Chisoxfn

On a sidenote, I really don't get people complaining about the Dodgers OF'ers wanting to play and being unhappy about sitting. They didn't sign 100M deals to sit on benches and not play everyday. They were put in this position by Dodgers management who brought in too many guys for an area (part of that was due to need because of various injuries, etc) but the reality is those guys are starters in the league and are paid to do so. It is perfectly fair for them to want to do it. Ethier played the good guy role back in 2012 and then asked to be traded last off-season. Dodgers didnt' do so and he was very very unhappy and it is no surprise his performance dropped.

To me, if this guy is worth $100M on the open market and because of the loss of rights, I can get him for 60 (including fines)...I do just that. I thnk about the number of guys above $300K that we would lose out on signing and it really isn't that big of a deal when compared with the potential upside of the one guy we are getting. I'd then just sign a bunch of guys for the 300K or less amount. That can still end up getting you quality talent in those particular years you are barred (go higher volume cause we still would have decent pools anyway).

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 09:22 AM) Neither would, but as the main piece I, personally would rather have Niese. I guess maybe I'm just a bit weary of trading Lexi for a guy who was never really that good in the minors. I mean I know prospect rankings should be taken with a grain of salt but looking at many prospect lists this Greene fellow never even ranked in the top 20. I've read a few scouting reports of his since you posted this and ya, I'm just not impressed. I certainly could be wrong on this and maybe something he learned at the major league level clicked with him and he will continue to be the pitcher he is now. I'd rather have Niese. I think he's the better pitcher long-term but I again, don't think he's who I am getting as the headline in a Ramirez trade. Neither of them are attractive enough headliners. You need more then that. We are talking about trading one of the best SS's in baseball. I want more then a slightly above league average cost controlled pitcher who doesn't have upside past that. At least Niese is slightly above league average, I don't think I can say that about Greene. Especially when I look at how our organization has been able to develop pitching and not positional talent.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 09:25 AM) oh i'm sure they will manage to end up 7-9 and get a mediocre pick Technically if I look at the schedule I would be surprised if we didn't end up with 6 wins, with 2 of them coming in the next 2 weeks.

Only thing I can give Emery credit for is his success in 1st round. 2 out of 3 ain't bad (Fuller / Long are solid). Personally I want us to focus on the lines. I think football is won with your lines and while our LB's suck and we need more talent there, I would be looking an impact end and probably an OT / OG for the oline. I think DT we have the two young guys and maybe make a run at Suh, although that is a tough decision to make given the cap space we have going to our offense and QB. Might not make sense but I think we should be accumulating pass rushers to the extent we can and trying to have as great of an oline as possible. Clearly we also have mega needs at Safety / CB / LB as well though. If an impact LT was on the board though I would have a hard time ignoring it or the DE because it would appear harder to find those guys later in a draft when compared to the other positions.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 06:53 AM) You're being really selective with statistics to make him look bad. Why didn't you include some of these statistics? -- 6th cheapest defense in the league saves the Bears money so it can afford some weapons for Cutler, who has none -- #1 ranked practice defense in NFL for two years in a row -- Defense broke Aaron Rodgers' clavicle more times than any other defense in NFL history Keep pushing your agenda On a sidenote, I didn't actually spend the time to pull that. I found it elsewhere and found it interesting. My only agenda is that this franchise needs to head a new direction. That is it. I want the Bears to win and I am convinced they won't do it with the current regime. I am not calling for coordinators to be scapegoated, I'm calling for top to bottom changes and a total clean-house. If you go through my posting history, I am probably one of the least overreactionary posters on this site but have been probably the most negative about the Bears for a while. Probably more negative about Emery then most, more negative about Trestman than most, and probably the first on here to really have my agenda against the DC and ST coach. My biggest agenda is with our ST coach cause what we have done there is just inexcuseable.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 09:03 AM) so how does this year's draft class look? Better then our past draft classes. Fuller and the tackles look promising and Karey doesn't look bad either. Still early but after the last two draft classes, where we missed on a heck of a lot of picks, this one seems to have more potential. We also have a shot with Vereen too. I think back to a year ago and while Mills was a nice value where we got him and Long was nice, we really whiffed everywhere else (although Wilson has a shot to redeem himself as well). The biggest thing was how badly we missed at the LB position. I think the other elephant in the room has been how poorly we have evaluated free agents and our current players as well.

What is so intriguing about Greene? He put up a league average ERA+, never had great minor league results. He's largley a two pitch pitcher who throws 90-94 and has meh command. Yes, his ERA looked decent in a rookie campaign but I'm not trading Alexei Ramirez for him. Not even close. Would be pissed as can be if that is all we received. There is no top of the rotation upside in him. The upside in him is a cost controlled #4/#5? Is that really a smart decision to trade Ramirez for?

