Chisoxfn

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 02:47 PM) For those that are wanting Rich Hill, he is close to signing, Rays and Padres look to be the front runners. I get the reasoning why some people wanted Hill to sign with the Sox, but injury risk, and the amount of innings he has pitched in the last 6 years just don't add up with his age. I have zero interest in Hill. I'm okay with Buehrle because of the intangibles, etc. But I'm not bringing in Hill when I think we have some other in-house options (along with a trackrecord of developing internal talent). If we spend money, it should be on positional talent where we have proven we can't develop crap.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 02:48 PM) There are plenty of people still going to games, even at this reduced rate. Another "White Flag" trade would put the franchise in a state where they might as well start looking for a new home. This is a middle market revenue team, keep in mind. Following the white flag trade, we eventually went on one of the franchises best runs, so that might not be a bad thing. The fan base came back and was at its peak following the world series that was one again, following the trade. I'm not saying the trade directly impacted the world series, but the 2000 era White Sox were molded from that trade (along with draft picks, etc) and then a contingent of that base evolved into the 2005 champ. Additionally, this is trading your best player for prospects. Yes, it is a sign of a change in strategy, but unlike the white flag trade, we are not a few games out of the playoffs or favorites for anything right now. We are a combined 59 games under .500 over the past 3 seasons. Also, from an attendance perspective, while the white flag trade (along with other things) led to a 400K decline in attendance from the 97 season into 98 and 99, the Sox followed that up with the best attendance run in modern franchise history (with exception with the early new comiskey years where they, like any other team, benefited from the newness of the park (and a pretty damn good roster).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 02:36 PM) With where Sale is at in his contract, I honestly don't think the Sox could be realistically offered enough to trade Chris. Factor in the PR disaster that would result from it, and it becomes even more unlikely. Maybe in a couple of years if the rebuild still hasn't gone anywhere you think about it, but pretty much the price would start with a current or soon to be star offensive player, and go from there. No package of prospects would be enough. I honestly think their recent performance is already a PR disaster so what real downside do they have. Ratings are bad, attendance is lousy, the team has struggled. Are you really going to disenfranchise that many more people? All we really want is wins and if you think it is the right move, then you need to make it. If a team is going to go crazy for Sale than you should probably bite the bullet vs. wait another year (if we really don't think we can contend this year). If the Sox take a, lets give this one more shot thing (given last years roster) and then if it doesn't work, we'll move some young pitching / others and retool, well then that just doesn't make sense to me. You have no idea if your assets get hurt, etc. So if they think they'll move Sale in a number of scenarios (depending on how the club performs this year), then I think you move him now (or at least listen to offers). Bottom line is we need to find a lot of quality position players and figure out a way to become a good defensive team. In this era of baseball, you either find a way to have an unusually potent offense (and live with mediocre pitching) or you have awesome pitching and strong defense. Right now the Sox have a crappy offense, a crappy defense, and above average pitching...that just doesn't fly. And they don't have a ton of young position talent to upgrade the area, so they are going to have to look outside of the org to find the talent. Hindsight is 20/20 and I probably am making things sound worse then they are (as I still think with the right moves, we can contend pretty quickly), but I think it will be a challenge to get their without moving existing major league young talent and leveraging our young proven pitching to get position talent while relying / hoping our track record of developing young pitching can continue to be true (and thus we get to the spot where we have the defense, hitting, and pitching to become an elite team). Right now we are just such a flawed / patch work team. It was as if strategically we had no idea where we were going to go last off-season and instead of being strategic in where we headed, we kind of pieced it together and knew the collective parts didn't mesh but hoped the overall results would somehow overcome it. It also reaked a bit of building a team without appreciating / considering the current roster construction in baseball and the deflated offensive era and the overall importance of a run.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 02:28 PM) I haven't seen any that said he actually did. I have seen ones that said he should, or he could, not that he actually has done it. Given Dombroski's track-record and history of finding ace starting rotations (and building around an ace or two) as well as his aggressiveness when it comes to trade (and use his prospects), I would be stunned if he hasn't asked the Sox about Sale. Absolutely stunned. I also think Sale is probably the best chip to move, but obviously a lot of risk with moving him. You need to get a huge haul and you need to be extremely confident in your scouting. I'm to the point now that I used to be totally focused on pitching, that I'm totally switched and we need to find talented, toolsy, multi-faceted position players who can contribute on a daily basis. While Sale is amazing and awesome (as is Q), the premium right now is on positional talent. Pitching is just so freaking good that the old addage of you can never have too much good pitching is less true because their is just so much damn good pitching.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 01:23 PM) Some of us have been around too long! I remember many a night, being on the 3rd shift chat crew....trying to keep posts alive at 3-4 AM EST! Mr. Gamecock himself. The guy who think USC is a team back east

