Chisoxfn

All I know is, the guy is worthless when we need a big hit or hell even a sac fly. I remember why I hated the guy for all the years. I thought at least we'd get a good OBP out of him and some power and that would somewhat off-set the low average, the even lower average when you go up against good pitchers and are in late game situations, plus the high strikeouts.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 30, 2011 -> 07:52 PM) I've been saying it as well. We were making steady progress until this Toronto series. But apparently, we aren't the only ones to get pounded around by Jose Bautista and Co. Let's get two more here and it'll be a 5-5 road trip. I can live with that. The thing that killed me in that series was how Ozzie got outmanaged and singlehandedly cost us one of those games. Poor execution also played a factor.

Hahahahaa. I said it when it first came out, Tress was gonna be fired. Great coach but an even bigger idiot for not reporting that stuff (or maybe he's not an idiot and he was really smart to keep all of his crap covered up for so long).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 27, 2011 -> 07:36 AM) So other than his history and his unsustainable numbers, there is nothing to say he will regress. Ok. I probably should be done here. Gavin Floyd worked out. Esteban Loiaza worked out.

Congrats Art!

Still have to see the past 2 episodes, but I enjoyed the show. Maybe SciFi or someone will pick it up.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ May 23, 2011 -> 11:41 AM) That's going to be a problem since they're not even on the job search radar right now. People post profiles there but nobody recruits from there...it's more like a personal networking site so people can feel important or something, I'm not even sure. I've had a LinkedIn profile for years and never actually searched around the site, and really don't care to do so. Monster and Dice are FAR more popular job search engines. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't even think of using LinkedIn to search for a job...it's the last place I'd go. Thats not true. I have head-hunters and HR people from other companies emailing probably on average 5 times a month (if not more) asking If I'm interested in appying for all kinds of jobs. And I know friends that have gotten jobs as a result of people reaching out to them (and finding them) via linked in. It seems like a great way to go out and find the candidates you are looking for that have jobs and might not be looking.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 23, 2011 -> 10:25 AM) LOL No kidding. We blew them out even though he had a monster game. We also played a far more up-tempo game and really didn't have a lot of the game dominated by Rose holding the ball. The reality is, the more Rose has the ball, the more easier it is for the Bulls to disrupt the rhythm. For the Bulls to suceed they are going to have to get a lot of transition buckets, including taking transition jumpers (even if they aren't always the greatest shot) and hope that helps get the team in rhythm. Usually if you can get that transition offense going, you'll be better even in the half court sets because guys feel involved and the motion is better, which means, if Miami packs the paint or guys will find open shots all day and start to hit them and when Miami spreads, we'll blow in and create buckets.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ May 23, 2011 -> 10:19 AM) I agree with everything you say here, but I find it hard to believe that the lineup posted above, for the next few years, in our ballpark, wouldn't be a hugely home-run/XBH driven offense. The hard thing is, if your offense is built around that, you need to have a lot of high OBP guys and the Sox don't have that. Pretty much Konerko and Dunn (maybe Quentin) are the only two guys with any sort of history of a high OBP. AJ, Pierre, Alexei, and Rios certainly don't have that kind of history (Pierre can be mediocre at times from an OBP standpoint). And Beckham from a statistical standpoint hasn't been good either.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 23, 2011 -> 10:19 AM) For the pick and roll to really work, you have to have two guys who can hit a jumper. Otherwise there really isn't any deterrent to going under. And by and large, they still haven't ran the pick and roll with Boozer, who is one of the best bigs (along with Bosh) in the league at running a pick and roll offense. The Bulls need to add another threat though, where you have another slasher on the initial pick and roll so that Boozer can make the next pass when necessary and try to find the ocassional easy lay-in/point in the paint.