Jake

Axelrod has the stuff to compete (I wouldn't say thrive) but he just pitches scared. As soon as there are two strikes he goes into "nothing near the zone" mode and will either walk or end up laying something in there to get beaten. He's finally tried to pitch inside today but won't do it late in the count or in a location that will draw contact in play. Key for today is staying out of 3-2 counts, it can't be automatic like that when he goes 0-2, 1-2 as often as he does.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 16, 2012 -> 11:45 AM) Mark Gonzalez was on with Mcneil/Spiegel and speculated that either Hernandez or Leesman would get the start in Boston on Wednesday night. Y U NO Castro?

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 16, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) Maybe not. But the real question is what value in prospects is worth 10 outings of the current MLB ERA leader. How many more wins does that equate to over somebody else we might run out there? Because that's all we're getting in exchange for whoever we give up. This. People are getting crazy here. I'm glad the Cubs don't need Mitchell because he's too much for Dempster anyway.

Anyone else feel weird about ESPN talking about a Chicago team's drama as a breaking news story? I feel like this somehow has to be related to New York/Tebow and I don't know how yet....WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVE, ESPN?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 16, 2012 -> 11:01 AM) YOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK

I'd say well above average. He'd be excellent if not for the occasional headscratcher. I'm happy thinking of him as our CF for the foreseeable future. Hope he snaps out of this little slump though.

Axelrod and Hernandez is basically the max I'd trade them. Maybe toss in a rookie reliever not named Reed or Jones

QUOTE (balfanman @ Jul 16, 2012 -> 09:13 AM) I predict that Dempster will be traded somewhere soon for something that would not exactly be considered a kings ransom. At that point, Soxtalk will explode with posters wondering why we didn't get him if that's all it took. lol, yep

I'm happy to have casted 6 votes, none of which were for Greg I feel like KW did Sergio a solid by getting him all that guaranteed money before this possibly career ending event...by the time he returns he may float around on vet's minimum deals

Simon Castro?

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 03:17 PM) Cook's home ERA- 9+ Lester's home ERA- 5.8+ Doubront's home ERA- 5+ Morales' home ERA- 6+ f*** it, win 3/4. TBA road ERA - 0

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 12:07 PM) lol @ sample size. I gave you a 900+ IP sample size earlier in this thread

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 10:04 AM) They've pushed their starters this year, but that's the price they've had to pay to be in contention. What are you talking about? We never skip the 5 spot, we frequently re-arrange to get everyone extra rest, I'd have to say that we push our starters LESS than any other team in our situation

Ryan Dempster since returning to the rotation in 2008: 58-44, 3.61 ERA, 916 IP, 8.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.29 WHIP He may not be as good as his numbers this year suggest, but you don't get that kind of sustained excellence by being a terrible pitcher. I'd take him at the right price, for sure.

is Floyd hurt?

QUOTE (forrestg @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 11:52 PM) pick up his 9 million for the remaining contract is our only chance. I heard Farmer/DJ say today that the Brewers made a $100M extension offer to Greinke. If that's the case, the 9M remaining this year wouldn't be a big deal to them.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 09:29 PM) Knicks just traded for Felton. I guess this means Lin will go to Houston. Two of the most famous Asian players ever will both play for Houston, interesting. The Rockets have the Chinese market in their hands. Are they still going to want to pay Omer?

I'll give them Dylan Axelrod.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 09:01 PM) I have a feeling Hester might be the odd man out after the season if he doesn't have a decent year as the #3/4 WR. He'll be owed, IIRC, about $9M next season. They signed Weems to be the KR and Bennett can do the PR duties. They just drafted Jeffery to be their future with Marshall and Bennett. $9M is too much to pay a guy who is an average WR. Also, they could cut Bush after the year if he follows in the tracks of being another wasted contract on a back-up RB. Thomas only got a 1 year deal. Toeaina might also go if he continues to be average. Idonije could always go if McClellin steps up or if he's just too ineffective. I'm not too worried about it. Stein is great with the finances, IMO. Urlacher, Melton, and Cutler will be getting extensions sometime during the season, I'd bet. It'll basically come down to how good our drafts are. The good NFL teams in the long term are always able to build through the draft because it's the only way to keep your best players around without cap problems.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 03:54 PM) They say he strained the same back muscle that Peavy tore. He is on the shelf for the foreseeable future Yeah, I've heard this -- the mysterious loss of velocity, inability to recover in between outings, non-response to rest reminds me of just about every torn labrum case I've heard of. This is actually why I was so afraid of the Danks business at first. The rub here is that many throwers have torn labrums and have no problems, so it isn't cut and dry if you see some fraying on an arthrogram. In my personal case, the radiologist said I had a torn RC and perfect labrum and the orthopedist saw something completely different (labrum tear). Sometimes some rehab type work alleviates the symptoms of a labrum tear and you'll never tarnish a pitcher's value with that label until you know rehab won't work. I suspect a similar story with Sergio Santos who has been DL'd with shoulder inflammation for 3 months and has a setback after every time he throws.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 04:19 PM) The question I have is why does this role need to be filled right now? Why is it so important to sign the last guy on the bench right now? As for finding a player for that spot, I'm looking UDFA and NBDL first Well we haven't signed him yet, but I'm sure we're always looking to fill spots. There are no starters to get right now, what else is there? NDFA or NBDL is like saying we should have signed Beverley 3 years ago instead of now. If our talent evaluators think he's the best option, who am I to disagree? I don't watch the Eurocup or NBDL and most NDFA are what they are because they aren't ready for the NBA (perhaps never will be). I'll leave it to the guys that have some idea what a future NBA player looks like in these lower levels.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 04:10 PM) I am opposed to them wasting a roster spot on a guy who isnt NBA quality. Not hard to figure out. this season should be about trying to rebuild a roster so that when Rose gets back, they can assimilate him onto the roster and go. Adding guys like this is a total waste of time, because when Derrick comes back, he goes. Simple as that. This is just putting a guy in a uniform just because. Who gives a s*** what he did in euroleague, college, or f***ing Marshall? I want a guy who actually competed in the NBA wearing a Bulls uniform. Not Dalibor Balgaric types. You guys are just settling for mediocrity. Im through with that, this team/town/fanbase deserves better than that. I'm just not convinced that you can get "real" NBA players for this particular role, when it is assured that the player will be released or forced to feign injury the instant that Rose returns. If we were choosing him over a Michael Redd type of roleplayer, I'd feel much differently.

This is the type of guy that is going to be your 3rd/4th point guard. I don't see why you're so opposed to it Kyle. He's going to average 5mpg and play 1/3 games in all likelihood. I know you want to replace bench scoring, but it was never happening in this role anyway.

Jhan looked good last night. A couple soft hits, but his stuff looks great. Fast four seamer, nice run and drop on 2 seamer, and a sick changeup that is the same shape as his 2 seamer. Hope he keeps it all in the zone.

I don't think we "need" Huston Street and Volquez to compete, but they might be useful. I wouldn't give up too much for them and almost certainly nothing on the current roster. I would be absolutely shocked if we went for a big fish at this point, we really don't have the guns to do it if we plan on keeping our offense potent. As far as Halladay goes, I think he has a torn labrum. Wouldn't shock me if we don't hear much from him again, but we'll see.