davell

I did the mock draft part of that site and wound up with..... 3) Edge- Myles Garrett 36) QB- Deshaun Watson 67) S- Justin Evans 109) TE- Jake Butt 115) CB- Cameron Sutton 148- WR Malachi Dupree 224- LB Ben Boulware I'll take it and run.....

Please trade Jimmy to the Celtics now.

[tweet] [/tweet] Manfred.....Get your head out of your ass and ban barns.

I got the BA Prospect Handbook today. Here's the rest of the Cubs top 31: 11. Eddy Martinez, OF 12. Donnie Dewees, OF 13. Thomas Hatch, RHP 14. Rob Zastryzny, LHP 15. Duane Underwood, RHP 16. Chesny Young, 2B/3B 17. Victor Caratini, C/1B 18. Wladimir Galindo, 3B 19. Pierce Johnson, RHP 20. Erling Moreno, RHP 21. Jose Paulino, LHP 22. PJ Higgins, C 23. Jacob Hannemann, OF 24. Justin Steele, LHP 25. Bryan Hudson, LHP 26. David Bote, 3B/2B 27. Jack Leathersich 28. Bailey Clark, RHP 29. Isaac Paredes, SS 30. Chris Pieters, OF/1B 31. Caleb Smith, LHP Amusing that Jose Rosario cracked Fangraphs' top 10 but can't make BA's top 31. Wow, that's an awful list....Rosario and Pena are much, much more likely to be long term major leaguers than Johnson or Caleb Smith. David Bote? I'd venture that Sepulveda is quite a bit more highly thought of..... Pieters? Eh, I'd take my chances on Ryan Williams and Hedges floors over whatever perceived ceiling they must think Pieters has, even if the positions don't match.

[tweet] [/tweet] Ump decides to steal a hat.....

[tweet] [/tweet] DEEZ NUTS

I thought that was just for arbitration guys or guys on split deals. Not 100% though.

Speaking of depth. Still trying to bring Travis Wood back as a swingman.

I've seen a few different analysts and writers bring up Jimmy can net 2 solid young, controllable players, and 2 lottery picks. The problem though, is how many teams even have it to give? The Celtics are EASILY set up the best to make a move like that. But I seriously doubt they'd consider dealing the Nets pick this year, unless/until its definitely not a top 2 pick. SSR, do you think the Celts are a true contender, if they add Jimmy? And if so, how crazy is 2 of Crowder, Bradley, or Smart and one of those NJ picks, plus another one of the Celts acquired future picks?

Pick your poison. This FO is sticking around. They can't execute a rebuild OR a retool.

BA has Cease at 97, Almora at 64, Happ at 63, and Eloy at 14.

But what if he comes up and hits .400/.600/a billion in his first month and it's the worst mistake ever made by anybody ever until it turns out that it really wasn't? If he OPS's a billion for even a month, it may take quite a while to show that dealing him wasn't a mistake. His HR's must count like 100 runs every time he hits one.

I'm as big of a Javy guy as there is, I don't see 100+ starts at 2B. Maybe 80-90. He'll get a decent number of starts at SS and 3B too. My over/under for him is 500PA. I think that he winds up in that range, if he's healthy. My guess at his slash.......275/.315/465

To me, its dealing a 4th OF for a 5th SP. Still, its what we NEED. And I feel pretty confident that between Butler, Kelly, Perez, Mills, Williams, and Zastryzny.....That one of this group winds up in our 2018 rotation. That's not even accounting for Monty. I like DeWees and am a BIT surprised that Mills took HIM, as a return. But, odds are he's not more than a 4th OF and he's blocked pretty well. Our FO.....The approach to build what we have has been so damn precise. And it horsefeathering amazes me that in this day and age of copycat the leader, that no one else has gone about things in the way our group has.

So, GarPax is evidently safe. Even with a missed playoff spot. On top of THAT, I read they actually think they're on the right track, in one of the articles yesterday.

I would love that, too. Any idea what it would take? They traded the 39th pick in 2014, for Bryan Morris, to the Pirates. He had a 1st round pedigree, but was nothing more than a middle reliever. They're obviously trying to build up their pen and they even have their highest payroll of all time currently. So, skimping on the draft seems like a fairly safe bet for them. Maybe the price has gone up, now that teams know the system a bit better, and the realization how valuable the slot money truly is..... But, I could see something like Zagunis(for when Ozuna inevitably gets moved), a hard throwing pen arm that's ML ready, like Pena or Rosario, and maybe a low level pitcher they can dream on, if it takes a 3rd piece. Like a Moreno or Rondon. May not even take that much, considering their cheapness, and how they're probably just waiting to move the pick.(which I THINK can't be dealt, until the season starts)

I hate that they decided to "fix" a system that wasn't broken back before the QO. These new changes don't seem to do much of anything, in my mind. We've got the 18th highest bonus pool. I want to see us find a way to trade for pick 36, from the Marlins. Its worth almost 1.8 mill and the Marlins and they don't even like spending money on amateurs. It'd take us from 18th to 10th in pool money. Someone will get that pick, might as well be us.

They've had the Dodgers winning the most games for 5 years straight.

