Jake

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 09:42 AM) I did not like Robin putting Hudson in to pinch run for Dunn instead of Danks or Escobar. Why pinch run your slowest bench player there? And Danks should have caught that ball before he hit the wall. Either his defense is way overrated or he just hasn't played LF much because he sure hasn't impressed me as "the best defensive OFer in the organization" as Hawk calls him. I think all three are roughly the same speed-wise. O-Dog is a good baserunner, typically, and he was the guy you needed least for defense later in the game. Danks looks great on defense to me. Look at the replay of that play, he didn't drop it, he just didn't get there. QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 10:42 AM) I was too tired to post last night but... SEPTIMO!!!!!!!! The way he got that baserunner out at 2nd base was incredible! :-D That should help Septimo keep a job in the major league roster's bullpen when it's time to demote someone. Septimo's spot was pretty safe since he's a lefty. You saw two things with him last night: -the dumb things you see rookies do -the cool things talented kids can do to clean up their own mess

I doubt Street would do better than Reed. I wouldn't mind having him in the bullpen though.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 09:57 AM) But that's not the case here. The Bulls were planning on matching Asik when it was assumed he'd get about $5 million a year. The only time this deal hampers what they were planning on doing is in year 3 when they are on the hook an additional $10 million. I understand Asiks value defensively, and he does set some screens offensively, but we all know the chances of him ever being worth $15 million are Chris Sale slim. My point is, the tax shouldn't be the issue, the issue should be how it hinders the Bulls making moves after the 2013-2014 season. If he's tradeable, and it won't hinder your movement or you can get a really nice player ,you might as well bring him back . If it means they can't bring in a guy like Kevin Love, then its a no brainer not to match. Right. If it was a 2 year, 10 million deal the tax isn't going to affect the decision in all likelihood. It's the fact that 3 years from now you're in the tax just based on a few starters plus your backup C. We're on the same page I think.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 09:05 AM) Why is everyone so concerned about the luxury tax? Be more concerned about how it handcuffs you with other moves. The Bulls have said JR will pay the tax, its not like its going to break them. They, according to Forbes, are one of the NBA's most profitable teams. They have averaged a $55 million profit a year for the last 5 years. And except for the winning, they ironic for JR, are the Cubs of the NBA. People will go no matter what. When they had the worst 4 year record in NBA history, they still were top 5 or 6 in attendance. To some extent it doesn't matter, but you don't want to end up paying 50 million dollars in a single season to keep your backup center around, all while being unable to acquire free agents. I think JR would pay enormous taxes if he thought it was keeping a championship caliber team together. Paying these taxes to keep a run-of-the-mill backup center around is NOT the point of running a profitable franchise. Your front office has to be able to replace the Asik's of the world just as cheaply as he was acquired so you can invest in players that are harder to pull out of thin air.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 01:56 PM) I wish fielders would get errors for clearly missed catches, even though he got the eventual out the fact Viciedo didn't straight catch the ball against Bautista should have been an error. Viciedo clearly lost that ball in the lights. When the field of play causes a missed catch the fielder is never held accountable.

Reed is fine.

Just get OJ Mayo and call it a day.

I bet this thread had a lot of ups and downs. Glad I didn't get sucked into it, honestly.

I'd say we expected someone to be back sooner otherwise Heath would have stayed up

My impression is that guaranteeing college education is just about par for the course, almost regardless of round. Either the team or MLB needs to not f*** these kids' future by taking the leap to the pro's. Excited by Ayala. Great pickup.

QUOTE (Wedge @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 08:12 AM) Considering Konerko's apparent wrist injury and Dunn's performance since May, I don't see how it's less likely that Fielder and Young outperform that group than Youkilis, Ramirez, and De Aza outperform Miguel Cabrera, Peralta, and Jackson. We do have a definitive edge at 2B (as unbelievable as that is), catcher, and both corner outfield spots. Assuming good health for all, the likeliest case is that the Sox maintain their edge at those four spots and split the other five. ADA outperforming Austin Jackson isn't all that far fetched. Alexei outperforming Peralta IMO already happened and will likely happen in the second half. Youkilis outperforming Cabrera is far less likely and would require an injury in all likelihood, though there once was a time Youk was an MVP type player so if he wants to channel that (while not being a Cabrera-esque defender), I'm all for it. I don't see Young outperforming Dunn. At all. Fielder has a chance because he is a good player and as you said Konerko has been off and/or injured for a while.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 09:54 AM) NFL has the top 12. Halftime: The 50 Most-Viewed Sporting Events of 2012 (So Far) I could almost guarantee that the end of an NCAA playoff (not a 4 team one, either) would get significantly higher ratings instead of an arbitrarily chosen conference matchup. Not Super Bowl ratings, but perhaps top 3

