witesoxfan

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) I'm sure they gave up next to nothing, a very small amount of cash. That said, I do dislike these kinds of moves. The guy clearly isn't a prospect. If he is used as minor league bench filler, being a backup 1B for example that plays 20 games a year for some low level club to give a guy some rest, that's fine. I don't care. If he starts taking starting at bats from anyone, then it does bug me. Honestly, I didn't mind Oney when he was playing for the Sox because his clear role was to move from team to team filling a roster spot and getting time on the field only when absolutely necessary. Those kinds of players are necessary. Adam Ricks was good at that too.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 02:42 PM) I dont know why you mentioned Matt Flynn. A Matt Flynn type signing would be the last thing I would ever suggest (player who is bad in college, does not prove himself in NFL, gets hyped by being a back up.) I could be persuaded into a Alex Smith signing (1st round draft pick, some success in NFL, years of experience), but never Matt Flynn. So now you are talking about giving up a high second round pick as well as the inevitable contract extension as well. You are talking about bringing in a legitimately good, potential top 10 quarterback in the league. Cutler, BTW, is all of 1 year older than Alex Smith. This is the $64,000 question. If you are going to try and win a Superbowl in the next 3-5 years, then re-sign Cutler and be resigned to the idea that you are hitching your wagon to him. I think their offense is too good to simply blow it up. Just and rebuild and retool a defense on the fly. Maybe it's time to switch schemes on defense.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 02:28 PM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/break...0,6512203.story Another "family member" comes home. I hope we didn't give up much for him. I'm sure they had to give up Hawkins, Barnum, and Snodgress to get him...or probably like $50 and any future Braves nepotism candidates as well

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) So you pick out arguably one of the worst FA signings in history (Matt Flynn) who was terrible in college, yet you dont mention guys like Terrel Pryor who beat out Matt Flynn? Interesting use of statistics. Jay Cutler is over 30 and just does not fit a rebuilding team. Unless we are living in a dream world where the reason the Bears are losing is offense not defense. Then yes, I agree we need more offense. But right now, Im not sure that even if the Bears had the 49er offense from the 90s that they would win a lot of games with this defense. And that is the problem. Patch working is just going to further delay the inevitable. The Bears are going to be bad for a year or 2, I just cant really see how you fix that defense faster. (edit) Unless you get rid of cutler, spend money on the defense and hope to get a QB that can utilize the fact that the Bears have 2 great WRS. Then maybe, but really the defense just seems to have gotten bad. And Im not sure 1-2 players can fix it over night as I feel some of the core may be done. I didn't mention Terrell Pryor because he wasn't a free agent but was an incredibly raw but talented product drafted out of Ohio State who took almost 2 years on the sideline for the Raiders to even think about getting him in a game. I did mention Matt Flynn (who is not even close to the worst signing in the history of the game) because that is the type of talent you are going to get. I mean, if you are comfortable with Josh McCown, then maybe that's who they roll with.

For all the complaining people did about De Aza striking out, Fowler strikes out more often. It would also appear that he struggles just as much as De Aza does in CF. He is also more expensive and is a free agent at the end of the year. This seems like it would be a poor move.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 01:19 PM) It's going to be a lot harder for the Bears to win without an NFL quarterback. Pretty much this. Matt Flynn signed like a 3/$18 deal with Seattle and proceeded to lose the QB competition. He was dealt to Oakland where he proceeded to lose the QB competition and get cut after having to play 1 game. He signed with the Bills and is now backing up Thad Lewis. That's what you're getting for that price. Maybe a guy like Colt McCoy. Do people really think Colt McCoy can cut it as an NFL starting QB?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 12:46 AM) See, the few people who accuse me of being a troll should consider what you just wrote. And they should remember your post forever. Maybe greg actually has COMMON, not radical opinions? Is that possible? My takes appear to be that of the 90 percenters. That is not a group with whom you want to be associated, I assure you of that. QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 01:12 PM) 2005, the Orioles' offer was about $4,000,000 higher than the Sox offer. My recollection was 5/$60 from the White Sox and 5/$65 from the Orioles, but after taxes were included, his deal from Baltimore actually would have given him less disposable income.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 12:18 PM) I just looked at the free agent class for catchers. Ugh...very thin. Beyond McCann, Salty, AJ, and Suzuki there's not much at all. Kurt Suzuki's career splits are .253/.309/.375/.685, he's put up .237/.294/.357/.650 over his last 1817 PAs, and he's at .234/.282/.332/.614 over his last 758. Kurt Suzuki is absolutely a terrible player.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 12:17 PM) Cutler is done as a Bear. He never made a ton of sense for Trestman's system anyways. They will get a guy who is smart, has great accuracy and gets rid of the ball quickly. Basically the anti-Cutler. Jay Cutler, as of this moment, is 9th in the NFL in completion percentage at 64.8%. He's got a cannon for an arm and a repertoire built up with the receivers. I think they bring him back.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 11:50 AM) His body is completely breaking down in his early 30's. If everyone's now susceptible to that, how do we explain Thome, Konerko and Ortiz being so dangerous in their mid 30's or later? Is his body just breaking down now though? Throughout his career with St. Louis, he played and succeeded through injuries that no would should really be able to play through. It seems to me he played through plantar fasciitis, a torn UCL in his left elbow, and a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 12:04 PM) Salty at 50M is a horrible idea. AJ would be a much better answer. I'd rather have Saltalamacchia at $40 million over AJ at really any price because he's a far better defensive catcher and still has upside offensively. I just don't think that's going to happen.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 11:47 AM) Would you rather spend $10-12 million a year on McCann for the next 6 years or $12-14 on AJ for the next two? I would rather have McCann for the next 5 years at $15 million than AJ for the next 2 at either of those figures. I think McCann might get $100 million though, which is absolutely horrifiying for a player of his injury history and less than elite numbers. Saltalamacchia really is my #1 choice right now, given relatively estimates right now, but he could end up around $50 mill or so this offseason, and I don't want to do that either.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 11:41 AM) They did just legalize marijuana up there, right? Yesssssss Using that logic, Colorado also makes sense too.

