Dick Allen

Most of these guys will obviously never make it. I read where 70% of BPs top 100 don't really have more than the cup of coffee for a career.

Pat Riley is complaining about Lebron leaving Miami and "contemporary free agency". He said the stars of the past would never leave. IIRC, Riley signed Lebron as a free agent.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 13, 2015 -> 08:55 AM) I think that's far too high for Adolfo, Sanburn and Lowry. Probably Onelki Garcia too but he's a total enigma at this point. And Jhoandro Alfaro is a nearly total unknown to me at this point, so, no idea there. I was thinking if you could get a top 15 prospect in your system for a couple of months of Adam Dunn, either your system is just horrible or Hahn is a thief, and the system does seem to be improved. Of course we won't really know until they reach Chicago. It would be nice to see the Sox develop an offensive player that actually helps you win games.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 06:50 PM) Hawkins AFTER Trey? C'mon, that's ridiculous. And Danish so low? I guess you can argue Adolfo on POTENTIAL, but Micker's MILES away right now. Still a big improvement from last year's list, which was beyond ridiculous from MLB. How many games have you seen these guys play?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 05:29 PM) Woodbury was 19th on the ESPN list. What was Ricky Davis? Tyler Smith was ranked as one of the top 50 seniors in the nation a year ago and is regarded the number two post-graduate player in the nation by Scout.com. He was selected as one of the top 10 high school players in the nation when Street & Smith's named him a second team selection on the 2004 Boys High School all-America team. He is rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com. hawkeyesports.com Ricky Davis I believe committed as a freshman or sophomore in HS. Woodbury was a large recruit Fran beat out Roy Williams. The guy IMO couldn't be more dissappointing. He is a decent defender, but I don't think he can dunk without a running start.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 05:05 PM) Ummm....Kenyon Murray was a McDonald's All-American. Brunner, Horner and Adam Haluska (transfer from Iowa State). Jess Settles. Andre Woolridge, albeit a transfer from NE. Tyler Smith was definitely more highly-recruited....went to TN with Pearl. RICKY DAVIS, big-time NBA career, dunk artist and pure scorer, came out of DAVENPORT North. Chris Kingsbury, McDonald's All-American out of OH. Chris Street. Dean Oliver. Murray and Kingsbury were 20 years before or so. The others were not the national recruits Woodbury was.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) Im convinced Woodbury just doesnt know the rules. He probably is as heralded of a recruit Iowa has had in 20 years, but he's built like a dinosaur. Tall with short arms and no leaping ability. He has as many fouls as points and rebounds combined today. You would think a legit 7'1" with any athletic ability should be able to put up big numbers in the NCAA.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 03:07 PM) Is Iowa in if they lose to PSU? Yes. The one thing Alford was good at was the Big 10 Tournament. Fran.....not so much.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:20 PM) It is pretty well known Guenther was pissed off and didn't do everything in his power to keep Self. Huge mistake which was compounded by making a bad hire in Weber. Self has been quoted as saying he had a great relationship with him up until 3 hours before he made a decision.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:14 PM) I don't think there was anything about "letting" him walk. I think they threw a ton of money at him and he still wasn't interested. It was his home league, his home area and f***ing Kansas. He agonized over the decision. If Illinois threw a ton of money at him, there's a decent chance he would have stayed.

Where it all went wrong for Illinois is when they let Self walk. Of course all of my Illini friends did nothing but slam him after he left. He was a horrible game coach....everyone knew someone who actually saw him at fraternity parties hitting on girls, or had inside information from very credible sources he slept with cheerleader, he can't win big games...good riddance.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:02 PM) If they want to cheat, Illinois could be a top 5 program by taking the Chicago talent. And I'm pretty sure most Illinois fans would rather have Weber at the helm than Groce at this point. The results speak for themselves. They are going to have to do better than Chevy Blazers in this day and age.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:02 PM) I meant the Univ of Illinois - Chicago connection is always over hyped. Not that Chicago doesn't have talent. Obviously it does. Weber didn't want to play the one and done game. It looks like Groce is willing but can't land the big fish yet.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 12:58 PM) Never said a word about Weber. I agreed with your post and just used it to counter the post saying Weber ruined the program. This is a team that should have made the tournament. Now there is zero chance.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 12:54 PM) John "NIT" Groce did not have team ready last 2 games. That's the thing, how can it be Bruce Weber's fault they got blown out today? How can it be Bruce Weber's fault they fell apart after a nice start at Purdue?

