Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 21, 2014 -> 07:00 PM) How dare you hate on the third best team in the east? #jason Hey...I never said this is a title team. I just tried to temper everyone's tanking expectations by pointing out how much better this team is then the worse teams in the East. The East is freaking awful. Worst conference in NBA history this year.

That was a lot of money but the Yanks have it and they needed to spend it and I guarantee they'll bring in plenty of extra revenues through YES rights in Japan.

Quietly I believe Rose plays this year. Bulls just know they have to be smart and toe the line of he won't play. Then if he does, its gravy.

Just want to put out a quick reminder...lets stick to Tanaka takl in here. Hopefully we are all excited soon!!!

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 08:23 PM) Bulls 1 game behind the #3 seed LOLEAST Been saying it for a while. No f***ing way they were going to get a lotto pick with this roster.

Funny thing is Sherman was coached by Harbaugh at Stanford. IIRC, he wasn't Jim's biggest fan.

QUOTE (Brentmd2 @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 06:27 AM) Hey guys just wanted to introduce myself. I have been a long time lurker. I have been a White Sox fan since 1994 when my brother told me he was a Cubs fan I decided the exact opposite would work for me. Im soooo glad that I trusted my gut! I really hope we can get Tanaka I think he would put our pitching staff over the top and jumpstart our "Rebuilding" to a win now like we are all used to. Welcome aboard. Hopefully we are all celebrating a Tanaka signing at the end of the week!!!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 02:18 PM) Go Hawks Hell of a 2nd half. Big road game @ Michigan on Wed!

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 10:37 AM) Gabe Kapler (yes, that Gabe Kapler) said Tanaka is looking for a challenge and that signing with the Cubs would be absurd. Don't ask me how he knows this. Were they teammates in Japan?

I will say this, Yanks rotation gets a lot better if the historical CC shows back up (and Nova looks more like he did 2 years ago vs. last year). That way Kuroda doesn't have to be their ace. I just don't know that you can project that given how bad the two of them were.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 10:34 AM) They wrote a bunch of "win now" contracts. Beltran, Ellsbury, McCann. They get Tex back, potentially Jeter's last year. They still have a major need for a top of the rotation starter, and one is available. The match is just painfully obvious. I completely agree. The Yanks should outbid the Dodgers because they have a massive need in their rotation. They made some pretty big signings to fill the void for Cano and to be frank their lineup is better then it was last year. Rotation is just a hot mess.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 10:26 AM) I'm not convinced the Yankees are in a position to compete this year. I suppose. I wouldn't be placing my bets for them to be in the playoffs,though it isn't outside the realm of possibility All this said, I said the same think about Boston this past year.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 10:24 AM) I think the dodgers will be good again, but Puig has to be consistent for them to go to the next level. He singlehandedly put them in the race last season, and he faded after his hot start. Kershaw/Greinke say hello. Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford, and Andre Ethier also say hi. I realize Kemp was hurt and some of those guys are overpaid but they are all effective players at their position and at least league average and in most instances above to well above league averaeg. Puig is a huge piece for the Dodgers but they have a lot of quality players, many of which are still above average. Also, the rest of their rotation is pretty good and if you put Tanaka in it, wowza. This is all on paper but they clearly are above average and also have made some other international moves that could pan out (see 2B they signed around the time we signed Abreu). Note: You might be right that Puig has to be above average to win the series but their front two in the rotation is so good that it might work. That was a pretty banged up Dodger team in the postseason and if they could have bought a clutch hit they would have went farther.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 09:26 AM) Definitely agree. But things could change pretty quickly for LA with a couple key injuries. They have a lot of long-term money locked up in players right now who are paid like stars and superstars and aren't nearly playing at that level. But I agree, if Tanaka is going to go to NY or LA, if he wants to win he'll go to LA. I think one of those teams gets him anyway but it's impressive that we've even been involved in this thing. Definitely not something we'd have done before. I wonder.... is JR going to.... can't even say this.... getting an itch to go Illitch? Certainly not, can't happen.... hmmmm. Who? Kemp? They are already good with him like that. Sure, Kershaw and Greinke could get hurt and that could change things but they put up pretty impressive numbers last year despite injuries to Greinke (thanks to Quentin) and Kemp being out. I can only see Kemp being more valuable. Also, Hanley has been extremely productive for them when healthy and he missed a decent chunk. To be frank, I think the Dodgers will be much better this year vs. last year. Again, you can't predict injuries but they already have made the playoffs and done well despite injuries to some pretty expensive players.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 09:21 AM) Yeah but she's not going to be networking with a bunch of other Japanese pop stars. If she wants to do that stuff she'll probably need to spend a lot of time in Japan. Well, in baseball you have an offseason (they'll be in Japan) plus long road trips (she can head to Japan) and so on. In the mean time I'm sure she'll have a few friends who wouldn't mind traveling all around the US basically living like Gods for free. It's not that big of deal for her IMO. If she's willing to leave Japan at all and go halfway across the world then I think she probably has other priorities she is weighing over her best and most immediate career interests. There is a pretty big Jpop base in LA as well.