On a sidenote, mad props to Jimmy B. Stud against Demarr. Pau has been a beast. So much more aggressive then his Laker days. Best of all, defense playing Chicago Bulls defense!!! McDermott looked awful though.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 06:53 AM) You're being really selective with statistics to make him look bad. Why didn't you include some of these statistics? -- 6th cheapest defense in the league saves the Bears money so it can afford some weapons for Cutler, who has none -- #1 ranked practice defense in NFL for two years in a row -- Defense broke Aaron Rodgers' clavicle more times than any other defense in NFL history Keep pushing your agenda I did say something nice, I showed that one year with Jackonsville he ranked 6th in the league. He really is terrible. I'm not saying Emery isn't either for giving him what they have to work with. But what is happening, is basic mistakes. Basic. And while there might be some selective statistics, when you look at the overall D ranks, overall scoring ranks, etc...there is no arguing it is downright bad.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 06:36 AM) Hamstrings and ankles were injuries that were popping up the season he first blew out the knee in the playoffs. He might just be one of these guys that cannot stay healthy. I understand the whole pacing himself for the playoffs, but if the rest of this season goes like this first portion or the strike shortened season he played, good luck thinking he will be able to give you 35 minutes each playoff game. The ankle was just stepping on a foot. This seems very minor, no medical staff checking him out. The team all smiles after the game. They were freaking out when he really hurt himself, but a pattern has developed. It is almost as if you expect him to tweak something every game, and he almost always does. They are injuries that can happen to everyone, but now they seem to always happen to him. I just hope I can get to the point sometime this season I can just enjoy his play, and not be focused on or expecting his physical demise again. The thing is, I think 3-4 years ago, we never even talk about this because he'd just play through it. He'd have been back out and played. I actually wasn't that nervous when I saw it because it looked more like he slipped then anything at all. He looked explosive that 2nd half and the Bulls D, well looked like the Bulls D. Get better D!! I do think that at some point we need to get regular stretches with him on the court though to ensure he is in game shape. Then you can do the every few weeks, especially around back to back's, here is a day off.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 05:27 PM) Oh my goodness jesus H christ. So in a little over an hour, we've got Davis surpassing peak KG, Hakeem, Duncan and being more valuable going forward than a top 5 player of all-time, injury proof, physical marvel and the greatest offensive wing talent of all-time? #soxtalk Yeah, pretty awful posts. I love Davis but insane to make those type of statements right now. That said, I do think Davis is a gamechanger and I think he will be a Bull in a few years!

I am not trading Ramirez straight up for either.

Remember, Emery hired Tucker. Look at how impressive this list of accolades is: "Fired after just one season for coaching the 26th ranked Defense as DC with Cleveland Browns -- That defense only accumulated 17 total sacks - 31st in NFL -- Went on to Jaguars where his defenses were ranked 23rd, 28th, 6th and 30th in yardage -- His Jaguar teams gave up on average 25 PPG while averaging just 18 sacks per year -- Was hired by Phil Emery / Trestman in an act of desperation when Rod Marinelli took a demotion just to get away from them -- Worst Rushing defense in history of the Bears - 2013 -- Worst overall defense in history of the Bears yardage - 2013 -- Worst scoring defense in history of the Bears - 2013 -- Most points allowed in a half ever by a Bears team -2014 -- Most points allowed over a 2 game stretch by any team in NFL in 91 years - 2014 -- Most TD's allowed in a half in Bears history - 2014 -- Most games with 50 or more points allowed by any DC in NFL history - 3 (2013, 2014) -- Worst PPG average for any defense in Bears history - 30.8 PPG - worse than the historically bad 29.9 (2013) -- Highest QB rating for opposing QB's over 2 game stretch in NFL (151.2) Brady and Rogers -- Has been responsible for coaching only ONE defensive player to get to the NFL Pro-bowl (Tim Jennings 2013) -- His defense allowed 4th down, last minute TD to the rival Packers to clinch playoffs and eliminate Bears -- Lowest team sack average for a DC over 6 seasons (since sacks became an official stat) - 19 -- Most TD's allowed over a 2 game stretch in history of the Bears - 12 -- Highest aggregate opponent QB rating for a season in history of team (currently 107.3) -- Most points allowed in a season (2013) -- Turned 2 HOF candidate RDE's into garbage (Allen and Peppers) -- Largest PPG ranking swing in history of team (went from 3rd in NFL to 31st) -- Lowest blitz per pass play percentage in the NFL -- D has forced rival Packers to punt exactly 1 time in 2 full games while Rogers is under center.

Would love the potential of his bat at 3B.

