Draft Grades

Ran across this fun little article on draftclass.com. It was written on May 1, 2007 and it serves as a huge reason why I will never give out team "grades" immediately after the draft concludes because it's just impossible to know if your team had a good draft until three years after the fact. Case in point, the Chicago Bears got a B+ grade even though now most Bear fans have come to accept that the 2007 draft was nothing short of a complete DUD.

"Chicago so desperately needed to add a playmaker to their offense to help Rex Grossman, and getting Olsen at 31 is a steal. The Bears expect to be back in the Super Bowl next season, and there was no single player in the draft outside the top-10 that would help them achieve that more than Olsen."

Keep in mind that Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Darrelle Revis, Michael Griffin, Brandon Merriweather, and Jon Beason were all taken after the top ten picks. They have also made Pro Bowls since that time, while the farthest Greg Olsen has gotten is 2nd Alternate in 2009 and is now on a team that does not have a use for him.

I won't crucify the author too much though because some of his projections were accurate i.e. predicting Revis would be a shutdown corner in the NFL. You can read the entire thing here. Kind of makes you wonder why Mel Kiper is as successful as he is doesn't it?

Now THAT'S What I'm Talking About (Parts I and II)!!!

Part I : The Chicago Blackhawks gave us another living example tonight of just how mentally tough this team really is. After being trounced 5-1 in Game 1 Saturday night, they were obviously looking to return the favor in Game 2 tonight. That favor was not easily returned though as the Hawks found themselves down 2-0 in the first period. Lesser teams might have panicked, but the Hawks nevertheless persevered by continuing their staple of killing penalties, scoring shorthanded goals (of which they are the best in the NHL), and riding the back of Antii Niemi who once again showed he doesn't have bad games twice in a row as he made 24 saves - one of which on a 3 on 1 shorthanded break and kept the score at 2-1. This win ties the series at 1 game a piece which is way better than being down 2-0 with Games 3 and 4 in Vancouver coming up. Way to go Blackhawks!

Part II : I just got a text from Jake Peavy after the game tonight and he paraphrased Shaq in his text by saying "Beard, tell me how my @SS Tastes!?" I'll be the first to admit, that it appears I was wrong about Jake's health as he looked spectacular against the Royals tonight. Peavy featured a nasty two seam fastball clocked between 93-95 MPH, and that wicked slider that fooled a whole lot of Royal hitters. Jake looked like the guy I remember winning the Cy Young in 2007 and the guy who pitched brilliantly in the last three games of his 2009 season as he posted 7 shutout innings, 9 strikeouts, and didn't give up a hit until the 5th inning in his first win of the season. Now that's a guy I don't mind paying $52 million for until 2012. Most importantly the Sox hitters seemed to look like they've played baseball before. Juan Pierre, Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski finally realized that Andruw Jones, Paul Konerko and Alex Rios can't do it all by themselves as the Sox posted 11 hits and 5 runs on the night. Nothing like a little "Vitamin Royals" to make your team look better. Hopefully the Sox remember that they can play better than they have and spare themselves from being blown up.

Death March Continues into May

So let's talk blowup...because at this point that's what most of us White Sox fans have resigned ourselves to this season. One month in, and the White Sox are a 10-15 ball club, even though it feels like 5-20. They have won a grand total of ONE series so far, against the Mariners in which two of those wins were courtesy of B.S. Walk Off home runs. They've also lost two series against the lowly Cleveland Indians, including being swept by said Indians at Progressive Field. Now they are fresh off the heels of a 2-4 road trip which ended with the Yankees publicly molesting Mark Buehrle after 4 and 2/3 innings. I know it's a month in, and I know they are going to hit better than .223, blah, blah, blah. I'm out of patience at this point because this team is a big pile of garbage with a few diamonds sprinkled in.


After all the talk about "Ozzie Ball", "Twitter-Gate", Reality Shows (BTW can't WAIT to watch THAT car crash of a show!), not wanting to hit home runs to win games, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, and Scotty Pods, this team has done nothing but played one of the most demoralizing brands of baseball I can recall in quite some time. I really do fail to see how this season is anything short of a train-wreck? Sure there have been some positives:


1. Andruw Jones showing that he's still got plenty of gas in the tank.
2. Alex Rios looking normal, yet still WAY overpaid.
3. Paul Konerko playing like an MVP.
4. John Danks elevating his game to another level.
5. Sergio Santos being the wonderful surprise, and feel good story that he's been.

