was very interesting (I hadn't heard that previously). Problem is all the dysfunction makes it so unlikely that the Bulls "capitalize" on that situation if it really happens. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2697770...r-chicago-bulls

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 11:30 AM) Mine now is 3 and he still takes 4 hour naps from 1-5. I'm hoping my second will be as good. Wow, that is a long nap. Our 3 year old is an okay sleeper (ends up walking into our room probably 30% of the time, but at least knocks out when they show up). Our 2 year old is a very good sleeper. Either way, getting sleep is something that is always appreciated. When a sickness goes through the house, it is the worst, because you aren't getting sleep and typically you are sick (or are about to get sick) so it just double whammy's. Hard enough when you are feeling good vs. when no one in the house is.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 10:59 AM) That is what you got out of the quotes? Wade directly called out the front office and actually defended Hoiberg. I am not a Hoiberg fan at all, but the issue seems to be with the front office right now, not Fred Oh I'm beyond defending the front office...they are clearly inept. I agree with Wade's quotes. That said, Mirotic and others have been pretty damning of Hoiberg. Of course, a lot of that is probably what he is being forced to do by GarPax. Despite my constant Hoiberg bashing, I will be the first to admit, he got dealt a really raw deal. I don't know if there are many coaches who could succeed what the Bulls front office did. From the neutering of Thibs to giving Hoiberg a roster opposite of what his system is (this is me giving him credit for having a system).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 11, 2017 -> 06:20 AM) Great post mark, thanks for all of the advice. Echo those sentiments. Great post.

The quotes coming out of Bulls players are pretty interesting. It certainly seems that communication isn't Hoiberg's strong suit (going all the way back to the Noah "benching himself" for Niko to be the starter thing last year).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 09:36 AM) Cam Payne can't pass or shoot. Even Hubie Brown questioned his ability to be a point guard. All their point guards suck. Rondo might be the best one. How Gar was gushing over Payne, that should be enough to tell you he isn't an NBA level talent evaluator. He probably could pick a good team at the Y. What was the goal here? Vince Goodwill, who is about as good as it gets as a beat guy even though he is a big Pistons fans, was saying when they traded Taj, things were going to go south that he was the true leader of the team. So if their goal was to fall short and get a lottery pick, then what they did was fine. But Cam Payne sucks. He looks like an 8th grader launching up shots. If the goal was to still make the playoffs, yet more proof that everyone in the world except his bosses knows Gar has no business doing what he is doing. The problem is they can't shoot 3's at all. That isn't going to work in today's game. Butler's heel is still bothering him, so that doesn't help. I also am sick of hearing about their offensive rebounding. Of course they lead the league or are near the top. No team misses more shots. Yep...Payne had some horrific turnovers against Boston. Maybe he can develop / emerge, but right now, I've seen nothing (albeit in limited action) which makes me overly hopeful. That said, not many PG's burst out in the scene over history...usually it is a position that takes some time. Amazing how many good PG's were kind of crappy players their first couple years. I think I said at the deadline, I'd have been trading everyone for draft picks (except Jimmy B). I thought we should give one more year of trying to build around him (but I was open if we got the right offer). We'll see what happens to Boston...if you are a Bulls fan, you have to hope they go down early as that should put a bit more pressure on Ainge to make a move. I agree with you that Butler is definitely playing hurt.

Worse yet...when Wade opts out (which basketball wise, isn't a bad thing), his commentary about his time with the Bulls will be death to the ability to lure any marquee FA (outside of Butler just being a stellar salesguy). I think I mentioned when we signed Wade, that if things went bad, it would put us in a bad spot if he left and was bad-mouthing his time in Chicago and at this point, I can't imagine anything other then that will happen. Which basically means that signing was a failure. It seems pretty clear from the trade deadline rumors that no changes were coming in the off-season. This appears to be the 2nd consecutive year where an inconsistent Bulls team completely shuts down and collapses late in the year.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 09:14 AM) KC Johnson made the point a few days ago - how can any of these guys start to gain confidence/momentum when Hoiberg is playing 10-11 guys a game? If you really want to see the young guns, play them. Hoiberg's rotations (lack thereof and overall inconsistency), haven't exactly put guys in positions to succeed. That said, they may all suck so it might have never mattered. There was a play yesterday where Valentine through a good pass into Felicio and it was like he didn't even know what to do (and completely botched what was a wide-open lay up). Jerian Grant flat out can't pass, yet we play him at PG. I have no idea why we are enamored with him...I don't want a PG who can't pass (unless they are an electric scorer). Having a PG who can't pass, isn't great defensively, and isn't a great offensive player is worthless. We have accumulated a bunch of worthless PG's.