Hammel gets 2/16 with a mutual option, from the Royals.

Musical chairs for QB's...... Teams likely to have a new QB for 2017- Buffalo, NYJ, Cleveland, Houston, Denver, Chicago, Arizona, SF Denver won't take one in the draft and may use someone on their roster. Arizona is waiting to see if Palmer retires. Teams with older QB's that could draft one early to groom- Pittsburgh, KC, Chargers, Giants, Saints There's chatter Roethlisberger is considering retirement, although its not likely. The others have their guy, but they could look towards the future. I'm not bringing up Washington, because I don't see them losing Cousins Current FA that may or will land a starters job- Glennon, Schaub(rumored as a stopgap in SF), Fitzpatrick, Hoyer(obviously, a team is hating life with most of these guys) Trade Options- Garoppolo and McCarron Soon to be FA(or traded) Romo, Taylor, Cutler, Kaepernick, Osweiler(if Houston does move on..... Ranking the FA.....(obviously subjective) Taylor, Romo, Glennon, Cutler, Kaepernick, Osweiler, Schaub, Hoyer, Fitzpatrick Rumors on teams Cleveland- Taylor, Garoppolo or draft Buffalo-Cutler or draft NYJ- Taylor, Glennon, or draft Houston- Cutler, Taylor, or Romo Chicago- Garoppolo or draft Denver- Romo or go with Lynch Arizona- ????? SF- Garoppolo or draft I don't know if I can picture a team trading for McCarron, but for the Bears sake, I hope someone does. It also helps the Bears if Denver stands pat. Cleveland has plenty of ammo, so my bet would be they get Garoppolo or take a guy at 12. Currently, Buffalo looks to be the safest bet to draft a QB first, at 10. Arizona is a wild card, if Cleveland goes with a FA or trade, I can see Arizona having their choice of anyone in the draft at 13, outside of who Buffalo takes. If Cleveland gets Garoppolo, I can see Buffalo, Arizona, and SF being the teams possibly looking for an immediate starter, that'd take a QB prior to the Bears in the 2nd. The key to me, is whether the Steelers, Giants, Chiefs, Chargers, or Saints take a QB in the 1st. If NONE of them do, the Bears will have at least one of Watson, Trubisky, Kizer, or Mahomes available to them at 36. My early guesses at QB rhoulette..... Cleveland gets Garoppolo SF signs Schaub and takes Trubisky at 34. Chicago- Signs Romo and gets Mahomes at 36. NYJ- sign Taylor Buffalo- draft Watson at 10 Arizona- signs Glennon Denver- goes with Lynch Houston- signs Cutler Pittsburgh drafts Kizer at 30 Giants, Chargers, Saints, and KC wait and take a QB later. (Webb, Peterman, Kayya, Evans)

Only if game 5 saw you blow a 5 run lead in the 9th.

Almora is in the Cain trade.

Time to take a shot at what you see happening this year..... Our rotation takes a step back. Lester struggles a bit without Ross. Hendricks is our best starter. Jake's control is iffy and takes him down to where he's not going to see 100 mill in the off season. Lackey gives us reasons to dislike him. Those 4 combine for slightly under 100 starts, as injuries actually happen. Hendricks is our only starter that puts up a sub 3 ERA. Montgomery shows that he's a longterm rotation piece, once hes put in the rotation for good. Outperforms Lester in the 2nd half. Anderson gets 15+ starts and is solid enough. Butler looks great in Iowa and is decent in the majors in September, giving him a shot at being a 2018 rotation piece. Rondon and Davis are a great back end of the pen and stay healthy. Strop struggles, Carl is OK, but control is an issue. Uehara is a disappointment. We need to trade for a lefty at midseason. Pena winds up being a decent arm for us. Contreras is the best C in the NL behind Posey. Bryzzo is Bryzzo. Russell and Javy combine for 50+ HR's and are our fulltime middle infield, outside of injuries. Zobrist starts to age a bit and loses some pop, but still gets on base. Schwarber is below average in LF by the metrics, but seems OK out there. Hits lefties decently and is a true offensive force as our leadoff hitter. CF is a weak spot all year. Heyward puts up a 725 OPS. Szczur is dealt before the season for an arm in the low minors. Focus on the deadline is bullpen and CF. We trade for Lorenzo Cain and Sean Doolittle at the deadline. Cubs win 101 games and go back to back. Beat the Mets in the NLDS, beat the Dodgers in the NLCS, and the Red Sox in the World Series. Eloy finishes strong in Tennessee, making a 2018 debut a realistic goal. Happ is good and is a good bet to be dealt next off season. Candelario helps net us Cain, with Almora. Hatch and Caratini, with Grimm, net us Doolittle. Clifton is a realistic rotation piece by early 2018. Cease looks like a closer. De La Cruz is very solid and is firmly inside top 100 lists, as is the mythical Albertos. Cubs sign Hector Mendoza and he's in MB most of the year. Cubs top 100 guys on most lists.....Eloy, Happ, De La Cruz, Albertos, and Clifton. Cubs draft a college and HS arm at 27 and 30. Biggest risers in the system are Aramis Ademan and Bailey Clark. What do you guys have?