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https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/03/latest-on-jake-arrieta.html According to MLBtraderumors, Jake should be signing "in the next couple days" and I think this is true. Most of the major FAs are agreeing to underwhelming deals, and they realize holding out too much longer will (probably) only hurt them. Pitchers need to build up arm strength before being ready for the regular season. I guess if a major pitcher goes down then maybe some team will panic and agree to a better deal for Jake. The Nationals were his best hope, but they just don't seem that interested in signing him.

I'm glad Baez is okay. I'm really worried about Zobrist and his performance so far in ST. I'm hoping we get the Zobrist from 16' and not last year's version. We really need a healthy Baez if Zobrist doesn't bounce back.

His younger brother might end up being a pitcher who makes it all the way to the big leagues. He is a serious prospect in this year's draft. His name is Cole Sands, and is a RHP (not a lefty) at Florida State. Pretty talented. I have this weird theory (untested, but I need to study it more) that younger brothers of prospects or younger siblings in general tend to develop into better players/prospects. The younger brothers get to play with their older brothers/friends and watch and observe them. My youngest brother is the tallest and probably best athlete in the family. I haven't studied it too much, but it seems to hold true in many instances. Theories are better when they are based on data. Your theory has... a lot of holes. Obviously, it is untested but many smart people have observed this as well. Not just in baseball, but in other sports and hobbies. In baseball alone, you have C. Seager and J. Upton right now. Famous examples include V. Guerrero and G. Maddux and P. Martinez and J. Torre. I mean I'm cherry-picking, but this theory isn't a new one. Jered Weaver was much better than his older brother, Jeff. I could keep going on and on... There are plenty of examples of the older brother being the best at a particular sport as well. Maybe there is no correlation or strong bias either way. I would be interested in seeing a thorough study.

It started getting to me last year. Welcome to the club. Honestly, it probably started in the 2016 postseason for me.

He's way too chatty. There's nothing wrong with a little silence, dude. You like a little silence huh? Well, then you'll love this. A ton of silence from a complete homer here: [bbvideo=640,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L266R9RBvNw[/bbvideo] The comments are great lol. I highly recommend clicking on the youtube link and reading them. Again, horsefeathers Hawk Harrelson.

His arm is going to explode from that splitter. I have to question the need to throw so many splitters, and by all accounts he threw a bunch, in an early season game against an OOC opponent. I get that he's showing off for scouts and all that, but damn dude, maybe ease up a little bit to ensure that you even have an arm by the time of the draft. I don't know if that holds true anymore. The conventional wisdom used to be that screwballs and splitters were really bad for your arm/shoulder, but I'm not sure if that's true anymore. I also remember hearing or reading that throwing too many curveballs at a young age is bad. I think they've proven throwing a curveball puts less stress on the UCL/elbow area than throwing a fastball. Ultimately, I think it really depends on the pitcher's mechanics, and you have to judge it on a case-by-case basis.

Splendid Splinter wrote: I found it. Well, that's good news. I thought Arrieta had to sign a contract worth more than $50 million to get a pick after the Competitive round B (after the 2nd round). We also got a pick for losing W. Davis, and it's a pretty deep and talented draft class. Freaking sign already Jake. You're not getting that huge payday. It's not happening.

You know what, I'll go ahead and stick my neck out and say it -- "not being fat" makes you a better hitter. There... I said it. Radical statement I know, but it needed to be said.

