davell

He's got a good eye though. If the K's are because he's selective with what he swings at, I'm OK with it. I think he's got 30/30 upside anyway. He's basically the exact type guy I want to see added to the system this year. But, it'll be interesting to see how he handles wooden bats this season.

Please rephrase. Honestly, I eat this stuff up and only wish it to make sense Yeah, that did look confusing the way I phrased it. :D But, TT had it right with what I was thinking. If I was ranking guys at this exact moment as to how I would pick them, I'd go like this: 1 Rendon 2 Cole 3 Purke 4 Gray 5 Springer 6 Norris 7 Starling (would have higher but think he'll want top 3 money) 8 Bradley 9 ???????(Harrison, Bundy, Bauer, Jed Bradley, Esposito, Swihart) I love this stuff, but it's almost a certainty that these guys change positioning some, maybe even a ton. Wouldn't shock me at all if at least one guy I just mentioned falls to the 2nd round even. I'll say this though: Having a guy like Brett Jackson almost ready to go, makes me want to have no part whatsoever in Jackie Bradley, Mikie Mahtook or Brian Goodwin, since they profile as somewhat close to Jackson. This may help us out too, because there's a chance one or possibly even two(Bradley and possibly Goodwin) could go off the board before we pick.

Harrison is a potential bady body type himself. But he does kill the ball. My thing is this: I like Harrison quite a bit. But, if one of Purke, Cole, Gray, possibly Jungmann, Daniel Norris, or Archie Bradley fall to us(definitely likely at least one makes it down there) I'm going to have a very hard time taking ANY hitter not named Rendon(top choice) or possibly Springer over anyone but Gray, Cole, or Purke. I'm looking at high achool bats in the 2nd and 3rd myself. There looks to be quite a few guys that have the ability to be 1st round talents that are going to fall due to the amount of talent in the draft anyway. Give me the BPA in the 1st, which likely will be a pitcher, then it's going to be easier to address the power issue in the next couple of rounds.

My perfect offseason for the Bears: I'm assuming we don't go crazy in FA with this, but do spend SOME money. Cut: Harris, Taylor, Manumaleuna(may not even make sense to cut Taylor or Manu right now, so if it's not, keep them) Resign: Manning, Adams(one year deal), Hanie, Kreutz(one year deal) Roach Sign: WR Braylon Edwards, OG Harvey Dahl, CB Carlos Rogers Draft: 1st- OT Anthony Sherrod 2nd- DT Stephen Paea 3rd- FS Deunta Williams 4th- OT/OG Demarcus Love 5th- OLB KJ Wright 6th- RB John Clay I'd think that Rogers wouldn't be that expensive and he'd at least upgrade CB some. Edwards is a nice upgrade at WR and Dahl immediately improves the line quite a bit without spending HUGE on Mankins. With the draft, you let Sherrod and Webb's play dictate where on the line they'll be. Paea drops somehow and we nab him and he potentially is a starter from Day 1. Deunta Williams is another early round talent that potentially falls. Replacement for Harris' in a year or so. Love is a project that could wind up anywhere on the line in a couple of years. Reach for the stars type pick with Wright, LB depth anyway, and Clay could morph into a solid short yardage back. We'd fill in basically all of our holes with this. I don't expect us to do this much, but it'd be nice and I think we'd be one of the favorites heading into next year.

Too many teams need QBs for that to happen, I think. Yeah, I do too. They do have an actual hate for Mallett over there for some reason and they definitely think Locker's stock dropped a ton at the Senior Bowl. It probably did drop in alot of teams eyes, but all it takes is one team to think they see something. Koepernick was up to 34th overall too, seeing as how they loved him at the Senior Bowl, I at least give them credit for going with their own scouting eyes, instead of listening to others and making basically the same mock as everyone else. Sure, some guys are switched around, but you don't see much variance in positioning either. The draft always has some surprises, so at least they attempt to show some.

A buddy asked me this last night: Would you trade Rose to the Clippers for their next 10 1st round picks hypothetically? I had to think about that, because could even the Clippers screw up Rose AND Griffin on the same team? I think they would, but I had to tell him no anyway, in the end.

Mallett and Locker both fell to the 3rd round in this week's walterfootball mock.

I guess in a perfect world, you draft some corner outfielders and some 3rd basemen, then due to being talented at those spots, you move one of them to 1st. I don't think Wilken will totally abandon the drafting of athletic, low floor types. They do hold value and has set our system up as one of the absolute deepest in all of baseball. But, with us having such a deep system, this is why I think we will take more chances this year than most. He's kind of gotten us to the point where we can afford to. I could see us taking more high schoolers than usual too. Especially if we take a college guy in the 1st round.