I think AJ is an option if they have made all of the moves they feel necessary to make the team competitive without having added a catcher and he's still out there. That's about the only reason I see them signing him or even having the desire to sign him.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 11:21 AM) I'd take a flyer on Timmy. Sounds like he's likelier to end up in Seattle. I'm guessing 1 year, $12 mill.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) Yeah, the Cards really made Pujols look like s*** so their fans would go along with it. They weren't interested in paying anything resembling the market price for him - which, of course, is prudent. Making your franchise's hero look like an asshole is low though We cheer for a team that tried to do exactly this. The difference is that we as fans are smart enough to see through Williams' bulls*** and can say "you got rid of Thomas because you brought in Thome and, while it sucks that we lose a legend like that, we understand why because Thome is also an incredible hitter."

QUOTE (oldsox @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 07:22 AM) It won't be Hawkins doing the pushing. That's because come Spring Training of 2015, Courtney Hawkins will be 21 years old. I do like that you made it a point to work a shot against Courtney Hawkins into the post, even though I haven't the slightest clue why.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 10:53 AM) Guys were probably saying the same about Manaea this time last year. I don't take any of these rankings serious until May. Chris beck was a consensus top 15 pick for 2012 in October of 2011. Come June, we picked him 76th overall. And this is true of so, so many sports too. About 10 years ago, Leinart was the favorite to be drafted #1 overall, but came back to try and win a second Heisman and another National Championship, and instead saw Reggie Bush win it and Vince Young win the National Championship and then saw his stock plummet all the way to 10th. It happens in baseball too and that's far more unpredictable.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 10:36 AM) Danny Knobler ‏@DannyKnoblerCBS 2m Leyland: "I want to make this perfectly clear. When it's time, it's time. And it's time." When it's thyme, it's thyme. And it's thyme.

http://deadspin.com/5697312/the-nfls-incre...-simple-graphic - 2010 http://deadspin.com/5959827/it-happened-ag...triking-graphic - 2012 It could easily happen again this year too, assuming Jacksonville can beat someone. -The Superbowl has also featured 1 more team unique team in the last 25 editions (24 teams in the NFL, 23 teams in the MLB). -There have been 11 NFL teams that have made multiple Superbowl appearances, while 12 have done so in the World Series. -The Pats, Giants, 49ers, and Cowboys are tied for most wins in that time frame with 3, while the Yankees have won 5, one of the Cardinals and Red Sox will add their 3rd, and the other, along with 3 others, are tied with 2 World Series wins in that time frame. -In the last 15 years, the NFL has seen every team in the league make the playoffs. The Pirates went on a 20 year winning season drought, which was just ended this year, the Brewers snapped a 26 year streak in 2008, and the Royals currently have a 28 year drought. Trying to suggest that baseball offers better parity is silly. If anything, they are approximately equal footing. What we can agree upon is that they both offer far more parity than the NBA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 09:25 AM) It is a really poorly put together playoff team though. You aren't going to win in October with the sort of bullpens and defense that they have had. They will be an interesting team to watch this off-season. Do they double-down again to try to win that World Series? Do they break with the spending and make some radical changes to try to rebalance the team? Do they try to come back most in-tact from this season? They are nearing a really ugly situation. They have Fielder, Sanchez, and Verlander locked up to monstrosities for the foreseeable future, they almost certainly have to resign Miggy, plus they Scherzer, Fister, Jackson, and any of their actual good relievers coming up as free agents soon, and even if they can spend a lot of money, they aren't going to be able to fill all of their holes through free agency soon enough.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 09:19 AM) IMO he did not do a very good job of managing the last few years. They had the most talented team in the division so they did win, but he wasn't much help. He got absolutely destroyed in the ALCS.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 09:05 AM) The NFL is frequently featured on SNL Shut it potsie. Parity.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 08:21 AM) Chiefs now 7-0! Wonder what kind of odds you could have gotten on them to be the last undefeated team at the start of the season? Next two games home vs Cleveland and @ Buffalo. Could very well be 9-0 going into their bye week before playing Denver in weeks 11 and 13 Weeden blows, but the Browns are tough otherwise. The Bills also haven't had a game this year where they didn't have a chance to win late. Those are two very, very tough games coming up for them still. It's crazy to think that the Chiefs are still undefeated, because I don'tt hink I've ever seen the NFL with so much parody. With the exception of the Jags, it really does feel like anyone can beat anyone right now on any given day.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 11:49 PM) Law was a part of the Jays during the Sirotka deal, right? QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 11:50 PM) Yes. But he is also just a bad analyst. No, he was not. The Sox made that deal with Gord Ash, Ash was understandably fired after the 2001 season. The Blue Jays hired JP Ricciardi and Ricciardi brought Law in to the Jays organization.