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 10:08 AM) Nothing, in europe I'm okay with our 3rd stringer being 6'1" as long as he can see around defenders well enough to pass, which JL3 couldn't do.

What's wrong with being a 6'1" PG?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 09:34 AM) Danks is getting lonely on the DL I call it the Chicago Bulls approach. Several hurt players ought to make at least the production of one really good healthy one

I would be going for BMac and possibly Colon as a consolation prize.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) They may have more offensive talent, but they are only outhitting the Sox at SS, 3B, and CF. It's going to take a very significant acquisition for the Tigers to be able to take this division away from the Sox. This post. And the funny thing is that at this point we're getting very nice production from all three of those positions. It's possible that 2/3 or even 3/3 of ours could have better second halves where I find it far less likely that one of their other position players (perhaps Fielder or Avila) will have a surprisingly good second half and outperform one of our guys. Both teams have some uncertainty with pitching, as it always seems to go.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 12, 2012 -> 06:56 PM) Those spicy sweet chili ones are simultaneously the best, worst tasting things ever. This.

Like it or not, based on John's track record, the deal we gave him in the offseason was very fair. You can assign that to a rotation spot if you'd like, but if he duplicates his past years over the years of this deal we have done well. That's all that matters. John is a very, very good pitcher. He's not the most consistent guy in the world, but the truth is that he puts up pretty good-excellent numbers every season since being a rookie. There is zero reason for me to believe he won't be just as good or better as soon as he is healthy again.

I'd give them what we gave up for Peavy

If you accept that a healthy version of this team cannot win in their second go-around in the deep playoffs, what is the plan of action? How do you manage the roster now? You can't create an amazing, star-studded core out of thin air. Going for Howard would be risky and would cost you a lot of talent and cause you to take on older, more highly paid players along with him. Then you may lose Howard and keep those contracts for yet another season. So what's your move, GMs? Whether you accept the proposed or not, I just don't see a reason not to keep last year's team as together as possible. Certainly makes sense to try to avoid luxury tax though. If Rose returns and is healthier than what some would think, you get this team's second chance to win a title. If not, then it's not as if there was something to get this year anyway. Like basically every team except perhaps the Heat, some things have to go right for this team to win. If an idiot could assemble a winning team, teams like Charlotte wouldn't be so bad. Be happy that many would have argued that we had the second best team in the NBA. If something goes right - Derrick gets even more dominant, Boozer has a career year, Rip experiences a revival, Noah learns to play offense, LeBron breaks a leg, etc - we win. This is how sports work and especially one like the NBA. You have to get a little lucky. Hell, even the Heat were lucky to be able to clear all that cap room to get those 3 assholes. Something will go right and we'll win or things stay the same and we'll be pretty good. Or we can dismantle and hope that a ton of s*** goes right.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 12, 2012 -> 08:06 AM) Repeated being the key word here. He's had one so far. Let's give him a few more appearances before we start looking at other options for this year. I'm not saying you're guilty of this, but there are way too many people on this site who have no patience for young players. Let these young guys get some work in and get over the initial pressures of being in the majors before writing them off. That's all I'm saying. Did I miss a game where he pitched poorly? He had a terrible one batter outing when he looked very green. The rest I can remember were fine outings that made it seem like he deserved his role.

I've got tix for Section 139 did I dun goof?

I just hope Gar/Pax at least made a call to Orlando. We won't know if they did if it never went anywhere, but I feel like we couldn't have in good conscience not at least checked on a price. Something tells me that if Dwight played a year in Chicago, he wouldn't want to leave anymore.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 04:16 PM) No more than how much rip Hamilton sucked. Except the Heat won't be asking Lewis to start and be the difference between losing in the conference finals and getting to the finals. strong disagreement on that comparison of players