Yeah, it looks like he only went with an 11 man staff for the majors, with Z, Demp, Garza, Cashner, Silva, Grabow, Marshall, Marmol, Wood, Samardzija, and Wells. So yeah, another spot will be open for both the majors and for Cales too in Iowa almost definitely.

Malcom Floyd is a pretty good WR too, though he's never had more than 45 catches in a season. As is Steve Breaston. Jacoby Jones is also very intriguing also as he is 26 years old, 6'2", 210lbs, and averaged 5.5 catches and 72 yards in his last 4 games this year. I like those guys some as well, but other than possibly Breaston, I don't see them as major upgrades. Floyd's a possibility to become a breakout guy, but I'd rather take a chance on someone we already know can do it, instead of someone we hope can do it. I don't trust Breaston to stay healthy and I'm not going to get excited over 4 game stretches anymore, thanks to Aromoshadu. And Sims Walker screwed me as well in FFB, so it hurts me to put him on this list at all, but I do think he's talented. As I've been saying, I think Edwards is our best bet. Not the best option by any stretch, but the guy we may actually have a chance with.

Iowa P BERG CARIDAD CARPENTER COLEMAN DIAMOND GAUB J JACKSON MAINE MATEO RUSSELL STEVENS SOMMERS C CASTILLO CLEVENGER IF CAMP LAHAIR MOORE OJEDA SCALES(INACTIVE PLAYER COACH) SMITH THOMAS OF ADDUCI CAMPANA SNYDER WRIGHT Tennessee P BELIVEAU BUCHTER CABRERA CALES DOLIS HARRIS MCNUTT MORRIS RALEY RUSIN SHAFER SMIT C BRENLY ROBINSON LALLI(INACTIVE PLAYER COACH) IF FLAHERTY GONZALEZ LEMAHIEU RIDLING SAMSON VITTERS OF BURGESS CRAWFORD B JACKSON SPENCER Daytona P ANTIGUA Y GONZALEZ JUNG LOPEZ KURCZ LEVERTON LORICK RHEE SEARLE O MARTINEZ STRUCK WALLACH WHITENACK C FLORES GUEVARA IF BOUR CERDA LAKE MOTA ROHAN WATKINS OF BURKE FITZGERALD HA PEREZ Peoria P BATISTA GREATHOUSE HICKS KIM KIRK LOOSEN M PEREZ REED RHODERICK ROSSCUP SERRANO SIMPSON WELLS C GIBBS NOBLE 1F ALCANTARA CUNEO R JONES LEPAGE MAY SOTO OF GOLDEN MORELLI SILVA SZCZUR Some interesting notes from him on some of these positions: Doesn't think there's a spot open in Iowa for Cales to start the year even though he finished up there last season and pitched in the AFL. He says the fact he didn't get a NRI is why he's the guy he put down to Tennessee. But he did say Gaub could be pushed down possibly as well. Signing Augie Ojeda and trading Hak Ju Lee is why he has Lake remaining in Daytona instead of getting promoted. If Ojeda is the everyday SS in AAA, it pushes Gonzalez back to AA. Since Lee won't be in Daytona, it makes some sense to keep the still young Lake there. He doesn't have Cabeza anywhere, but he does have Silva in Peoria. Other than these very few things, I think the rest of it appears to be very accurate. Looking at these teams, I'd say Iowa will have quite a bit of shuffling back and forth with the Cubs as far as pitching goes. Castillo, M Smith, and possibly Campana(as Sam Fuld part 2) appear to be the only options for promotion as far as hitters go. Tennessee is loaded. McNutt, Rusin, Raley, Cabrera and either Dolis or Morris in the rotation is strong. Having B Jackson, Vitters, LeMahieu, Flaherty, and Burgess all in the same lineup is also by FAR our best hitting team. Daytona's pitching looks pretty solid with Lopez, Rhee, Antigua, Jung, Struck, and Wallach all in there. Do they use any piggybacks? Or possibly go with a 6 man rotation? Because I don't want any of these guys to be put in the pen just yet anyway. On the hitting side, you've got Cerda, Lake, Watkins, and Ha. There are a few others that probably will have sp;od year's but I'm not thinking of them as anything more than organizational guys(exept Burke if he crushes it and moves to Tenn and plays well) Al in all though, a pretty weak lineup if you ask me. Peoria is very intriguing, but some of these guys could move quickly to Daytona as well. The pitching has Greathouse, Kim, Kirk, Reed, Simpson, and Wells. The hitting has Gibbs, Alcantara, Golden, Szczur, and Silva.