I think you should factor in the input of said star player who is available. If AD ever becomes available he might want to come back to Chicago and play for his hometown team, or at least would prefer that. Giannis might want to come to Chicago because it's close to Milwaukee and I've heard he actually likes living there for some reason. Boston can make the better trade offers right now, but those trade assets start depreciating. Like Bos is not getting the Laker's pick this year so that most likely means they're getting the Sac pick next year in a terrible draft class. They could still draft a good player, but I'd rather have a pick in this year's draft if I were the Celtics. They do have a bunch of future draft picks from other teams. Not sure how great they'll end up being though. Bulls just need to keep accumulating good young players and actually draft players with their 2nd round picks instead of getting those "cash considerations"... Eh, you're looking at this thru Chicago glasses. Seriously, do you think AD is going to tell New Orleans or Boston he'll only play in Chicago? Come on. That ain't factoring in. What likely does though? Is that he can win a title in Boston. At any rate, he's not going to make a play to be in Chicago. Giannis? Yeah, he likes it in Milwaukee. Because he doesn't want to be in a big city. Not to mention, we're a long ways away from having the assets the Celtics do, whether they're depreciating or not. Honestly, its a moot point. We need more youngsters and a bit better idea of EXACTLY what we have, before making any half cocked moves. The end of next season, we'll have a much better idea on what our guys can be. I agree that it's unlikely that AD or Giannis would demand a trade here to Chicago, but it's possible. Kobe had a short list of places he wanted to go and Chicago was at the top of the list. The Bulls almost traded for Kobe Bryant. Fans forget this or don't know how close it came to happening. Winning is the #1 priority, but Chicago is a great city with a passionate fanbase. Free agents don't really clamor to go to Boston, but they did land Hayward and Horford so clearly their FA pitch is working. To be fair, FAs haven't really been sold successfully on coming to Chicago either... We need a better head coach and a better FO, but the city and the young players are appealing. In a couple years Chicago could be an attractive destination for FAs and players who want to be traded to a contender. I'm really not sold on Boston becoming some kind of juggernaut. They're good, and will be good for awhile but I think Philly has a brighter future in the East. We'll see.

I want half of them traded for a better player. I'm waiting a year, maybe two, before I start trying to make a trade like that. 1) Not sure if there's a guy even available 2) Boston has dibs on the 1st star on the block, unless we'd massively overpay to beat them. I think you should factor in the input of said star player who is available. If AD ever becomes available he might want to come back to Chicago and play for his hometown team, or at least would prefer that. Giannis might want to come to Chicago because it's close to Milwaukee and I've heard he actually likes living there for some reason. Boston can make the better trade offers right now, but those trade assets start depreciating. Like Bos is not getting the Laker's pick this year so that most likely means they're getting the Sac pick next year in a terrible draft class. They could still draft a good player, but I'd rather have a pick in this year's draft if I were the Celtics. They do have a bunch of future draft picks from other teams. Not sure how great they'll end up being though. Bulls just need to keep accumulating good young players and actually draft players with their 2nd round picks instead of getting those "cash considerations"...

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Well, I disagree. I'm not always disappointed when the Cubs get eliminated. Sometimes they aren't the best team and the other team deserves to move on. The Cubs were a pretty flawed team last year and I think the Dodgers were the better team. I'm talking about scenarios and not necessarily how the MLB playoffs work in general. Yes, I know they are a crapshoot, and that luck and SSS plays a huge part in the playoffs. If you weren't disappointed when the Cubs were 4 (well, ultimately 3) wins away from another world series berth and failed to advance, that also makes you a horsefeathering weirdo. Hahaha, I wouldn't mind if the Cubs had made the WS obviously, but in my mind the Dodgers and Astros were both better than the Cubs last year and deserved to win the WS. In 2016, no question the Cubs were the best team in MLB, and who deserved to win the WS. Maybe I'm focusing too much on meritocracy, but I like to be somewhat objective. Don't get me wrong -- if the Cubs won the WS last year I'd be super happy about it, but I wouldn't say we were the best team. I wasn't that disappointed when we got eliminated. It was a pretty shitty series against the Dodgers...

Not to sound like a dick, but right now if the Cubs reach the League Championship Series and face anyone besides the Dodgers and bow out I'll be disappointed. If we make it there and face like the Diamondbacks we should advance to the World Series, and I'd be damn disappointed if we didn't... That's dumb and that's not how the MLB playoffs work. And obviously anybody here is going to be disappointed if the Cubs are eliminated. Well, I disagree. I'm not always disappointed when the Cubs get eliminated. Sometimes they aren't the best team and the other team deserves to move on. The Cubs were a pretty flawed team last year and I think the Dodgers were the better team. I'm talking about scenarios and not necessarily how the MLB playoffs work in general. Yes, I know they are a crapshoot, and that luck and SSS plays a huge part in the playoffs.

Uh, do you want Miles or Mikal? I personally prefer Mikal Bridges and was hoping to grab him with the NO pick, but that has no chance of happening now... I meant Mikal. Obviously he is a step down from group listed below, but he seems to be picking up a lot of positive hype lately, and it'd be nice to add someone with his skill set to go with Dunn/Lavine's driving ability and Lauri's ability to stretch the floor. I like Mikal Bridges a lot as well, and think he'll be a good defensive player that helps make up for the defensive deficiencies of our other players. K. Dunn and M. Bridges will be our defensive aces, and Z. LaVine and L. Markkanen our go-to guys on offense. It'd be a good solid group, but it also lacks upside unless Markkanen blows up and does truly become the next Nowitzki.

