Balta1701

Wonder what that physical includes. If he's healthy that's the kin of move that could win this division for them if they can add 1 more starting pitcher. Did he sped a lot of time on the dl last year?

Of course, if the offers Albert has on the table are close to the $210 mil or so the Cards offered him, that might be low enough for the Cubs to just risk it anyway.

So the big 1b market is finally heating up right before the winter meetings.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 29, 2011 -> 09:52 AM) Or it just means the Cubs are "in" on basically everyone on the market, which has been true since well before the CBA changes. With the condition of their roster, it makes no sense to go after a $25 million a year player who will be past their prime in 3-4 years.

I'm a fan of how Missoura is already using this incident in ads to try to steal jobs and business from Alabama.

The sad truth is...the harder you make it to earn a living as a Congressperson, the more likely it is theyll take bribes or leave to become highly paid lobbyists selling their previous connections.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Nov 29, 2011 -> 06:21 AM) Apparently he had knee surgery this summer (same knee procedure Kobe had) in Germany and says he is finally 100% healthy. And for anyone wondering, no I do not want him here, and it makes no sense other than his facilitation and ball handling at the 2 (floor spacing is much more critical at the conjecture of this offense build around Rose from last summer's FA period) and LMAO at SA who is now backing down on what he said. So who is available that would provide better floor spacing at the 2 and is available for the MLE or for what the Bulls have to trade? Yeah there might be some surprises in the RFA pool, but at this point we ought to have a good guess about who will be out there, and I'm struggling to see a better option. McGrady basically put up his career average shooting %ages last year, 34% from 3. Not great, but right at his career mark. I think adding him makes the Bulls better than doing nothing, and I'm still waiting to see who else people would say that about.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Nov 29, 2011 -> 12:31 AM) This is going to be terrible if used in every situation (i.e. men on). Good luck reversing a trap/catch call with runners on. There's way too many variables to have a clear-cut rule. There's a reason some calls are irreversible as it is now. Presumably this will only be applied sparingly at the umps discretion, in cases where they feel they need it, which should really just be a few games per year per team, and I'd rather have the umps have the option than stand around in a group saying "I saw nothing" and wishing they could look up at the jumbotron like everyone else in the park. If this becomes an every other game thing then they're doing it wrong.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 09:15 PM) What would need to happen financially, for the Bulls to acquire Afflalo (who wants to be a Bull)? I just want to know if I should not even bother dreaming on it under the new CBA. I think basically he'd have to only be offered the MLE. No way the bulls can come up with more cap room, nothing car really be done on sign and trades at this point.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 06:08 PM) voters are idiots nah but the problem is, the fact that they can stay in office indefinitely is part of what leads to the problem of not being willing to challenge the status quo because of fear of losing your job. if they were already guaranteed to lose their job, they'd probably do what was in the best interest of the people and not themselves - but this is a topic for a different thread. The state of California, which has term limits, vehemently disagrees with what you suggested would happen.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 06:06 PM) Wow. That is one way to rebuild the farm, but it also says "we are in no way competing in 2012, or even 2013". Then again, that is probably already true, but for a team with a horrible starting pitching staff, that sure does seem like a strange way to rebuild. Saves money and maybe gets value out of a somewhat expensive vet. Sounds like what we need to do too.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 07:03 PM) Until the last month and a half of the season Mark is sorry that his career 4.21 ERA in September is inadequate for you.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 05:55 PM) It shouldn't, and you just blatantly ignore the difficulties of the compressed schedule. So 2 out of the last 3 years he hasn't been able to finish 50% of his games, therefore you are willing to make the upgrade to your SG be a gamble that a 31 year old oft injured player with over 30,000 minutes played under his belt will get you 80% of the games in a compressed 66 game season schedule including many more back to back and back to back to back games, and get us...what like 6 ppg? It's a terrible sign. I would rather we bring back bogans than that. First of all, Bogans is just going to be back. Accept it, it's happening. They're not going to dump a guy who was in this system last year for that amount of money. Second...stop telling me it's a terrible sign and tell me who is better, available, fits the Bulls' needs, and can be had for the MLE? I'm still waiting.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 05:44 PM) I agree with Rogers and his article in todays Tribune. I believe that KW and bad decsions just caught up with themselves especially if he lets Mark Buerhle walk. He has made some blunders and might have finally outsmarted himself. If Kenny Williams has any desire to compete in the next 2 years, M-56 has to be back. If Kenny Williams wants to undertake a full rebuilding, he can let Mark go. For my eyes, I think you have to just say that Kenny Williams is starting over at ground level right now. He offered to resign, his offer was turned down. Now his job is to do the best he can with what he has available to himself. That means making the right decision now about whether to try to go again this year or selling hard on the in-demand assets he does have, with the total salary he can spend hanging over his head.. The time to focus on previous blunders was when he offered to resign

