caulfield12

And yet the scouting report on Moncada, at least batting lefty, was that he kills fastballs. 4/41 is looking like a Robin Ventura line. Seems he is just being way too patient and invariably hitting in two strike counts, hence all the k's and a fair share of walks as well. Meanwhile, Devers can go 0/32 and still be hitting .200. One wonders how long they keep him switch hitting unless the RH results pick up...clearly faster getting down the line from LH side as well to pick up some infield hits.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 05:33 PM) Lucas Humpal's terrible horrible no good very bad day Who???

And they need to add two starters for next year...at least one if they stick Montgomery back in the rotation. Lester/Q (tie) Hendricks Montgomery/Butler?

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 04:51 PM) I got Leury Tilson, or as he likes to be called, Larry Tilson, penciled in as the 4th OF and emergency bullpen arm. He'll easily get 10-15 relief appearances next year. Guess it depends on your definition of "emergency."

Yeah, only Jesus would have forgiven Bartman had the Cubs entered this season still lacking that World Series trophy...quite easy to be magnanimous now. Just like JR approving Q trade. Would never have happened had they instead lost to the Indians.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 04:46 PM) This is interesting. We just did top 30's for FS. I believe I went Michael Kopech Lucas Giolito Reynaldo Lopez Dylan Cease Alec Hansen Spencer Adams Dane Dunning Jordan Stephens Carson Fulmer Ian Clarkin Jordan Guerrero AJ Puckett Cease over Hansen? Why?

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 04:46 PM) CF Adam Tilson 2B Yoan Tilson 1B Jose Tilson RF Avi Tilson 3B Matt Tilson LF Ryan Tilson DH Nicky Tilson C Omar Tilson SS Tim Tilson All the Tilsons. You missed the most common one out there, Leury Tilson. Can find one in nearly every US phonebook, just like there are 32 different towns and cities named Clinton in America.

Trump welcomed Kelly to the job by arguing he "will go down in terms of the position of chief of staff one of the greatest ever." Kelly was sworn in 30 minutes before the meeting. Unlike Trump's last Cabinet meeting, Trump did not have his secretaries go around the room and lavish praise on him on camera. But the optics of the meeting remained compelling. The meeting was likely the first time Attorney General Jeff Sessions came face to face with Trump since the President lashed out at his top cop for recusing himself from the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Sessions sat directly across from Trump during the meeting and said nothing during the portion of the meeting that the media attended. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis sat next to the President. Www.cnn.com

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 04:34 PM) And I am wondering what happened to Avi, Willy, Cordell, Delmonico, and Liriano, among others. Cordell could be the next Aaron Altherr...he has to play everyday at his age to see what they actually have. And do they have any remaining love for Asche or just DFA? Hayes and Gillespie, too.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 02:38 PM) Seems like the price for pitching has gone done. Glad Rick made the moves when he did for Q and Sale. Plus two horrific Darvish starts before the deadline.... How long does Ryu's contract last? That's a ton of payroll for starting pitching, like our 2006-07 teams...

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 04:22 PM) You guys win. Davidson is a non prospect. I move on to the next argument at some point. I will be interested to see as an addendum how quickly you guys give up on Burger if ever if he doesn't look so hot in peripheral stats after 300 at bats. We'll try it another way... Which player would you rather have on the White Sox, Matt Davidson or Whit Merrifield? Other than power, what advantages does Davidson provide? Or Leury Garcia vs. Davidson, would you start both of them for the Sox? (Davidson at third, Leury somewhere in outfield.)

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 04:14 PM) Well, as a first round draft pick I'd say he deserves MLB at bats, a look so to say. I guess I'm wrong from what I've read on here, but lets say the guy could hit 35 home runs a year minimum with the prpoer at bats for the next 5 seasons. Whose career would compare at that point? Almost 200 home runs in the bigs, not so bad. I do think many first rounders deserve a look, although Fields like witesoxfan said was a first rounder and CJ Henry too. Well, your invoking the name of Fields wins you this argument at least temporarily. Yes Fields was a first round draft pick also. Yes Fields did have the 23 home run season right off the bat then sucked big time. Your identifying Shields as a possible clone does indeed win you this argument. Cause if he indeed is the next Fields, then he blows. In a debate, no question, the revelation of Shields as a comparison or precedent case if you will, gives you the victory in this argument. If I start thinking of Davidson as Fields I will definitely despise him, soon, rather than have hopes he is a 35 homer guy the next 5 seasons minimum. I'm not down on Moncada. You making that up? I'm just upset that the darlings we get in trades are going to get all sorts of support on here and a guy like Davidson (who also was a first rounder; I'd think the first round cliche would help him with fans) will draw yawns even if he hits 30 homers this year. My position for the record is I'm against the rebuild but as a "fan" I have the right to cheer for the product if and when it succeeds no matter if I supported the move to begin with. I have nothing against a potential outfield of Eloy, Robert and Rutherford with Q or somebody else at DH. I have nothing against an infield of Burger, TA, Moncada and Abreu and Collins catching and all those arms in the rotation. I don't know where you got my Moncada hate from. I'll never understand many fans always wanting the unknown over what is known. Greg, are Chris Carter and Pedro Alvarez successful big leaguers? Compare the walk totals of Matt, with say, Joey Gallo and Schwarber, per at bat. What stands out about his game defensively? Is he a good baserunner?

What plus skill does Tilson have at this point? He's going to have to hit .400 in spring training to make it as the final outfielder. Is he going to play winter ball? Can't imagine his timing coming back that quickly after sitting for almost two years.

What possible argument actually is there for Tilson starting, assuming he's 100% healthy, which we all know is nearly implausible...?