I think MLB would be better suited if they were able to make it where a slew of moves happened much quicker in the process. Unfortunately, without a salary cap, it is hard to create that sort of flurry that would be good for overall baseball ratings. I suppose they also like the fact that they are in the news for longer, but I love the flurry that comes with football / basketball. That said, with football, the off-season gets so boring after the draft.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 09:38 AM) All but one looked ugly. I mean i'm happy he was making them, I just don't trust that he'll hit a shot. He should be driving and kicking, not shooting 20 footers. I would argue players completely underuse the backboard. That shot is easier using the glass and he was extremely effective with it. I hope he uses it more.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 09:11 AM) Nikko is pretty worthless if he's not hitting shots. Rose still has the worst jump shot in the entire league. For a guy making so much money, and being out for so f***ing long, you'd think he would have developed one by now. I literally cringe anytime he shoots. "Trying" bank shots from 18 feet? Wtf? I understand complaining, but most all of his shots last night were good shots and he hit the vast majority of his bank shots. He was shooting a ton of short to mid range shots last night. It is the longer shots that I don't want him taking and with blurry vision I'm somewhat surprised he's been able to have some of these good games. Rose was very good last night.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 07:42 AM) The whole show is filler, there is no real end game to it. I am not certain what the bigger picture could ever be for the series other than what is going on. It's a show about zombies and people trying to stay alive in a lawless society. I think this is the best season thus far. Each episode is pretty good. I agree with you. I also think the Daryl episode is going to set-up a lot. Curious to see who this other group is and what they represent (this is coming from a non-comic book reader).

Bulls defense has been strong. Right now they are just so inconsistent. Niko was brutal as was the Bulls free throw shooting. Niko's D was just awful. Way too many easy 3's.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 04:03 PM) Just curious, coming from someone who doesn't watch TWD- Were all the conspiracy theorists correct in their predictions that Glenn would come back? No one knows yet and most everyone is pissed that TWD is stalling on it.

TWD was pretty awesome last night. Maybe just cause any episode that involves significant Daryl is going to be badass. Curious where they are going to take this and what the cliffhanger will be. Just two episodes this left till the break.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 12:49 PM) Manning out for the game this week against the Bears. Maybe the Bears can actually go 5-5. I think, right now, the Broncos are a better team with Brock at the helm.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 12:42 PM) Can't you franchise a player for 2 years now? Yeah...I just meant we could do it next year no issue. A 2nd year makes it tougher on the player and the people around you (plus you take the big cap hit both years). I think something gets done. Fox had Jeffrey talk about getting to the finish line prior to the Chargers game so I think it shows Fox thinks highly / wants Jeffrey in that leadership role.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 12:58 PM) I don't think Melky would require the Sox to eat cash, he just wouldn't bring much in value back in return. Robertson has already been covered in the past few posts - but he's pretty much the same story. Melky is signed for 2 more years at $29M. If he were a FA, he would get well in excess of that. Melky is a pretty good hitter, the Sox just need to get him out of the OF everyday. Play out there every now and then, sure, but not everyday. I think Melky has a real nice bounce back year next year - not that his numbers this year were god awful - they really weren't. He is not someone the Sox should be looking to move, they should be, however, figuring out how to slide him over to DH and getting a real corner OF. Problem is, LaRoche is probably immovable without eating 75% or his contract. I think Melky will have a bounce back year, but their is no way he'd get 2yr 29M on the open market today (coming off of the season he came off of). None...zero.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 12:34 PM) I don't think that will be as easy as you think Then you can franchise him for at least one year.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 11:06 AM) So Charles Leno....is he a guy? Really haven't noticed him at all, which is a good thing. Same for Long. If those 2 are OTs, that's huge. Assuming they resign Alshon, and roll with Langford/Carey next year, an OG might be the only thing they need on offense. That would leave them with a lot of money and picks to really help the defense take yet another step forward. I still think we are best having Long back inside and finding a solid RT. Lets go with the superstar guard and a solid RT. Have Slausson on the other guard spot and that is two maulers inside who will help our rookie and ideally two solid tackles. Reality is Bears probably stick with Long since it costs more to find a tackle then a guard.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 10:17 AM) I think they said "for a tight end" Could be. Seemed like as long as a play as I can remember.

