Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 20, 2016 -> 10:29 AM) It would be hard to tell in the long run, but in the games following, no effect. The first bad one, they won the next 2 games. The next one, they lost 11-8 but Gonzalez gave up 7 in 3 1/3 and Purke gave up 3. You could argue they wouldn't have used Purke because he was one they didn't use before, but it would be hard to imagine the Sox bullpen going 5 2/3 and not giving up anything. And losing Sunday had nothing to do with the bullpen being taxed on Saturday. Eventually it will, but I think Shields will eventually improve. By the way, I wasn't disagreeing with your notion on the overall 1-2 though in the actual games pitched. One would never know for sure, but I certainly wouldn't have been pegging either of the other options for some shutout or great game. In general, I think the bigger issue with this franchise is we are in a go for broke mode without having the appropriate resources to have a quality / worthwhile success rate on executing the strategy. That issue is bigger than the GM's and driven by the owner and this isn't going to change without a new owner / different vision (which given JR's age, I can't see him wanting to oversee a long haul rebuild). I personally presume he's viewing this as a, get into the playoffs if at all possible (for his own enjoyment) but also potentially to maximize / improve potential valuations. I don't expect him to be the owner for much longer (and no I'm not being morbid here, just saying I think he's going to sell the franchise sooner vs. later so he can see the direction it goes vs. putting it into a trust (now this could also be him just removing himself from chair duties and someone else stepping in since there are other stakeholders in the equation).

Draft will be here shortly...will be curious to see what the Bulls do and who (if anyone) they move these next couple of days. Always thought it was kind of interesting how the NBA has the draft so quickly after the season ends.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 20, 2016 -> 08:30 AM) There is a way. They scored 4, 10 and 2 runs. They would have won the game they scored 10. I don't think Danks or Johnson are giving up less than 4 to Washington. And you really think they would have held the Indians to 2? How many games did they loose because of how taxed the pen was though? I don't know, but there could be a carryover effect there which could drive Shields bad performance to costing us other games because of the use of the bullpen.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 20, 2016 -> 09:27 AM) In the very very least, it looks like House of Blues shows will be applicable. Not sure that means anything out in Cali, if there's one out there or not but good for the Chicago crowd here. See...my view is I didn't buy concert tickets with ticketmaster, it was only sports tickets (i.e., baseball games), so there should be something that would ensure that I can get a like size type item. I know the attorney's don't care about stuff like that but somewhere in the settlement, if I got hosed unfairly (for whatever reason I have no idea as I haven't paid any attention to this suit) due to violations of law or whatever it was, I should get replenished in something that would have been in-kind and consistent with what I previously purchased (or those "vouchers" should have some sort of economic value that I can apply for alternative use). I'm sure in the settlement they were applied some "form" of value so why can't I receive a similar value as an option (or maybe I can and I'm not smart enough). So for example, certain crappy seats at baseball games should probably be in the equation.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Jun 20, 2016 -> 09:46 AM) Where do you check to see what you have? The link for Active Vouchers? edit: nm, it finally opened. Yeah. It took a few refreshes to work. I honestly don't even know the last time I logged in, so I am sure I bought tickets as a guest before that I'll never get credit for.

So is this general admission pair only going to get me into some awful event that I have zero interest in going to?

I would have never known this, but I have 10 free pairs plus 11 discount codes. I'll take it. Good thing they go to 2020 as it should allow me to most definitely leverage these with my kids, etc. Hopefully there are worthwhile events and decent seats we can get with these. General Admission is odd so wonder what that really means you get. PS: Thanks for telling me about this, I don't recall ever seeing an email or anything and I really don't use ticketmaster much, if at all anymore (especially since I don't catch near as many games as I used to with the kids so young).

