Deeg

Butler and Mirotic are absolutely carrying the Bulls. Butler has obviously been great. But he's on course to play 46 minutes, and Noah about 41. That's just insane against this terrible team, with a tough opponent on-deck. It's not sustainable, plain and simple.

I sure hope Noah's knee is still bothering him, because the alternative is that he's simply done. He's a shadow of the player he was.

Chris Cotillo ‏@ChrisCotillo 28s28 seconds ago #Athletics had 7 players in All-Star Game last season, and have now traded 5 (Samardzija, Cespedes, Moss, Norris, Donaldson).

Mirotic is always entertaining, even if the rest of the team is comatose. 4 steals, multiple assists, working hard on defense. He's going to be a star. Jimmy has been superb, obviously. But 2 minutes rest against the Knicks, with a tough game tomorrow night? Inane.

The notion that Revere is worth anything close to Valbuena is utter madness. Not even in the ballpark.

So what? He gets 120 starts a year against right-handers. You don't think the Cubs could use that punch?

I'm just curious - on what can this possibly be based? He could hardly be playing worse, and his minutes aren't decreasing. I can't recall a single instance of Thibs souring on one of "his guys". And who exactly is going to be replacing those minutes - Snell? Moore? The Bulls are the 5th-oldest team in the NBA. Something to keep in mind when watching those minutes pile up in December.

As much as it shocks me, the Padres are apparently considering dealing Seth Smith assuming the Kemp trade doesn't fall through. He makes a lot of sense for the Cubs - he's a good lefty bat who's not a butcher in LF or RF, and the Padres have needs Valbuena or Castillo could help fill. Trade for Smith and sign a FA who can play CF as insurance for AA and you have a halfway decent OF.

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS 3m3 minutes ago orioles, reds, mariners among possibilities for aoki. he should get 2-3 yrs, perhaps $7-8M per.

The Cubs can't afford the luxury of a bench player like Fuld when the OF is so weak as-is. This is a guy with a .650 career OPS, on the wrong side of 30 (comfortably). If you had a solid everyday CF and just needed a 25th man who can play league-average defense, steal a base and be a good clubhouse influence, absolutely - there are teams for which Fuld makes a lot of sense. We're not one of them.

"way too many holes"? I don't see that as accurate, really. There are several positions where the production is unpredictable due to youth and inexperience (Baez, Alcantara, Hendricks). But there are few true "holes" on the team at this point. (Cue sneaky saying Baez is the biggest hole on the team right now) The OF in general is a giant hole at the moment. The only guy who figures to be a plus offensive player is Soler, and he has a Grant Hill-like injury history (not quite, but you get the point). The CF is a prospect coming off a rough debut who's a career IF - the LF is a mediocrity who's as classic a regress-to-mean candidate as they come. The backup is a guy who probably shouldn't even be in the major leagues. That's a hole. Soler, obviously, needs to play every day as long as his legs hold up (or maybe 5 times a week so his legs hold up). But you could add two starters in the OF without "blocking" anybody, really. Coghlan certainly doesn't need to be deferred to, and playing a season as a super-sub certainly wouldn't derail AA's career. And there's no impact OF who's knocking on the door in the minors, unless you write off Bryant as a 3B. More broadly, the lack of experienced bats throughout the lineup is itself a hole. You're dumping a huge load on Castro and Rizzo here, both of whom are still young and the former of which is hardly a sure bet to succeed. The lack of OBP and speed is also a major hole. There's plenty to choose from, and what this roster needs isn't cheerleaders - it needs players. Gomes is fine as a 5th OF and a PH, maybe a RH platoon with a decent lefty LF. No more than that.

I think people are reading way too much into this, trying to see implications for Bryant in the tea leaves. Justin Ruggiano has no impact on the future of Kris Bryant. This is to clear space for Gomes, plain and simple. That deal will be announced as soon as the roster issues are sorted out. What this does do, however, is make the need to add another CF that much more urgent. There's no possible way you can go into a season with Alcantara and Sweeney (who I'm not convinced isn't released at some point) as the only guys who can play CF. I sincerely hope this is where the FO makes an impact move, because for all Theo's talk about adding veteran presence and referring to stuff like the Werth signing in Washington, this team is not at the stage where they can add mascots for veteran presence - they have way too many holes on the major league roster. What the Cubs need is a veteran everyday player (like Werth was) - someone to provide some lineup protection for all the prospects.

I wouldn't laugh too hard, because it's a pretty good bet we sign one of those guys and maybe both.

Might want to consider the possibility that SD is trying to add offense by bringing in an OF that doesn't suck and trading one that does, rather than swapping out one good hitter for another. Why on God's green Earth would they want to get rid of Smith?

Morse to Miami, 2 years. Morrow to SD.

That's a pretty classic response, really. The handwriting is on the wall with this team. The veterans are going to be completely spent by playoff time, they have no wing depth whatsoever, and Thibs' obsession with Hinrich is killing them. The East is admittedly terrible, but as usual with Garpax, the roster construction just doesn't hold up.

Pau on track for 40 minutes on the second night of a back to back, and Kirk and his 0-6 and 0 points on the floor to finish. This team has issues.

Brooks may be better off crossing halfcourt before he starts chucking.

Gasol is clearly spent. Thibs has managed to kill him before Christmas.

It does seem as if Theo is trying to get more Beardy. Trying to recapture that Beantown magic.

Rios to KC, 1/$11. Seems about right.

Seems odd that Atlanta would DFA Anthony Varvaro. He's not a bad pitcher by any means.

I'm not against taking a flyer on Motte, but that's a surprisingly huge contract all things considered.

4/50 for Headley. I thought he'd get more than that.

I think Rasmus is a potentially ideal buy low candidate for the Cubs, on a one-year deal preferably (which he might prefer anyway). Even as bad as he was last season his numbers were better than what we got in CF, and he's already had some very strong years at only 28. This environment could be good for him, and he surely knows his chances are running out. He's a lefty bat with power, can play an adequate CF or solid RF, and isn't allergic to walks. He obviously has warts (the Ks, the Dad, the hair) but for where this team is, he seems like a good risk.