PriortoTheoIhadWood

I will gladly take the Jets.

Like with the Carlos Beltran contract, it's probably a steal. A highly skilled, very athletic, in his prime player who's been decorated since he came into pro ball....Slam dunk contract for them to hand out.

Pretty sure no one lives for the past.

Damn I was kind of hoping he'd hit FA and not end up there. Marshall was always fun to watch even when he wasn't that good...That stupid, unnecessarily loopy curveball he used to throw...Oh well...wish him the best.

Curry with a 4.97 I heard. Ah well... Also heard Dontari Poe is ripping it. I like me some Nick Perry for Los Yets.

Oh yeah and knock a name off of my list of longshot young stars to come to Wrigley by 2015 maybe 2016 or so.

Added 6 years/100 million to the remaining 2 years/26 million on his old deal. He's now set at 8/126 or so. This is amongst my favorite players in baseball. Drafted as a younger than usual college guy (20) and made it to the show that same season. Became a full time starter at 21, won ROTY, earned a reputation as the game's best defensive 3B, and basically has been a stud sense. His 2009 and 2010 suggest an elite player is in there despite merely looking like a well above average player from 21-23. Just a TAD bit early now (2012 will be his age 27 season), but this guy has a chance to become the first Washington National to draw HOF talk. He's a career .288/.355/.479/.834 hitter who's hit .296/.390/.499 over the past three years (from 24-26), and it's better if you take out the injury plagued 2011. I imagine the Cubs being where the Nationals are soon enough, but for the time being I have to say I'm jealous. I think they've set themselves up to be a powerhouse for years to come if things break the right way for them. The pitching staff has THE most exciting arm in the game, and he's backed up by a high K lefty, and a very well rounded power RH (the other, even more underrated, Zimmerman) for the foreseeable future. Hell, in 2012 their 4th starter is another young, proven veteran who throws hard (Edwin Jackson). After that young major league talent they have the game's premiere prospect (Bryce Harper) and last year's top draft prospect (Rendon), and a bunch of upside arms (Purke, Solis, Meyer, whoever else). Congrats to the Nats and to Zimmerman. They're really setting themselves up to set the bar in the NL and possibly the MLB over the next decade. Hopefully it goes better for them than it did the Cubs last decade when they were gifted Pror by the jahs themselves.

Anyone smell conspiracy with the Colts lined up to pick Elway, Manning, and Luck? How does that happen? That franchise knows when to lose.

Finally tomorrow the pass rushers work out. I'm extremely hopeful for Vinny Curry to throw up a freak workout simply because everyone likes him but no one wants to call him a first rounder. I will not yet either. Other guys who I'm hoping they throw into LB drills and see good things from: Courtney Upshaw Melvin Ingram Chandler Jones Shea McClellan Vinny Curry Cam Johnson Olivier Vernon Jack Crawford Jonathan Massaqoui Quinton Coples Andre Branch Whitney Mercilus Dont'a Hightower (I think he can play 3-4 OLB as well as ILB) Zac Brown (ILB/LB) Bradham (ILB/OLB) That's in no particular order and only the DE/OLB candidates. Oh and Fletcher Cox is a pass rusher but as a DE/DT.

That and his game tape shows plenty of strength. He'll probably have to answer questions about what happened there during one or two interviews. Maybe it's just a conditioning problem. I still think he's a prototypical RT prospect, though I've never really thought of him as a first rounder (maybe late).

Well la di da.

Rotfl.

I like Perry, and he's a guy I would not mind spending the 16th pick on pending all the combine stuff (interviews and etc). He could do really well for himself working out and he's a guy who hasn't gotten his 15 minutes yet during the draft process. I'd really like to see both Curry and Perry go through LB drills. Brockers' potential is ridiculous, but he's extremely raw. My team has one of the best defensive coaching staffs in football so I'd be fine with taking him at 16 too, but I think Cox's hype is warranted. Plus, I think Cox is better against the pass now, though with coaching Brockers can be a devastating all around player himself. Iunno, I'm one of those people who thinks Barron is more than s run of the mill SS. I think he's too smart and instinctive on the field to be a run of the mill SS. He's got some FS ability. Who do you think are the coverage first safeties in this draft? Coverage first was probably a bad phrase to use. Because safeties that are coverage first are typically CBs, or at FS because they are too slow for CB. I meant more that I prefer safeties that can potentially make game changing plays in the passing game. Markelle Martin probably most fits the bill in this draft. I also like George Iloka who you mentioned. He's huge but also think will be faster than people think. Former Vol, Janzen Jackson can be a stud if he can stay out of jail. I'm probably being too hard on Barron. He's not Roy Williams (former Cowboys, Bengals SS) in coverage. He does seem to have some Adrian Wilson qualities to his game, but I also think Wilson is overrated and not very good in coverage. But Wilson is still a very good SS, and top 5 in the league probably. I'm just convinced that the difference between Wilson and Polamalu in fanfare and hype is their franchises. In his prime he was a monster...though yeah, not a true FS as most imagine them to be. I like Jackson some...Not too big on Martin, though he is that type of player...Philip Thomas from Syracuse is interesting...Josh Bush from Wake Forest is an overgrown CB...but yeah man basically I think this S class will be carried by Barron and Iloka when the draft comes around. I actually thought Iloka was the Adrian Wilson clone between the two.

