KingCubsFan

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130109/wrigleyville/wrigley-field-renovation-plan-calls-for-movies-outside-park-hotel?utm_source=outbrain

I think you're talking about my proposal, which was in response to somebody saying that the Cubs wanted to make an offer that would overwhelm the Marlins and try to force their hand. I can't think of another offer that would do that. Just curious, what would you ask for if the Rangers or Cardinals wanted Castro? Do you mean what do I think is fair value for him or what would I ask for to begin negotiations? Fair value.

I think you're talking about my proposal, which was in response to somebody saying that the Cubs wanted to make an offer that would overwhelm the Marlins and try to force their hand. I can't think of another offer that would do that. Just curious, what would you ask for if the Rangers or Cardinals wanted Castro?

ND fans would kill themselves if he leaves already. Yeah, no. Many, many ND fans had this reaction on the season: "Nice job, Brian. Now run the damn football." There's a lot of folks who still think he's small timey. Hard to see what would ever please them if this season didn't. It sounds like this was a negotiating ploy. But even if he really wants to go to the NFL, the job looks pretty [expletive] good right now. So we'd be ok. Sounds like he has a 2nd interview set up for this weekend once he gets back in the States. That sounds like lore than just negotiating. I think you'd be losing a great coach, and it would come a few weeks before National Signing Day. There's a chance your recruiting class could fall apart with no coach right before signing. It would be devastating to the recruiting class, no doubt. Both players and recruits don't seem worried, though, so hopefully they know something the reporters don't. Kelly's agent also represents some of the ESPN reporters, too, which is interesting.

So when Saban's team blasts Notre Dame, ND is exposed as a pretender. But when they blast an SEC team under the exact same circumstances, it's Saban. Got it. Yeah, the result was much more than "ND is overrated." Alabama is better physically than every team in the country, SEC or not. Give Saban more time to prepare and that advantage is only magnified.

What games has Saban not been well prepared for? Maybe he overlooked us a little bit last year, but it's not like he takes much for granted. Not saying that at all. You may disagree with me, but I think a big reason for the blowouts in the last two championship games, the Michigan game, etc. have to do with the fact that Saban had more than a week to concentrate on the opponent. He'll similarly have two weeks to prepare for A&M, and I have to think losing this season will give him an added edge.

After losing to A&M this year, I expect Bama to come in and manhandle the Aggies next fall. Saban is probably already game planning for that game I would guess that Saban spends a LOT of time this offseason trying to figure out how to stop our offense. And I highly doubt Alabama "manhandles" us in our house. They may win, but I would expect a hard fought game either way. Really looking forward to that one. Alabama's schedule sets up nicely for them, but so does ours. If we win that game we should roll into Baton Rouge at 10-0. With a bye week beforehand and it being the second game of the season, you can bet Saban will be well-prepared for that game. I wonder what his record is against teams following a loss. That's a pretty pathetic schedule, though. No wonder all the Alabama students were chanting "SEC" during the game.

Isn't the OL repairable? Given one or two solid additions? Assuming so, and with an offensive HC, it's not all that far reaching the Bears offense could dramatically improve. One or two? Its' going to take at least 4 for the longterm. In the short-term you'd need 2 at the minimum and probably three to actually make it a good line. Yeah, they'd probably need at least an LT and center to make it somewhat legitimate for an NFL O-line, and it would still be below average. Seems like Emery is a big fan of Scott, so RT may be set.

Some things never change.

Hey, at least James Franklin ranked Oregon ahead of A&M:

And then made Thomas a top 5 wr this year after a lost year of development. Id love him with a realky athletic TE and Jeffery. Not to mention a better pass catching Rb than McGahee. I think there's only one man responsible for making Thomas a top 5 WR, and his name is not McCoy. FWIW, Manning gives McCoy plenty of credit for their success in Denver. Of course he does. I wouldn't expect him to say otherwise. And I'm not saying McCoy isn't a good offensive mind, or that he didn't have any influence on the success of the Broncos' offense this year. But it was clearly Manning's show, and he deserves the bulk of the credit for this year's performance of their top players. I think the best piece of evidence for McCoy is is his work with Orton when he threw for 4,000+ yards.

And then made Thomas a top 5 wr this year after a lost year of development. Id love him with a realky athletic TE and Jeffery. Not to mention a better pass catching Rb than McGahee. I think there's only one man responsible for making Thomas a top 5 WR, and his name is not McCoy.

