thxfrthmmrs

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) The question to ask in reply is...would you be willing to miss the playoffs this year if Sanchez and Johnson can't provide decent performance out of 2b? To which I ask, are we so sure right now that 2B is our weakest position and is it our biggest need to upgrade taking account long term potential? It sounds like you're suggesting we are making this decision for this year only, and if that's the case we don't have to have the roster completed by January. I rather wait till July or August to evaluate our need to make a playoff run, and similar talent could be had for a lesser price around that time. On top of that, Sanchez has a track record for hitting in the minors, and if you take into account defense as well, he could be out performing Gillaspie by July.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 11:58 AM) The bat hasn't really slowed down, but his power has diminished. He's still hitting about .270 and walking 10-11% of the time. And, while you're right that the defense will slow down, I don't know that it will get to the point where he's a liability in the field. I don't see any reason why he couldn't be a 2-3 WAR player at age 38 considering he's been a 5-6 WAR player for pretty much the entirety of his career. Again, not saying I want him, but he's not going to be cheap to acquire. That was precisely what I was hinting at. I agree that he wouldn't fall off the face of the earth by age 37-38. I actually DON'T want to go after him for another reason. It could play out in two scenarios for us. We acquire him and lose him in free agency or we lock him up for a huge deal. I wouldn't want to trade the farm for him for just 1 year, because for what? If we do lock him up, it wouldn't be cheap. With no contracts coming off the book next year, it would also impact our flexibility to resign Shark as well as extending some of the guys like Eaton and Avi, and upgrade in the positions of greater need, 3B and C. We already have 2 prospects who are close to ML ready at 2B. At some point you got to play them. That's why the "trade for Zobrist so prospects could develop" argument doesn't work here. If we are going to trade prospects for a position player, it better be a 3B or C, as we don't have in house replacements, or a 2B with a cost controlled contract.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) So you don't believe that Ben Zobrist, at 34 years old, has another 3-4 good years left in him? I think he'd be a perfectly acceptable player until he's 38. I also said I thought that two top 100 prospects like d'Arnaud and Syndergaard was probably too much for Dickey in hindsight and that it may very well be too much for Zobrist. For someone who's value is heavily dependent on his defense, I don't think he could cover as much range as he could now both in the infield and outfield when he's 38 years old. Not to mention his bat is already slowing down the past 2 years.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 30, 2014 -> 02:38 PM) He's far too valuable a player. RA Dickey fetched Noah Syndergaard and Travis d'Arnaud (as well as Wuilmer Becerra) 2 years ago going into his age 38 season. I think that's a little excessive in hindsight, but it's going to take some very good prospects to get Zobrist. Dude Dickey is a bad comparison. He's a knuckleballer, they pitch into their 40's. Wakefield pitched till he's 45, Charlie Hough retired at 46. Jamie Moyer tried to learn the knuckler and pitch again at 50. At the time of the trade, Toronto thought Dickey still has at least 3-4 good years left in him. On top of that, I don't think Dickey has that much mileage on his arm, so he's a safer bet to avoid the DL.

I don't think Thibs did a good job with his rotation tonight. On a night where Brooks isn't doing much on offense, he could put the bigger Mirotic at SF to match up against Copeland rather than Jimmy. Not to mention they are already looking to give Niko more burn at SF to begin with.

Jimmy needs to take a charge or pull the chair on Copeland. I have not seen him getting taken advantage like that.

I have not seen a collapse like this in a long time.

Jimmy GGG. Buckets. Oh my gawd.

So you really think, if he hypothetically does again, that it wouldn't cause any animosity between him and the teammate, and the clubhouse wouldn't gang up against him? He would definitely be traded again.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 29, 2014 -> 03:20 PM) J4L is who he is. He likes to take the best performance of the night and make a bold statement that the same performance will be extrapolated over whole season, while never commenting on the bulls. However, I thought it was crazy that anyone would sacrifice getting a scoring star because they wanted to keep Jimmy Butler. Frankly, I had no idea he had this post game. And I can't believe he developed a fade away post shot in one offseason. That means he can learn a hell of a lot more in the next 3 offseasons. To be fair, when was the last time J4L is right about his predictions? 1998?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 29, 2014 -> 01:48 PM) It seemed like every week the announcers were commenting on their lack of urgency in getting up to the line. Part of the reason was Trestman tried to be conservative, especially if they didn't have a good chance of scoring, to protect Cutler from committing any unnecessary turnovers and hurt his confidence (especially early on in the season). Guess what, Cutler still end up leading the league in turnovers..

Under Cutler this season, the Bears have a total of 2, (that's right, TWO!), touchdowns insides the 2 minute warning - 1 came against in week 2 against SF, the other was a garbage time TD pass to Jeffery against the Saints. Put that in perspective, the both Tampa and Tennessee finished 2-14, but has 4 and 6 TD's, respectively, inside the 2 minute warning. Just goes to show you how bad the offense was under pressure and how inconsistent it was to develop any sort of rhythm.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 10:41 PM) I think the first step was unintentional, then the 2nd step was clearly on purpose, and then he takes all his weight off his front foot and pushing off Rodgers to step forward again. And he never once looks down, which is a normal reaction when someone accidentally steps on something, and he also never turns around when Rodgers pushes him, because he knows what he did. If he truly didn't know what was happening, he would have turned around and question why Rodgers was pushing him and yelling. Piece of s***, through and through. Completely agreed. He had that tough-guy walk back to Detroit huddle after Rodgers pushes him off too, like he didn't give a s*** about what he just did.

So we end up with a worse record and less points scored than a team that lost Adrian Peterson and started a rookie QB for most of the year. That's just embarrassing. On the bright side, 7th pick. Yay.

Please stop now boys.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 01:58 PM) He's just trying to help Forte break the RB reception record. What an unselfish teammate. ugh lol. I rather he goes Aaron Rodgers in this game so we could actually find a taker for his ass this offseason.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 01:42 PM) How is that any different than the first 14 games he played this season? He's on a mission to outdo himself in those first 14 games. Over 20 passes thrown, only 1 went for more than 10 yards.

Just because there was one pass thrown for more than 10 yards doesn't mean there was only 1 play route that was ran more than 10 yards.

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) 14/19 isn't bad. Gotta ignore the RB that is running for 4 yards a carry today as well. *laugh track* For a whopping 85 yards. Can't give him credit for accuracy right there. He's living and dying on the dump passes today. You could tell his confidence is gone after being benched last week.

Cutler. Blows. Bad throws and keep missing wide open targets.

As long as he doesn't sleep with anyone's wife.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 09:27 PM) ?? He followed his normal minute pattern tonight. He came out with 6:30 left in the 3rd Q. Usually he goes out around the 4 or 3 minute mark with Jo. I think Thibs was just sending him a message for not hustling on defense.

Uh oh, Rose subbed out early

Anthony Davis don't scare Jimmy Butler!

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 04:51 PM) I think Anthony Davis would win MVP if the season ended now. He's definitely been the best and most valuable player so far, because he is the best combo of defense and offensive efficiency. Team record. His team isn't even in the playoffs at this point (it's not his fault). He might be the most talented player in the league at this point, but MVP won't be his award to win.