Dick Allen

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 07:30 PM) JIM BOWDEN ‏@JimBowdenESPNxm 1h Nats trade Krol, Lombardozzi and minor leaguer for Doug Fister according to sources Unless the minor leaguer is a stud, I can't see why Detroit couldn't have received more somewhere else. They must need the money.

Fister to Washington

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 05:39 PM) I don't see any reason to think Arencibia will be anything but bad and the most frustrating kind of bad at that. At least when Phegley is the worst batter in baseball, you hardly notice him -- one swing and he's outta there He is one of those guys who inexplicably could put up some really good numbers some season, but I agree with the poster who basically said the Sox already have Tyler Flowers. They don't need his twin.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 02:33 PM) Arencibia to be non-tendered if not traded in the next 24 hours. http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/clubhouse?lea...p;seasonId=2013 He has about 8.5 hours to be tendered.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 01:51 PM) Maybe 30 years ago. Now he is just a mockery of his old self. Is he on anymore? It's been a while since I listened to it. I actually won a Tivo by answering some trivia back when they first came out. I think that was around when I lost touch with his show.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) When they talk to professionals it is pretty good. That's why I always like Coppock on Sports.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 01:26 PM) Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 5m Confirming @Ken_Rosenthal and @JonHeymanCBS reports of Scott Kazmir agreeing to two-year deal with A's. Money will be more than $16M total. That is insane.

QUOTE (Jillian Michaels' Abs @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 11:32 AM) Tyler Flowers minor league numbers: .275/.391/.484/.876 Carlos Perez isn't an every day major league catcher and will be terrible if the Sox expect him to produce better than, or even the same level as, Phegley or Flowers. So ya, let us just forget about this awful idea. I wouldn't say it's an awful idea, but counting on any Rule 5 guys to be anything other than guys offered back to the organizations they were drafted from is beyond a reach anymore. But, if he's available and the Sox scouts think he has a chance to stick, the worst case scenerio costs the Sox 25k, but they get a solid look. You never know with catchers. This guy is still only 23.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 10:30 AM) Yes, they had a 2 and 1 and a 3rd and 1, ran two times between the tackles, which the defense was expecting, and it didn't work. I guess what we're saying is that there are other plays that can be called which aren't necessarily risky plays, but aren't so vanilla that you can just throw 9 people in the box and shut them down, either. We as a team, and Forte in particular, are very good at running outside. We also have two huge receivers that are willing and able to go over the middle on quick slants, and also are good at preventing dbs from getting position on said slant plays, and are also good at batting balls down. Yes, he probably makes that kick 8 or 9 times out of 10, but this is the time he missed, and that's why you don't make that decision there. If you really think you and others on here know obvious plays that will no doubt work for yardage and Trestman doesn't, it's time for the Fire Trestman thread. Without a doubt if he called for one of these so called slants and the pass was tipped and picked off, the experts who now say that would have worked would have been saying, "they were in obvious FG range, why are they taking any chances? It's Monday morning. If whatever he called worked, he is a genius. If it didn't, it was foolish.

The only 2 FG attempts Robbie Gould has missed in Minnesota during his ENTIRE career, occurred yesterday, and one was a 66 yd attempt that was right on line. Looking back, kicking on 2nd down seems odd, but where is the guarantee they would have picked up yards. Didn't the Bears have 2nd and 1 late in regulation, where a first down would have probably iced it and they failed? I actually like Lovie a lot better than most. But I can't fault Trestman for kicking. I think most of us were shocked when it went wide.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 09:40 AM) From 30-39 yards, Gould has made 90.5% of his career field goal tries. From 40-49 yards, Gould has made 72.2 % of his career field goal tries. That is a very significant difference and settling for such a long field goal on 2nd down was an awful decision. If it were outside with some wind, I would agree with you. But in a dome, it was just a bad kick. I guess you could figure Gould's entire day and guess he had to be close to out of gas, but again, teams usually kick it on 3rd down when they have a fairly straight forward FG in OT to win, so really you were looking at the next play to pick up significant yardage and the call would probably have been conservative. Plus, the amount of penalties the Bears have been racking up comes into play.

I don't think sending them out for a 47 yard fg attempt indoors with the 2nd most accurate kicker in NFL history doing the kicking is really that crazy even if it was 2nd down. They probably line up for a kick on 3rd down anyway in case of some sort of screw up, so the 2nd down play is probably going to be a very conservative call and a yard or 2 in perfect weather conditions at that distance doesn't make much of a difference.

I am not sold on Hughes and Nolasco making a huge difference, but Hughes should be helped immediately by moving out of the Bandbox known as Yankee Stadium. His career ERA is almost a run lower on the road and he gives up about half as many homers.

There is a Tribune column today and the author was on the Cubs season ticket waiting list. He checked his number in September and saw he was in the 18,000s. He got the call about availability the other day. The Cubs rep said the expect to go through over 20k on the waiting list this year. Even the CuBs fans get sick of losing. Theo better be right, and they better have a stable of studs or they just pissed away an almost unreal situation.

