Balta1701

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2010 -> 05:26 PM) what do you think upsets the fans more, the owner being cheap with the money and not willing invest in big name free agents, resulting in .500 teams every season, or the team sign a big name free agent or two, but the team might not win championships immediately, yet makes them a threat to do so every year. the bulls had sold out every game in the past couple of years, it would really upset the fans if JR is unwilling to go after anyone after lebron, wade and bosh gets signed. Here's my biggest worry with everyone other than Bosh, Lebron, and maybe maybe Wade (although he's already taken a beating) or Amare... "The team might not win championships immediately" If you sign Nowitzki, Boozer, the soon to be 29 year old Joe Johnson...then if your team doesn't win championships immediately...how long until they're on the road down hill? It's a couple years before Rose, Noah, Gibson are approaching/at "Peak Age" in the 25-27 range. Ditto Deng, who we're flat-out stuck with for now.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ May 2, 2010 -> 05:21 PM) The 2004 Pistons are who I was thinking of too. Natually they weren't favored in the finals either. LA had some serious issues. Seemed like Malone and Payton were the only ones who came to play. Probably because they wanted a ring. And when you get right down to it...how many of those teams won those titles not only having 1 all-time great playing at their peak, but without having an additional all-star or two alongside them?

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ May 2, 2010 -> 04:57 PM) I don't have a problem with him pitching in Double-A. It doesn't make sense for the Nats to have him in the Majors now due to service time and losing that extra year of cheapness, and he's clearly too good for the minors, so does it really make much difference if he's dominating double-A lineups compared to dominating triple-A lineups? As I posted a page ago...even if they wanted to call him up to the big leagues...they wouldn't gain anything. He's contractually limited to 100 innings in the big leagues this year, no more. If they want to build up his arm, they need to take their time with him in the minors and get him some innings there.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 2, 2010 -> 05:16 PM) Gordon has had these huge slumps before, he'll break out of it. Really? He looked this amateurish for this long last year? He struggled for about -0 days or so, 35 at bats, last year before picking it up. When did he slump for a month in his baseball career? Were his mechanics anywhere near this out of whack?

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2010 -> 04:33 PM) lebron, wade, bosh don't win championship every season. there is only one of each of them in the league. teams has won in the past without those players, but with a solid core of players. so why only target lebron, wade and bosh, and if they are gone, then don't sign the so call "second tier players". there is a risk that a team signs lebron, wade or bosh will not win too. it all depends on fit and chemistry. i guarantee you wade will not put the bulls over the top. you can compare wade and bosh to payton and malone because supposedly they are the top level, but having payton and malone didn't help their team win either. If I added Duncan, Jordan, Shaq, and Hakeem to that list, from their primes...and then Isiah, Bird, Magic, and Dr. J, I think the only counter-example you can give me from the last 30 years...where a team won a title without a guy who legitimately should have been paid a max deal and more, without a guy you could consider in the top 10 in the league, is the 2004 Pistons.

Considering none of them would exist any more without the government...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) A Danks deal would be done in the off-season, or could be a deadline deal if we were out of it. I won't believe that D1 is getting dealt in the offseason until I see it. That'd be KW admitting he didn't think he could win that year.

There is a level of talent in the NBA where, if the guy gets a max contract, he's not a liability under any circumstances. James, Wade, Bosh, Bryant, Rose, Durant, Anthony, Howard, Williams, Paul if he's healthy, probably a handful of others. Then, there's a tier of guys who aren't liabilities...if your owner is willing to go way over the Tax to pay for them. They can't carry a team on their own, but if you give them a max deal, the only way they kill you is if you won't go over the Tax. Gasol, Nowitzki, I'd put Amare, Johnson at this level, and a lot of others. Then, there's a tier of guys who are solid players, but if you give them a big deal, even if you're way over the tax, you're happy to move them. You know a lot of these guys. Gordon, Deng, Hinrich...these are great examples. Here's the biggest problem. If you sign any of the top tier guys to a max contract, you've probably underpaid per win. But there are 30 teams in the NBA competing for 10 guys, and each team can afford 2-3 max contracts without hitting the cap level. What winds up happening is...the teams which don't land a top level guy wind up giving big contracts to the next 2 levels down. Then...you wind up in the ultimate crap scenario, which is where so many NBA teams have spent time...as somewhere between poor and good teams, but with salaries so high that they can't afford to add another piece. It's those 2nd and 3rd tier players that are killing NBA owners right now. Teams can't commit to fully rebuilding without having the stadium empty and revenue disappear, so if they have cap space, they feel compelled to use it. On the other hand...if they're going out and signing a guy who can't on his own put them over the top, they're almost always overpaying these days, and that's how a team winds up in trouble.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2010 -> 03:05 PM) If they think they will lose him to free agency, it will be a lot easier to justify. Only if they think they can't compete going into his 2012 season. Which is just silly. Not only do they think they're going to compete every year, but they're not going to decide they're out of it until the deadline of that year at worst.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 03:05 PM) Texas, the Cubs, and Florida can really hit. I can't believe Atlanta has played as poorly as they have this season. Florida is 7th in the NL in runs scored, 10th in OPS, 12th in HR. Cubs are 5th in the NL in runs scored, 5th in OPS. They're both at best "slightly-somewhat above average". Unlike our pitching staff.

Nicely done there Lexi.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 2, 2010 -> 03:00 PM) Yup. So, I'm to believe it was no where near Cano yet Cano knocked it down? My god, he's a jedi!

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:59 PM) If they don't go on a good stretch next week, this season could be in real jeopardy. They could still salvage things by being on fire in June. But I'm losing faith in ever seeing that. Esp. from the starters.

QUOTE (G&T @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:58 PM) It was no where near Cano. Didn't he knock it down?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) Danks being traded for a big package fills in a lot of those holes. I can't remember the last time the Sox traded away an up and coming guy before he hit FA to restock the farm.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) Wow, Kotsay is soooooooo slow! It was a line drive. He couldn't start running until the ball got past Cano or hit the ground.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:55 PM) Gosh, what a disaster he is right now. He's rapidly convincing me that the "Send him down for a stint" plan might be the only option. It's no longer just in his head, his mechanics are totally off.

Beckham's shoulder is flying wide open on every swing.

QUOTE (Disco72 @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:47 PM) Frankly, I want no part of someone signed for that much money and that long. I know that's the price for an elite bat, but I'd rather the Sox have 2 very good bats at that price. Even if you include Gonzalez as part of the new core with Peavy and Rios, you'd still need a lot of production from cheap players to have a good team. The catch-22 of course is...you'd be giving up a lot of your possibly cheap young players to get him.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:43 PM) Sorry, I have no idea why I wrote what I did. I meant 20 million a year though. $20 million a year would still be a >$5 million a year discount compared to his market value.

Sigh.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:38 PM) But you really think we'll give him a 5/100 deal? You really think he'd sign for 1/2 his market value?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:36 PM) Agon wouldn't be here as a temporary thing. He'd have to be. The Sox are not ponying up 8/$200.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:35 PM) I'd hope they'd wait another month before making a huge deal, because you have to see if there's even a chance that you can compete with the Twins/Tigers. If we're 10 out after our road trip in two weeks, then just save your resources. I just agreed with Fathom.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:34 PM) That's what I mean. Our pitching hasn't been good and our offense isn't good. Gonzalez is going to magically make us pitch better and make other guys hit better. Frankly...it could certainly happen, you get that bat and suddenly everyone else loosens up a bit and bang. But...you can't make that deal and count on that happening.