Jordan4life_2007

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 17, 2009 -> 02:35 AM) I think Jose will come back sometime in May or early June when the weather and conditions are ideal/perfect. They'll keep him in Arizona for extended spring training. We now also have an insight into why KW hasn't spent money on the FA pitching market. He had reasons to be more optimistic than most of us were about Contreras coming back in 2009. I actually think he might be better than a 4/5 guy...with that extra time of rest/relaxation for his arm, I expect that his fastball will be back at 94-95 MPH more consistently. That power fastball will help to better set up the forkball and offspeed stuff as well. So what we've done is traded Javier Vazquez and his $11.5 million for Colon ($1-3 million), Flowers, Santos Rodriguez (power lefty), Gilmore, Lillibridge and IN ESSENCE, Marquez/Nunez/Viciedo/Betemit. We can revisit the results after 2010 (LOL), but we've traded two players most Sox fans didn't even want on the team going into the offseason, and now have: Colon and Marquez (two candidates for 4th/5th starter) Flowers, hopefully our future All-Star catcher Santos Rodriguez, a left hander with a lot potential another Iowa kid who might turn out just as good as Sweeney (Gilmore) Lillibridge (could be our starting CF, 2B, or SS) Nunez (power righty out of the pen that KW thinks will have an impact) Betemit (our supersub who will be much more cost-efficient than Punto or Uribe) And taking Swisher off the payroll gave KW the flexibility to bring in Viciedo, who could have the biggest impact of all We've gotten rid of 2 players we didn't want and replaced them with 9 players, and we've lowered our payroll at the same time...I think that's the mark of a GM that saw the future clouds rolling in and beat the market...now we'll see what the Yankees can get for Nady or Swisher! Not only that, but we now have 8 young/affordable players that fit better into our future and help refresh/revitalize our organization moving forward. I don't want to hear it. We stink. Kenny's not making any moves. Last place here we come!

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 17, 2009 -> 02:23 AM) I still think the simplest explanation is that we've had very few high first round draft picks since the time of Ventura, Thomas, McDowell and Alex Fernandez. Of course, we can look draft by draft and see obvious examples (Broadway over Garza), Royce Ring, Jason Stumm, Honel, etc. The one really big impact bat that simply didn't develop was Borchard. If we could have had a power-hitting, lefthanded RFer from 2003-2008, it would have made a huge impact on this organization, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. The irony is that we were able to unload Borchard for another team's unrealized first round potential in Matt Thornton, just as we'd earlier found our lefthander of the first half of the decade in Damaso Marte. Both turned out to be high impact trades that were barely blurbs in Baseball America. That's part of it. Hardly the only reason. We've just been really bad at scouting/drafting/developing over the last decade or so.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 06:36 PM) Of course Minnesota is going to be good for a while, they have a fantastic coach and that's really all that matters in college basketball if you want to be good. As I've said in this years thread, the Big 10 has a very bright future in terms of basketball because it's an outstanding conference in terms of it's coaches. Agree with all of this. Looking forward to the Illini/MSU game later today. Big opportunity for the Illini to make a strong statement to the rest of the conference.