QUOTE (staxx @ Nov 30, 2013 -> 12:19 PM) they just clarified on-air that because it was in the first half, they can play next week I have never understood trying to punch someone with a helmet and a facemask. Seems to me you have a better chance of hurting yourself more than them.

Do these ejections carry over at all to the next game? It could hurt OSU for the Championship game.

QUOTE (staxx @ Nov 30, 2013 -> 11:29 AM) I was surprised by that too, thought for sure it would be sold out. There is no doubt it is. It is just a late arriving crowd or Michigan fans refusing to sell to OSU fans and would rather eat it.

One thing I like about Brady Hoke is he always dresses like it's about 70 degrees.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 29, 2013 -> 04:57 PM) The Sox don't have a catcher to replace AJ's production, Avi's too inexperienced to count on replacing Rios' numbers just yet, same can be said about Abreu replacing Paulie's numbers and despite Alexei's base stealing going up his power has been on a steady decline and we have no idea what to expect from Dunn. We also have no idea what to expect from a possibile healthy full season of Viciedo or Beckham, and not sure what to expext from Gillespie for that matter. I wasn't avoiding DA's point at all as I was ignoring it because there wasn't a realistic point to be made in the first place. Too many unknowns and Granderson won't be able to solve all that! He is just one potential plug on a team with many holes. It isn't realistic if people play like they did last year, but players do play better and many get worse. Coming into 2012, no one thought AJ could put up the numbers he put up. Obviously a lot will have to go right, but that isn't unreasonable . I don't think Granderson will be a White Sox, I just don't understand, especially with limits on what you can pay draft picks and most international guys, why you can't build your minor leagues and try to win at the major league level. There are a few teams that seem to be able to do it.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 29, 2013 -> 12:50 PM) Couldn't agree more. I understand how its hard for some to accept when you want your favorite team to win but the truth is that this rebuild has been coming for a few years now giving the aging players and weak talent in the upper minor leagues. I'm no genius but for me this was easy to see coming and completly necessary. I don't understand why you can't try to win and strengthen your minor league system at the same time. I can understand laying off some player because you have a prospect ready to give it a whirl at the major league level, but the Sox prospects are having problems hitting .200 in the minor leagues. There really isn't an OF that seems like he should be ready to roll this year or next.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 29, 2013 -> 12:41 PM) Yeah I've been surprised by the amount of people who want to hold on and not embrace a rebuild. Not saying I haven't seen a good amount of people rooting for a rebuild, but there are just way more people who are delusional about the talent on the current roster. Curtis Granderson isn't going to make our horrible offense any less horrible. The Sox are 1 year removed from being 4th in the AL in runs scored. I don't know why someone would have to be delusional to think that that kind of offense can re-appear fairly quickly with a couple of correct moves. It is almost as if people who want the Sox to rebuild seem to think it's a guarantee rebuilds work over the course of a few years. Look at reality. It really isn't.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 26, 2013 -> 10:54 AM) The Bulls shouldn't not care one iota about what the fans think. It is about what is best for the franchise. Bulls fans will show up no matter what, which allows them to do a proper rebuild. I understand that, but realistically if you have a Rose at 75% of what he was, Butler, Mirotic, Noah, that is a team that isn't going to get into the lottery and a team that isn't going to win a championship. The proper rebuild, if you are convinced Rose will not be the player he was is to dump everyone who is good, perhaps Rose himself.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 26, 2013 -> 10:48 AM) I would argue he's had 1 major knee surgery. The other surgery is not very major but unfortunately requires a long rehab time. I have zero doubt that Rose will have the same athleticism as before (I had that doubt when he went down 2 years ago), however, the question is whether he will be able to be healthy. I totally agree with this. He didn't lose any of the athleticism from his ACL tear. And a lot of players have gone through a meniscus tear, and like you said, it seems to be more a lengthy rehab than a major skill killer especially if it wasn't removed. The fact that it wasn't removed from what I read showed it could be repaired which is a good sign. The question is whether or not once he gets healthy, he can stay healthy, how he is mentally with the knees. Those are major questions.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 26, 2013 -> 10:47 AM) Placing the future of your franchise on to a guy who has had two major need surgeries is borderline negligence. I am saying that as a fan. It is the only way the Bulls have a legit chance at a title the next 5 years. You can draft a couple more Jimmy Butlers, and Mirotic can be a really good player and you can still win 55 games during the regular season, but the hardest thing to acquire is stars, and the Bulls are really in a tougher position than most to do that.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 26, 2013 -> 10:40 AM) decisions have to be made, players have to be moved. You dont sit there and worry "what if Mirotic isnt a star?" and "what if Rose isnt the same?". You start freeing up money and trying to build from the floor up. This front office got into the trouble they are in by over valuing their core and being unwilling to change it. And as I have pointed out, they aren't going to be able to free up the money most think they can free up even if they dump a ton. The other problem is, even if they can agree to a sign and trade, wintering in Chicago doesn't seem to hold much appeal to NBA players. The Bulls only hope IMO is if Rose comes back as the Derrick Rose we saw win an MVP. Then many of the problems are solved.