raw

Cubs just had a 6-game losing streak.....but are now in 1st place.

Cubs quietly pulling off a piggyback in the 5th starter spot (well 2 or 3 times out of 5 starts). I dig it.

I would hope so. But, I don't know if I can give them that much credit. I'd punt Cruz into the stratosphere for him though. Yeah, I'm sure they'd love to have Maclin, but not going to happen at this point. Maclin is 29 (old-ish for a WR) and coming off a down/injury filled season. But he'd be the #1 or 2 in this offense. The only WRs that really matter at this point are Meredith and White....and that's on the off chance he's actually ever healthy. Not concerned about taking away playing time from Kendall Wright, Victor Cruz, Markus Wheaton, or Josh Bellamy. I'd sign Maclin today and cut Cruz tomorrow. He didn't get much guaranteed money and the Bears have tons of cap room, eating money is no big deal if you can upgrade the talent by that much.

He was never holding up with a body like that. This was always most likely best case scenario.

Yeah, more important than who is available in a trade is who the Cubs are willing to give up in a trade. Despite having too many players for the 7 non-catching positions, I don't see the Cubs trading any of the guys that may be considered "expendable" by some standards. Javy isn't going anywhere. Happ was potentially a trade candidate and looks like he's going to be a part of this team. Almora probably isn't going anywhere as the Cubs love his defense and potential. Maybe in the offseason you think about trading one of these guys for pitching, but I think they are all too valuable in the current and/or the long-term to trade in a deadline deal, where prices can be inflated. I think the Cubs go after the best arm that guys like Candelario, Zastryzny, Zagunis, and the like can get them. Even if you're thinking a trade like the Chapman trade from last year, I don't think the Cubs are as willing to give up Eloy as they were about giving up Torres. I mean anything is possible, but I don't see it as likely.

I think I might love the Cubs beating Cueto more than I like anything else.

Almoron

He knows everything.

Hit the showers Lackey.

Ball IS a terrible parent, and this repeated mantra of "durrrrrrrrrrr, you don't criticize someone else's parenting" is dumb, especially when it's about someone trying as hard as possible and as obnoxiously as possible to show the world that they're a terrible parent and person. yeah, the not criticizing someone else's parenting thing is weird. Isn't this pretty much like the weird guy who lives through their kid playing little league only on all kinds of steroids topped with a guy trying to profit off their kids success. I mean, the guy claimed at one point he deserves to make money off the kid because he created him starting with picking the woman or something like that. That's pretty horrible stuff really. Ball can play and I don't really like having to root against him because of his stupid dad but that's pretty much going to happen. You're equating being a terrible person in front of cameras to being a bad parent. Nobody is disputing that Ball is living vicariously thru his kid(s). But he's also essentially a nobody, trying to make himself famous so he can capitalize off his sons' talent. There's a method to his madness. By all accounts his boys are well-behaved, intelligent young men. That has more to do with his ability as a parent than stupid horsefeathers he says on TV. He's clearly a trash human being, and maybe the boys are successful in spite of him.....but it's stepping over the line to make that determination, IMO. Either way, the point isn't whether he's a good parent or not. It's about whether you can call him a terrible parent and then play the victim when you get treated like a person who called someone a terrible parent.

Don't agree with Ball here. But a big ass part of this story that is consistently being left out is that Leahy was on air really talking trash on Lavar as a businessman and especially criticizing him as a parent. I thought Leahy's comments (which can be heard here: http://uproxx.com/dimemag/lavar-ball-kristine-leahy-fs1-parenting-cowherd-rant-video/2/) are out of line and disrespectful. Obviously, Ball handled it in the probably the worst way possible by talking down to her on her own show. Instead of confronting her about her disrespect, he just gave it back without context for most. As for the "don't market to women" stuff, I think that comes off as sexist but I don't think that was the intent. It only comes off as sexist because of the "stay in your lane" comment and because he was trying to dismiss her for her comments. There's plenty of brands that don't market to women....especially athletic companies in their early stages like Nike, Jordan, etc. I think Ball could have answered the marketing to women question better if he went into the studio with a level head without Leahy's comments. Of course, that's also assuming he has any kind of common sense or ability to articulate, which is in doubt. Basically, 2 wrongs don't make a right. She can't say the stuff she said and then play the victim like she's being attacked for no reason. He can't continue to be an horsefeathers and throw a hissy fit because people treat him like he's an horsefeathers.

