thxfrthmmrs

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 01:24 PM) i don't know about his slider, i will give way to others opinion on that. they prob know more than i. however i still think he needs more seasoning and more work. he can't depend on that slider alone. It seems you're disagreeing with my assessment of his floor. Most people would agree that he's not ready for the majors right now, so you are correct in saying that. But that's not the same as saying what his floor is. A floor for a prospect is his worst likely outcome, while ceiling is his best likely outcome. When you say that he needs "more seasoning and work" and hinting that he won't be a league average starter at the moment, that's saying what his currently profile is, not his floor, because that's the worst outcome, not the worst likely outcome. He's likely to at least improve his command some what and be at least an average starter. I don't know where you got the impression that he's a one pitch pitcher. Here's a detailed scouting report on Rodon from Fangraphs by Kiley McDaniel in case you missed it. Keep in mind McDaniel usually projects on the conservative side, so you should interpret it your own way. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/evaluating-...cago-white-sox/ In summary, with some work, he'll likely have 2 plus pitches along with a wipeout slider. If he can slightly improve his command, he'll be an average starter. If he can significantly improve his command, he will be the ace of the rotation. Note that McDaniel labeled his prospect risk as low, suggesting he'll likely at least reach his floor.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) with his future looking good, i would most assuredly let him develop in the minors on his overall pitches. he is far from the finish product many have thought, esp having a slider as your #1 pitch. he is no Sale. That's more of a testament to how good his slider truly is. I think his slider is already better than most front line starter's best pitch in the majors. It's not a knock against his fastball, which is currently a 60 pitch. He still has a lot of work left on his command and also need to work on the change up. With that said, his floor is relatively high based on his two major league level pitches and the likelihood that he will develop an above average change up.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 11:58 AM) And if the perimeter D crashes down, they can pass out to great 3point shooting. Yeesh. OTOH, if everything is tighter, if the guards crash on the pick and rolls harder, the bigs crash on the 15 footers harder, etc. The hawks don't have many players who can create space off the dribble. Teague will need to break down everyone, which maybe he can. Basically, we hope the bulls have that extra gear we believe they have. I am still a bit bitter by how well Korver has been playing after he left the Bulls. 50-50-90 anyone? I think the East is lucky that they don't have a Curry, Durant or even a Derrick Rose who can take over in the 4th quarter. IMO that's what holds them back from being a true favorite.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 12:40 PM) that football picture is kool as hell. now that is a bold statement. when i said this several months ago, i think i got skinned. but i agree. everything will need to click, pretty much like it did with Sale. with Anderson, i am all for him. i am really excited about him. i can't wait for spring training. I have friends who went to FSU and they been called the Criminoles since this crab leg incident As for Rodon, I think that assessment is general consensus unless people are playing extremist and think that he won't develop the change up and wind up in the bullpen.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 11:33 AM) Honestly, Atlanta is not getting credit because they are a boring market with no stars. I'm worried they are about to be the Memphis of the East, who basically stormed the western conference in 2010 when nobody thought they were that good. They have not stopped winning. They play great D and offense. They made the Bulls look awful when they played. And yes, what the bulls give up on D (15 footers to big men) are a strength for the Hawks. When watching the Hawks Wizards game yesterday, this was exactly what worried me, and we know Horford and Millsap are capable of doing that night in and night out.