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 03:39 PM) Any reason why? Genuinely curious, maybe I'm too jaded on something and missed a bigger picture. The episode was just missing the punch that it so tried to deliver imo. These big events just fell flat. For example, after Arya kills the waif, and Jaqen is talking to her in the hall, he's like "yup, you are ready now". What? Why? Because you killed the waif? It almost seemed like Jaqen was afraid of her which is nonsense. I like Arya so I thought that moment was good. Not every episode is going to be amazing. The episode before that was just incredible to me and I thought their would be more in this episode, that said, the Arya moment was badass (not her kill but what she said to Jaqen) and I wonder if we look back a season from now and go, oh what a moment. I also felt Jaqen's reaction was more of a proud moment because she figured out who she was and what she really needed to do.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 03:22 PM) Eh the siege of riverrun was s***ty and boring in the book tooWhere things suck...they should just change it. I never read the book so I base all my opinions on the TV show (although do use google to learn more of the backstory on various characters which got more play in the book (for my own understanding). If they sucked in the book, than they should have tried to maybe liven them up / make adjustments (after all, now it is there story to tell since the author took his sweet ass time writing).

QUOTE (South Sider @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 11:23 AM) I'm fine with there not being a final fight scene with Arya and the Waif. What would have been the point of it anyway? It's pitch black in the room after Arya kills the candle. We're not getting night vision Game of Thrones battles and everyone would be even more upset with a pitch black screen and the sounds of a fight. The point is, Arya knew she had an advantage in the pitch black because of her "training" while being blind. The Waif did not and therefore died. Props to Arya for setting up that trap. I will admit the whole her getting stabbed thing is a bit odd. That wound should have been more fatal. Perhaps she was resting for longer than it seemed in the show before the Waif found her. As for the Blackfish going down in a blaze of glory, meh. I could take it or leave it. As soon as he decided to fight he was vastly outnumbered and the fight wouldn't have lasted long anyway. It's kind of pointless to have a scene where Blackfish kills a couple guys and then gets surrounded and killed himself. I would have loved to see him ride north, I'm a fan of the Blackfish, but it wasn't meant to be. RIP Brynden Tully. Yeah - I thought it was s***ty use of what should have been a pretty badass character (regarding the Blackfish).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 01:26 PM) I know it's unscientific, but I found it interesting, in April I went into the Sports Depot at USCF. I checked out the sales racks. They have jerseys of ex players Flowers, Shark, etc. then they had some Danks jerseys. Sure enough, a week or so later, he gone. The only Bulls jersey they have on the sale rack is DRose. So I actually came to a similar conclusion. I was at the NBA store in New York yesterday (just stopped in) and was going to see if they maybe had something cool for my son and/or daughter that was Bulls related. I didn't see anything but Rose stuff. I eventually found Butler stuff burried in the store (Behind even the noah stuff). That said, probably has a lot more to do with overall sales as I think Rose is still pretty high on merchandise sales for whatever reason. I thought to myself...hmmm...does the NBA store know, haha. I know they don't, but made me think. That said, it could be that they have not ordered a ton of inventory of Butler stuff due to what they hear (i.e., manage it). Hell if I know.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 01:17 PM) Top 15 player in the league won't win you a championship. Especially when some teams have more than one top 15 player. Move Butler if the price is right. Multiple top 15 guys in the league or a top 15 guy with multiple good players, could. Last I looked, while you strive for a championship, just because you aren't the favorite, should you just quit and just focus on the draft.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 01:01 PM) Sure, but the flipside to that is we have more than just 2-3 franchise players in the league. You can be a franchise player and not be a superstar (even though Butler is getting there based on his exposure and endorsements). Butler's a top 15 player in the league. Put him on the vast majority of teams and he's going to be the best player. Let's go down the list: GS (the big three) Cleveland (Lebron and Kyrie) OKC (Durant and Westbrook) Spurs (Khawi, maybe Aldridge) NO (Davis) Those are the only teams with guys I would take over Butler no questions asked. I'm sure i'm missing someone obvious, but it's still a small list. To me Butler's on that next tier with Paul George, Damian Lillard, Boogie, etc. Guys that aren't winning you a championship by themselves but are still great players that won't allow your team to become the Sixers. Obviously the dysfunction around the Bulls this year hurts that argument, but I don't think that was due to anything Butler did on the court. I still consider those guys franchise players based on their play and marketability. They're all recognized nationally and for good reason. No one thought Steph Curry was a franchise player until he was (or that the Warriors were a budding dynasty until they were..."they needed to get Love"). If we should only make moves for franchise players, than typically, you are going to be royally screwed in this league. Should we just quit for 20 years until somehow a franchise player lucks in your lap or should you consistently strive to be as good as possible (which should in theory position yourself to have the necessary assets to potentially be able to attract a key piece in FA and/or give you pieces to be able to land such piece via trade). Anthony Davis was a so called franchise player (and don't get me wrong, I'd love him on the Bulls and I still think he's the guy they will get after he eventually grows tired in his current situation) but what has he really done.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 07:18 AM) Yeah, must have been Yahoo. Webcrawler ftw!

