Chisoxfn

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 10:30 AM) I have no doubt the Sox are going to try to make their splash earlier this winter, as opposed to later, so as to try to sell more tickets on hope. I also have no doubt that we are no where near competitive on Max Scherzer. We are talking about a contract that will be somewhere around $100 million bigger than the biggest contract in franchise history. We are also talking about a franchise that has signed exactly 4 pitchers to contracts of longer than 3 years. Two of those deals were for young pitchers buying out arb and free agent years. Nothing about Max Scherzer makes sense with the White Sox. I think the only way it makes sense is if Scherzer thinks he can go short and then get another big money deal. Problem is, in that case, he'll just get the team to give the big money deal now, with an opt out to allow him to bet short. If somehow he were interested in a 3 yr deal, I'd be more then willing to give him $30M per year and call it a day. Prefer the short-term expensive vs. tail risk. However, more so then with other Sox teams, I could get more comfortable going bigger money on a pitcher, given that long-term we have what would appear to be a very cost-controlled unit that allows us to splurge. Having 3 frontline pitchers, two of which are arguably elite, is a huge advantage, especially when you have one of the top pitching prospects in baseball to go with him. That right there is a means to compete. It even allows you to go cheaper in other areas, as long as you prioritize defense, which typically can be filled cheaper then offensive players (although we will see how the markets evolve based upon the Royals success). Again, I'm not saying whether Scherzer is the guy but I think that is a team that could contend now and to be frank, if it makes the post-season, would be extremely dangerous based upon the rotation. My problem still is the fact that Max will ultimately get something like 7 years which I just can't justify.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 09:54 AM) Of the major sports, I think sitting in the 10lower level is most important for basketball. Sitting in the 300 level for hockey at the UC isn't bad, but it sucks for basketball. Yeah for hockey, I like center ice, elevated, gives you a nice perspective of the game. Clearly being on the boards is cool too, but not as good from a pure viewing experience of the game. To me, if you are going to go to 1 or 2 games, the experience of being right on ice or really close to a field is awesome, if you are a season ticket holder or go to a lot of games, the elevated view center ice (behind home if talking baseball) is the best place to be for hockey/baseball. Football is bad from all places, for me it is a go once every other year or so cause it is fun but the actual viewing is pretty bad from most anywhere. Basketball is the one place where the whole experience changes by getting in that lower level. You really appreciate how good and fast and strong everyone is.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 09:46 AM) One thing I think we can say for sure is that this isn't the same "meh" return we appeared to be getting from Rose last season. It's really impressive at how relatively little rust he has when he was so off last year. You can tell he really put the work in to get back to form. I'm not about to say he's perfect or the team is, but I've also long said this will whole process will take time. Lots of new faces in the rotation. I think this years return, the reason he is less rusty is because of the time he spent leading up to and including the FIBA tourney. The thing I've been most impressed with is he seems to be a better passer then he was before the injury. Again, small sample size, but I've seen a lot more nifty passes from him and I expect improvements in this area as this would usually be something that can often take a lot longer, especially with new teammates.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 09:16 AM) I've been in the 100s for the Illini game at the UC, the viewpoint difference is huge compared to the 300 lvl seats I was in a few years ago for a bulls game. I now will only really buy 100 lvl seats for games (I really only attend the UC Illini game and White Sox games in person), so worth the extra few money. This is how I am for basketball (technically lower level is what I would say). For baseball, I am different in the sense that other then being right behind home, my favorite seats in the stadium are right behind home in the first row or so of the lower level (at most stadiums). Best view in the park is right where the announcers sit so being in that same range is just phenomenal spot to get a great view of the game. I also will only go to like 1 basketball game a year, so easier to splurge when that is the case.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) What good does it to to spend that much money and not have enough to fill the other holes? If the Sox spent that money, that fills some major holes and I would bet that they would also be spending money on the pen and other areas (more short term deals) and you'd see payroll go a little larger. It would be the situation where Hahn / KW were able to sell JR on it making sense and JR expanding the payroll budget to allow the move to happen. If you spent 25 but as a result, overall payroll went up another $10M (say from 95 to $105) in reality, if you are a fan of the Sox, then you could very much see a scenario where giving a guy a bigger contract makes sense. My problem is more in the years than the dollars anyway though.