When in doubt, blame the guy who finished top 5 in the Big Ten 7 of the 9 seasons he coached for destroying the program.

It's nice to know that like Melo, Reavis returning to NY had nothing to do with money.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 11:47 AM) I feel bad for Rice. He shouldn't have to end his career on the road in the NIT. They lost to Nebraska, Indiana, and Minnesota when he was suspended. The NIT is what he deserves. Feel sorry for his teammates.

What value in terms of wins would you give just to the change of coaches? If the current staff coached the Bears in 2014, do they win more than 5 games? If you think they would have been a 7 or 8 win team, then they are really starting from a much higher point than what we have thought. I have no idea. The defense was worse than the numbers. If GB or NE don't call off the dogs, they at least score 70-80.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 11:08 AM) Just to point this out, Ynoa's ERA in A+ last year means very little. He pitched entirely in relief for one thing, so ERA just isn't a useful measure. More indicative of his performance are the 8.4 H/9 rate (which is good), 4.1 BB/9 rate (which is marginal to OK) and 12.6 K/9 rate (which is excellent). His ERA was at least partially effected by a fairly inflated .349 BABIP-allowed. He went into that A+ season as a 22 year old with only about a hundred pro innings under his belt and no college ball, so that's just a hundred innings of post-high-school (equivalent) ball. Here's our profile on Ynoa if you want some further background. I hope he's good, but the reason he has 100 innings under his belt since his debut in 2010 is a huge red flag. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would think guys with arm problems in their teens and early 20's tend not to put that behind them as they get older. I would guess he is going to be a reliever.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 10:56 AM) In contention for what? Barring a Rodgers injury, its hard to imagine the Bears winning the NFC North. Do you really see a scenario where on the road they beat both the Seahawks and Packers in the playoffs? The team is being completely overhauled, and while anything is possible, it is my belief that being mediocre next year will only delay the Bears rebuild. It all depends on injuries, and if the Bears could get their defense to at least be around average. NFL players get hurt more often than Chicago Bulls.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 10:57 AM) You're saying a competent coach can't turn things around in one season? I think a coach could, but that defense was so bad. An average defense and 2013 offensive results would be a pretty good thing.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 10:38 AM) Is this for real coming from you? For really real you of all people would say this? For real. Go back to my original post and the post you used because you needed to slam me. It made no sense.. Apparently that is just a horrible negative attitude. It's spring training, the only guy you should be negative about, and do it every chance you can get on this site is Gordon Beckham. To say you will take a fluff piece with a grain of salt is the same as telling kids to stay off your lawn. My post: Does anyone ever look bad in spring training on the practice field? Just take the encouraging things about Jesse Crain. You would think he has at least a minor shot of being on the opening day roster, but I actually read from some insider non fluff piece, the Sox are "hoping" to get him in a spring training game as some point, so really, if Will Ferrell can play spring training games, Jesse Crain isn't close. Ynoa may be a decent pick up. But until he starts showing how great he looks in games that count, I take all the good reports with a grain of salt. His ERA was over 5.00 in high A last year. Your response: hey, Dick Allen says stop being positive because Felipe Paulino and Will Ferrell. If this isnt definitive proof that nobody can succeed, i dont know what is. No sense.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 10:39 AM) No, they arent going to contend. I would guess .500 at best. If you are around .500 after 10 or 12 games, you are in contention. I don't think they will make the playoffs, but you never know. Filling these holes with the free agents and drafting a stud who could be a stud quickly could make the defense at least average. And the offense still has some talent at the skill positions. I don't think they are as good as the 2014 Cowboys, that OL is beyond amazing, but look where their defense was in 2013,. Admittedly, it would take a lot to go right for them to contend.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 10:13 AM) whatever would I do without you letting me know who needs to be slammed for positivity and negativity! grain of salt taken I really don't know what your problem is but leave me alone. You don't comprehend what I wrote, then have some need to call me out, and not the first time.