BP has always strived to distinguish themselves (having a Top 101 instead of Top 100 is trying a little too hard). They have always been high on Beck. IIRC, they had Beck at 3 or 4 last year, despite averaging around 4 k's per 9 innings in A ball. I would also take Rodon being #2 with a grain of salt. Most of us have been following Rodon closely last season, and I think from what we've read, he's a pretty safe bet to be at least an average starter and ace potential if he reaches his ceiling. Placing a bigger question mark but not a higher reward guy like Anderson over him might just be a statement on their part.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 12:04 AM) I'm not worried about them. Only team I really don't think we matchup with well are the Wizards. Washington front court size could potentially give us some issues, but I think we would beat them handedly in last year's playoff with Gasol, Niko, and this version of Jimmy Butler, with or without Rose. The Wizards are largely the same team from last year, but replaced Ariza (who was huge in that series) with old man dbag Pierce. On the other hand, I don't think Teague has been getting enough credit this season. He may be playing better than John Wall depends on how you look at it, and the duo of Horford and Milsap is heads and shoulders better than Gortat and Nene. Let's not forget they are actually under salary cap. I think it's highly likely they bring in a bench scorer like Kevin Martin at the trade deadline.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 11, 2015 -> 08:02 PM) Can the Bulls beat Atlanta in a series? QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 11, 2015 -> 08:41 PM) Not with the current versions of Noah/Rose. All of their big men, Horford, Milsap, Antic, and Mike Scott play at the mid range. Gasol and Noah would have to move out of the paint to defend them. Jeff Teague runs a lot of drive and kicks, Rose would have to defend the pick and roll well without the help of a rim protector. So yea, I don't like the match up at all.

QUOTE (Señor Ding-Dong @ Jan 11, 2015 -> 11:32 AM) Let's say Brantly does win the backup catcher job; where does that leave everyone else? Kottaras would be a sure bet for Charlotte, but who would be the other AAA catcher? Nieto or Smith? Who would start, Kottaras or one of the younger guys who should be playing everyday? Smith seems ready for AAA and probably doesn't need to repeat AA at 26-years old. Would it be good for Nieto's development to go from a full season in the majors to AA instead of AAA? ML: Flowers/Brantly AAA: Smith/Kottaras AA: Nieto/Whoever It'll be even more interesting if Kottaras win the backup catcher job. Barring any transactions, that'll leave three guys who should all be playing everyday in the minors (Brantly, Nieto, Smith). The difference in talent level between AA and AAA isn't significant enough to have a strong opinion in one over the other, but I would say it will most likely be Nieto at AA since he's spent the least time above A ball out of everyone. Smith and the loser of Kottaras and Brantly battle will split time at C, 1B, and DH at Charlotte. I am leaning towards Kottaras making the opening day roster.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 11, 2015 -> 06:02 PM) Peyton looks done. He's been lackluster for almost the entire second half of the season. It's not just Peyton, the whole offense just lacks any sort of explosion running its routes, and Peyton isn't able to lead his receivers with his mid range throws. You'd expect more from a dynamic offense like the Broncos.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 10, 2015 -> 06:06 PM) This is the time and the team to sit against, no worries Don't sleep on this Bucks team. They are 20-18 despite playing a lot more road games than home games, good for 5th place in the east.

I'm just venting here. He's supposedly worked on it for the past 2 years, but somethings never change. I was about 45 minutes early to a Bulls Heat game 2 years ago, and I watched him practice that shot for a good 15 minutes straight. Even at practice, there's no consistency in his wrist motion, arc of the shot, or spin of the ball, and it bricked a lot more than you expect for someone had been boasting about his shot to the media (which he did big time around that time). At this point, I'll be happy if he would just use it as a show me shot.

It is not on him, he's been more aggressive tonight. At the same time I don't want to get too caught up on Jimmy and Pau having an off night tonight. Rose's three point shot has been a prolonged issue and is something he needs to either fix or retire. He's 11 for his last 60 in three's, good for 18%, definitely will hurt the team more in the long run if you ask me.

He's either the most optimistic or the biggest knucklehead out there. Every time he hits a three, he will take and miss 3 or 4 more until he stops pulling the trigger. With the form he has, he's not going to get consistent rhythm and hit more than one in a row.

He needs to get on that Tony Parker and DWade plan until he figures his s*** out. He's not gonna hit with that form.

WTF is with Rose's scissor leg kick in his three point shots recently. It's definitely an awkward form and he's not getting any arc on that shot. None of those 3's he took had a chance of going in.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 9, 2015 -> 08:43 PM) It's not him tonight. Everyone else is asleep QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 9, 2015 -> 08:45 PM) Are you even watching the game? I am talking about busting out of his slump. He's been lackadaisical all season, and refs are not making it easier for him by not blowing the 50/50 calls. That was the first time I've seen him legitimately pissed this season. He needs to wake up for good, not just this game.

