Dick Allen

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 12:35 PM) Well Mirotic has regressed this year and McDermott is still a net negative every time he steps on to the court so the coaching change seems to have done them both a lot of good. Butler and Noah developed into stars under Thibs. They might have developed into stars if Hoiberg coached the last 5 years, we obviously will never know. Mirotic's regressing though, and he was one guy they assumed would blossom away from Thibs, is depressing. Would the rent a point guard have worked under any other coach?

Games missed last season, 50 wins. Pau 4 Butler 17 Noah 15 Dunleavy 19 Gibson 20 Hinrich 16 Rose 31 McDermott 46 Snell 10 If they tuned out Thibs, they haven't tuned in anyone this year. If it was time for Thibs, it's time for the Mayor and his boy Gar. Gar really needs to go. He forced out Ron Adams, now with a ring at GS. Wouldn't let Thibs hire the strength guy from Houston, now with SA. I read when Thibs was hired, it was a JR pick. Pax wanted Collins, Gar wanted Mike Brown or Lawrence Frank. It wasn't time to change the coach. It was time to change the players. The team isn't good enough. There isn't a coach in the world that would make this team healthy and championship caliber.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 11:56 AM) Yep. That was a great article. Just finished reading it. I thought the line the minute they fired Thibs made one of the most coachable teams one of the most uncoachable was genius.

Google Bulls will continue free fall, and get behind the paywall for Haughs column today. Sometimes I think he's a dufus, but I think he nailed it today.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 09:23 AM) I know Fowler would bring OBP and a LHB that the Sox are looking for but I'm starting to lean heavily towards going after Jackson instead. Both players have their pros and cons but Jackson hit RHP better last year and is tremendously better in CF. I really think Jackson's defense would balance out any short comings he may have in comparison to Fowler. Signing Jackson puts him in CF, Eaton RF and Avi could platoon LF with Melky. When there's a LHP on the mound, let Avi play LF and give Melky's legs a break at DH. With a RHP, LaRoche is at DH and Melky plays LF. Robin can use LaRoche against good RHP and Avi against average RHP so they can still see if Avi improves or not, which the Sox seem hell bent on doing any way. I liked Jackson all along until I found out Boras was his agent. I'm guessing if you get him for a discount it will be well into spring training. Boras probably figures he can get the $8 million 1 year contract at any time so he will wait and maybe there is an injury or someone's OF situation takes a turn for the worse and they need Austin Jackson. For some reason the Sox seem hellbent on a guy who hits RHP. So who knows what is going to happen, but I think if Jackson's demands at the moment were reasonable, he would be on a roster.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 08:19 AM) No. He napalmed the bridge. I think Ozzie Jr. blasted Hahn last summer for no apparent reason, and blasted the White Sox for not making a huge deal out of Ozzie making some HOF. Ozzie isn't coming back. They aren't putting up with the Guillen boys and the twitter.

Ozzie is disengaged. One of the things that got him fired in Miami was Cora was doing all of the work. Ozzie was busy with twitter and whatever else. He would spend the majority of game days holed up in his office doing nothing. I was watching a bit of the Caribbean Series the other day and Ozzie was the color man. He harldy ever said anything, and every time they went to the booth, Ozzie was scrambling to take off his glasses and put his phone down. Like Ditka, he bought his hype, and is now mailing it in. I thought maybe he could be a coach again, but I have re-considered. He is still the post WS champion Ozzie.

5 losses in a row at home for this championship roster.

Taj is hurt. Shocking.

I wonder what ARod is doing in town.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 07:00 PM) I think the best way to change the system would be changing two things. 1) Average the top 100 salaries instead of 125. Making it slightly higher will make teams think a little longer before just offer the QO. 2) A team only loses a pick if they sign them for an AAV of more than the qualifying offer. Teams can still gain a pick in the comp round. That wouldn't be bad. I would like all non playoff 1st rounders protected.

QUOTE (Jake @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 06:28 PM) These players are proof that something has to change with the QO system, because they truly aren't worth a lost 1st round draft pick when you also have to pay them money on top of it. Where it really makes no sense is it costs bad teams that aren't bad enough to have their pick protected, wind up paying a higher price to sign a player than a playoff team. Why should signing a guy cost Baltimore pick 14 and KC pick 25 or so?

I just randomly looked at the 2010 draft. A great one for the White Sox BTW. Sale, Petricka, Reed. All drafts are obviously different but I picked 6 years because that gave time for development. From picks 20 on down, there were 4 or 5 players you would definitely regret giving up the pick for Dexter Fowler if you knew the Sox were targeting them. But that is a pretty small percentage of players for help a few years from now when you need an immediate upgrade. They still would have 2 of the top 50 picks. If the reason they don't sign him is the draft pick, I really have no idea why they would even talk to him in the first place. It makes no sense. I got the impression from Hahn, that draft pick wasn't going to hinder the team from immediate improvement. If Fowler signs for peanuts and the Sox don't upgrade, that is a total fail IMO. I still think they upgrade. If it isn't Fowler, maybe they sign Desmond. It also seems like they have some relievers they can deal. Some pitching is going to go to another team before opening day.