I don't get it. Whenever I watch Valentine, I see a guy who has flashed more then Jerian Grant has ever flashed. I'm glad he's starting to get minutes, because he actually can pass. But man, this Bulls team is playing awful. I am curious if anything happens in the off-season. I may not have been okay moving Butler, but I green lighted moving everyone else and am okay playing young guys and sucking for the time being, because hitting on any of those young guys will be critical. In the limited chance I've watched him, Payne looks terrible.

Is he any good? 3 years ago I'd have been excited if we signed him, but I don't think he's done much last couple of years, has he? Clearly a capable NFL player, but he's forced what, one turnover in two years.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 08:23 PM) Is that it? That's a pretty s***ty run. Between Floyd and Howard, Pace beat Emery in one draft. Edit: I forgot Whitehair. People forget what a terrible GM Emery was. Yeah...the fact that is all he drafted is why he isn't here (along with Trestman). Pace's draft last year (one year in) looks fantastic. We'll see what this next draft brings. I wonder if Bears look at Poe / Pryor?

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 08:20 PM) Score one for the irrational. Didn't he sign Cutler and fail to draft anyone? He did draft Jeffrey and Kyle Long (while trading for Marshall and signing Bennett). He did other things wrong, but I can't knock any of those moves. His big fail was hiring Trestman. Trestman was just such a disaster (especially since it could have been Bruce Arians).

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 06:47 PM) Bears signed TE Dion Sims, formerly of the Dolphins, to a three-year, $18 million contract. It includes $10 million guaranteed. It's a ton of money for a blocking tight end who was forced into a pass-catching role for the Dolphins last season. Sims has a sure pair of hands, but is not a playmaker. He's averaged a well below average 9.4 yards on his 74 career grabs. He'll be second in line for targets behind Zach Miller. Source: Mike Garafolo on Twitter Did any team overpay for so little value than the Bears so far? Pace earns a D for today's signings. This deal was worse then the Glennon deal. He is basically the same guy as Lee and a bunch of other s***ty backup TE's we have. I realize we want to run the ball, but we need real weapons and those are available in the draft at the TE position (and we did give up a draft pick for Lee).

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 05:16 PM) I f***ing want Phil Emery back. Mark Hatley and Jerry Angelo. I actually liked Angelo...he didn't end strong, but he had a pretty solid run with the Bears. His biggest failure was drafting injured olinemen in his attempt to build an oline around Jay (oh and not being able to address wideout early in Jay's era).

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 03:58 PM) Judging by the fact that Alshon turned down a longer term deal from the Vikings and Alshon isn't work $14 million per, it's not surprising they didn't want to overpay him. We just gave a mediocre TE $10M guaranteed. Another head scratcher in my eyes (especially given we should be drafting at least one, if not two TE's in this upcoming draft). I'm not mad we didn't sign this big name guys, reality is, everything is going to come down to whether they can find a QB or not. I don't think Glennon is the guy, but I don't think they are stopping at him. I do think the Demps signing was actually a pretty good low key move. Signing Wheaton wasn't awful as I think he has some talent (hopefully he is healthy). HE isn't a #1 or anything close, so the way I look at it, we entered the off-season with almost no playmakers and a day into free agency we have one less playmaker then we had entering it and we have a major need at wideout. Oh and you'd think if you are looking for a QB, the path to putting that QB in the best position to "succeed" wouldn't involve giving said QB s***ty wideouts (which is essentially what we've done...its as if we looked at last years Rams playbook or the Lovie Smith / Jerry Angelo Jay Cutler playbook). Lot of time left, maybe we are going to give Pryor a buttload of money.

How did we manage to get worse after one day of free agency where we entered with a bagillion dollars in cap space?

Geeze...how could we not have worked out something with Alshon.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 10:35 AM) It's officially official, the Jay Cutler era is OVA! No surprise. So many mix emotions with this. Jay/Bears never took advantage of what could have been. I presume the Rams will sign him.

I'm still holding out hope that we resign Alshon and sign Bouye.

Bulls with another awful 2nd half. I think Hoiberg should be coach of the year...that way we can kick him to the curb and say he stinks and find someone else who can put this team over the top.

Even though Demps is a bit older, the guy has forced a lot of turnovers the past couple of years (especially last year). Contract seems pretty reasonable, all things considered, and while older, it certainly fills a void. I presume we will be drafting a safety or DB very early in the draft (if not multiple DB's).