caulfield12

1. MD 2. MI (if LaVert returns) 3. WI (lose Kaminsky and maybe Dekker) 4. Purdue 5. Indiana (4/5 could easily switch depending on what transpires with Crean/personnel) 6. MSU (lose Trice/Valentine, adding 5 star recruit) 7. tOSU (Russell a huge loss to NBA, obviously) 8. Iowa (bubble team with 5-6 freshman mixed with a decent core of Uthoff/Gesell/Woodbury/Jok/Clemmons/Uhl, Uthoff becomes NBA first rounder and blossoms as he comes out from under Aaron White's shadow) 9. Illinois 10. Minnesota 11. NW (trending back up with Colllins, A BIT) 12. Nebraska (Petteway returns, can they get up off the deck?) 13. Rutgers (could easily be last...but they did mystifyingly beat WI) 14. PSU (loses Newbill) When you look at 7-12, you can make a million arguments for any of those teams being higher or lower. I'm 90% confident that Top 6...at least 4 or 5 of those teams will be there.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 03:56 PM) Jose hasn't looked very good this spring. Thank god it means jack. Assuming you mean Quintana, not Abreu.

Nice....no Gameday Audio today. Stuck listening to the Royals/Giants.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 12:33 PM) C - Flowers 1B - Abreu 2B - Johnson 3B - Gillaspie SS - Ramirez LF - Cabrera CF - Eaton RF - Garcia DH - LaRoche Bench - Soto, Beckham, Bonifacio SP1 Samardzija SP2 Quintana SP3 Danks SP4 Noesi CL Robertson SU Duke SU Petricka MR Jennings MR Putnam There are your presumable 21 locks. Of those, the following need to be added to the 40: Soto and Johnson. Most likely one position player and three pitchers. Four other spots would be available to these nine players: Shuck, Kottaras**, Carroll**/Penny**, Cleto, Webb, Surkamp, Albers** and Guerra. Bolded means out of options, ** means would need to be added the roster. -------- My personal guess would be Shuck, Penny**, Albers** and Guerra grabbing the last four spots. Leaving four players to be bounced from the 40 man. I would guess Cleto and Surkamp are gone and Jones goes to the 60 day DL. Leaving one other person to get bounced between Wilkins/Smith/Brantly. It would certainly make sense that it would be a catcher as it would be superfluous to carry five catchers on the 40 man. They're not going to choose a veteran in Brantly over their own homegrown player in Smith...who has risen up in the organization and advanced level by level with pitchers that are familiar with/confident in throwing to him. Wilkins is 50/50. They'd prefer he be the "next man in" rather than someone like Dan Black or Keon Barnum...dealing Ravelo exposed a little bit of their lack of quality hitting depth at this position.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 10:37 AM) all the Soto's Mario "Circle K Change" Soto, too?

Gonzaga definitely looked like a Final Four team...when/if they play Duke, that will be an extremely entertaining, up and down the court game to watch...if you were watching the game the other day, you came away with the impression both of those teams loved to get out into transition, and that's huge for future recruiting IMO.

Heck, the White Sox might even be higher on Diaz at this point than Leury... In Charlotte, Saladino plays SS and some 3B, Sanchez plays 2B and Diaz/Garcia are the back-ups. Maybe one of them (or both) will be gone, but it's not important one way or the other.

Justin Anderson wasn't the same player after he returned from his injury IMO.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 08:00 AM) If they have to add 4 guys, my guess would be that it's Jones to 60 day DL, Surkamp traded. I would imagine that Cleto will be one of the subtractions as well. If Albers does indeed make the team, I would assume that Guerra wouldn't then. He's out of options, correct? He would need to be DFA creating the other spot. Robertson Duke Petricka Putnam Guerra Albers Dan Jennings LONG MAN? (Carroll/Penny) Webb, Cleto, Sanburn to the minors....Crain starts the year on the DL as well? Between Putnam, Guerra and Albers, one is probably superfluous since all RH set-up guys.

Saladino's not going anywhere. They really envision him as a key piece going forward...whether as starter, platoon bat or Joe McEwing/Oquendo "jack of all trades" type. Leury Garcia is more likely to be on the way out. He doesn't have a role anymore.

Related to adding spots for Kottaras/Soto, Brad Penny, Micah Johnson and Matt Albers. One is going to be Nate Jones transferring to the 60-day DL. So, along with trading Surkamp, they'll need to make at least two more roster moves...theoretically. What are those moves going to be?