Somewhat surprising Lou Canellis on DRose sitting out on Monday. I totally agree. “I’ll never question a player who says he’s hurt, but sore! Everyone at the end of a seven-game road trip has general soreness. Rose’s teammates needed him last night. No Butler, no Noah, no Mirotic and desperate for a win. Sore, smarting or sick—this team needed it’s hottest player. They’re free-falling right out of the playoff picture. The Bulls had no shot without Rose, and they knew it. They were defeated at the tip, giving up 38 first-quarter points to a below-five-hundred team. “Defense is about effort, not talent. So quit making excuses for Rose. He should have been out there.”

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 03:05 PM) Why does Law not like Fulmer? I'm guessing there is too much effort in his motion, and he's not very big. He probably thinks he will breakdown.

If I was a player, I would never be too optimistic about a contract agreement with Baltimore. There is always the physical which seems harder to pass than the bar exam.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 09:52 AM) Apparently my post wasn't very well written. My entire point was that if they could sign Fowler for that deal it would have been done. The point being, as time goes on and suitors fall by the boards, his demands will go down. He turned down $15.8 million 1 year contract. I'm pretty sure he would sign that today. You are right, if they could sign him to that today, they would. It doesn't mean they won't be able to at some point.

If there was nothing Gar/Pax could do about the plight of the Bulls, then maybe there was someone out there who could. Maybe it was just GM talk when they mentioned the "championship roster", but people still give Wanne crap for his all the pieces are in place comments. Pax has had a long run, apparently didn't like the GM role too much, so they kicked him upstairs. Gar, I have no idea who he impressed. It is time for a change. It would be interesting to see someone who isn't as connected to these players take on the situation. The love GarPax apparently has for this roster isn't going to do Bulls fans any favors. Change will definitely start happening this offseason. It would be nice to have a fresh approach.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 10:39 AM) The Bulls offensive efficiency metrics were much stronger than people give credit for under Thibs. I'm also a long believer that to stay healthy you need to play and put in the work. I honestly don't think, outside of Pop, there is an active coach better than him. Others might be on the same page, but I don't think anyone, other than Pop, is better than him. Part of winning a title is luck and a championship roster, and the year we had that roster, Rose went down in the playoffs. Heck, even the year before Rose went down, we might have had that roster, but Rose tweaked his ankle in the Miami series and we blew some late leads. That time was awfully close. If Thibs coached the Cavs (current) or Heat teams with Lebron, are you saying he doesn't win a title? Are you saying if he was the coach of the Warriors, he doesn't win a title? Coaching can only do so much, but ultimately, to win a title, you need to be on paper, the most talented or extremely close to the most talented team in the league. A coach can put a lot of other makeup on and help, but you need players to win the whole thing. Yeah, the Thibs will never win a title is crazy to say. If he has the talent, he will win a title. If Phil or Pop had the Bulls roster the past several years, they wouldn't win a title either.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 10:26 AM) Yep. That was an awful move. Ron was widely viewed as one of the top assistants in the league and has done nothing but excel elsewhere. Another Gar signature move. If this team stayed healthy, or if this teamed played well enough, I could easily say, Gar you were right, the blame here was on Thibs. That was not the case at all. I don't know how anyone at this point can say they had no problem with the Bulls firing Thibs, but would find it wrong firing Gar and/or Pax. Does Jimmy Butler develop into the player he is without Thibs? You have to figure if he developed into the player under Hoiberg, Gar would be singing his praises, not leaking stuff to the press how most of the players didn't like playing for Thibs. The hack job they did on Thibs out the door, and the way the team has not done any better this year, should be a huge embarrassment to the organization.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 09:50 AM) Like in the other thread, what should the Bulls have done? Not hope that McDermott and Mirotic panned out? Should they have scrapped those plans after one season? Or the injuries to Noah and Dunleavy? Was that really foreseeable? Or now Butler? I mean come on guys, this is 99% on injuries. The roster was never good enough to compete with GSW or SA or maybe even Cleveland. But given the circumstances, the roster was probably the best they could do with Rose still on the roster commanding 25 mil a year. One thing they could have done was not bring back the entire roster except Portis for Nazr and proclaim it a championship roster. You are saying the roster is flawed. GarPax didn't see it that way, and were willing to pay $9 million to show everyone the thing holding back the Bulls was their coach. To me, that's fireable. It isn't a championship roster if everyone is healthy, and to expect this particular group of players to be healthy is beyond crazy as well. Gar called it a championship roster. He should be held accountable to his words.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 09:25 AM) Aumont is garbage. He throws hard with movement but he has absolutely no clue where the pitch will end up. He's not a factor in anything unless there is a miracle turnaround at age 27/28. In all likelihood he will be garbage, but signing these guys, especially relievers, if you aren't counting on them, is pretty good business. You change something up and it works, he's a steal. These guys only usually have to get 1 to 3 outs an outing. The smallest tweak can make a huge difference.

Phil Rogers said this signing was competition for LaRoche in spring training. If it is, they aren't setting the bar very high.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 09:11 AM) They also have Phillipe Aumont who was pretty solid out of the pen for Philly as well who is on the outside looking in. If you consider his performance solid out of the pen, Johnson should be considered a Cy Young candidate at the very least.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 08:49 AM) I'll say it again: to anyone still referencing the existence of a hard "three-year contention window" that we're currently in -- that quotation was taken entirely out of context. Williams' was referring to the idea of a rolling three-year outlook, specifically that ideas need to fit into that process. Exactly. If you ever go to BA's top prospects, and they do a projected team line up in 5 years, the line ups are never close to reality. s*** happens. If you are trying to lock your team into some 5 year window, you are going to be scrambling. Even 3, they will be changing on the fly.