Bushrod's back is messed up, but Leno is young and is playing solid and seems to be getting better. He handled Quinn (who came off the bench this week as he still is recovering from an injury) and seemed to keep his stat sheet clean. It also seemed like Leno was getting less help in this game then previous games. I'm not saying he's a stud, but right now, I don't know why you'd turn away from Leno. We need to see what we have in him cause he looks like he might actually be a keeper on the left side. Note I said, looks like, I didn't say he is.

I was so pissed when the Rams took Donald. I thought for sure he was going to fall to the Bears pick. Thought their was no way the Rams would take another dlinemen. Slausson gave Jay a lot of credit, saying he had audibled to those big plays.

RIP. I had many a laugh with and at the expense of Don Vito. Viva La Bam was one my favorite shows during its early run.

I have a smart watch and I like it a lot. I thought they'd be stupid but I love my pebble. Thankfully I got it for free. But simple is often times best and the simplicity of the watch (along with long battery life...think is lasting me on avg 8 days per charge). But getting the little notifications on my wrist is great, especially when I'm busy with the little ones and my wife is asking me a question (at another store or another part of the store) as we are trying to run the weekend errands.

I have engineered wood flooring in my house. We have the distressed stuff (on a concrete slab) and it has held up pretty well thus far (two little ones, etc). If you drop something heavy on it, you'll get a mark (say a pot filled with something) but even then, since the wood is distressed, it is only noticeable by us. About 2.5 years old and thus far would put it in again. I think when you install upstairs you have to be extra careful to ensure you have solid insulation (not sure what you do but I've been in some houses and you could hear a mouse walking on those wood / tile floors above and I presume it was because they didn't put sound deadening in between or went really cheap? Not even sure if it is called sound deadening or what, just using my own make believe words.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 15, 2015 -> 05:57 AM) You should read the Fire Kirk Ferentz Facebook page and those are comments from this year. It is amazing how many Iowa fans can't get in touch with reality. There are posts that say he is being out coached this year. The team has 8 four star recruits on its roster, and no 5 star. When he finally does leave, they aren't going to know what hit them. I don't know what else these people expect. It is really amazing. The team is 10-0 for the first time ever, and some people still can't enjoy it. It is delusional fanboys who think that Iowa should be Ohio State or Notre Dame or Bama. It just isn't realistic. What Ferentz has done at Iowa is awesome (when you look at it from a realistic fan perspective...not some delusional we should win the title). I still think it is crazy that Iowa had a team who in my mind was a national title team (the team that lost to USC in the Orange Bowl or whatever it was). That team had lost to ISU early in the year and crushed everyone. They got destroyed in the bowl against USC (with Carson Palmer) but it was more driven by the fact that no one knew what the hell to do / handle that 7+ week delay. Brad Banks was really good. Its funny cause Ferentz has probably had 4-5 teams that were on paper far superior to this team.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 14, 2015 -> 05:22 PM) Played golf with three Iowa fans today. All I heard was " they would never fire Ferentz". That narrative changes more than any other in conference No...I've made that statement for a long long time. I'm not delusional...I know we won't contend every year, but will be competitive every year with the occasional well above average years and you know what, that is just fine in my book.