I was listening this morning too. I got the feeling that if Myers was asked to choose between Holmgren and one of the up-and-comers like McCoy or Clements, he would have went with an up-and-comer. I agree with him that I would prefer Holmgren over John Gruden though. Personally, I worry that Holmgren cannot keep up with a head coaching gig any more. I would pass. I am hoping to find a coach we can keep for a long time. At 64, I'd worry that Holmgren would be a short term fix. If you hire him, you're almost hoping that he's a guy to develop a head coach for you down the road while righting the ship in the short term. You could also argue that this a fairly old team and, with such a short window, you can't be worrying too much about whether a guy will still be here 5 years down the line. That'd be a bad argument. Emery isn't building just for the quick win. He's building for "sustained success". He said that numerous times in his press conference. Well that's fine, but the fact remains that our best players are at or past their prime, so if he actually believes that (and his first draft seems pretty bad so far), he needs to focus on the famous "dual fronts." This team is built to win now. I'm not necessarily arguing for Holmgren, but the NFL is much more of a win-now league than the MLB or NBA, particularly for a team that just went 10-6.

I was listening this morning too. I got the feeling that if Myers was asked to choose between Holmgren and one of the up-and-comers like McCoy or Clements, he would have went with an up-and-comer. I agree with him that I would prefer Holmgren over John Gruden though. Personally, I worry that Holmgren cannot keep up with a head coaching gig any more. I would pass. I am hoping to find a coach we can keep for a long time. At 64, I'd worry that Holmgren would be a short term fix. If you hire him, you're almost hoping that he's a guy to develop a head coach for you down the road while righting the ship in the short term. You could also argue that this a fairly old team and, with such a short window, you can't be worrying too much about whether a guy will still be here 5 years down the line.

The fact that people root for an entire conference is still strange to me.

The struggles of both Maybin and Miller makes that package look like highway robbery in retrospect, but that was considered an elite return at the time. Keep in mind that Willis was almost baggage in that trade. He had slipped from his high for the start of his career, and was coming off a bad season. Miller and Maybin were both top 10 prospects in 2007 for BA. Miller reached the bigs in 2008, and despite some struggles, most thought he would still be a quality starter in the majors, while Maybin was still considered an elite top 10 type prospect. When you factor in how teams tend to over-protect young arms, that was simply a big, big return. Both were still prospects. Everyone else in that list is pretty much filler like we included in the Garza trade. We don't have equivalent prospects right now, but we very well might next year. Adding Shark + Rizzo on top of two top end prospects is pretty outlandish. But we don't have two top-end prospects to trade right now. We only have one. That's why someone like Rizzo would have to come into play.

Hopefully Redfield and Vanderdoes are next (if there's room). There will be room for 2 at least. Wood is going to the NFL, hence the need for 2 top backs. Sounds like it will be Redfield and either Vanderdoes or AQM but not likely both. I'd be surprised if Kelly took 3 more recruits at the expense of an ILB assuming Fox and Carlo both want to return. Though also sounds like there could be a medical hardship for at least one OL. With the young LB depth, I could see Kelly possibly making room for another DL recruit.

Hopefully Redfield and Vanderdoes are next (if there's room).

We don't really have a prospect comparable to Maybin. Baez is close, but I think Maybin was a consensus top 10 prospect at the time he was traded. We certainly don't have a pitching prospect close to Andrew Miller. I would hate to give up Rizzo, but there's really no reason why anyone should be hesitant to give up any and all prospects for Stanton.

I don't think so. A lot of people here consider Castro virtually untradeable, and Stanton is more valuable than him.

They're not going to be interested in Castro. If they're trying to make it hard for the Marlins to say no, I would think it has to start with something like Rizzo, Baez, Vizcaino and prospects they'd get in a Samardzija trade. And they'd probably ask for Morrison back too.

No excuses now for Emery not to clean house now. Two straight years of collapses.

Arodys Vizcaino

Agreed. It was pretty predictable when an organization like the Kings drafted him. I wonder how he'd do in an organization like the Bulls? I'd like to think he'd respond positively to an atmosphere with guys like Rose, Deng and Noah, but he'd probably just complain about long practices and being replaced by Taj Gibson in the 4th quarter.

I don't understand how Szczur could be ranked higher than Alcantara at this point. Alcantara is 2 years younger, has a better defensive profile, and had nearly the same OPS in the FSL.