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 23, 2011 -> 10:16 AM) That's why they need to abandon the pick and roll, or at least limit it substantially. Spread the offense out and let one of them guard Rose one on one. He'd eat them alive with his speed. Spreading the offense out doesn't do anything if the team doesn't have guys capable of knocking down those shots. You spread Brewer out, well, it won't matter, defense is going to sag on him cause they know he can't hit a long shot. Same with Noah (who they are completely sagging on right now at the top of the free throw line). Bulls need to find a way to force the Heat to actually come out and defend them. And given our personell, I don't know how easy this is going to be. But part of the solution is probably going to be start finding a way to get other guys the ball early in the offensive sets. For example, they double Rose starting around center court and pressure him, well Rose needs to swing it across court early, force the Heat defense to rotate, another guy slashes from the other side and move the ball to him for an easy bucket. Basically, start to do things that forces the Heat to change things up defensively. On other sets, get the ball out of Roses hand and let the other guys do it and than run the ball back to Rose on the weakside where he might have the ability to come in (but again, other guys on Chicago need to hit the basket as Rose is going to the paint while others stay out for the bucket). The offense right now is just horribly predictable. And hell, my idea might be idiotic too.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 23, 2011 -> 05:34 AM) Tampa Bay did it. Another bad comparison (just like other people's comparison to the White Sox of 05). Tampa Bay was an incredibly talented team with numerous top 100, hell, top 50 baseball prospects. Them being good wasn't a shock to anyone. I don't think people thought they'd be that dominant, but everyone knew the talent was there. This Indians team has had a lot of guys that aren't elite prospects or baseball talents turning it on and having career years. Heck, most of there best prospects are either still in the minors or have just recently been called up.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ May 23, 2011 -> 10:09 AM) Juan is a career 74.6% base stealer, which most saber-knowing folk would say is actually a detriment to his team's success. Most oganizations have realized that stolen bases are not terribly important from the leadoff man. Also, please refresh my memory, why do we want our leadoff hitter bunting, again? I believe newer statistics are going to point that the effective stolen base % will be a lower percentage, especially now that we are entering an era of the pitcher and without PED's, homeruns and overall scoring are dropping. Thus, there is a whole lot more added value in moving the runner over, imo. Really, in this new era (last couple years), the teams that have done the best, are those teams that have good pitching, but combine it with a very fundemental club that plays strong defense and can take the extra bases and slap out runs. Thats not to say that there aren't teams that are great with power, its just that by and large the power is harder to come by in general and with more lower scoring games (and closer games) a teams inability to get the runner over and in can be more costly than in the past. Just my 2 cents.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 23, 2011 -> 09:51 AM) Noah needs to spend the entire summer working on a post up game. It's maddening to watch him get the ball, with no one defending him, just to see him pass it since he's no threat to score. Noah was shooting well and doing a nice job scoring and looking for offense pre thumb injury. However, the couple months he was out with his thumb seemed to ruin his entire confidence in his mid-range jumper. He needs to take those open shots all day long and pull the Heat defense out to guard him, otherwise, right now, the Heat are packing the paint and daring us to shoot from a-far and we just aren't that type of team, especially when Ronnie Brewer and Noah are out there. I think If I'm the Bulls I make an unorthodox switch and give Taj and Thomas more minutes down low, in fact, I'd probably start Taj. Taj isn't the greatest offensive player in the world, but he'll take those open shots and potentially force Miami to actually guard him. Same with Kurt Thomas (who has a nice mid-range game offensively). At the end of the day, the Bulls biggest problem, there lack of 2 way players, will be what kills them. Rose just can't continue to beat a team with 2 very good help defenders (Wade & LBJ) packing the paint and daring the Bulls to do almost anything. With Brewer in the game, Bulls need to run like crazy. Maybe even go with Brewer and Deng on the court at the same time so you have two guys that can at least slash to the basket. Bulls are just too easy to defend right now.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 23, 2011 -> 07:52 AM) It's truly amazing how much travelling is allowed in the NBA. The Bulls do it sometimes too, but no one does it as much as LBJ & Wade. There was one play where James took a step, made a jump stop, landed on two feet, and then took two more steps towards the hoop. If that's not travelling , I don't know what is? You mean the one where he stopped dribbling from about the top of the circle (above the free throw line) and ended up with a layup (on 4 steps). I was ready to throw stuff. Bulls need to up the tempo and big time to have a chance. THey just aren't going to be able to win a half court game against this team (at least not on the offensive end against Miami).