Ok, so it's bad news about a Republican Candidate and this proves my bias. Screw it, it's getting posted. Here's your story of the day.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 05:24 PM) You mean Jimmy Butler, the 6-7 Luol Deng clone? Oops, i read an article the other day about him hanging around DRose and I thought it said something about him being Rose's backup.

Here's my list of currently unrestricted free agent shooting guards. This list will of course go up as guys get amnestied and released, but here's what I'm looking at right now: Jamal Crawford (SG) Von Wafer (SG) Delonte West (SG) Dominic McGuire (SG) Rasual Butler (SG) Anthony Parker (SG) DeShawn Stevenson (SG) J.R. Smith (SG) Tracy McGrady (SG) Mike Dunleavy (SG) Michael Redd (SG) Mario West (SG) Roger Mason (SG) Daequan Cook (SG) Jason Richardson (SG) Marquis Daniels (SG) Edit: Here's the list I used, if you want to add names here. A couple of SF's like Grant Hill might be options as well, but still need to be available at or below MLE level.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 05:17 PM) There are a lot better options than signing Tmac, imo. Names and ~ dollar amounts?

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 05:09 PM) I wasn't insinuating he'd play 30 minutes per night, even if he plays 18 minutes I"d worry about that 3 nights in a row so many times. He's old, old players have hard time being consistent because they get fatigued so easily. He's not a good pickup. If he gets fatigued easily...then the solution is...Brewer, Bogans, Korver, Watson, and that other PG that the Bulls just drafted. The fact that he lasted 72 games last year and averaged >20 mpg suggests to me that if I asked him to play in 80% of the games and give me 15-20 minutes as part of a 4 guard rotation, he ought to be able to handle it barring a catastrophic injury. The question is whether there's someone out there who would do a better job at that role or who you would want playing even more minutes than that.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 05:01 PM) If Buehrle doesn't re-sign, he loses 10-5 eligibility. I'd think that it would be a factor late in his next contract unless he gets a NTC. I can't imagine him signing a deal where he doesn't get no-trade protection. I really can't.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 04:45 PM) I can't imagine how tmac will stay healthy with so many 3 games in 3 nights. I'd like to avoid taking flyers on oft injured vets for this year. TMac isn't a guy you sign expecting 30 mpg, he's a guy you sign expecting 15-20 mpg along with a rotation of other guards. The Bulls actually have the rotation of other guards already...and that's actually one important point here. If the Bulls can't get a major upgrade at the position, a guy who commands 30+ mpg because you want him in the lineup, then they need to find a guy who fills some of their needs (shooting and ability to generate own shot) and compliments Brewer, Bogans, and Korver.

The Tigers had the 4th best offense in the AL last year and the 7th best starting rotation ERA (despite having a guy put up a dominant season at #1). Clearly, they need to spend more on offense. Yeah, that's right Detroit, you go after those bats.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 02:53 PM) My worst fear is that they trade Danks and Floyd, and then the season starts and Dunn, Rios, Beckham, and Peavy are all having good years--but now they don't have a pitching staff good enough to win. If this happens...if somehow this happens, you say a couple prayers of thanks and you immediately cut bait and run from Dunn, Peavy, and Rios, and you save as much money as humanly possible. If you can get talent back great, but if the awful contract 3 are playing well enough that they can be moved at a small loss or no loss, get rid of them immediately, and go into next offseason with no bad contracts on the books.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 02:37 PM) My guess is they are going to argue that its taken out of context. (Ie Parts of the conversation were erased and therefore it gives a different impression.) Erasure is something that can be tested as well by an audio expert, so if the voice has already been tested, unless there is something that can be removed from the end or beginning of the conversation, this isn't a useful excuse.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 28, 2011 -> 02:26 PM) http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/justice/syra....html?hpt=hp_t3 Fine's wife apparently will challenge the tape Is the quality of the recording already released good enough that independent audio experts are likely going through it to see if they can be the one to announce it's a fraud?