Chisoxfn

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 04:03 PM) How the hell are you going to do anything in the 2014 off-season if you're paying $45 mil to Rose, Noah and Asik? The Bulls can always trade Asik a year from now.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 11:32 AM) No, the exception can't be combined with other salaries. It can only be combined with cash or picks, neither of which have a salary value for trading purposes. Jake - The exception was recently used by the Lakers to get Steve Nash. The Lakers received the exception when they traded Odom to the Mavericks. The only way you can get an exception is if the other team is under the cap (or if the other team has an exception). So in the case of the Wolves, the difference in salary between what the Bulls give up and get in return, would be the exception. They have an expiration period, which I believe to be a 1 year (maybe it is 2 years).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 10:20 AM) Although various varieties of kettle chips are excellent...this is my winner. I will admit, those are literally like crack.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 10:06 AM) Sure sounds like a reliever based on those two things, not that I'm complaining. The Sox have adopted a draft philosophy regarding pitchers that I absolutely love. Take starters with big fastballs. If they can learn a change up and develop the offspeed stuff they can stay a starter. If they can't, that big fastball puts you half way to being a big league reliever. With a guy like Johnson who already has a good slider, you already have something for the pen as a backup plan. Look at Jones and Santiago. Jones had the stuff and just needed to control it. Santiago had the fastball and just needed a secondary pitch (which he got last year). It's a lot of fun to see the Sox draft and develop pitchers currently. Position players, well that's a different story. I keep hoping they'll finally hit a crop of position players that pan out/develop. The key with Johnson is whether he can improve his change-up. If he can, great, if he doesn't, like you said, he settles into the bullpen as a power reliever. Given the way the league is going, you can never have too many good, power relievers. Biggest thing that has hard the Sox system has been its inability to develop position players, its lack of spending, and trades. As a whole though, they've actually done quite well in the draft (in comparison to how they've spent, etc).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 06:53 AM) http://www.csnchicago.com/07/10/12/Another...amp;feedID=9973 Interesting. I don't think a team would do good in Sacremento, but what do I know. Additionally, I thought the main team they've been trying to lure is an exciting California team (the A's).

QUOTE (balfanman @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 05:46 AM) Well, if you institute the dh everywhere, you could always use the 1 or 2 pitchers on a team that can handle a bat at least somewhat competently for pinch hitters. If they happen to be extremely good hitters, like Zambrano, they can be your dh. This concept actually gives a manger much more flexibility with their rosters and gives pitchers who like to hit a chance to hit once in a while. Wasn't one of Peavys issues of coming to the American league was that he liked to hit. Peavy is probably a better option than half of our bench right now. Lets also remember, that If the NL added the DH, the overall quality of the position would be drastically reduced. It isn't like there are 15 really good hitters rotting away on major league benches/minor leagues.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 09:29 PM) Since the difference in the leagues is the DH, I don't get this sentence. Correct. Get this "pure baseball" s*** out of here. Pitchers don't practice hitting, don't give a s*** about hitting, and it's a joke at bat 99% of the time. Oh yay, he can bunt since there is a guy on! What great baseball strategy this is. How entertaining. It's just an automatic out and the strategy is working around everyone in front to get to the dead spot to end the inning and get out of a jam. That's just not quality baseball. Basically put, despite my favorite team playing in the AL, I prefer the rules of the NL (e.g., the pitcher hitting and the strategy that comes along with it).

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 09:40 AM) Couple years too late on OJ. He won't end up starting here (at least not this year) and we've seen how ineffective he is when he doesn't get starter's minutes. I refuse to give up on him. I still think he's a valuable player who can be productive in this league. Plus, while he isn't a true point, he could log some minutes there while Teague is developing (and if Kirk/Teague get hurt). Plus he can knock down the outside shot and play the 2, which is a position of need for the Bulls anyway. I still think Mayo is a really good fit on this squad.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 09:17 AM) I also like their New York Cheddar chips. I know a bunch of people that are borderline addicted to the Spicy Thai ones. I'll have to try those. As a whole, Kettle makes some delicious chips.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 09:33 AM) God i hope you are wrong I'm hoping its a trade exemption and a pick. Bulls might then be able to use that exemption to ink OJ Mayo.

Dude is raking. Appreciate the updates floridafan!

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 09:27 PM) Kanny lost 2-0 Johnson 5 innings and 1 run, but 4 walks. Other than that not much other than Walker picked up stolen base No. 39. Its good that Johnson is getting experience. Given the injury and his overall slow start since joining the system, nice that he's making progress and getting to work on some of the tweaks the Sox have made to his delivery. The dude has a big league arm and a nice looking slider.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 05:30 AM) Yea, apparently Jaffe signed too. Both were quality signings. Not sure what Jaffe will end up doing and there is a lot of development work needed, but he has a very good arm for an 11th round pick.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Beck, Soptic, Ayala, and Hansen all make some noise and be higher in the preseason list. Sox system has gotten significantly better as a result of what I believe to be a strong draft, plus a couple trades (even though we could debate the ceilings of Castro/Molina, the reality is they are legitimate top 10 prospects). Hawkins and Barnum will be interesting as I expect them to have quite a few bumps and bruises along the way (hopefully they ultimately excel). Similar to what we have seen from Thompson, who I refuse to write-off. I still think he's the type of kid who one day it will click. He has a very good head on his shoulders and just a ton of tools. That said, guys fail with a lot of tools every year.