I think Kendrick would be a nice fit for the Sox and have always been a fan. That said I am biased and always thought he would be better then he ended up being (just has a nice swing and uses all fields). Defensively, meh. However, Danks for Kendrick makes zero sense unless we are sending a lot of money or taking back some money. Danks for CJ Wilson and Kendrick might be a framework that would interest the Angels. There would have to be more involved in overall trade though and that be on the Sox side and even then I am probably crazy. All depends on how down the Angels are on Wilson. They would also obviously be interested in some form of swap involving Hamilton.

Adding a Scherzer or Shark to this rotation would be great, however, the cost, years, and tail risk is tough to swallow for a team with a payroll that won't exceed $100M. That said, the Sox are in a position, with other cost controlled arms, to technically be able to sign one picture to a big money deal. Potential for a front 4 long-term of Sale / Q / R / Scherzer (or Shark) is very nice. However, if you are talking Scherzer, you then are talking 2 guys with what would be deemed more high risk mechanics in your rotation (Sale being the other). Again, hard to predict cause you never know what will happen.

Also, if I were to try my hardest to find any excuse for the offenses production it would be the fact that they know with this defense, if they don't score every position they are pretty much toast...thus when they have a bad drive or two early, they get really tight, play even worse, and it just spirals out of control from there cause we are already down massively. Again...that is me finding my hardest to be some sort of optimist since the reality is we are going to be stuck with some of these offensive personell next year, even with a new coach. Although I would think we would at least be targeting QB if one our new HC / GM liked were to be available.

