rawaction

I think Turner's full of it. The guy has pain behind his knee and felt a pop. That's not normal. Color me concerned. They rode the guy like crazy last year. To think there's not going to be wear & tear from that is hallucinatory. Granted, Forte got a lot of carries at Tulane too, but I don't think you can assume the work last year is completely destroying a 23-year old. A couple more years of the same usage and there is a serious problem. Even if it is a tear of some sort, he has 8 weeks before camp and should be healthy in time to start the season. Less work at camp probably won't hurt him much either.

They look really good in the pinstriped pants. Oh, it says ASSETS!

Hansbrough is a guy that is going to have a 10-12 year career and get 13 and 8 for you on a pretty consistent basis, with the ability to put up more. Not going to change your team around, but I like the Luis Scola comparison. He has more offensive game than Najera and Madsen.

I'm pretty confident about this team right now. I think it's a mistake to think Cutler makes this team put up 3-6 more points per game. The area where he will help is extending drives and greatly increasing the Bears time of possession. And that will help the defense. If Urlacher, Harris, and Vasher are ever going to be pro-bowl caliber players again, this would be the year. Urlacher is 2 years removed from back surgery. Harris is 3 years removed from knee surgery. Vasher had a wrist injury and should have extremely healthy legs. Being on the field less will help all of them also. I am worried about the DE position, but I have hope that Marinelli can get something out of Anderson and Ogunleye will try to shine for his last contract next offseason. The FS position is also troublesome, but getting a good pass rush will help. And I really like Graham's football IQ if he's the guy back there. He will make some mistakes, but he's a good tackler that has played in the Cover-2 for 3 years already, so he should at least be familiar with the role of the safety over the top as he kinda had to know where the FS would be as a Cover-2 corner. As for Plax, as much as I would like him I do wonder if the Bears could potentially get Brandon Marshall next offseason. If not, there's still a chance that the Boldin or Braylon situations could be revisited. I'd rather have either of those 3 over the older Plaxico, and I still think with the young nucleus on offense the Bears window will extend beyond this season.

He talks about a couple nice passes to Hester and Olsen and Cutler's footwork. Nothing really meaningful, but more fun to think about than the Cubs. I have taken every opportunity to watch any Denver game on NFL network recently. Jay Cutler can simply make every throw that needs to be made. His completion % speaks for itself, but I don't think Bears fans truly understand how accurate this man is. Brandon Marshall is great after the catch, because of his size, but Cutler routinely puts the ball perfectly in stride with him. He can throw from any angle, so rarely gets any passes batted down. Every time I see a Denver WR run after the catch, I think back to the throws made by Bears QBs in recent history where receivers have had to slow down or reach back, down, or up to catch a pass. Not that Cutler will be perfect, but I think you will see the Bears athletes being able to do more with the ball this year.

Yeah, makes no sense, especially since the Bears have done pretty well vs. GB in Lovie's tenure. If anything, he could say he was brought in to beat Minnesota, who is a better team than GB and has a defense that is almost impossible to run on. But I'm pretty sure the Bears brought in Cutler with the hopes of him helping them beat whoever represents the AFC in the Superbowl.

this is true.

That's not the first time I've made that stupid mistake. I know there are two more teams in the NL, and when I think about it as 2 more in the one league, I end up with 32 instead of 30. Anyway, that's still 3.333333 players per team, and if we add Aramis as the .333333 guy, we have our quota. Our quota for a .500 team, but the goal is to be well above .500, well above average, and hopefully at least one of the top 8 teams, which is going to be difficult. Exactly. If we want to be exactly league average, we are doing great. Also, "turning it around" for 1 week or even 2 is really relative. Bradley would have to OPS 1.200 for, what, a month to get into the top 100? The part I'm most worried about is that our starters, for the most part, have been pretty solid. If they start stinking, even if the hitting gets better, we might be looking at hovering around .500 for a while. If Bradley had a 1.200 OPS for a month (assuming 100 plate appearances which is actually slightly low if he played the entire month) he'd have a .936 OPS overall at the end of that month. To break into that top 100, he'd have to have an .856 OPS for that full month. I know you were exaggerating for effect, but it just illustrates how few at-bats most of our regulars have had. They still have time to make up their bad starts..even though it's June, their number of at-bats aren't at those June levels where your numbers really start to stabilize. Even if he needed a 1.200 OPS for a month to get into the top 100, that's not the only way. Bradley, Soto and Lee have all shown they can put up an .850+ OPS for long periods of time. Of course, Lee hasn't shown so in a long time. I wouldn't expect Soto to do so. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Bradley continue to turn it around an be in the .850-.900 OPS range when all is said and done.

One concern I have is Marshall has been horrible in the 1st inning this year and amazing in innings 2-7. Putting him in the bullpen presumably will set him up for failure.

There's an article on SI Truth and Rumors saying that the Bulls might have to part with Deng in a possible Bosh trade, as apparently the Raptors are thinking he might have to go. I'd do Deng and Tyrus for Bosh. I think Bosh is the most attainable star player in the league. Toronto knows they won't be able to sign him. They also probably know they aren't going to get any top FAs to go to Canada, so freeing salary may not be that big of a deal. Give them Tyrus, Deng, and the 16th pick and they get 3 players along with their 1st that can make that team competitive next year. They'd have to give back somebody w/ Bosh though, maybe Kapono.

