Jake

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 11:36 AM) Presumably in the call someone else was supposed to release over the top, perhaps the CB playing to the outside of Conte. Instead if that CB got the blitz call and went into man coverage, staying with the receiver on the sideline, it removed the help that Conte would have had in the original playcall. Right, I'm assuming we had three deep on the original zone call -- two CBs and Wright. Conte was to cover the flat near the first down marker. I wouldn't think too deeply about the wisdom of that call since we audibled out of it...there's some chance it was never intended to be the play we actually stuck with.

I would like to make it official that Bulls fans are now demanding that JR be tight with his money

I think we can assume the play called asked something different of Conte than normal Cover 2 deep coverage. He thought he had the flat, which means he probably thought they were in Cover 3 with corners and Major Wright in deep coverage

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 11:54 AM) But that's the problem -- we need a guy that can play SS. If Davidson makes the team out of ST, right now the bench looks like: 1B/DH Konerko C Flowers/Nieto OF De Aza/Viciedo IF Keppinger ?? That fifth slot, which they probably would rather not even carry in lieu of another reliever anyway, absolutely must be someone that can play SS, as that's the only position not covered. Battling for that final slot will be Garcia, Danks, Gillaspie, and Semien at a minimum. Semien can start in AAA, and Garcia is the only other one that can handle SS. That leaves both Gillaspie and Danks without a job, and I'd be surprised if we didn't lose one or both to waivers because neither has anything to prove in AAA. I'm thinking they would like this, at this point: Konerko [backup catcher TBD] 4th OF that isn't ADA or Viciedo 3B/2B/1B/emergency LF Gillaspie Jake Elmore or similar player (RH bat, all IF positions and in his case OF as well, eliminating need for Gillaspie to be emergency player ther)

It's Jerry's money. If he demands that we only trade Deng to bring talent to the club, then so be it. If we can't trade Deng for talent and Jerry doesn't care about wasting money, that's his prerogative

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 10:44 AM) Martellus Bennett was on B&B monday, and it really seemed like bringing his brother to the team is a big priority for him. I'd like him, but I might rather switch to a 3-4. Not sure that he is a 3-4 DE. Wootton and Melton would make ideal 3-4 DEs. Today's passer did indicate they were going to evaluate "scheme" but that could just be talk. QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 10:50 AM) That's a lot of money for a guy that hasn't played a full season in 4 years and has played 10 or 11 games in 2 of the last 3. And for a guy that's 1-9 against the Packers. And for a guy that has won, what, one playoff game? It's definitely a deal laden with risk. However, if I trust Trotman, that means I trust that he knows what he needs under center.

Jesus Christ is that a s***-ton of money. How much did they think he'd get in FA?

I hope it isn't like AJ. I've never head of a more universally reviled player. At least Swisher has been liked under the right circumstances. I never minded Orlando Cabrera at all.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 1, 2014 -> 01:22 PM) I lived in Cook County for 24 years. The devil I know is f***ing horrifying. That would be why you're not a conservative. You're a good example of how libertarians and conservatives are different despite being known as "on the right"

I'd be shocked if Gillaspie can't play 2B at least well enough to be a Keppinger-like "anything but SS" utility player with solid platoon splits for that purpose.

Sounds pretty vague. Even if entirely true, it sounds like he might be an annoying kid. Big deal. He'll grow up and stop "irking" people... or he won't and he just won't have a bunch of best friends on the team. We'll all live.

Lovie Smith finalizing contract with Buccaneers.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 07:38 PM) Gotta believe Coop has some ideas to improve his effectiveness vs lefties, likely starting with an improved change. Coop pitchers have tended to opt for the cutter for that purpose in the past, since it can be easier to learn. Wouldn't shock me if he starts throwing one. Would give him a Maddux-like fastball repertoire.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 1, 2014 -> 01:07 PM) The Rangers definitely pushed him up rapidly, so more AAA time would make sense if there's a slot for him. But...if Davidson, Semien, and Sanchez are all at AAA...and Mitchell and perhaps Trayce are in the OF...it might be tough to find him a place to get regular at bats. That's a good point, though I hope Davidson isn't there. It will be very interesting to see where Semien plays. 2B makes the most immediate sense, but they may really want him to be a SS, where his long-term value could be much higher. My guess is that Semien bounces between 2B and SS while Sanchez and Garcia get time at 3B ( in addition to MIF slots). Garcia will get some OF time as well. I wonder whether Trayce will start in AAA. I would put him in AA, but we have pushed him along somewhat aggressively. Not so much by age, but we have promoted him before in spite of "meh" production at the lower level.