QUOTE (Bighurt52235 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 09:08 AM) Lol at saying the Dodgers are always afar superior team than the Yankees. I can't even wrap my head around what that means. If I said always I apologize but right now they are the far superior team. It isn't really debatable. Yankees rotation is a hot mess right now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 08:58 AM) I think there would be a minor but measureable boost, probably in the hundreds, of season tickets/ticket packages. For this team, the big deal seems to be when they are able to put out ticket sale options to go along with postseason tickets. I think you'd see a major boost in press and overall coverage and you'd potentially see the Sox have the option to sell tv rights in Japan.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 08:48 AM) Why not NYY? I don't see NYY going crazy and out spending the Dodgers and in zero scenario where the money is equal or similar, do I think he goes all the way to NY (vs. LA). LA always is a far superior team. I can see the Dodgers letting the Cubs or others win, but I think they would puke if the Yankees beat them in the deal as well as they are trying to be the Yankees of the west. I just flat out don't see New York taking him from the Dodgers. I don't think the Dodgers are that concerned with the Cubs landing him or if the Sox did? Obviously they want him but they have a price and will stick to it (especially with as much as they have tied in the rotation). Of all the teams bidding, the Yanks and Cubs should be the ones to spend the most as they have massive holes in their rotation. Logically, I can't figure out any way the Sox would win, other then if he really didn't want to play in a large market (yes, Chicago is a large market, but we know the Sox don't get the "large market attention" and wanted to play on a team with a proven track record of developing, respecting, and treating foreign players well. However, that could very much be something Tanaka is interested in. He seems to be trying to stay away from all the spotlight as much as possible during this time (not really talking to media, barely talking to teams) so maybe that is a major concern of his (and if it is, New York would be the worse possible place to go and to a lesser extent the Cubs probably would too). I also would imagine the Fukodome issues could hinder him (Fukodome much preferred his brief tenure with White Sox vs. time with Cubs). That can't be a secret to Tanaka. Albeit, it was a pretty short run with the White Sox.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 08:44 AM) This has happened too many times. I actually think we can get him but he'll just sign with the Yankees for a huge amount of money I think it is highly unlikely he signs in New York. I think he either takes the money from the Cubs or signs with the Dodgers. I wouldn't write off the Angels. Despite all the talk, Moreno has indicated they are in and the Angels historically have swooped in late on guys. It is kind of their M.O. That said, they really can't afford another guy when they have to figure a way to sign Trout to like a 10 - 15 year deal that will be the largest in major league baseball history (all while being saddled with Albert and the heroin addict (or whatever Hamilton was addicated to).

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) Castro is expensive. We can all reasonably assume the Sox have checked in on him and probably have a good idea of what that price range would be. Expensive in terms of what the Sox would have to give up, but still relatively cost controlled, which will be key if the club does sign Tanaka. Additionally, the incentive to win earlier moves up and that means the Sox can't realistically go into the season with the s*** they have at catcher. If it were me and Tanaka came, there is no freaking way I have the turds we have behind the plate as our every day catchers. I'd make sure at a minimum, we had someone who called a really good game and could control the running game. Castro could be that guy.

Dodgers have a few guys repped and have a very strong relationship with Close's agent. I still think the Dodgers are the major front-runners. All things being equal, I'd be surprised if he doesn't do the LA thing. He wants to be on the west coast, they are competitors, and he wouldn't have as much pressure (if he isn't interested in it) being in a rotation with Kershaw/Greinke. I have a feeling almost every teams offer will be within a few mill of each other (annually) with the one possible exception being the Cubs. My gut tells me, due to the Sox unwiling to go so long on guaranteed money that they will have a more unique offer/pitch to Tanaka. If you could sell Tanaka on 4 years with other options, his agent might be intrigued as he'd hit the market again, in his prime, with a shot to land another major deal. He would leave a lot of money on the table and there is risk that he doesn't perform as advertised and that deal isn't there. Right now, he benefits at least a bit from the new posting rules and the fact that it was a thin FA market.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 06:03 PM) The 8 for 200 has no legs....the 6 for 160 probably does. The Cubs had to overpay to have a chance at getting him. 6 / 160 is ludicrious. I get nervous at 20M/yr, let alone that. I don't believe it. I think he signs for somewhere between 18-22M annually. I don't expect more then that.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 08:05 PM) Just watched a leafs canadiens game from a Toronto sports bar. Pretty fun stuff. Was it that massive one near the Leafs stadium? I can't remember the name, but i've never seen more tv's. Its been rated as the best sports bar in the world a few times.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) Darren Sharper is being investigated for 3 seperate rapes in Los Angeles and New Orleans over the past year. Whoo boy Disgusting.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 08:19 AM) The only real complaint I remember is drafting a PG with having Derrick Rose around. When the Bulls were drafting, he was by far the best "player" available from a talent perspective and in theory you had the luxury of being patient and hoping he'd develop into a nice complimentary player/back-up. Unfortunately he really never showed much development during his 1.5 years with the squad. I have a feeling he has a poor work ethic.