I thought for sure that Junior Lake was going to steal the Cubs a few Theriot years, where's he's a prospect that was around forever that gives the Cubs a 2-3 extremely cheap league average to above seasons before he got incredibly annoying.

Happ's definitely going deep again tonight.

Pretty crazy he weighed in at 277 with legs like that. He doubles down on leg day, he's an offensive tackle.

Schwarber doesn't need any help being bad.

Schwarber, Almora, Happ, Baez all 1st round picks. Bryant and Russell on the bench. Crapshoot?

And Eloy makes his debut for Myrtle Beach today!

Houston has made it this far, he probably stays. The Bears don't really have a young OLB that they are desperate to get on the field. If he doesn't make the team, you're looking at Dan Skuta and Sam Acho fighting it out for the 4th guy in the OLB rotation. Agreed you don't want those guys as your 4th LB. They are basically STers. I have a suspicion they are high on Roy Robertson-Harris and he'll compete for that 4th spot with Houston. Its the only explanation for the lack of offseason activity at OLB considering the depth and injury history of those spots. Last I heard, Robertson-Harris has put on some weight (to about 285) and will compete at DE. Of course, he's still listed at 268 and a LB on the website.

Houston has made it this far, he probably stays. The Bears don't really have a young OLB that they are desperate to get on the field. If he doesn't make the team, you're looking at Dan Skuta and Sam Acho fighting it out for the 4th guy in the OLB rotation.

Sutton is probably the low man on the totem pole at the moment. Unrein is a DE starter for us currently, isn't he? Hicks/Goldman/Unrein with Floyd/Houston and McPhee/Young playing OLB? I wouldn't be surprised if Unrein is cut tomorrow. If the Bears feel comfortable with Howard's health, there's just no need for Unrein who provides nothing in the way of pass rush. He's a warm body who doesn't have as much talent as Howard, nor as much upside as Bullard, John Jenkins, Robertson-Harris, or probably even Will Sutton.

The idea that Glennon may play at a pro bowl level is funny enough on its own, but he frames that as the risk of starting Glennon over Trubisky, as if that would somehow be bad. And Grasu isn't a starter. And the OL isn't "a lot" better than that, it's slightly better if Long stays healthy. Penn was a former pro bowler (2010) who would go on to be a future pro bowler (2016). Joseph was still a very good guard then, before injuries derailed his career, also 2-years removed from a probowl when Glennon got there. Zuttah's also a solid lineman who was also a 2016 pro bowler. Dotson's not great, but he's not bad either.....still the starting RT for Tampa. I hate the narrative that Glennon will be so much better now than he was in Tampa because he had nothing to work with back then. OL isn't much better, if at all. The WRs/TEs aren't much better if at all. He had a prime Vincent Jackson his rookie year and Mike Evans the year after that. Defensive minded head coach with an iffy OC.

Glennon is kind of inconsequential. But, if you were signing a guy JUST to placehold, why not just bring back Hoyer? You could have used the difference in money to have added Gilmore or one of the other guys you missed on. In the end, it won't matter. Pace gets judged on Trubisky. If he flops, Pace is gone after 2018. If he's good, the media will write the "Pace had serious stones" type of articles to admit they were wrong. Was cap space really even an issue? As for the answer, I guess it was insurance in case they couldn't get Trubisky as well as a gamble on a little upside? I don't know. He's a lot better than Hoyer, IMO. Don't really see the downside of it. What kind of return could we get for Glennon if he has a halfway decent year next year? Well, the Bengals wanted a 1st or 2nd for AJ McCarron. If he's halfway decent, he'd be the same as McCarron but with more experience. Obviously nobody traded a 1-2 for McCarron, so I'm guessing a 2 or 3 for Glennon would be feasible.

