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[tweet] [/tweet][tweet] [/tweet]I believe they're going to start conducting interviews (online) this week. I think Bobby Webster is the leading candidate and has a lot of positive momentum. Not upset about Chad Buchanan declining this opportunity. It's a bad look for the organization, though.

Wow, some of these dimensions are wild lol:

I'm not saying we should sign him for big money, multiple years. If WAS gives him a QO then I'd probably pass... I was impressed watching him pitch during the Nationals' run in the postseason. I don't watch a ton of their games, but I came away very impressed with both Anthony Rendon and Sean Doolittle. I know for a fact that we've tried to acquire him in the past, so I'm pretty sure Theo is a fan as well. I had doubts about Kimbrel and that signing looks like a disaster. Maybe he'll be better this year? If I knew the budget was so tight there is no way in hell I'm signing Kimbrel (if I were Theo). Depending on the medicals and how he performs (I'm assuming a shortened baseball season) this year, I think Doolittle gets a 2-yr deal. I don't think he ends up re-signing in WAS, but we'll see what happens. I'm a big fan and I hope he stays healthy, and that we have some room in our budget to sign him next offseason.

Sean Doolittle is such an awesome guy. Great article and I hope he becomes more outspoken in the future. Has some of the highest praise in the industry from execs and players in the game. Definitely one of my favorite players in MLB. I know relievers are fickle creatures, but I really, really hope we sign him next offseason. I think he would fit perfectly in our clubhouse and boost morale, along with his solid contributions on the field.

We don't need to pile on weis21. He's a good dude. It was a bad joke and a bad post... and then a bad response lol. Some posters do legit "derail threads" here with stupid banter -- they're the ones that deserve our collective scorn and ridicule.

It's early, but Bobby Webster is easily my favorite candidate so far. That article in The Athletic is excellent, and the background and fit and youth just makes too much sense. He'd be a great hire and seems like the complete opposite of GarPax. I also like Arturas Karnisovas. I was watching some clips of him from his playing days in Europe and he reminded me of Toni Kukoc. Great shooter. He was a GM candidate for both the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. He was a key part of the Paul Millsap signing. I think he's done a great job as the GM in Denver.

[tweet] [/tweet][tweet] [/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/PeterGriffinAcc/status/1246127613254479873[/tweet]

I'm not quite as jaded as you are. I think this new hire will legitimately be empowered to do whatever they want... I agree and wonder why keep Paxson around? Or Forman? It will be a little bit of an impediment to hiring top-tier talent, but Chicago is one of the best cities in the world. We have a great fanbase and a decent roster. It's not an amazing roster by any stretch, but it's not barren or devoid of talent. We'll see what happens, but Paxson might just end up like Ken Williams with the White Sox -- I mean who really knows what he does now? From everything I've heard and read, Rick Hahn makes all the key decisions now. For Paxson, it's a cushy salary with no job requirement or expectations. It looks better than being fired or let go. No more embarrassing radio appearances getting asked tough questions. I think this is good news, but it really depends on who they hire and exactly how much power and autonomy they have.

So if you only care about the local Chicago teams and not the national stories, well yeah, it becomes difficult to find good stories to read. I wish there were more articles from Keith Law on minors and draft stuff. Sahadev Sharma is really good covering the Cubs. I like reading up on other teams as well and they cover other sports pretty well. It's the best coverage for the Blackhawks and Bulls. ESPN is pretty lackluster these days... Sometimes you'll run into a dry spell on the site, but I think it's worth it personally.

I fudged numbers quite a bit. When it's was their 60 time, h/w. Do what it takes to get the crosschecker to see someone you really like. Oh yeah, I've heard plenty of stories of scouts fudging the numbers to make a prospect they like look better on paper and get more subsequent looks. It happens a lot or used to happen a lot... Now, with draft models and computer-ranking systems in place in many scouting departments, I wonder how much it happens or if it still matters?