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 19, 2011 -> 07:31 AM) I wouldn't sell. You have to understand, there are a number of short term things they can do to cover their debt obligations, if Congress goes into a temporary pattern of inaction. Further, the bonds wouldn't become worthless anyway - the US government may just miss a "payment" of interest for some period, a very short one if at all. If the US government starts actually defaulting on the principal obligation on any significant amount its debt, then frankly, none of this matters, because the entire financial market system begins to collapse and there is no longer a safe haven of any kind. That's the disaster scenario, and it won't occur. Then there are the idiots who are holding and hoarding gold for such an event. This is the silliest thing I can imagine, beyond just the fact that the likelihood of a full collapse is insanely low. Buying gold as an investment vehicle is one thing, it makes sense. Buying and delivering is just patently stupid. If things got so bad that the currency collapsed, the country falls into chaos... and what good does that brick of gold do you anyway? Its not a usable good, so it becomes as empty as paper money, unless you want to build some circuits or jewelry or something. Thats why I buy grain....I figure when the world ends, people will want my closet full of grains!

Leesman is one of the best lefties in the system. Probably more projectable as a reliever than a starter, but the guy has a chance to have a long career.

Congrats to Terry!!!

I'll just say it. I'd rather have Danks than Grienke if I were New York. Danks seems like he has far thicker skin to handle pitching in New York, plus I think you benefit having strong lefties in New York since from the offensive standpoint lefties have such an advantage with that short porch (and Danks could shut em down).

By the way. Do you guys realize Garland has put up an ERA plus > 100 in 5 of the last 6 years. Given his durability, thats a pretty damn valuable commodity. While 05 was his best ERA+ of his career, lets not act like the guy has been a turd most of his career.

By the way. Do you guys realize Garland has put up an ERA plus > 100 in 5 of the last 6 years. Given his durability, thats a pretty damn valuable commodity.

Horrible news. I always have liked Lackey (its the Angel fan in me). Wish him and his wife the best!

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 20, 2011 -> 08:49 AM) From that team you still have many players playing prominent roles on the Sox and other teams. There were a few flash in the pans in the pen, but outside of that it was a solid team. Every member of that starting rotation is still pitching in the majors. Agreed, Sans Duque, but you can factor in BMac (who was Duque's backup) who when healthy has been nothing but a productive big leaguer (albeit, he's rarely healthy).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2011 -> 08:48 AM) I love his curve, I just wish he could find a way to get it working before the 3rd inning or so. He was great last night after the first inning. I don't know if the runs relaxed him, or he just found his stuff, but it worked. The nice thing about Floyd is, even when he isn't on, he seems like he's really learned to battle and work his way until he eventually can find his release point and get outs and make some headway. Of course I'm saying this after he had a couple rough outings (which I'm going to chalk up to the ball hitting him). I still think this kid is going to have a couple seasons where he just has it all together for an entire season and puts down 20 wins. I love me some Gavy! And I'm such a Gavy homer!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 20, 2011 -> 05:58 AM) Need to keep that up this weekend. Esp at home, where we've struggled so much. Dodgers aren't going to be easy, but they are struggling, and the Sox need to capitalize. They have some solid pitching and well quite frankly, we've been relying on perfect pitching for a long time. Sooner or later this offense is going to have to hit cause these pitchers are going to hit a rough patch. Especially since Texas is going to be pretty rejuvenated. Looks like Cruz and Hamilton will be back for our series against them.