Well, it's not like he is going to wear it around...probably just put it in a permanent secure display area of his house. Didn't those rings cost around $60,000 or something like that? I guess some weirdo might try to steal it and sell it on the black market, but kinda of silly with his name inscribed, as is the case with all these championship rings. Almost free feel good publicity for the Cubs...like they need it.

Most research shows kids form their permanent sports attachments at 8-12...so they've already lost half a generation of potential young fans.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2021003...g-steve-bartman EsPN story...happy ending, still won't sit for an interview though.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 12:11 PM) The Indians went to the World Series the year after the strike. And sold out for 8 years Okay, the strike as an aftereffect combined with that blue collar area (similar to Pitt and Detroit) being decimated by the financial crisis...hatred for the ownership group after the 2007/08 period when they basically refused to pay to keep the team together. There are a number of factors at play. Frustration they never won the World Series. Frustration lingering from that 1970's and 80's wasteland of poor results...and the fear of a return to those bleak times. More attention on Cavs with LeBron, new basketball stadium, Ohio State football, etc.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 12:05 PM) So that means the Cubs are the best fans in baseball? The Cubs are/were the best team in baseball at attracting regional/tourist fans. It's quite simple. Whether it's grandmothers in Iowa, location/proximity to downtown, WGN, Harry Caray, Lovable Losers, the Billy Goat, the historic nature of the stadium, day baseball, bleacher babes, the entertainment complex, access to bars/drinking, Budweiser...no other team even comes close. You can argue the Cardinals or Red Sox, I suppose...but the Cubs are basically printing money right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/31/opinions/why...aria/index.html Four reasons why Trump won, simple but extremely logical article with implications for both "sides"

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 11:49 AM) This is the one truth in here. The rest of it is irrelevant. What the team was purchased for in 1980 has zero do do with how the business is run today. To me it is obvious that they worry about the fan base, as they have spent pretty much a decade trying to add to teams to quickly put results on the field as they are obviously fearful that the fan base will dessert them in droves... and they regularly have, not just in down times, but even in years where they are in first place all season long and in playoff years. They pretty much suck at analyzing the fanbase...with prime evidence being 2017 attendance actually rising despite being one of the two worst teams in baseball. (And just 1000ish behind the Indians, best team in AL, better stadium and huge winning streak going.) They were never able to think counterintuitively, which is doing the opposite of what isn't working, until they had no choice. KW and Hahn should have pushed back harder.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 11:49 AM) This is the one truth in here. The rest of it is irrelevant. What the team was purchased for in 1980 has zero do do with how the business is run today. To me it is obvious that they worry about the fan base, as they have spent pretty much a decade trying to add to teams to quickly put results on the field as they are obviously fearful that the fan base will dessert them in droves... and they regularly have, not just in down times, but even in years where they are in first place all season long and in playoff years. And why can't that be attributed to JR's age and impatience to thread the needle of competing while still being profitable or at least breaking even? One of my best friends' parents is a huge Sox fan, watches nearly every game. 72 years old. He kept on repeating (these last two weeks) that it's quite likely he won't even be around the next time the Sox make the playoffs. Or did all that desire to win go out the window sometime around 2010-12 when it became obvious the 2005 core was never going to win another?

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 11:40 AM) A businessman would operate a business to run well & make money. A businessman would not be surprised if a s***ty product/service stopped making money and would do things to fix it or sell the company. The leaked financials a couple years back from the "we're so poor though!!" owners showed that they still print money regardless. This team was purchased for 19 million and is worth over 600 million now and has countless sweetheart tax deals, they have no business crying poor. You can't have it both ways. You can't shrug your shoulders and say that your fans don't support the team so you can't do anything to fix it while still taking in millions of dollars in profit. Either: own up and say profits are the only thing that matters & screw the team/fans we don't care OR try to fix your product and bring the fans back in. I will never side with a billionaire ownership complaining about fan support while he makes millions in profits, screws taxpayers, & puts out a s***ty product. Closer to $2 billion...going by Marlins' sale. How many businesses are in the bottom 10-15% for a decade in performance, yet their valuation still goes up like Amazon post 2008/09? I can't think of a single one...and they might be worth even more now with all the vets off the payroll except Abreu.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 11:30 AM) I think that things like "you can't rebuild in a big market" and "this community won't support a winner" and "JR won't rebuild because he's old" are a lot of made-up media food that fans use to rationalize behavior they don't agree with. There's no evidence of any of this, because we haven't seen any other condition than hail-mary-all-in plays over the last decade. When we see what a rebuild looks like, or what the fans do if we make the playoffs for a few years, etc, THEN we can start drawing conclusions. Until then, let's stop making s*** up. I think most Sox fans would gladly take the Cubs' front office/minor league-development staff/scouting system and 60-65% of their free agent payroll in exchange for completely forgetting about a new stadium until 2035-2040. Winning is 90% of the issue. Which AL team lost the highest percentage season ticket holders from last year? The Royals, after just one hiccup...like the Sox went though in 2006-07 after the World Series. Except they have no light at the end of the tunnel after this year. But back to the bottom 3. The Mariners got a new broadcast deal, Cano and Cruz...the other team out of the playoffs for more than a decade, the Padres, are spending hundreds of millions in Latin America, at least they were. Of course, they didn't have our assets to turn it around. Myers was probably their best player, and he's worth about Jose Abreu in trade.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2017 -> 11:19 AM) There are people quite actively b****ing about something that happened 20 years ago. When that is your fan base, alienation is a major and legitimate concern for ownership to worry about. How were the Indians, Royals and Twins all able to overcome this? The A's have the worst stadium in sports, 8 playoff appearances since 2000, for example. The Rays have more, too.