Think it's about time to start looking at the Magic as a legitimate contender in the EC. They've got to be the least talked about 32-8 team I can remember. Very impressive road win against by far the best team in the west tonight.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 11:29 PM) You make it sound as if it's one bad move that has put the Bulls in the position they are in now. It has been a series of draft picks, signings and extensions, trades, and, probably most importantly, non-moves/non-trades all orquestrated by pax that has given us the atrocious product (outside of Rose, in which I feel his hand was forced and their was no real choice as he is a hometown product) that you see on the floor night in and night out. He's the architect, and the team as currently constructed is absolute trash. Based on his prior work, it is abundantly clear that he lacks the vision, foresight, knowledge, and most obviously, ability and fortitude to make the right moves to right the ship. Therefore, he has to go and someone who can actually do the job is needed. Already went over this in earlier posts. Don't feel like going through it again You're right. What the fans think don't mean a god damn thing. That wasn't my point. Just don't be a chicken little. The s*** gets old and tired. Lovie Smith had us in the SB two years ago, and how many "FIRE LOVIE" rants have we had on just this board alone since then? I guarantee that if the Sox start slow this year will have a bunch of "FIRE KENNY/OZZIE" rants. Just fire everybody. Who really gives a f***. John will be here at least through next year. Will see where were at then. The end.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 04:09 PM) Right now I think Paxson's aim should be to clear as much cap-space in 2010 as possible, to try and sign either Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire to a max deal. Either of those 2 playing next to Derrick Rose would be an insane combo (Bosh especially with his shooting ability). This guy is why more than anything I'm willing to give Paxson some more time. He's never had a player even close to the capabilities of Rose to build around. The NBA, more than any other sport, is a superstar league. And we finally look to have one after a damn decade. And I get a kick out of those that act as if taking Rose was a no-brainer. Taking Lebron/Shaq/Duncan were no-brainers. You could've made just as good a case for Beasley at the time.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 04:05 PM) Bingo. KW has made way more questionable moves than Paxson has at the time acquisitions were made. Of course, baseball and basketball are two different things, but at the same time, on the day of actual moves, I don't think no one could say that was a terrible trade minus letting JR Smith go for nothing. Other than that, Paxson has always solid acquisitions. Paxson's problem has always been his lack of trades and consildating talent. Yes, I do think Paxson tends to fall in love with players he drafted (and that's a bad quality to have for any GM). But I don't fault Paxson for not trading for KG or Kobe. With Kobe, I don't think he was ever leaving the Lakers. Even if there was a chance, we saw Kobe's teams, along with KG's in Minnesota, when they were surrounded by mediocre talent. It would've been the same situation here. I do think he should've made a move for Gasol in 2007. But didn't they want Deng? Funny how they settled for Kwame f***ing Brown a year later.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 03:26 PM) Who f***ing cares? Were those posters getting paid by the Bulls to scout and evaluate these players? If the GM of the team I root for is supposed to be held in the same regard as the average fan, I'm going to root for another team. Paxson is paid to make the right move. You, Me, and Dupree aren't. Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. First of all, calm down. Second, my only point in regarding the fans is that it's easy to play Monday morning QB AFTER a trade/draft/signing backfires. If you didn't have a problem with a move at the time it happened, STFU about it and move on. Don't sit here acting like you knew all along it was a bad move. Or want to roast the guy who made the move when you had no problem with it at the time. There isn't a GM in the history of sports that hasn't made multiple bad trades, FA signings or made bad draft picks. If you fired a GM after every bad move/moves they made we'd have a different GM every week. Everybody loved Paxson in 2007. Now a year and a half later he's garbage and should be fired. Give me a f***in' break.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) Alexei is not what most people would think of as a normal #2 hitter, but it's where I'd put him. Alexei is a very good fastball hitter. And #2 hitters (statistically) see the second most fastballs of any hitter in the order. Plus with Q hitting behind him, most pitchers are unlikely to screw around and risk walking him. So, I think he could have a very productive season in that spot. I think he could as well. But as Kalapse pointed out, the guy thrives with RISP. I think that is his best asset to this point as a hitter.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 02:29 PM) Agreed on the value concept, but I'm just saying there is plenty to be said about having a decent WR, it shouldn't matter that the Bears are a run-first offense. Oh I agree. And hopefully we can land a quality one either later in the draft or through FA. But our biggest needs by far right now are on the offensive and defensive lines.