That's a rather strange argument, but it is essentially what conservatism is. Resisting change not out of some empirical or systematic line of reasoning, but out of fear of disrupting the status quo. The devil I know is better than the one I don't.

I still feel puzzled about the Crawford signing. Just seems to go against the grain of our philosophy. We don't need an elite goalie, nor do we need to pay anybody like one. When we signed Raanta, I thought for sure that would preclude an extension for Crow. I'm a bit worried about future cap issues, but I suppose I need to give these guys a lot of benefit of the doubt when it comes to constructing championship teams.

Not super encouraging that Leury failed to pit up very good numbers. While his defense and basemning make him a good fit for our crappy MLB bench, his bat needs a lot of work, even for that role. More AAA time required IMO.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 11:51 AM) The guy had a decent year in a hitter's paradise while fanning a lot of times. There is a very real chance he isn't ready for the major leagues, at the very least, defensively. I don't know how it is at the expense of someone's development that they go play and have success in AAA vs. getting buried in the major leagues. It's not like this guy has been in AAA for several years. He's either ready or he's not. It isn't going to be a "logjam" issue. His play will determine where he plays. He had a 117 wRC+, which means he outperformed his league in AAA significantly. When he got a shot in the big leagues, he posted a 108 wRC+, which again means he did well. His development will progress in the MLB and nowhere else. Conor and Keppinger are both good/valuable enough that Davidson will not "control his destiny" so to speak unless one or both is off the roster. We won't release them, so there is a logjam. There is pretty much nothing that could happen in ST that would go against the abundant evidence that Davidson should start the year in MLB, at least other than the composition of that current MLB roster.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/about/grading/ Worth reading over. It isn't completely unassailable, but it is hard to argue that there is a better way of going about it. Best way to think about the two lines is to recognize the huge role played by scheme. More pressure was less of a problem because our QB knew how to respond, had extra blockers, and in general the plays were called better. It's insane how many 2 or 3 man route plays we ran successfully this year. It's because our coach knows that a great route tree means nothing with your QB on his back.

Webb allowed 30 hurries, 5 hits, and 7 sacks last year. The team as a whole allowed 133 hurries, 35 hits, and 42 sacks. Webb was the only player to play every snap on the offense. We ran 595 pass plays that year. Our single best rushing lane for that season was to his left and our third best was to his right, despite the fact our LG position was abysmal. Mills allowed 63 hurries, 13 hits, and 3 sacks this season (Bushrod had 4 and Forte had 3, nobody else with more than 2). The team allowed 184 hurries, 46 hits, and 20 sacks on the whole. We ran 664 pass plays this year. Worth mentioning that while he was basically bad all year, he began posting more respectable numbers down the stretch (his best game remained Week 1, though). His run blocking didn't rate positively, but wasn't back-breakingly bad like his pass protection. Not being on the blind side along with a much better offensive scheme saved him from giving up a lot of sacks. I think selective memory is at fault here. Also, Webb was prone to spectacularly bad games, which also is probably related to a scheme in which we never left TEs and RBs in to help protect the passers. Even last season, his "good year" (which would have made him 4th best on this year's line), he had a game where he gave up 3 sacks and 5 additional hurries against SF -- it is essentially where all of his negative pass blocking grade came from, that single game.

Webb honestly wasn't that bad last year. Before last year, Webb had at least one season worse (by PFF grade) than the one that Mills had this year, which is truly an accomplishment

Start him in AAA and tell him to throw changeups until his arm falls off. If he has an average change, he is suddenly an extremely compelling prospect as a starter.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 05:19 PM) I got the "Dunn's platoon splits" line repeatedly when Konerko was re-upped as a reason why it made sense so I call back to that. I don't think that's why Hahn did it

I would imagine the Maddux/Glavine/Thomas types will get fewer votes than what ThinkFactory reflects while the Clemens/Bonds types will get more. Just have to think of what types of votes would make a writer more likely to conceal their choices so as to avoid a bunch of abuse.

Who knows, maybe he's just an axe murderer or something