fathom

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 5, 2016 -> 04:26 PM) Cubs currently have 150M committed to 18 players. Add five league minimum players and that total comes to 152.5M for 23 players. That leaves the cubs with 26.5M to sign Arrieta and Fowler while staying under the luxury tax threshold. The cubs and Arrieta aren't going to take the chance of actually going to arbitration because one side is going to get screwed. They will meet each other half way and make a deal, probably 10-11M. That leaves 15-16M to sign Fowler. The cubs have the money to sign Fowler and I'm guessing they do once they come to an agreement with Arrieta. Fow!er re-signing with the Cubs for a one year deal has its merits for both sides. The cubs can afford a little extra splurge this year knowing they will have Edwin Jackson's salary off the books after '16. From everything they've said, they've spent all the money they have available. Also, I really don't think they want to slow the development of Soler/Schwarber by platooning them.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 5, 2016 -> 02:43 PM) If I had to guess, it is all about money. And the money might not be there from the Sox because they don't think he'd be a good fit.

Another possibility could be that Fowler is waiting to see if Angels are able to unload Wilson's contract.

Just an uneducated guess, but I wonder if the Sox don't believe Fowler is a good fit defensively. Hahn keeps saying that they need someone who would be a good fit, and with them going after only corner outfielders this offseason, it seems to me they might want to keep Eaton in CF and move Melky or Avi to DH.

Richard Pitino had his Gophers ready tonight. He is just the worst.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 06:33 PM) No they don't. They are already giving up 2 picks. They give up a pick for Lackey and Heyward. If Fowler signs elsewhere, they lose their 1st rounder and comp pick. If Fowler goes back to them, they lose their 1st rounder and 2nd rounder which may have been what was implied. Yep, 2nd rounder is what they want to get by Fowler going elsewhere

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 06:15 PM) Fowler really has no choice but to come down in price. Fowler's best hope might be for the cubs to trade Coghlan and then re-sign with the cubs. The cubs might be willing to offer Fowler close to his 4 year demands. That would be a ton of money for Cubs to spend on a 4th outfielder and give up their 2nd round pick for. They also have no need for him in a year or so, as they really want Almora to be their GG center fielder in the future.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 05:10 PM) I still think if fowler signs it will be closer to melky's deal. i don't think 3/30 will happen. If it does that is a tremendous deal, if it's less, its a steal. $10 million for an outfielder with a strength (obp) as good as his is pretty remarkable. But, I think 3/44-45 is what we end up seeing. Agreed...to me, Sox should offer a 3 year, 42 million contract with opt-out after 2 years. 2016 be somewhere around 10, second year at 16.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 04:07 PM) I saw a lot of the same from the Bulls though. Just terrible decision making and practically blowing it again. All the while I look and there is good ole Hoiberg not doing a thing. I missed my telecasts where all I could hear was Thibs yelling at the guys and making sure they knew where they needed to be, etc. Hoiberg seems to be attempting to be Phil, but Phil had a plethora of rings and wasn't that way in his career when he established himself. And by the way, I'm not saying Hoiberg is a bad coach cause he isn't shouting, but jesus, he barely looks like he's ever even talking to anyone. Literally he looks like he doesn't coach. I know that can't be the case but with some of these lapses we've seen from a veteran team, it certainly makes me feel that he has significant issues that he's going to have to figure out. Was he this lax at ISU (I know he is never going to be a shouter and that is fine, but was he so quiet from the perspective that he never talked on the sidelines)? Thought he had a chance to take a timeout or two to help Rose get some rest in the last few minutes of that game. The Bulls announcers were discussing how gassed Rose was.

Why would you trade Q for an aging player with two years left?

QUOTE (Boogua @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 02:36 AM) Solid first quarter for Steph. Just insane. Most exciting basketball player I have ever seen. Does it without world class athleticism

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 01:51 AM) Merkin is not making much sense. If they aren't willing to give up a pick for Fowler, then why would they even talk to him? And if they are unwilling to give up a pick for Fowler, why would they have any interest is paying the price for Puig? I really wanted Puig, but that thing with his sister, even though he supposedly was cleared, made me think he is a time bomb not worth the trouble. I'm sure we will see a tweet in next few days by Nightengale that says Sox are staying put. As for Puig, hell no. Too much of a clubhouse distraction

The pathetic thing about Illinois is they couldn't have asked for a better Big Ten schedule. They are going to win six games or so and a good team would have won 11-12

I have never hated a coach more than Brian Gregory. One of the worst coaching hires in the history of college basketball.

Levine on the Ethier situation now http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/02/02/lev...n-andre-ethier/

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 09:06 PM) Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick 32m32 minutes ago Mark Buehrle: Not planning to sign, but not officially retiring. Leaving the door open for possible comeback down the road. If Sox are in contention and struggling with 4/5 starter role, I would be shocked if they don't look to him around the deadline.

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 11:53 AM) I have last nights on DVR and I am just not up for watching it. I'll put it one when I'm cleaning or something and see if I hear anything interesting. I just want a faster pace like Shameless. Seems like it is a topic that Showtime could have gone out of the box with. Both Showtime Sunday shows were poor this past week. Billions seemed to try too hard to be edgy. Shameless just has too many dumb story lines.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 05:53 AM) Him being an overrated college coach. Always felt they underachieved in tournament. Not many coaches get an NBA gig after only making second week of the tournament once. I think my bigger issue with him was he started the trend (that has killed college hoops for me) of having teams comprised of numerous transfers.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 04:49 AM) Well that's not true. Which part

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 05:45 AM) Jesus. Hoiberg needs to start drawing up actual plays or something. Can he just go back to college and stack up on kids that got kicked out of other schools? Always thought he was an incredibly overrated college coach.

Pathetic play in overtime. Not even hitting the rim on their shots when they aren't turning it over.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 04:29 AM) Might not be indisputable but the angle they just showed certainly looked like that was off Butler not Hayward. It's bad when King is calling out a Bulls coach for bad decision

Another horrible play drawn up at the end by Hoiberg. He just sucks.

Gasol is the laziest defender I have seen in a long time. Game was over if Taj just grabbed the rebound

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 09:39 PM) What about Beck and Fry? That seems like decent amount. Yeah, they'd be asking for Q or Rodon for Soler. Beck and Fry isn't going to get you much from anyone due to their health issues.