Alright now wake the f*** up Derrick.

Seems like we are falling back on earth offensively. It's 2014 all over again.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 9, 2015 -> 12:24 PM) That's what I thought too, but now I sort of understand it. The Cubs performed very well during the 2nd half of the 2014 season and they have some pretty solid rotation arms, now headlined by Lester. Travis Wood is really the John Danks of their rotation which includes Hammel, Lester, Arrieta, and Hendricks, which is a formidable top 4. The only question mark is the prospects, but I think Kris Bryant is a sure thing, and one to two of the Soler/Baez/Alcantara/Schwarber crowd could be perennial all-stars- and they also have Rizzo in that lineup. I think they'll win 80-87 games next year depending on how the prospects perform, but they have very underrated pitching. The reason I said they have a bunch of unproven players is the likelihood of Hammel, Arrieta, Hendricks and Wood putting up a dud season is just as high as the likelihood of them turning in a decent season, especially in the case of of Hendricks. The guy's stuff is below average and doesn't have a good pedigree. I am willing to bet that Noesi will turn in a better season than Hendricks would.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 9, 2015 -> 02:00 PM) Adding Lester immediately gives them a decent rotation. Not top of the line yet but good. It takes them from the basement to the middle of the pack. The hype has everything to do with Theo and his group. They are leading the way for the SABR group and many of the national writers believe this is the way to go. The Cubs have compiled a number of really good hitting prospects. The only thing really missing was to buy the pitching since they didn't draft it. Their philosophy appears to be to acquire proven or MLB experienced pitching because drafting and developing them is tough to do. So far their plan is on track. however, for them to be that good this year, everyone one of the young players will need to have an impact and no one can have a bad year. Possible but not likely. I know where you're coming from, and I personally feel that the Cubs can contend for a World Series in 2-3 years, and that's if at least 3 or Bryant, Soler, Baez, Russell, Almora and Schwarber pan out. Even if this opinion is coming from SABE writers, the Red Sox, Angels, and Dodgers still trump everyone else in terms of advance metrics. Taking a step back, this team hasn't finished above .500 in the past 5 years, and hasn't made the playoffs in 6 years, adding Lester and Maddon isn't enough to turn the ship around, unless they are banking on Bryant, Baez and Soler to be stars right out of the gate. Sabemetrics is cute and all, but basing the entire prediction on it and completely ignoring other factors like durability for 162 games and post season experience is completely asinine. Like other posters have said, this is a perfect example of attention getting or the equivalent of Skip Bayless trolling on ESPN. I don't even think Cubs fans themselves feel that their team is ready to win a WS this season.

Can someone explain to me what's with all the Cubs hype recently? Does adding Lester, Montero and bringing back Hammel, while getting Maddon to coach their team make them THAT much better? They have too many unproven talents for anyone to start hopping on their bandwagon.

Hopefully this also means the plan to cut ties with Johnny boy is on the horizon.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 11:48 AM) He's 6'0, 215 right now and running a 4.4? Good god that's insane. By all means, the kid is definitely a serious athlete. If he was a running back in football, he'd be an elite prospect.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 7, 2015 -> 08:26 PM) If Micah could be a productive major league player he'll be a fan favorite in Chicago with his looks. If he's an All Star the national media will love him. I posted a video of an interview with him in the hitters mini camp thread. I am becoming a fan of his already, and I think the media will like him too. He's a pretty intelligent, likable dude with a lot of aspirations in life. I don't think this has been posted on here yet, but he's definitely paying a lot of attention to what Hahn and the team have been doing so far, and hopes to become a GM himself someday. http://m.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article/105...d-off-the-field The tidbit on his 40 yard dash and olympic weight training is also interesting, and could potentially make him a power and speed guy rather than just a speedster.