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 07:26 AM) She doesn't need Qyburn to know those rumors are true. Someone find Gendry and put him on the throne. Oh I know...just being a bit of a smart ass. I presume it will be some lewd act that was done by the high septor.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 04:51 AM) If the HS is actively sinning or being hypocritical, that would be a huge blow to his credibility. I just don't see how Wildfire is a "rumor" anymore. It was confirmed. Cersei could go straight to the Alchemists and request some if she wanted. I almost wondered if Cersei was going to admit the rumor that the King didn't really have any royal blood in him and that he was in fact the Kingslayers lovechild. Talk about a twist

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 07:01 AM) Maybe so. I do not believe that Erik Johnson would have put up better numbers here than Shields will though. I think part of this is I think both are susceptible to the HR so obviously Johnson will have benefit of pitching in betters park and I would have guessed that Shields would have a better 2016 than Johnson with Johnson really being the better value in the following years (and obviously Sox made this move with 2016 top of mind, although, given they were taking on some extra years, I presume they also contemplated such and presumed Shields will still be a passable 4th / 5th in those years). I will continue to say, they should have used the cash and prospects to fill bigger holes, but that is just me. That said, I hope Shields kicks ass for the Sox.

Avi in the field is atrocious. I hope from time to time that he'll figure out how to hit where he can serve value in a platoon role / DH type role, but he'd have to severely improve offensively and the longer he plays at this level without any sort of sustained success, the less likely. Avi is about the only position player they have shown patience with (outside of Beckham) and part of it is because we haven't had any other even remote options to leverage from our system (with Trayce being the one and he's kicking ass now for the Dodgers). Avi is so so bad defensively, that he'd have to hit a metric ton to offset his porous defense. He's such a negative defensively, it isn't even funny (and given his tools, I'm not sure how he is so bad in the field, but he just is).

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 06:47 AM) The Timberwolves wouldn't trade Wiggins straight up for Butler. I think they would. The Bulls would probably do Wiggins plus a combination of other players without the 5 pick. I think getting both would be extremely unlikely, if not impossible, however, if you get a bidding war between teams, who have young assets plus high picks, it does create the potential possibility. I think a Wiggins and a piece deal would be a lot more probable than any deal centered around the 5th pick (Wiggins trade value > 5th pick).

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 06:52 AM) I hope Shields doesn't spoil his dinner with all the innings he's eating. Everybody in the front office responsible for this trade should consider a different line of work. Shields is going to be an albatross so fast. I was never a fan of the trade, but Shields is not as bad as these most recent two starts. He's trending the wrong direction but he didn't just become the worst pitcher in baseball overnight. That said, I do think if given the shot in San Diego, Johnson, will end up putting up better numbers over the next three years than Shields.