Because the general public and the mainstream sports media are filled with idiots. It's a lot like the narrative with Cutler's contract and the outrage over the dollar figure. Glennon is kind of inconsequential. But, if you were signing a guy JUST to placehold, why not just bring back Hoyer? You could have used the difference in money to have added Gilmore or one of the other guys you missed on. In the end, it won't matter. Pace gets judged on Trubisky. If he flops, Pace is gone after 2018. If he's good, the media will write the "Pace had serious stones" type of articles to admit they were wrong. I'm guessing the rationale is that Glennon at least gives you a shot to not be mediocre. Hoyer's definitely going to be mediocre. He's definitely going to checkdown and complete 67% of nothing passes. Glennon at least has a chance to put together a strong season. The statements about how he had such a bad situation in Tampa (bad defensive head coach, over his head OC, no weapons, mediocre OL) have some merit, even though the situation isn't much different here. Not sure why they paid as much as they did for a chance to not be mediocre, but it is what it is. And the money to Glennon didn't really stop them from signing anyone as they still have anywhere between 18-22 Mil in cap space depending on where you look.

Yeah, the only thing I could come up with as a true mark against him was the lack of experience. He has good enough height at 6'2". He's big and bulky enough and well built. He's mobile. He's got a good enough, above average arm. He's the most accurate in this class. He's demonstrated the ability to move thru progressions. He's shown some timing, anticipation and feel for pressure/blitz. Obviously, for any QB the ultimate floor is not being able to play in this league. But if not disaster, I see Trubisky's floor as Andy Dalton. A solid QB who you can win games with and maybe lead you to a deep playoff run if the rest of the team is strong enough (and the defense doesn't commit stupid penalties losing you playoff games in the last second). But I think he can be better as he has a better arm and better mobility than Dalton. Side note- I don't know if I posted it on here, but I wrote an article about a month ago about why I thought Trubisky was Pace's guy. Basically, Pace came from NO, who's offense works because Brees gets the ball out quickly and they routinely have been top 5 in yards after catch (YAC) since Payton has been there. The interest in Garoppolo further showed this as he plays in New England, who also run a YAC based offense built on a QB getting the ball out of his hands quickly and accurately to quick receivers. And honestly, this type of offense fits what Loggains would like to do but never had the talent to do in Tennesee (did see some success from Kendall Wright in YAC) or the personnel to do it in Chicago (not Cutler or Jeffery's strength). I think if the Bears offense works how it's supposed to, you'll see a lot more slants and crossing routes than you've seen in recent years. Jeffery and Marshall weren't fast/shifty enough to create separation for the team to have success laterally. And I think Trubisky, with his accuracy, best fits that type of offense as a QB moreso than any other QB in this draft.

Because Glennon sucks, and we had the 3rd pick THIS year. This isn't a Garoppolo situation where you don't have enough data to make a decision. Glennon has 18 starts, 630 pass attempts of mediocrity. And as I have said several times, the best chance to get the best QB is to take the best QB as high as you can, not take a guy in the 2nd or 3rd round and then wait for a class that would require several early entrants (and no fall off) from QBs to be as good as this one. This team looks bad on paper, and they're counting on a lot of health improvements to be better than 3 wins. But they played 4 QBs last year, including their starter only 37% of the time. They lost some of their best defenders in Goldman, McPhee, Trevathan, etc. for more than 1/3 of the season each. Lost their best OL for over half the season, and 2nd best for multiple games. And as bad as this team looks on paper, they aren't likely a 3-win team again. If they are NOT a 3-win team and manage to get even 5 or 6 victories, to even get one of the great QBs that everyone is jumping the gun on for next year, they'd have to trade that pick, a first in 2019 and much more. And people are complaining about trading 2 3rds this year. If they are a 3-win team next year, Pace and everyone else is fired and you potentially have a QB in place and are in a prime spot to trade down and get a ton of picks/talent to add to your QB. And if you're Pace and don't have a drafted QB in 3 years as GM for a team needing a QB, that's just stupid on his part. This was the best chance they had to get the best QB in any draft for the last 20 years. You can't pass on that chance based on a chance to be in the same position next year. Honestly, I complained about trading up because I didn't value this QB. I know you're of the mind this is possibly their only chance to draft the top QB but I don't think they're topping 5 wins for a few years. I think they would have had an opportunity to pick a QB high again next year with better options. And even if they had to trade up, I would rather it be for QBs the caliber of next year's class than Trubisky. I don't like the trade up either. I'd have called the Niners bluff. OK, you want to trade with Cleveland? Say Goodbye to Solomon Thomas. Say goodbye to Lattimore and anyone else you probably wanted at 3 (though apparently they really liked Foster, who they could have had at 12).