I agree with all of ranger's points. Easy to bash Paxson right now. I'd sure like to bump some 2006/2007 threads to see what people were saying then. There was no way of knowing that the Ben Wallace signing was going to turn out as bad as it did. Were there red flags? Yes. But he was the premier FA at the time and we had the money to spend. Paxson would've been ROASTED Matt Millen style had we not signed him. Two, there was no way of predicting guys like Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng would regress like they have. There was nothing that pointed to it. Even if you think they peaked in 2007, there was nothing to suggest they would get worse. Three, I didn't have a problem with the TT pick AT THE TIME it happened. Sure, it's easy to hate it now. But Tyrus was viewed by many as the player with more upside. I remember everybody talking about how soft LA was. I will concede that I was never crazy about the Noah pick. But honestly, after Oden and Durant, and to a lesser extent Al Horford, that particular draft wasn't exactly loaded. I'd give John at least another year to see what he can do now that he has a potential superstar PG to build around.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 12:13 PM) Drafting a WR helps out the run game immensely. Forte could probably average 4.5 yards a carry if he didn't have to run against 8 in the box all the time. Unless Michael Crabtree shockingly slips (won't happen), there's no WR worth drafting in the first round, IMO.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) I think the biggest need is still O-Line for the Bears. Im not up to date with the cap info but if there is a way we can sign the one corner from Oakland that would be pretty awesome as well. Ive heard Duke Robinson the LG falling into the 2nd round, would be pretty great if we could draft a good RT in first and get Robinson in 2nd as well. I'll shave my ass hairs and change my name to Leonardo if we could land Duke Robinson. Dude is a STUD. Where are you hearing this? Every mock draft site I've read has him going no lower than 20th. Edit: NM. You're right. I've checked more recently updated mock drafts and he has slipped some (I have no idea why). But no way we could get him in the second round. Something extremely drastic would have to have occurred for him to slip that far.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 10:29 AM) DE or OL would be a very good pick. With our scheme, the right pressure would make our DBs look that much better. DE is key. OGUN should be shown the door. LB is not a need in the 1st rd as long as Briggs and Urlacher are playing at respectable levels. Drafting a WR in the 1st round would be very risky. Our philosophy is running the ball and playing good D. I doubt we draft a wr here. Agreed. Either a DE or OL should be taken in round 1.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jan 16, 2009 -> 02:54 AM) Quite frankly I think I have the right to b**** when the team I'm a fan of constantly is in tatters every hyear because management never seems to fill the holes. Sorry. Awww, poor bighurt. How sad for you that the team you claim to be a fan of has only won 2 division titles and a World Series championship in the last four years. f*** a Pirates fan. Nobody has suffered like you have.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 09:07 PM) The idea of a rotation possibly with Garcia AND Colon is just laughable. I'm sure you also think the idea of Richard/Marquez is laughable. Sorry, Cole Hamels and Tim Lincecum aren't available. But you can continue to cry, b****, wine, moan, ect if it makes you feel better.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 09:54 PM) No, we mention age for guys like Willits because if you're receiving a significantly lesser talent in return, they better at least be young enough to have a high ceiling. You mean like the 22-year old "bust" that is Homer Bailey? Alpha's got a point. Everybody b****es and moans yet can't come up with anything better. Everybody hates Jerry Owens. Fine. Chone Figgins? Nope. Not good enough. Willy Taveras when he was available? Nope. He can't hit HRs. He sucks. Bobby Abreu? Nope. His defense sucks. Not good enough. When will people realize that Grady Sizemore types ARE NOT AVAILABLE?! Either be content with Jerry Owens or find another damn team to root for.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 09:19 PM) Adenhart is a serious headcase. He's still young so he has time to work it out, but he really needs to get his s*** together if he wants to live up to the hype. The Angels would laugh at us anyway. I was just dreaming.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 08:43 PM) Will he ever be "right" again? Probably not. But he'd automatically become our top big. He was putting up 14/7/2 before getting hurt. Maybe playing with Rose would help? I don't care. I just want Nocioni and Hughes gone. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 08:44 PM) One. Giant. Contract. It's up at the end of next season. We'd be no worse off than if we kept Hughes and his horrible contract. At least with O'Neal we'd get back a legitmate, if no longer all-star worthy, big, while breaking up the pathetic logjam at SG/SF.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 08:39 PM) Fellow Bulls fans, what do you think of trading for Jermaine O'Neal? I'd do it in a second if it rids us of Nocioni AND Hughes. I hear they want Gooden, though. Maybe we can get rid of all 3? Hopefully Hinrich plays out of his mind between now and the trade deadline and we can ship his ass out. Give guys like Thomas and Thabo every chance to prove they can be legitimate players (Tyrus has looked real good of late). That's what the rest of this season should be about. Evaluating and determining once and for all who we're going to keep around Rose and who we're going to let go. Forget about the playoffs. Making the playoffs in the NBA has become so overrated. I can't stand it when .500 teams or even teams below .500 make the playoffs and people get all excited.

Figgins+one of Adenhart/Walden works for me.

First thing that came to my head was "Later John Danks." That's the only way this would begin to make sense.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 06:47 AM) please... Please... please.... anyone but the steelers winning it all. Most of their fans are morons who think championships only count after the merger. If their O-line plays like it did yesterday, I don't see anybody beating them.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 02:56 PM) Like a funeral. They all blame Eli. But most fans seem to tip their hats off to the Eagles. Figures. He definitely deserves his share of the blame. But that was a team collapse yesterday. From Tom Coughlin to shady O-line play (I thought Snee and McKenzie played well. The rest not so much) to a defense that, while doing a great job of shutting down Westbrook (I really like Terrell Thomas), did little to generate any consistent pass rush. And it can't be underestimated how much they missed Plaxico.

And that's a wrap. Not a good time to be a top seed right now. Steelers should be very afraid.