Friend of Nordhagen

File under The Grass is Always Greener: I'm hard on Hawk. But I flipped over to the Cubs game for a minute and -- once again -- Len Kasper was critiquing music. That guy is insufferable, in his own non-Hawk way. Too cool for the room, no matter the room.

Other gems from Hawk today: free-associating on the shortcomings of Joe Pepitone and Ed Whitson, extolling the virtues of Bert Campaneris. Soon he'll get to the year 1988.

Nice job by Hawk there. In one sentence, he was able to over-promote one prospect ("Sanchez is gonna be a good one") while still pumping a lousy departing player ("But right now, in the field, he's no Beckham."). Hawk is a genius.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 11:34 PM) Pretty soon you may be talking about him with those guys. Rodon, Adams, Danish, Montas, and Martinez is nice though. It sure would be interesting if Rick Hahn -- very quietly, modestly and without benefit of total tank job -- has done on the pitching side of the ledger what the ballyhooed boys on the North Side supposedly have done with position prospects.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 10:53 PM) That trade started and ended with Samardzija. Oakland is trying to win the World Series, not build depth. Are they hang another Baseball America top 20 banner at Wrigley? Right next to the Len Kasper "I know more about rock and roll than anyone alive, and did I mention how cool I am?" banner. It'll be a set.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 06:33 PM) I'm not trying to hate on the Cubs system, because it's clearly one of the best in baseball, but it does get over-hyped to some extent. 2014 Baez is a perfect example and some of their secondary prospects get more kudos than they deserve. Again, it's a great system, but a lot of these prospects get extra hype for that very reason and would definitely be rated lower if they were in another organization. This was one of Epstein's great strengths with the Red Sox: have some top-line legit prospects and then a handful of B+ prospects who were trumped-up and Gammons-fed into something much more than they were. Very helpful when it comes time for trades.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 5, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) No? 22-27 range. And he has been walking a lot. And enormous power. He's put up a wRC+ of 209 or better at every extended stop. That's utterly insane. Bryant is truly a stud prospect. So is Russell. Baez (contact, glove) and Almora (bat questions) are less so. But the key is whether the Cubs can convince teams they are premier prospects, too, much like the Red Sox used to convince the world that their guys were. If so, they can flip them for the pitching they need.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jul 5, 2014 -> 01:36 AM) I've noticed that no one is mentioning anywhere that I've seen that Addison Russell has suffered 2 desperate hamstring injuries this season, the latest one being a complete tear. He has only played 18 games this season as a result. I feel like that makes him a risk that Beane was willing to take by trading him. Billy Beane is not a dumb guy.

QUOTE (gosox41 @ Jul 4, 2014 -> 11:02 PM) They do have one thing the SOx don't. A fanbase that will actually go out and pay to watch them play, especially with any sign of being good. Even now the Sox are a better team and the Cubs draw more and are charging higher ticket prices. Bob This can't be overstated. There's really no mystery to it. If every team could simply take every decent major league player they had and "flip them" at the deadline, they'd have a lot of good prospects, too -- and an awful lot of high draft picks as well. Then add the minor league players that Hendry signed before he left (for which he'll never receive credit because the media is TheoJed brainwashed) -- guys like Baez and Alcantara -- give it 3 years and . . . yes, you have a deep farm system. But that only happens when you can still draw, and they can.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 24, 2014 -> 09:17 PM) We're buyers again! And we have a pair of goggles to trade!

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Jun 24, 2014 -> 09:15 PM) Pitching blind? Harder to see the home runs.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 8, 2014 -> 10:48 PM) 3 K's for Sox....................having to listen to Cubs guys on WGN 2 times this series is torture. Hawk/Stone should of had 1 game on WGN. Len Kasper is a complete asshat. Talk about a guy who thinks he's too cool for the room -- Mr. Hip and his Music Knowledge. Go pound, dickweed.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 26, 2014 -> 11:22 AM) Thanks for posting this. Anyone have a guess to what Balfour screamed in the dugout? Sounded like "f*** money" to me. I think it was "These are the worst PED's ever!"

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 26, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) The house cleaning is complete. Who is even left from the Hendry era? Castro, Samardzija, & Barney? Javier Baez, but no Cub fan wants to admit that he's a Hendry draftee. #theoandjedforever

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 20, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) Since when is Garza this must-have ace? That would have been an incredible deal for the Cubs. Since TheoAndJed, Inc. started spinning and falsely leaking for the 4 dupes that cover the Cubs in Chicago and the 3 suck-up morons who cover baseball nationally. The hype on this yutz is insane. As I seem to recall, Garza isn't an ace and is typically injured. Though I know that it's very "retro" to judge a pitcher by wins, his top number -- secured just once and never to be even nearly achieved again -- was 15 (which, incidentally, puts him one ahead of the highest single-season win total of the great historical Cub ace, Kerry Wood). So, because that metric is so archaic, let's just say that his "peripherals" include being a clubhouse jackass. Ridiculous.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 10:38 PM) I was just reading tonight that people expect them to be one of the contenders for Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez. Also, how can you say Baez is a bust? If you want to confuse and annoy a Cub fan, remind him that Javier Baez was drafted by Jim Hendry. ("But, oh my God, TheoandJed!")

It's entirely possible that both Kenny Williams and Phil Rogers were (and are) inept. That's where I'm leaning.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 3, 2013 -> 10:46 PM) Exciting Sox baseball. It is high-octane madness.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 29, 2013 -> 09:24 PM) Detroit looks fresher to me in the 3rd so far. Hoo boy.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 20, 2013 -> 09:19 PM) It wasn't. Howard wasn't even touched. My thought, too. I thought maybe I didn't know the rule.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 20, 2013 -> 09:12 PM) The refs took away a perfectly fair game tying goal. That sucks. The Shaw goal? Seriously, what is the rule there? Why was that interference?

It's a shame that Toews and Saad were hurt and missed the playoffs. Oh, wait. Sorry. They've played in every game.

MEMO TO RICK HAHN: No more football-mentality "grinders" -- players who ultimately, year after year after goddamn year, "grind" the sawdust right out of their bats, pressing so hard in the last month of every season

It would appear that the White Sox began their slide when Francisco Liriano coughed up that 3-run lead in KC. Not much good has happened since the 5th inning of that game, and that sucks.

The old question has always been: is it harder to play contending teams down the stretch or teams that have nothing to play for? The White Sox answer: Yes.