If we're going to spend money in FA on a WR, the only guys that truly can make a difference for us more than a 2nd round pick possibly could are V-Jax, Rice, Holmes, Edwards, and POSSIBLY James Jones and Mike Sims Walker. If we don't get one of those 6(hopefully 1 of the first 4) then just put that money into either line or defensive backfield and draft a guy early on. That said, I really want WR addressed through FA.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6083521 Rivisionist history, but still......It'd be nice to have Mike Wallace on our team instead of Jarron Gilbert and Juaquin Iglesias.

Here's a good axample of a player as to whether or not we'd want him in the system: Dan Vogelbach- He's a high school senior with a commitment to Florida. That said, he's a 1B with light tower power(has hit 500 foot homers), a lefty, solid plate discipline and has average speed for a 1B. But, he's 5'11 and weighs 280 pounds. Is this a guy you'd take in the 2nd-4th rounds and give an overslot bonus to? Since we're definitely weak in the system at the position and with power hitters in general? Just curious what you'd do. I think we need a huge influx of power personally, so I think I'd roll the dice on a guy like this if there aren't many other options out there myself. Even if it's possible he winds up weighing more than half the Bears O-Line. Out of the first 3-4 rounds, I kind of hope we get 2 or maybe even 3 guys that have some serious power potential.

I like Keith Law, Jason Stark, and Tim Kurkjian for the most part, but other than Law, I don't think they bring anything different to the table.

Some good stuff in that article. Glad we're looking at FA WR's for sure. I like Webb here more than most do, I think.......But trusting him on the left side? Not sure I can get behind that one honestly. I like the idea of spending 2 of the top 3 picks there, Angelo is due to get it right at some point. As for Forte, he's criminally underpaid, but I get what the Bears appear to be doing. That said, if there was a shot at getting him to give you a team friendly deal, it'd be now. With a solid year next year, he's going to make us pay up big.

That's what I was thinking, but wasn't sure. Is Jimmer at 15 seem like a good option for the Bulls? I kind of like the idea anyway. It would kind of suck for us to have to use the pick in a weak draft, but I'd love to see him in a Bulls uniform. Although he'd probably be a defensive liability for the most part.

Anyone know how the NBA playoffs affect the draft lottery? If it's the 16 best records, the Bulls are OK right now, but if it's the 16 teams that make the playoffs are automatically excluded from the lottery.(I'm thinking it's this one, by the way) Then the Bulls are in danger of having the Charlotte pick turn into their pick THIS year, in an extremely weak draft.

And obviously, I don't mean "good ones" to be an answer here. :D But, with the graduations of some guys and the trade for Garza, we've lost quite a bit obviously. And it appears as if we've got lots of depth left, but not anyone that has "star" written all over him either, or possibly even the potential to become one, in all likelihood. The draft is very good this year, both in quality and in depth. There's always going to be INT FA's each year as well, although I've not read anything on whether this is a good year for that as of yet. But, with the Cubs signing Silva and Cabeza, it got me to thinking: None of us appeared all that thrilled with the signings, even though the Cubs just went out and spent 1.7 mill on a couple of guys. And that's something that all of us ARE glad about. (same with the extra mill thrown to Szczur) For me, it was the scouting reports I read and I figure that it was the same for most of us. They just don't appear to have the ability to become anything special, from the brief stuff we've read. So, what type of players would you target? Do you care about position, for instance, or do you mainly just care about the bat? How much do you take into projectability? Do you want more athletic types that have speed and the ability to move around? Do you want polished guys or toolsy guys? Do you prefer guys with big arms or guys that have better command and seem to know how to pitch? Does it make much difference to you as far as whether or not a pitcher is right or left handed and does it make one more valuable than the other in some cases? I think Hendry has told Wilken to get him MLB players before. And maybe Wilken has taken guys that are safer instead of the boom or bust types for this reason. With more(hopefully) emphasis on the minors, is it possible that this strategy could be in the midst of changing some? Instead of going after "up the middle, athletic guys", could they start looking more for specialty type guys, who can hit a ton, even if they're not all that athletic possibly? At any rate, I'd like to see us target a couple of prolific bats. Whether it's projection or not, doesn't matter to me. I think the system needs a bigtime influx of guys that have power added to it. Granted, that's why I was happy with getting Burgess back in the Gorz deal, because he fits what I'm looking for. At least the type anyway. Maybe we can find a couple of these guys through the draft or in Central America? In fact, I'd basically say I'd look more towards the High Schoolers than College for this, since it's fairly likely that the college power comes off the board earlier through the draft anyway. I'm not going to be picky as far as what positions they play either. In fact, our system needs some corner guys, if you ask me, so if they're whats available, I'm not going to care whether or not they're probably not going to be able to change positions a bunch. As for pitching, I'd love to target a guy who's got the chance to become a true ace. We'll have that opportunity in the 1st round of the draft or maybe through IFA. But, there's definitely going to be the opportunity to take a guy who's got this ability through the draft. I'd concentrate on hitting after that, but I think we need a true bigtime arm. Once again, unless one of Cole, Purke, or possibly Gray falls to us, I'd go the High School route here as well. I guess I'd prefer a lefty, but it doesn't really matter to me. I just want the big projectable guy that throws serious heat. In the end, I want us to take more chances. Yeah, some of these guys will have some definite negatives as well and probably aren't nearly as safe as some other guys. But, I want the shot at having some future stars on the team. And if we're truly going to be spending more money in this area, I think this is the year to do it, with the strong draft class and also the likelhood that this may be the last draft without some sort of true slot system as well. So anyway, what type of players do you want to see added? Any positions in particular you want to see addressed? Do you prefer the safe approach or the riskier one? Just curious as to what you guys think as far as this goes.