Is it as simple as saying that even our defense makes our offense look good? Haha. We clearly are practicing perfect but when we play in the real world none of our phases do anything perfect. Last two games...Brady and Rodgers, 14 incompletions, 11 TD's. Pretty sure Tannehill didn't have many either (incompletions).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:43 PM) Since Lovie's demise and the Bears bringing in the QB whisperer, who had to get approved by Cutler to get hired: Cutler 8-12 as a starter. Lovie's biggest problem with Cutler was he couldn't get the QB to stay on the field. Cutler's winning percentage under Lovie was actually pretty good.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:29 PM) This sums it up about right. David Haugh ‏@DavidHaugh 6s6 seconds ago That Trestman press conference was the oral equivalent of getting beaten 55-14. Unaware. Unprepared. Oblivious. Bears in real trouble. I usually hate the media and blowhard bear fans, but right now, I want them out in loud force to dry and make it more then clear that change has to happen at season end.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:23 PM) He'd be pouring that s*** all over the place without any cups around. Seriously...I realize Williams had the garbage time TD return but his average was still below 30 despite ~100 YD return. How many times do we need to take it out from the back of the endzone. First drive was just an epitome of how bad our special teams is and what a poor position it puts our team in. STart game inside our 10 because we try to run it out 8 yards deep and not only get to about the 15 (if that) we end up with a penalty and we start on offense on the road inside our own 10 (at about the 5). Then after we finish the drive (think we got two first downs before having to punt), we end up being in a spot where we should be able to turn field position, but instead we have a lousy punt and GB gets the ball at like the 35 or 40. So we give up about 15 to 20 yards to star our possession and then give GB about the same amount back (from where a good ST unit would have put them). Between the two that is a ton of yards in an era where the margin between winning and losing (unless you are this bears team) is extremely narrow on most Sundays.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:20 PM) When I was thinking about this, I totally agree. It makes a lot more sense to fire Trestman than even a coordinator. And if you don't want to fire a coordinator, how about re-assigning duties. Make Tucker a LB coach, put DeCamillis in charge of keeping the Gatorade bucket full. I figure at the very least, if you think players aren't playing and this is a major issue, you need to change who is giving the message so we can evaluate the personnel that Emery put in place as well. Firing Tucker won't solve anything (and don't get me wrong, I think he's bad) but doing it in season isn't a major item (hard to change schemes mid-season). And I realize lately I've clung to a lot of quotes / comments but it just shows me that Trestman is better off running a company then he is an NFL team. It is an entirely different dynamic to an extent and I also think the Bears as a whole (GM / HC) are kind of ignorant of the actual results. I'm tired of hearing we tried, I want to at least see changes, etc and urgency. Note, that doesn't mean throwing stuff, etc, but how many weeks in a row do I need to hear about good practices. I haven't heard about one bad practice yet or so it seems (only heard that after we won or something). I prefer the Thibbs schtick...all of our practices stink...always keep players on their toes, etc. You need to always be working to be better cause everyone else is all the time. I think the biggest failures and why I don't want Marc to stick around long term is his inability to control the roster / clubhouse and what would appear to be a massive inability of his offense to be sustainable. It would appear that what we do is way too simplest and with a year of footage, we got nothing else to do. What worked in the mid 90's doesn't work today. More footage, faster d's, etc. You got to always be a few steps ahead and evolving and my belief is that has passed us up and we are really working at a disadvantage every week cause the other team is far better prepared for us than we are for them. This does not abolish players either but I continue to say Harbaugh makes sense. Anyone know whether the front office liked Jim during his playing days in Chicago?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:18 PM) First back-to-back 50+ point defensive efforts in the NFL in over 70 years, yet no coaching changes made. I shouldn't have expected anything different from the McCaskeys. The smart fan thing to do would be to boycott the next few home games, but all the tickets are already paid for, might as well show up. (Maybe with a paper bag on my head) To be honest, the real thing that matters is what happens in the off-season. That is when the big decisions will have to start being made (or at least I hope they are made). If we fire people now, great, at least I know we'll have wholesale changes in the off-season, but what I can't put up with is if we go into this off-season and somehow people make excuses and we stick with this regime. With the offensive production we have seen, your offensive minded head coach doesn't get the luxury of hiring a new DC. If our offense was top 10 in the league and looking up and it was just our defense and ST that stunk, I could get behind that, but we are a complete disaster in all 3 phases and that is with some talent still on the field, especially on the offensive side. There is zero reason the offense should be this bad, NONE.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:17 PM) Maybe he actually needs to call Cutler out publicly. Maybe, just maybe, he needs to bench Cutler so he gets the message. I am okay with that, but lets not act like those two audibles make the difference either. I was screaming to play Claussen. See if our offensive issues are a QB problem. I think there are a lot of problems and I don't believe Jay to be the guy and don't want him. I also emphatically know that Trestman isn't the guy. Our offense is beyond horrible, is overly simple and well I won't even talk about our defense or special teams as I've consistently badgered that since last year.