QUOTE (RZZZA @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 09:17 AM) LOL... What do the Wolves have that we would want...? Well, the reality is, if all the Bulls want to do is save money, anything (other then a big contract) is better then nothing.

Kettle Brand Salt & Vinegar. The BBQ and Salt & Pepper are delicious too.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 03:09 PM) LMAO, the Spurs and Lakers got eliminated in short order by that same OKC team that got steamrolled by the heat. You just cannot admit it, the Heat are the best team in the league. Regardless of what happened to Derrick. I actually don't think the Heat got better. Wade is a year older and slower and a lot can happen with Ray Allen (whom I like a lot). They got hot at the right time and are a great team (and LBJ is amazing). However, I don't believe they are this unstoppable force. To be frank, the West is still relatively winnable. The Nets aren't better then a Bulls team with Rose at 75%, neither are the Knicks, imo. The Celtics are probably similar (and they aren't a title team) and the Pacers are a little better. East still has just one contender (the defending champs). Thunder will get better (young players blossoming), Lakers got better. Spurs have not gotten better. Dallas is worse.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 03:07 PM) If the other pieces of the vaunted "core"(Noah and Deng) are traded for Howard, and Howard doesnt stay, the Bulls have a hell of a lot of room to go out and build around him. To be honest, right now I would prefer going into 2013-2014 like that than I would going in saying "PLEASE STAY HEALTHY ROSE DENG AND NOAH WHO NEVER STAY HEALTHY AT THE SAME TIME" Which is why I say go for it. You either get Howard or you get cap space to build when Rose is hopefully back at 100% for the 2013-2014 season.

QUOTE (SexiAlexei @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 02:48 PM) Do the Bulls live in a vacuum and we're not aware of it? When you say they need "health and a run of good luck" to "contend" that's saying a LOT. This team has not shown any ability to stay healthy, and what is the good luck? LBJ and Wade getting hurt? The Bulls are not adding any impact players, their competition is. The Bulls players may be getting a year more experience, but so is everyone else in the NBA. There is nothing the Bulls have done that puts them in front of the Heat, or the Lakers, or the Thunder. They are staying at the same level or getting worse (losing Asik, Rip's a year older, etc.) If the Bulls keep this same team, they won't win anything without some serious "luck" as you stated. They might as well try to go after Howard, hope he resigns, and then they can rely on talent, instead of "luck", to win a championship. If Rose was 100% and hadn't gotten hurt, I wouldn't have major issues and I fully believe the Bulls would have been willing to land another player (whether Hinrich or someone else on an MLE) in addition to keeping Korver/Asik. The thing that throws everything off is Rose's injury situation.

I watched Colon play in college a lot and he was a darn good player and a very headsy guy. Reminded me a lot of an Orlando Cabrera type ball player, but no way was he worthy of being the #4 pick in the draft. All that said, the Royals wouldn't be the only team who missed on him as he was a consensus top 20 pick.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 11:05 AM) If you mean they should have the same rule year-round, that's fine, but you can't expect the NL to have pitchers bat during intra-league play and then have a DH for every game in inter-league play. That would be unfair. I do like the idea of flipping to using the away team's rules though--gives fans of AL teams a chance to see their pitchers (try to) hit at home games. Plus for the games played in the NL stadium, the fans of the NL team will get to see the DH on the AL team play (which is a plus if said DH is a star). I like the idea. On a sidenote, despite being a fan of the AL, I prefer the rules of the NL (pitcher hitting).

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 01:52 PM) You may or may not have to move Noah. Magic may want Taj and other cheap assets, not wanting Noah's salary. And Noah isnt needed, but the Bulls still are going to need another player to go from a duo to a trio. No matter what, at least one of Noah/Deng would have to go. Whether it is to the Magic or a 3rd team. Bulls would need to move one of those contracts (along with other guys) to get the salaries to balance out. Bulls have a lot of potential assets to offer and quite frankly better draft picks to offer then the Nets. And if Dwight walks, like I said, Bulls are in a spot where they can then amnesty Boozer and make a few other deals and they'd be in a pretty darn good spot.

Bucher was on ESPN Radio a few minutes ago saying the Magic have opened up trade talks to the rest of the league (vs. just listening to teams on Dwight's list, specifically the Nets). Figured it was only a matter of time. There is going to be a team that decides it will take its chances and give up what it takes to get Dwight, hoping they can resign him. I still think the Bulls could even look this direction and they could probably structure deals to the point that if Dwight didn't resign, they'd be able to clear other cap space and be in a spot to offer a max deal as soon as next year (not that there is anyone out there to obtain), but essentially, it would put them in a spot where they could make another turn for a 2nd superstar sooner then 2014. I've decided the best thing to do if I'm the Bulls is to do anything in my power to get that 2nd star along side Rose. Even if he isn't going to sign an extension immediately, get him on the roster and take your chances. Worse case, you get a huge cap exception in a sign & trade deal (plus maybe a couple 1st rounders).

Eh. Cash is better then nothing.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 9, 2012 -> 06:01 PM) A lot of times when I am having connectivity problems, this site works when nothing other than maybe Google will... I wonder if it is because there are so many items on the site cached on your browser (since its one of your more frequented sites) and thus, when all else is failing, this loads pretty quick since a lot of stuff is sitting in the cache.