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/114209948/ch...t-bald-campaign Cubs shave their heads for charity... Kris Bryant was one of the players NOT participating. There....a flaw, his Samson-like locks are the key to defeating his powers. http://mlb.mlb.com/photos/gallery.jsp?cont...40&c_id=chc

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 08:39 PM) Tangentially related -- the Rockies just released Jhoulys Chacin because they didn't want to pay him $5m. I wouldn't mind if the White Sox picked him up for less. Already tangentially mentioned, haha.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) James Shields isn't 30. He's older by a year or two...but he also has a track record of big league success. Olivera's ALREADY past his physiological prime, hasn't proven anything in the States, and a 6 year contract??

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) You aren't going to mention every piece of crap available are you? I try not to talk about Mr. Beckham very much here. If I do so, it's about David or Victoria and their brood.

How is Dayton basically getting a 2nd round home game against Oklahoma when the Sooners are the 3 seed? RIDICULOUSNESS.

The Yankees were given the opportunity to top the Red Sox‘s $31.5MM offer to Yoan Moncada, but declined. “We scouted him extensively for years,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. “I feel we put him through the highest level of scouting and medical evaluation. I just wasn’t comfortable offering what we actually offered ($25MM), let alone going any higher.“ For now, the Red Sox will play Moncada at second base, but his eventual position will depend on Boston’s needs in the next couple of years. Sour grapes, or real concerns about his asking price not being lined up with the cost? Obviously, for Cashman, it will be a nightmare if he does go on to haunt the Yankees for six or more upcoming seasons. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-he...-to-aim-for-six Most recent update on Olivera situation. Can't believe he's expecting a 6 year offer at age 30 when James Shields could only get 4.

Jhoulys Chacin just got dumped by the Rockies. Add him to the list. Did he pitch against us last year at Coors, the series Abreu just went off with the power display? Mark Trumbo might be traded by the Dbacks to free up OF space for Tomas (if they don't send him to the minors). All or nothing hitter, put up HUGE numbers in 2013 for the Angels. What, if anything, would you give up for him....and it wouldn't be a starting position, back-up 1B/DH. Has he ever played 3B recently? That would seem to be a disaster waiting to happen, though.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 01:51 PM) It's not everything obviously but also the last time he was a positive defender according to UZR or DRS was 2011. Just want some more experience on the bench than Shuck. That said, he's done fairly well this spring, so you'd have to say the job is his to lose until/unless something dramatic happens the last two weeks (or the waiver wire proves too hard to pass up an available free talent for Hahn).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Baseball has vastly more "total hours of content". As the value of "hour of live content" goes up, that' will continue to be a strong advantage. They may not have a "Single gladiatorial style 3 hour event' like the super bowl, but I'm watching a bunch of DVR'd shows right now. That's a loss for them. I'd be watching baseball if the White Sox were on. It really has come down to "dominating cities/regions" versus national ratings vis a vis the NFL.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 01:48 PM) Can't wait until a movie is made about the Batgirl sexism/rape/exploitation/free speech controversy Hey, after 50 Shades of Grey found a niche market, there's a distinct possibility for you to direct...right?

B10 with first team through to Sweet 16 3 more opportunities (MD, Iowa, Wisky)

Batgirl sexism/rape/exploitation/free speech/censorship controversy. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102520004?__source=...p;doc=102520004

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 09:45 AM) I suppose it CAN be, but it's not the 80's anymore. Until Izzo and Ryan retire, they're, at best, the third best program in the Big Ten. Looking back of the last 20 years and projecting ahead a little, not sure Indiana overtakes OSU, Ill or Mich either. They've been just an average program since Knight left. I think 3 sweet 16's in 20 years, 2 of those coming just recently on the heels of a perfect storm of recruiting. 1) WI 2) MSU/MD/OSU 3) Illinois/Michigan/Indiana 4) Purdue/Iowa/Minnesota/Nebraska PSU/NW/Rutgers 3 and 4 could be interchangeable, although the 3 schools should have the built-in recruiting advantages

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 22, 2015 -> 09:00 AM) Those are blacked out. Unless you're living in another country, using a VPN/proxy or living nowhere close to Chicagoland...which is presumably where 75-85% of the fanbase is located (other than Cuba, haha). What's interesting is while statistically baseball is 1/2 as popular as the NFL (for #1 sport), they're 82% of where the NFL is in terms of generating revenue...so there's room for additional growth and for some backlash against the NFL (steroids/concussions issue, for example).