I think firing Trestman makes most sense right now. Move Kromer in to interim head coach and go from there. See if that puts things in the right direction or not. At this point, how can anyone look at it and go, yes, it makes sense to have him as a coach. It is more then just the results on the field, it is how everything is being ran, etc.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:15 PM) I actually liked the first few passing plays too...didn't we complete two slants? Yeah, hit Morgan on a quick one from what I remember on one of them.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) LOL. Jay has to play better. Blamed Cutler for changing the first two plays from run to pass. Get him out of there. It is so bad though. Two weeks ago he blamed Jay for audibling out of running plays like twice. Adding 2 more runs doesn't make much of a difference in our overall play mix which is terrible.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 12:08 PM) Trestman is not made for the NFL. It explains why he hasn't been in the league for almost 10 years. He absolutely isn't. I kind of think Emery isn't made for the GM job either. I am sure more nuggets will come out of this conference too. If Emery wants to save his job, now would be the time to fire Trestman, see if players follow other coaches and roster personnel can do something worth while by end of year. If they can't, they both get fired but if this continues they both get fired no matter what.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 10:23 AM) @danpompei: That was a stunningly poor performance by the Bears, perhaps the most dysfunctional team I ever have seen in 30 years covering the league. The bright side is, as poorly coaches as I happen to think we are, maybe someone comes in this off-season and totally surprises us. Yeah, doubt it happens but as long as I get new people in charge I'll be happy for the time being. At least then I'll have some potential in my head cause right now I see none with the current crew.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 10:06 AM) I have no interest in Cowher or Gruden. I love Gruden in his role now - he cracks me up - but after hearing his thoughts for the last several years, I'm not real excited to have him as my head coach. I really believe Emery tried to outsmart everyone with the Trestman hire, and while it was an interesting hire, I think it shows just how important leadership skills are as opposed to just x's and o's. Some guys have one or the other, few guys have both. I think Trestman falls in the former category, unfortunately. Moving forward, I don't even know what you do. I want them to go for another cerebral type guy, but I'm afraid they'll overreact and go all meathead on us. I said it again, but it isn't just a head coach. Organization has to make wholesale changes in its entirety, imo. I also will continue to say bring in a good president with football know-how. See who he wants but if he wants Harbaugh you go do it and bring in the right scouting, etc.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 09:36 AM) Gotta hope Gruden or Cowher wants to jump back in. They didn't two years ago, so not sure they would now. And they'd probably want some personnel control, and Emery isn't giving that up. How many times do I have to say who cares. He is just a big a part of this mess. The answer is real simple...wholesale organizational changes. First bring in the GM, then the head coach...and to be frank, first bring in a president as they could decide they want to go after someone like Harbaugh but it all needs to start from the very top of this organization and move on down. I'm not saying fire Phillips, I'm just saying put him in charge of the non football leadership side of the house.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 08:40 AM) I would agree, at least most of the time. What if the Bears said an assistant or 2 has to go now, and if you balk, you will be heading out the door with them? I just don't think Trestman has the status to even try to bluff falling on the sword for his assistants. Maybe he would do it anyway, but something has to happen at Halas Hall. I would guess there is a chance Trestman doesn't get canned because he has 2 years on his deal, but is there any way Tucker and DeCammillis are Bears coordinators in 2015? I would think zero chance, so why not make a statement now? This season is over. 1 team in NFL history has make the playoffs starting out 3-6. He didn't even hire Tucker (supposedly that was Emery's guy same with Joey D). I think the problem is Trestman is too much of a yes / try to please person that he can't have the difficult conversations, make the difficult changes (both in-house with his coaching staff and in-house with players and personnel decisions).

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 08:06 AM) Jen Lada ‏@JenLada 9m9 minutes ago .@PatrickMannelly says sometimes Trestman would say "good practice" last yr & he'd look up & think "No it wasn't. Why are you lying?" Hmmm. Yeah well I keep hearing the players talk about all of these practices and it seems to be a total joke. Literally it appears there has been zero self reflection and difficult conversations / adjustments that have been made. This team has been lost and our coaching staff is an utter disaster (let alone players and GM).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 06:14 AM) Then that is on Emery. Coaches have to be a huge problem. Even though the score reflects it, when the Bears go into Lambeau, it isn't like Augustana going into Columbus to face Ohio State where the best player on Augustana isn't as good as the worst player on OSU. I was watching the postgame shows with all the ex players who were saying some of these things that were happening shouldn't be happening after one week in training camp, let alone the 9th game of the season. And they were blaming coaches. The defensive talent level may not be on par with others, but it isn't 106 points in 2 games bad. And that is with the foot off the gas. This team probably gives up close to 80 or more each game if NE or GB leave their starters in and play a legit entire game. Offensively, there is plenty of talent. To me, and I always defend Robin, there is a huge difference in how much a coach means in football vs. baseball. Trestman has to go. His entire staff needs to go. Emery, just with his poor decision of marrying the Bears to Cutler, probably needs to go and get back into strength and conditioning. The Miami game was bad. The New England game was about as bad as it can get, until GB. Perhaps the worst Bears game of all time. They thought they had a great week of practice and were well prepared. That shows you they are clueless. That is what happens when we have the worst coaching in the league. I'm not absolving Emery either or the players and I've been saying it is time for a clean house.