Why are so many of you so short-sited and illogical. Clammor for minor league talent but write off guys after like 4 at bats (the Jason Coats hate is so abusrd). As is the Shuck and every other last guy on the bench talk. Idiotic. Tim Anderson will struggle too...its baseball and very few guys are Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. Anderson is going to have a run of errors and mental issues that will be natural for someone his age (who is still pretty raw) and I'm sure we'll see him struggle at some point during this call up (probably sooner vs. later but especially after people get a better look at him and pitchers start to adjust). Unfortunately, outside of Gordon Beckham, in many cases the White Sox front office's patience for young players has been about as short-sited as well, this boards. Unless you come up and are immediately awesome (see Sale / Q / Rodon), you are kind of kicked to the curb / cast immediate judgement on (this being overly blunt as there is a fine line here, but in general, I feel for as aggressive as we are at moving players up, we are not willing to actually be patient. Yes, I think most stars have something about them that they'll succeed regardless, but for quality low cost solid players, I think patience can often be the name of the game, and it is those type of players we can miss out on because of our impatience. This team was going to have to have everything go right to be a 90 win team (I think most of us said that from the beginning) and a lot of us pegged this as a team that would hover around .500, +/- a few games and with a few good bounces could be a playoff team (especially if they bought at the deadline). You compound that with all the injuries to the pen and now Jackson, plus Abreu being awful, and well, we shouldn't be surprised we are where we are. Of course we have played really really awful more recently, but given what made up 2/5th's of our rotation to start the season (Danks / Latos), again, I'd have expected some ugly issues given Rodon would have his inconsistencies (young pitchers with control problems, but above average stuff typically do) and than it would just take some offensive slumps or the random down game from Sale / Q and you'd see some extended losing streaks. I'd actually say one of the most dissapointing parts of the season is Todd Frazier. He is a continued trend of players we acquire who get worse vs. better. That said, hopefully he can make some adjustments to the league and have a more consistent 2nd half (yes, he's hit a lot of homers, but outside of that he's been pretty blah). Abreu clearly was a dissapointment as well, but honestly, I'm probably missing something, but those are about the only two guys who have underperformed significantly vs. expectations (and i know people will argue with me on Frazier, but I fundamentally am opposed to players whose only asset is power (thankfully he brings average defense) and right now that is Frazier's only asset. PS: I never said Jason Coats was some phenom and I'm not proposing starting him (he's most likely a bench player at best), but I do think that if you are going to promote and demote and reach judgement on guys based upon extremely limited at bats, well, most every single prospect you ever see will be a colossal failure. Also, as you know, I'm fine changing managers because it is a card available in a win or get fired season anyway for Robin (who I presume knew those were the expectations going into things). I think at the very least, you know if this team struggles, Robin doesn't get another year, so you might as well see if a change somehow helps light a spark (could or couldn't and like I said about, I don't really think this is much more than a mediocre to slightly above mediocre team when healthy. I will also continue to predict that Erik Johnson pitches better over the next 3 years than Shields.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 05:55 AM) Probably not but Thibs isn't married to Wiggins. Wiggins and #5 gets it done for me. I'm not sure Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, and Dieng is enough for Butler. Wiggins and the 5th pick and the deal is done. If you don't get Wiggins, I'm not making this deal. By the way, there is no way the Wolves are going to give up the #5 & Wiggins without intense pressure from another team (i.e,. Boston offering the #3, Brooklyn's unprotected pick in next years draft, and like Crowder or Olynk (or however the hell you spell it). I don't think Bulls would turn down either of those deals and to be frank, those are the only type of deals I'm going to make if I were in the Bulls shoes (and I put odds on either team offering up that as relatively low). My preference would be on the Wiggins and the 5th (but I still don't see a lot of reasons why Twolves would do it). Basically unless a huge bidding war breaks out over Butler, I think he stays with the Bulls. The real question is what happens with DRose, imo. I still think he goes somewhere for a late 1st. I don't expect Durant to leave OKC which is what could actually put the Bulls in an interesting spot (regarding Butler) as he'd be the best, potentially on the block asset in the league. My big problem is I don't want Hoiberg around and I don't like Gar. If we had a better coach, I'd be more comfortable moving Butler, but than again, if we had a better coach, I honestly don't think we are talking about moving Butler and instead are talking about moving Rose and finding a good point guard and other young talent to surround around Buckets. So kind of a who knows. I do think Rose needs to leave Chicago and he'll probably get better being another year removed from injuries, etc, but he clearly is too soft of a player and since he isn't a great passer and isn't a great outside shooter, his style isn't going to work that well in this current NBA regime unless he really wants to play aggressive and attack.

I want a game 7 on father's day. Cavs got hot, but that type of game will typically result in a Cav's loss (not a lot of ball movement, etc, but LBJ and Kryie hit their shots so it worked). PS: I was a wuss...am on the east coast and fell asleep when there was like 5 minutes to go (such a late start...opposite of my west coast complaints). Didn't help that I was up at 4 AM PST to get out to the east coast the same day.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 8, 2016 -> 05:08 PM) This team effectively traded Adam LaRoche, Erik Johnson, and Tatis Jr, for Shields at $10 million per for 2.5 years. I am good with what they did with the LaRoche money so far. Yeah...when you put it that way, I'm even more annoyed with the Shields deal.

LOL....I'll see what I can do.