I would think Padres as well. Maybe Oakland surprise.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 01:03 PM) We have not worked him out, or visited him personally. Technically we never worked out Iguchi either. Lot more money hear but maybe the Sox layed low and already had a lot of info from when they scouted Abreu or maybe KW or Hahn went all Jerry Krause and wore costumes and were actually in attendance at workouts. Heck, maybe they had a workout with Tomas and it was never reported. Again, not saying that is the case, but it happens more then we think where a team or two have interactions with players that weren't reported until after the guy ends up signing with said team. I'd put odds low but I wouldn't put it past an organization with Kenny as the president.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 12:50 PM) It is not us then. Why is it not us? I can't access twitter link.

Would be a total shocker if Sox but pretty cool and exciting.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) I heard the same things that i heard from trestman, just hollow answers to pretty specific questions. The Score just played a tape of Hub asking why nothing is working and it was just painful to hear him try and talk around it. I felt that he was more about the point that we hadn't done enough. To some extent you have to say we have to go back and do what we do in-house if you are him. He can't control personell and those items. What will be more interesting is when we start seeing legitimate lineup changes and guys actually cut.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) Mel Tucker had a wonderful press conference full of quotes yesterday. Everything is great people. The people at halas hall are the answer To be honest, I actually respected the way he answered the questions. Much more so then almost everyone else at Halas has addressed things. He talked about how he has hundreds of things he'd do different and better, etc. I don't think Tucker is a good coach but I can at least commend him for how he handled things, which is something I can't say about a lot of the other guys at Halas, including our QB who talks about great practices. I think Gannon had the best quotes of anyone.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 08:19 PM) He was one of the most consistent players you're going to find for 6 years straight putting up a wRC+ between 120 to 134. Last year he had a bad April, a good May, a bad June, and then after that he only started 22 games the rest of the season because of their logjam. You can't be sure if any player is going to return to form, but he's definitely had a consistent track record. If you ask me who's going to have the best year next year (given that they get regular playing time) between Ethier, Crawford, Markakis, Melky, Morse, Rasmus, Aoki, and Travis Snider, Melky might be my top bet, and Ethier would be 2nd. He also had attitude issues. I think he is a good bounce back candidate and you can likely get him cheap, along with cash. Fits in nicely in our order too and I expect him to be closer to the player he was with a change of scenery but that is just my presumption.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 06:15 PM) Soriano really tailed off last season....same with Janssen, if I remember correctly. That said, there's always a risk with closers. One year, Fernando Rodney's dominant and the next he couldn't close out an American Legion team without walking the bases loaded and throwing a wild pitch or hitting a batter. Brandon Morrow's another name to keep an eye on. Uehara, but he's probably passed his expiration date. I look at Soriano and Janssen as being guys you might get on a 1 year deal at a nice value in a set-up role. I think Krod is who I would go harder for. Soriano did tail off but stuff was still supposedly there. He's had a long track record of success and if you are talking 5-6M for him (who knows, might get 7 or 8), that isn't bad short-term. Bottom line, I would not be happy if we didn't kick the tires on some of these guys and think a good strategy might be 2 of the guys as I think they have the stuff to succeed and we aren't talking long term big money. I also don't think we have a closer in-house. I would like two above average relievers brought in, which pushes everyone else in the current pen down, while also allowing guys like Bassit / others to potentially step into new roles.

If not Miller, what about a combination of Sergio Romo, Gregerson, K-Rod.I think Frankie might be the better value buy as he's a little older and given some of his clubhouse issues you might be able to pick him up for a 1-2 year deal at 7 or 8 per season. Not bad and not something that totally impacts you. Romo/Gregerson are also pretty attractive with very good WHIP's. If I could get any two of them for a combined 30M over 2 years, I'd think long and hard about it. Romo as the set-up guy and Krod in the closer role. Trickle down effect puts everyone else in our current pen in much better situations. Also have Rafael Soriano out there. It would seem to me that the Sox would benefit from signing one of Krod / Romo / Soriano to stablize the closer role. All should be able to be had without going long-term. Would also be interested in Jansen from Toronto...nice arm..and again a guy you could probably get to bite on a short term deal (maybe even like a 1yr 4 to 5 M deal). All of these guys would be significant upgrades over what we had by and large, imo. Also, all of them possess pretty darn good stuff as well.

All I know is i do not like the idea of Rasmus long term at a high price. I think he should benefit moving to grass and being in a new place but you don't know and I'd hate to go long term on him at pretty good money. Money is cheaper then we expect, sure, especially if we think he projects well in a corner spot with Eaton here but we also theoritically reduce his value a bit since part of his value is driven by above average defense. I do really like his age though and if you got him 4 years at like 32-36 or so I think I'd do it. I presume he's looking for closer to 4/48. That said, I think there are pretty decent odds he ends up sitting and settling for 2 / 20 which doesn't really tie you up and allows you to fill a hole, help our defense, add a left handed bat (which has been above average in a good chunk of his early career) and that could end up being a very nice move. You just have to really do your homework on him and how he will fit in and how he will work once he gets that contract, etc (not that we would be talking about that massive of a raise from what he made this past year).