GetitdoneJed!

I like Perry, and he's a guy I would not mind spending the 16th pick on pending all the combine stuff (interviews and etc). He could do really well for himself working out and he's a guy who hasn't gotten his 15 minutes yet during the draft process. I'd really like to see both Curry and Perry go through LB drills. Brockers' potential is ridiculous, but he's extremely raw. My team has one of the best defensive coaching staffs in football so I'd be fine with taking him at 16 too, but I think Cox's hype is warranted. Plus, I think Cox is better against the pass now, though with coaching Brockers can be a devastating all around player himself. Iunno, I'm one of those people who thinks Barron is more than s run of the mill SS. I think he's too smart and instinctive on the field to be a run of the mill SS. He's got some FS ability. Who do you think are the coverage first safeties in this draft?

- Not surprised by Blackmon's height. Like someone said, his game just makes it seem like he's 6'4". - Peter Konz should be the 2nd interior linemen off the board, if not the first. I get the DeCastro hype, he is legit, but Konz is the best C prospect since Mangold. - Vinny Curry is the man and more LaMarr Woodley than Courtney Upshaw (who I keep hearing compared to Woodley). I thought Curry was going to DeMarcus Ware (solid 2nd turned top 15 pick after a strong offseason) the draft process. Now I think that guy is Fletcher Cox, though he's not going to be a 3-4 OLB as a pro. Cox reminds me of Trevor Pryce a little. Curry will still be a steal for someone and is the second best pass rusher in this draft. - This is just ridiculous to say, but I think between Mark Barron and George Iloka there is an Adrian Wilson cone. I really like both of these players, and they're really the only two safeties I like for the Jets (though Thomas the Syracuse guy and I'm sure one other guy will make noise). - If I'm a 3-4 team in the first round I'm looking at Cox, Brockers, Still, and Poe as DEs in that order. I'm also taking a more serious look at both Perry and Curry at 3-4 OLB. - FINALLY got it with Courtney Upshaw. Believe me, I like the player, but could not stand the hype. Take a step back and realize that his upside is more being a rock at the DE/OLB position than a Ware-esque stud and he makes sense. That said, I still have questions about his athleticism and see him more as a Dwight Freeney-esque 4-3 DE (minus the long arms and 4.4 speed) than a 3-4 OLB. I admit I might be underrating him because of that, but his athleticism doesn't really stand out to me. -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCNqdIezHeA

If Fried throws 88-92. I thought 94/95 would be peak velocity. If Fried pitched at 94/95 then he might be ahead of Giolito as the best prep arm.

Sure but he also ranked Gausman 12th. Smoral does look like all projection right now as I think his breaking stuff is behind Fried's. That said, he seems to have improved significantly mechanically. His style right now both mechanically and stuff wise reminds me of Bumgarner from the Giants, and there's lots of room for growth and improvement for him. I think Fried's profile gets a boost because of the school he's coming from. He's definitely got talent, but there's something I don't like about him right now. I don't like him as much as other recently touted HS lefties like Matzek, Skaggs, Kershaw, Biddle, or even Norris last year either, and I actually think Smoral might be closer to that mold right now. Right now I wouldn't use the 6th pick on either one...

I can't buy that Kyle Zimmer thing for a second. I hate his mechanics. It would be great for the Cubs if he went #1 overall though. Which of the two HS lefties would you guys take here in um...February? Smoral actually looks like he could be really, really, really interesting come summer. Looks like he's bigger with more velocity too, and his mechanics have taken steps forward.

Does the Sheffield comp for Baez go beyond bat speed + Florida? Like, are we talking that kind offensive bat? Gary Sheffield isn't exactly a comp I'd throw out lightly for any young player...Sheffield was a monster bat and one of the more exciting hitters to see play during his heyday. Baez does sound like a possible monster though...There's been a strangely quiet confidence about that pick since it's been made. He went under the radar from my POV because during the pre-draft stuff most of the Cubs talk focused on one of the many talented college pitchers. I don't even think I would have paid attention to him if one respected writer didn't bring him up as an option, but I never really got a feel for him as a prospect before the draft. His build kind of reminds me of Robinson Cano and secretly I've been hoping he'll end up a 2B rather than a 3B (the spot many say is most likely).

It's why I chose Frank Grimes to Homer Simpson.

I trust in the Ricketts' to make Wrigley a pretty kickass place to be. They seem like they're going to be really great owners of this franchise.

WHO LIKES THIS GUY!?!? I am the Frank Grimes to your Homer Simpson here. Well, at least there's gonna be a happy ending. See...Frank Grimes even to the point where I could have called the hacky joke and it would do nothing for me. Just had to point that out so it didn't sit around in my head when I read, and don't want to completely derail for the sake of that. So uh...back to your regularly schedule programming.

WHO LIKES THIS GUY!?!? I am the Frank Grimes to your Homer Simpson here. WSR they'd be lucky to get one decent prospect if he does extremely well. He's suspended for 50 games off the bat...