AZPhil made mention that the older Cuban players(I guess he could only be talking about Serrano and Borges, since I don't remember others) don't really listen to instruction and just play, they seem to think they aren't getting as good of instruction here as they did in Cuba. Just his opinion, of course, but hopefully if it's true, these 2 don't fall into the same traps.

Considering what Ricketts' has said publicly about Hendry, I have a feeling that Hendry has taken the "they made me do it" approach that the Trib told him to spend that kind of money all at once and has convinced Ricketts of it as well. So, either Hendry HAS adapted his thinking on how to do things now hopefully or he was forced to do things that he didn't agree with by the Trib? It has to be one or the other, right? Because Ricketts' isn't dumb enough to just fall for complete BS from Hendry, right?

Pujols is no where near as publicly well known as Lebron is. The endorsements alone prove that. There's no doubt in my mind that if he left the Cards, they would have a bigtime backlash themselves. And the team that got him would be happy as hell. The thing that separates Lebron from Pujols is this: When Lebron made his choice, he received instant hatred from everyone outside of Miami. It's just not going to happen with Pujols. Even if he did EXACTLY what Lebron did, on his way to becoming a villain, the bottom line is Albert Pujols just isn't nearly as big of a household name as Lebron is.

John Madden really came to Cutler's defense as well. I think it's basically a dead issue at this point. About all we got out of it, is we found out MJD is a joke. Even going as far as to try and turn the tables and make himself out as the victim, after saying he's receiving death threats and all. Yet no calls to the police from his side of things whatsoever. However, now that this HAS taken it's course, we have a much more important issue that's been glossed over BECAUSE of the Cutler thing. And that's the fact that Lovie coached horribly in the championship game AGAIN. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0128-mcneil-dan-chicago--20110127,0,2423442.column The first part of this article can be passed right by, as the Cutler stuff is old. But, Lovie HAS NOT earned a new contract, if you ask me. He does deserve to finish out his previous one, but that's it. Let him earn it from there. With Cowher, Fisher, and Gruden(probably forgetting some others too) all out there next year for the taking, locking Lovie up longterm isn't a smart move at all, no matter how much the players seem to like him.

...Based on what was said on here about what was asked in the chat and all, I think that Rhee, Ha, Reed(remember, he made their rookie league top 20 list) Barney, and Beeler appear like their on it as well. To me, it only leaves 2 spots where we really don't know who's going to be in. My guess is it comes down to Struck, Kim, Wallach, and Cales for the final 2 spots. Not sure what BA may have on Kim yet, but the 1.2 mill bonus should probably get him on the list and I think they'll favor Struck's season to Wallach's for the final spot personally. Heh, so of those seven open spots, even by tossing out 13 names I got only three of them right (Ha,Barney, Smit). Dave, you were right on getting Rhee in there. cal thought Cales would be a lock, nope. I actually brought up Mateo, which got mocked, but there he is in the top 20. Funny. I admit when evaluating their original list, I didn't really even have relievers like Caridad, Mateo, and Maine in mind. Yeah, I wasn't thinking this way either, but this is kind of their MO, next year when we're debating this, I bet we all remember the reliever fetish of BA.

By the way, AZPhil mentioned Silva a few weeks ago, saying he's been in the US for over a year now and hadn't signed with anyone yet. I didn't know how to take that and he didn't comment further about him either. So, either he was holding out for more money from a team or he couldn't find anyone to sign him I guess. If so, I hope it's the former obviously.