Agreed. I also think it serves the purpose of getting Fukudome in the lineup so he doesn't have 6 of 8 days off with all the LH starters the Cubs have faced. Or could get Fox some PT in LF. Plus, Soriano has a couple days before ATL, who he has absolutely molested as a Cub.

Best young defensive IF the Cubs have had since Sandberg in the early 80s.

Wow. I know the TWolves love Hinrich, but why would they give up the #6 for him? If the Bulls could pull this off, that would be absolutely amazing. While I'd love DeRozan at 6 (or Harden 2nd choice), I wonder if the Bulls had the #6 pick could they interest Toronto or Phoenix in giving up Bosh or Amare for Tyrus, the #6 and the Bulls' expiring deals (Tim Thomas and/or Brad Miller)? The Bulls could resign the player they get and already have their player and won't need freed up money for 2010.

Indeed. Sign Idonije. Sign Tinoisamoa. Sign 7 of the 9 draft picks (all but Iglesias and Gilbert).

Has Gordon been re-signed? There's a good chance he's gone, and there's certainly no guarantee that a scoring big man will be brought in. That would leave Salmons as the second option behind Rose (if this proposed Deng trade goes through). No, the proposed trade would make Shaq the secondary option. And it would also make it easier to sign Gordon. If you don't sign Gordon and Deng is back he's at best option 2B with Deng and that all depends on if he or Hinrich start at the 2.

It pisses me off when you end up with 6 or 7 hits in the game and they are all from the same part of the lineup. All the baserunners have come from the 3-7 hitters, yet only have a solo HR. Why the hell can't they get their hits at the same time?

I'll agree that Salmons has a very friendly contract, but I think it's unrealistic to expect him to be as good next season as he was this year. And even at his best, I think his defense is overrated and I don't think he fits the offense all that well either. He sucks up a lot of time going one-on-one and taking bad shots. I'm fine having him on the team because he's cost-effective, but I don't think he should be a top option on a good team. ??? He's not even the top option now on a mediocre team. Gordon and Rose are clearly 1-2. Get a big guy in here, Salmons becomes a distant 4th option. That's a perfect fit for him. He can focus on hitting shots and guarding the great big 2's and 3's in the league.

I thought the consensus was that Shaq slowed Phoenix down and in doing so helped contribute to that team's decline? Consensus should be that Nash got old. Nash's decline, Shaq and Terry Porter all share blame. Yeah, Nash went from MVP to a middle of the road PG in the last 2 years. They also got very little out of their 2-3 positions.

I thought the consensus was that Shaq slowed Phoenix down and in doing so helped contribute to that team's decline? Consensus should be that Nash got old.

I don't think it would be "suddenly." He's been a stud, as recently as 2007. And he just turned 24 years old. There's plenty of reason to pause when thinking about the trade. There is no reason to pause when thinking about the trade. Deng has been injured, has a monster contract, and you have a guy in Salmons who can replace whatever it is you hope Deng will be. Thats also not even figuring in the money off the books for the 2010 class, and the fact that Shaq is still productive, and could help this team win next year. Its a no brainer trade on the Bulls end. Agreed. I actually like the idea of Salmons at the 2 with Deng at 3. But I like the idea of having a lot of money to get 2 players better than Deng at the end of the 2010 season. Salmons, Bosh, Joe Johnson is better than Salmons, Bosh, Deng. The article that mentions Shaq slowing down an athletic Bulls team is just [expletive]. Didn't Shaq just spend the last 1.5 years in Phoenix? The runningest team in the NBA?

So, who plays the infield?

I think that all hinges on what kind of deal you can sign him to. A minimal 2009 guaranteed salary means none of those other risks really matter. Sure there's a PR aspect to it, but if he gets busted for drugs again, you cut him and lose very little. Maybe he's going to hold out for a better deal, but I would think he'd like to go to a place where he can be a featured WR and play with a quality QB, thus giving him a chance to build up his contract demands for next offseason. Yeah, I am assuming he would sign a very cheap 1-year deal. At this point, training camps open w/in 60 days. He probably won't be signed for another 20-30 days either way. Beggers can't be choosers. I doubt you would see much more than a minimal deal that late into things with the off-field and lack of production issues he has had since drafted.

I don't expect anyone to move on Jones quickly. There's obviously a lot of homework to be done. 1. Is he over his drug issues? 2. How big of a risk is he to do something else? 3. How good is he or can he be on the field? 4. Is that risk worth what he can be expected to bring to the field? Personally, I don't know the answer to #1. I don't think he is as big a risk as most of getting in trouble again. I think he could be great on the field, but even if he's not, he could still be a redzone asset and another big target for Cutler. And I think the answer to #4 is yes.

2b- Soriano SS- Theriot CF- Fukudome 1B- Lee RF- Bradley LF- Hoffpauir 3B- Fox C- Soto I can't wait til this lineup takes the field defensively! That's 4 players out of position, and that's not including Theriot who would be a much better 2b than SS.

Go Carlos! He shouldn't been pitching that inning anyway.