[tweet] [/tweet]That's awesome and Shin-Soo Choo seems like a great person. In total, he's donating $191,000 to minor-league players in the Rangers' system. That's an incredible gesture, but this shouldn't fall on the players. Again, owners (and MLB) have way more money and $191,000 is nothing for them. It's shameful the way they're handling this with talk/rumors of some teams laying off staff and team employees next month.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bulls/bulls-mailbag-will-jim-boylen-return-will-zach-lavine-get-traded Not sure if this news was shared here, but Paxson will NOT be in charge of basketball operations for the Bulls after this season. I'm not sure if this was his call or the Reinsdorfs, but it's fantastic news for all Bulls fans. It's crazy that in 35 years, the only two people in charge were Krause and Paxson. Boylen should be fired, Forman should be demoted and/or fired and Paxson should just ride off into the sunset... We need to hire a young, progressive exec from a good modern FO. There was a rumor the Bulls are interested in Sam Presti, but I just don't see that happening, unfortunately.

Yeah, that definitely sucks. I was looking forward to this and I would love for baseball to catch on in England. [tweet] [/tweet]

[tweet] [/tweet]It's a pretty good listen and I didn't realize how short and skinny Maddux was when he was drafted by the Cubs. It's funny how the scout that signed him had to fudge those details on the scouting report and made him taller.

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That's super weird. They added that Jackie Robinson made a later list for 20th century's most influential, but they didn't have their annual Time magazine's Top 100 lists until later on.

Seriously, what are you talking about lol? You do know you don't have to post in threads if you don't care about whatever is being discussed in said thread...

[tweet] [/tweet]Yup, not surprised by this. Dexter Fowler is a good dude and it sucks he's on a rival team. I hope we bring him back as a coach/instructor after his playing career is over.

Yeah, I like the quick release too. I didn't know anything about him until very recently. They have Saddiq Bey going 14th in this mock draft: http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft So my idea about the Bulls trading down and getting Bey plus an additional asset might not even work.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/1243537963310632962[/tweet] That's pretty good lol.

[tweet] [/tweet][tweet] [/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/boggio_ryan/status/1244437675966443521[/tweet] Okay, that @boggio_ryan guy is crazy lol. No one thinks Saddiq Bey's best-case comp is Kawhi Leonard or I've never read anything like that... He's a great shooter and seems like a solid wing defender. I really don't like that many prospects in this draft class and I've watched video on quite a few of them now. I doubt Bey becomes a star level player, but he also shouldn't bust. Villanova has created a steady stream of solid rotation players: Hart (Pelicans), Bridges (Suns), DiVincenzo (Bucks), Brunson (Mavericks) and Paschall (Warriors). If the Bulls are somewhere in that 7-9 range again I think they should trade down and take this guy. You get an additional asset (lower-1st round pick maybe?) and a solid wing player and knockdown shooter in Bey. I think we all agree Otto Porter isn't the long-range answer at SF, and I really don't like the PG prospects in this draft. I have a good feeling watching this guy and think he's a high-floor rotation player that can help create space for Zach LaVine and Coby White. I believe his draft stock is rising (or was rising) so we'll see what happens.

I remember this story and seeing the trailer for this. Has anyone watched this?

The idea that the system is trending up, IMO, without having read that ESPN article, seems like it's based somewhat on internal adjustments and developments, but also heavily on a very limited number of guys. I think there's enough depth and potential that it seems unlikely we'd fall back to that bottom of the majors level (that is, 28-30). I mean, if we're blunt about it, Davis/Marquez were both ahead of the expected curve a bit, so even if they stagnate, our system shouldn't tumble as a result. I think about the only chance that I could see this as a top 10-12 system next year is if a lot of dominoes just fall our way - Brennen Davis becomes a top 50, if not higher prospect, Brailyn Marquez shows his late streak last year is legitimate, Amaya shows some offensive development, an arm or two make a move up the ladder (Franklin/Gallardo?) additions made in IFA and the draft to bolster it up. I just think it's too thin right now to really think this system can take a huge leap up in one year.. The only way our farm system becomes a consensus Top 10 system again in the near term is not going to appeal to people here. To get ranked that high would involve trading our best players for top prospects at the trade deadline in this upcoming shortened season (I think the trade deadline will be around September for this year). No matter how great a year Marquez and Davis and Amaya have, I just don't think we can get up there without big trades. Just speculation, but I'm pretty sure our FO has discussed this as well from comments made by Theo about setting up the team better after 2021. They wanted to make some big trades this offseason, but it just didn't happen.

As far as I know, none of our big league players or minor-league players have tested positive for COVID-19.