Jake

Meyers Leonard is going to need a strong coach, which is why I hope he ends up with the Bulls (there's no way this happens without a trade or something obviously). If left to his own devices, he's going to not hustle enough, not get in the paint enough, get caught sleeping on defense, basically be Amare Stoudamire. But the dude has mega-talent. He has post moves and is awesomely athletic at 7 foot tall, 250 pounds. He is just an attitude change away from being an elite defensive player and already is at least a decent offensive player. Sullinger > May. I don't know how good Sullinger is going to be, but he's taller and more athletic than Sean May. I couldn't believe anyone would waste a draft pick on Sean May.

Okay, taking bets. Who has a better weekend at the plate: Brent Morel or the pitchers?

I can't believe the mock draft I just looked at had Meyers Leonard at 17...I would take him on the Bulls in a heartbeat.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 18, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) WTF? Wood is announcing his retirement after the game and will be available to pitch today.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 18, 2012 -> 09:41 AM) No, you're right, he doesn't...but if he goes on a hot streak for a prolonged amount of time and starts raising awareness, he could certainly be valuable by the trade deadline. Part of what you guys are saying though is humorous to me...Viciedo doesn't have all that much value on the market, but you'd be crazy to trade a guy with these kind of skills! Well which is it? Why is his value what it is on the market? If he is such an incredible hitting prospect, why do the rest of the scouts not see it? Just to clarify: this is all based on the premise that DV won't be a very good player, right? Or at least, not the player that his prospect status suggests he will be.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 17, 2012 -> 10:28 PM) Just re-sign AJ. If he doesn't cost much, I'm not against it, at least knowing what I know now. He would still likely have some trade value next year if things don't work out or we have someone pushing for time in the minors.

I'd still rather see Escobar out there than Morel. Escobar: -lacks 500+ AB's of bad offense (yes, I'd rather hold out for his ceiling of .260 and no power) -plays fundamental baseball (wow! bunting and stuff) -swings like he isn't afraid to hit something -generally carries himself with some enthusiasm, like he isn't afraid every AB is going to get him demoted Morel: -sucks

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 17, 2012 -> 09:55 PM) He needs to produce above a sub -.600 ops when he's not on a "hot streak." We don't know what the "usual" Dayan Viciedo is. The minor league Viciedo seemed to be a ~.300 BA, 25 HR, 100 RBI guy in a 162 game schedule. That was a young man in a new country, so I have to wonder if his ceiling at this level is even higher as he gets older and better at baseball. You sure as hell aren't going to acquire someone with more physical tools. You guys are going to have to get off the nuts of the OPS stat, btw. Don't know why that is the foundation of comparing offensive players.

It was so dumb for LeBron to not go to Chicago if all he was worried about was winning titles. I think Derrick has pushed guys like LeBron, Dwight away. Superstar in his hometown takes the spotlight away too much.

I don't think we've seen what DV is capable of yet, not at any level. It will be beautiful when we see it, though.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 17, 2012 -> 08:33 PM) Might not be a big 3 next year. After what they did two summers ago, to be ringless two years later is unacceptable. If they start unloading (this may be premature as there is a lot of Miami-Indiana basketball left to play) the Bulls can't spend a bunch of time in a rebuild mode. The Eastern Conference will be there for the taking.

The Heat are good for the NBA. And I think the less they win in the postseason, the better. They can milk this "when will the big 3 win?" thing for at least a couple more years.

I think we're seeing that Zimmerman made the stupid move of pursuing Trayvon, probably assuming that he'd scare the kid away with no trouble. Trayvon fought (or fought back) and Zimmerman got scared and used his firearm. Perhaps the racist in him assumed that the black kid would be packing...maybe not. The media coverage of this was pretty bogus though.

This is fun to watch.

The only way I'd advocate a trade of Dayan Viciedo is if I was trying to get Kenny fired

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 17, 2012 -> 07:17 PM) And I still say let him get hot and then move him. Why would you trade Dayan Viciedo? The best you could hope for is a Viciedo-in-waiting.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 17, 2012 -> 01:00 PM) If this team plays .500 or better ball, this is a good thing. It's not happening unless the struggling part of the pitching rotation steps up, the young guys in the bullpen step up, and some out of Beckham/Morel/Viciedo/Lillibrige/Flowers step up. And they found their leadoff hitter for the next few years in De Aza, and Dunn and Rios continued playing pretty well. Meaning, if this team plays well against NL teams and pushes up to .500, they've actually set themselves up surprisingly well for next year, because Peavy and AJ's contracts clear, saving $28 million ($5 million or so of that spent on the Danks extension already). That means the Sox could be legit players in FA for someone really big, like Hamels or Hell even Hamilton, as long as it starts with an H, and that could well push this team to be a legit player next year. I hadn't thought about it much, but it's feasible that with the right players coming around this year we could be a few FA signings away from a favorite-esque team.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 17, 2012 -> 12:56 PM) I just don't see how that 25% of the electorate that's STRONGLY anti-Obama is going to be even more induced to vote... They're already motivated. It's always the independent voters who decide elections, and despite the overall unpopularity of many current issues (handling of economy, gas prices, which can't be directly influenced over a matter of days and weeks, the health care mandate, gay marriage, Wall Street bailouts), Obama continues to run 20-30% ahead in terms of the enthusiasm of his party. (Charles Blow wrote a column on this in the NY Times yesterday). Then you have the huge divides in the women's and Hispanic votes that were opened up in the GOP primary process and will be very tough to walk back. By all past measures, with the state of the economy being what it is, Romney should be 5-10 points ahead at this juncture, but it's basically dead even and most betting folks are still putting their money on Obama. While winning independents typically wins elections, Bush Jr. lost independents twice yet still won two elections (well, one...kinda). Rallying the base has worked for Republicans in the past. QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 17, 2012 -> 02:02 PM) STOP GOVERNMENT SPENDING FIX OUR BALLPARK

The real question is...who cares?

QUOTE (flavum @ May 17, 2012 -> 06:33 PM) Me too, because his bad is baaaaaaaaad. You must be unfamiliar with Brent Morel

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 17, 2012 -> 06:17 PM) Nice bounce back win It seems like this team has more resilience than what we're accustomed to seeing. I say that with hesitance because I think MLB ballplayers are much more mentally tough than we give them credit for.

Let the Dayan HoF campaign begin!

That ball came off his bat SO hard today

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 17, 2012 -> 05:20 PM) Has this been confirmed yet? Soxtalk kept talking about all the prospects Atlanta was offering, yet I never heard of anyone else saying it or confirming it. I'd say it didn't happen

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 17, 2012 -> 05:38 PM) AJ should've gone in hard anyway No chance, he was not near close enough. That's a recipe for taking a baseball to the face