He'll probably be the leadoff guy a lot when he plays vs RHP, but we all know with Joe we are going to end up with about 7 different guys leading off this year and probably 3-4 of them seeing 30-40 games there at least. Yeah, I was going to mention how many players and different lineups Maddon will use during the season. Right now though, I would say Happ is the tentative leadoff hitter and the guy best suited for that role.

So we've pretty much decided that Ian Happ is the Cubs leadoff hitter now? That was the guy I wanted for the role, and he's raking so far in ST. Heyward at leadoff was a dumb idea. KB is too good to leadoff, but I wouldn't mind if he did it occasionally. Zobrist is a good candidate too if he bounces back and the wrist issues are behind him.

Not to sound like a dick, but right now if the Cubs reach the League Championship Series and face anyone besides the Dodgers and bow out I'll be disappointed. If we make it there and face like the Diamondbacks we should advance to the World Series, and I'd be damn disappointed if we didn't...

Would playing in the OF and occasionally making a throw from LF add that much more stress to his UCL? He isn't playing the game after he pitches and he might not play the game before he pitches either. I mean the Cubs don't have a DH so he wouldn't get as many PAs, but he would get a lot of playing time here in Chicago. I can't fault him for signing with the Angels. They have a DH and the Cubs don't.

I know very little about basketball, but Lavine, Dunn, Lauri, Bridges, and Portis seems like a pretty fun line up to watch develop over the next couple years. Uh, do you want Miles or Mikal? I personally prefer Mikal Bridges and was hoping to grab him with the NO pick, but that has no chance of happening now...

So the tank operation by the Bulls just isn't cutting it, and now the NBA is getting involved. This sucks. Picking #8 or lower won't get us a great player and I really don't trust this FO to find a hidden gem in the draft. I'll give GarPax credit for making a good trade with Minn, but you have to make some other good moves to properly tear down and rebuild. I wasn't a big fan of the J. Butler trade when it happened, but it should turn into that rare good-deal-for-both-teams type trade. It was a good move. Now, I'm most worried the Bulls might be stuck in that middle ground area -- not good enough to get a top seed or compete for a championship, but also not bad enough to land a top pick to get an impact player.

I'm happy Ichiro gets to go back to his original team. I really hope they make the playoffs, but I wouldn't bet money on that happening. Tough division.

I'm convinced they're gonna sign 1 of the 3 remaining SP (Arrieta, Cobb and Lynn) on the market once the price drops down far enough. My guess is Cobb in like a week or so. Some starting pitchers are going to go down, and demand will increase. Still, it's a dangerous game these FA pitchers are playing.

Sailed. That’s too bad. I’m hoping/was hopeful he could be an MLBer. His younger brother might end up being a pitcher who makes it all the way to the big leagues. He is a serious prospect in this year's draft. His name is Cole Sands, and is a RHP (not a lefty) at Florida State. Pretty talented. I have this weird theory (untested, but I need to study it more) that younger brothers of prospects or younger siblings in general tend to develop into better players/prospects. The younger brothers get to play with their older brothers/friends and watch and observe them. My youngest brother is the tallest and probably best athlete in the family. I haven't studied it too much, but it seems to hold true in many instances.

How the hell do you scout a 12 year old prospect? That's insane. You can't be that successful at figuring out which prospects will pan out and develop at that age. Obviously, it looks bad and feels wrong, but it also feels stupid and foolish at the same time. Don't get me wrong, this system where teams are having to scout younger and younger players to get handshake deals on kids that could be top prospects is weird and unfortunate, but where did the specific number of 12 years old come from? The article only went to 13 (not that that's any better) and math suggests that if they're looking for kids who will be eligible 2 years from now, they couldn't be any younger than 13 now. I'm truly asking, how did 12 come into this conversation? Raisin mentioned how icky it feels scouting 12-year old kids, and I've heard or read in other articles that some teams start scouting at that age. They come to agreements probably when they are 13 or 14, but they start scouting them way in advance of their signing year. I mean it feels wrong either way like you said.

I didn't want the Cubs to draft him last year and yeah, I'm certainly not surprised lol.