Dick Allen

Doen't the Spring Training I hope to be back by the All Star break in reality mean hopefully September?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 08:31 AM) So you're saying there could be a need of having a guy who starts the season down at Charlotte and comes up mid-season? Golly, I wonder who we might use in that role. But you are still going to have the same issue later in the season. He is going to start in Charlotte for service time, but if he could throw 150-160 innings, he is fine in the rotation. There will be at least 2 or 3 guys, even if this season is a total success not named Sale, Samardzija, Quintana, Danks, Noesi or Rodon who make starts for the White Sox in 2015. Probably even more.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 08:10 AM) I also disagree with the notion that we'll know more by the end of Spring Training. He could throw 30 straight perfect innings and I'd still say "He's going to wind up exhausted by the all star break if we try to use him on the big league team from day 1 and that will cost us dearly in the 2nd half". Why? He can then be replaced. If a guy is giving you top quality for 25 or 26 starts and he is in essence a 4 or 5 starter, you are ahead of the game. In 2014 Chris Sale made 26 starts. I am sure there are a couple of teams that probably would have fared better had he been their #4 or #5 starter. I can't get over the fact that you think teams have 5 starters the entire year. It doesn't happen. The 2005 White Sox tied a record using 6, and that is a record. Your bottom of the rotation guys missing starts is common and no big deal.

Has Rodon ever pitched in the Cape Cod league or something similar?

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 8, 2015 -> 09:40 PM) They can probably cut one without consequence. It means nothing. Not that cutler is here to stay, but Shaun hill signing is inconsequential. I think you are right, but: QB Rating Career: Hill. 85.5 Cutler 85.2 One Bear no one is talking about is Forte. I think the Bears should trade him while they can. I think his contract only has a year to go, and do you really want to pay him what he probably could get after that considering his age? A player that fits in for a longer more reasonable term or draft pick(s) seem to me a better choice considering a Super Bowl seems like a ridiculous bet next season.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 8, 2015 -> 05:10 PM) Hawkins 4/9 so far. Was fooled on a pitch and dunked in an rbi single on a ball off the end of his bat. Brantly serving notice that he won't disappear easily... Brantly is going to Charlotte. Listen to Hahn on the Score. He mentioned the 2b competition and figuring out the bullpen as his 2 big decisions and didn't even think they were big. If Soto is healthy Brantley beating up on AA anf AAA pitcherson March 8th won't mean a thing.

Tony Clark, the players association president, said he will be keeping an eye on guys like Rodon and Kris Bryant and team manipulating their service time, but there is nothing he can do unless there is something in the next contract.

The Whit Sox acquired Samardzija, LaRoche, Cabrera, Robertson, Duke, Soto his offseason, but every gamethread mentioms Gordon Beckham in a miserable way. Be happy. Just remember what you will post when he gets hits, that it doesn't mean anything.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Mar 8, 2015 -> 12:09 PM) He did go to Detroit to backup Brandon Jennings didn't he? If I were DJ, I would have taken a $250K paycut to backup a oft-injured Rose on a playoff team and not to mention playing in Thib's PG-oriented scheme than to go to Detroit. I think it's pretty obvious we could have Hinrich or DJ for the same money but we chose Hinrich for what he's done for the Bulls org/known for in the past versus how he would fare going forward. Minutes behind Brandon Jennings and Derrick Rose if he was healthy are very different. DJ signed earlier than Hinrich. Brooks isn't the downgrade from DJ people want to make him. He has been awful lately, but DJ can have really bad stretches as well. DJ Augustine doesn't make the Bulls a title contender.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 8, 2015 -> 08:09 AM) Do any of the games today have an effect on seeding? If OSU beats Wisconsin, Iowa gets the double bye 4 seed.there is some stuff with NU gets a bye with a Nebraska and Minnesota loss IIRC.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Mar 7, 2015 -> 06:48 PM) By DJ makes 250K more than Hinrich, it wouldn't prevent us from getting Pau. Also, there is no doubt that DJ or any other flier PG's we had played better under Thibs. And comparing DJ under Thibs, his 56.9TS% is far better than Brook's 52.7%, DJ also had a higher assist and turnover ratio than Brooks. On top of that, Brooks is probably the worst defensive PG we have had, and yes that includes Nate and JL3. The Bulls needed to clear space in case they signed Carmelo. IIRC, DJ signed with Detroit before Carmelo officially stopped playing the Bulls. Anyway, it is ridiculous arguimg DJ Augustine. How many teams has he been on the last 2 years? Besides, with Rose coming back, how do you know DJ even wanted to come back to be his back up? And you can't be sure another $250k less a year doesn't have Pau in a different uniform.

I think Illinois would probably be the greatest program in college basketball history if it wasn't for referees. Generations of referees have been out to get the Illini. Illini fans need to watch more games and realize every single team is the victim of bad calls especially when you are on the road in Big 10 games.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 7, 2015 -> 01:03 PM) Well they could've kept DJ. Iirc, he wasn't asking for much at all. But garpax, don't value backup PGs except for Kirk Hinrich. DJ is gettimg more than Hinrich. I'd rather have Pau than DJ. Also Brooks is shooting better than DJ this season.

Does this mean they can lose a few more games and still get a bid? Everone in the division basically plays the same opponents. Tell me about strength of schedule after the season, not by projected WAR. At the end of the season, the standings aren't even in line with actual WAR.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 6, 2015 -> 08:21 PM) I think the consensus is that Rodon's target range is probably 140-160 ip with a then reasonable expansion to 185-205 in 2016. By the way, the fact that Harvey is already back to 99 mph after surgery with the Mets might encourage other teams to push the envelope knowing how far TJ surgery has evolved...and wary of another Strasburg situation repeating itself. Ask Hanrahan hiw his TJ worked out. They are all different. With the studs, err on the side of caution although the Strasburg deal was different because that was a very legitimate shot at a championship.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Mar 6, 2015 -> 08:28 PM) So why did the bulls let DJ walk? Salary cap.

Anyone see the stat that despite his monster numbers, the last 2 games the Thunder are +21 without Westbrook on the floor, and -23 when he is playing.

Ryan Baker of channel 2 just called Jon Lester's 2 inning sprng training debut "historic".

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 02:35 PM) In 2013, 8-10 Illinois was a 7 seed. 9-9 Iowa missed the tournament. 2010, 10-8 Illinois missed the tournament. 9-9 Minnesota got in. Conference record is one factor that is absolutely not considered by the committee. IF Illinois beats Purdue on Saturday (please, please beat Purdue on Saturday), the Illini will have a better resume than Purdue. Purdue has two horrible home losses in December and lacks a real signature win (home against Ohio State is their best). Illinois, on the other hand, has one bad loss (@ Nebraska) and three wins that are better than Purdue's best win (Baylor on a neutral floor, Maryland, and @ Michigan State). Depending on what happens to the rest of the bubble (and if any bids get stolen in conference tournaments), Illinois and Purdue could both be on the outside looking in. But an Illinois win @ Purdue definitely puts the Illini ahead of Purdue as of Saturday. Now that the conference schedule is unbalanced, it makes sense. There used to be a day if you weren't .500 in your conference, and didn't win your conference tournament, you were out.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 02:20 PM) Wow. Kershaw has apparently thrown 2461 curveballs in his career. He has given up 1 HR off of that pitch. Does that include the playoffs?

QUOTE (staxx @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 02:14 PM) My post was directed at the fact that if a player far exceeds expectations, then chances of winning are increased. I worded it incorrectly as a cause/effect relationship, which was not the point of the post. Assumptions weren't made based on one day of baseball at all. Enjoy it, its 5 degrees here and we're watching baseball. No harm in dreaming a little bit too, as this game is meant to be fun. Again, I said exactly that. Watch for entertainment purposes. Evaluating now will make you look like you have no idea what you are talking about fairly soon.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 01:03 PM) And despite all of the bluster, the Cubs are playing at Wrigley, and giving up 1000's of seats of revenue per game, instead of either Sox park or Milwaukee. That should be everything that needs to be said right there. Because they know even without bleachers for 2 months, they still would draw more at Wrigley than in Milwaukee, and wouldn't alienate their fanbase, like playing 90 miles away for a season might. JR would not let it happen. I think that tells you right there it wouldn't have been the coup you think it would be.

On CSN last night they showed some stat that when Mirotic plays at least 30 minutes his stats are pretty sick. Of course, the only reason he would play 30 minutes is because he is playing really well.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 01:22 PM) I think this is related to his legendarily bad pitch selection. I'm less worried about his swing plane as I am about his ability to wait for pitches he can really drive. Someone did a study once that showed evidence that Starlin Castro's incredible hitting ability actually created a developmental problem for him, where he never learned what he SHOULDN'T hit, because there really was never much he COULDN'T hit. I think Jeff Sullivan found some evidence that Moustakas had a similar issue last year. These guys are so good at making contact that they make a TON of bad contact out of the zone. Sometimes, that'll mean fishing out a gapper from his shoelaces like we saw Avi do yesterday. More often, though, it's going to mean groundouts. That makes sense. Either way, he groundball rate is going to need to drop for him to be valuable. He seems to have a really good attitude.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) [/b] I don't see that as his swing though. His career groundball rate would make Juan Pierre proud. They talk about him hitting the ball as far as anyone in batting practice. If he gets it in the air during actual games, he could be a really big HR guy.