But that's where the list of positives ends. Juan Pierre has been a disaster with his .202 batting average. Gordon Beckham sure looks like he's been figured out by the rest of the league with all the eye level high fastballs he keeps waiving at. Same goes for Carlos Quentin, and Alexei Ramirez too. Whatever that Thing is disguised as Omar Vizquel can go away too. The only one I'm somewhat confident will bounce back is AJ Pierzynski, but even that's not a guarantee at this point. I've already mentioned what I think of Peavy. Gavin Floyd still hasn't figured out that Walks turn into Runs for him more than any other pitcher on the staff. And for the love of god please never let Randy Williams near the White Sox ever again...

So what now? Well, in terms of blowing it up, there's not too much flexibility. Jake Peavy, Alex Rios, Mark Teahen, Gavin Floyd, and the never seen Dayan Viciedo are under contract through at least 2012. A.J. Pierzynski is about to vest into a ten and five guy this month, and there's not too much money that can be shaved off the $103 million dollar payroll this season. Any thing they can do would help though. It's understood we can't trade our most valuable pieces due to Konerko and AJ having No Trade Clauses. Still it would be nice to see Jordan Danks, Brent Morel, Tyler Flowers, and Daniel Hudson show what they can do at the Major League Level if given the chance.

All of this is meaningless though because of the simple fact that Kenny Williams is physically and mentally unable to trim payroll, play kids for a season or to, and not try to win the World Series every season. Even with the best of intentions, he still can't stop himself from picking up a player (along with a really bad contract) that he's always wanted and as a result the White Sox always get caught in between in terms of not letting kids develop, and not having enough to win it all.

Like I said earlier, can't WAIT to watch the reality show...

The Joke Just Keeps Getting Funnier...

Saw this in the National Enquirer and it serves as a further reminder that Sex Addiction is complete B.S. and that married men should never go in for "treatment" because I refuse to believe that it EVER ends well for them. So according to Eldrick, the number of Skank-Bags on his scorecard is 121 - give or take a few here and there. 121....yeah....

First of all, this is the most impressive "score" I've ever seen Woods post in his career. Second of all, this story explains why Elin hasn't been seen around Woods since being spotted at the facility months ago. Third, who knows if Woods is being completely truthful. Fourth, the National Enquirer was the paper that broke the whole Tiger Cheater scandal back in November when nobody else would, so there's no reason to doubt them here. Fifth, this should REALLY help Elin get top dollar in court, and I salute her.

Most importantly, this is yet another nail in the king size coffin of the cash cow that was the Tiger Woods Family Man brand. BTW I'm still waiting for all these endorsements that were supposed to come Woods' way after the Masters? Hello Endorsers? Anyone there besides my fathers corpse????

Happy Lee Elia Day!!!!!!!

On April 29, 1983, then Cubs Manager Lee Elia let forth a now infamous rant directed at booing Cubs fans, particularly in the outfield bleachers. You know the rest of the story. You know what ended up happening to him. You also know that he not only was exactly right about the 3,000 people, but also about the talent level that was on that 1983 Cubs roster. So on this day, 27 years later, lets enjoy the rant one more time here. Still makes me laugh...

Jake Peavy? The Doctor Will See You Now...

I don't care what happened after the first inning, there is something wrong with Jake Peavy. I watched the game, more importantly I watched his velocity. He still didn't get a fastball above 90 more than 4 times in his 6 and 1/3 innings, which is WAY down in terms of his normal fastball when he's healthy. He still rolled a TON of sliders that stayed in the strike zone, and had no control over his curveball despite his 7 strikeouts. His 6 walks including 3 consecutive at one point seem to back my suspicions up too.

Baseball Chuck Norris is now 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA on this young season. Going over his game logs all the way back to 2003 when he first emerged as a dominant starting pitcher, he's only had one similar start like this and that was back in 2006 when he was 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA through 4 starts. Peavy went 11-14 that year with a 4.09 ERA. So technically he's had a down year like this, but I'm unable to confirm if his velocity was down that season or if he kept telling people (for the third time by my count so far) that he's "fixed something"? Not to mention another curious stat I looked up. Going into tonight's start Peavy has averaged about 6.75 Swinging Strikes. In his 2007 Cy Young campaign, Peavy averaged 11 Swinging Strikes per start. Bit of a difference isn't it? I could have gone deeper into the numbers, but I decided to not depress myself further. Add up anything you want to though, and it becomes pretty clear that the guy is not the pitcher the White Sox thought they were getting, and I really wouldn't mind if the White Sox put their foot down and got an MRI on Jake's shoulder...

As far as the rest of the White Sox go, they still can't hit worth a damn. Alex Rios is leading the team in hitting at .270. The Sox are second in the American League in Home Runs, yet they're twelfth in Runs Scored. Gordon Beckham might not be as good a player as White Sox fans thought he was. Juan Pierre is as BAD a player as White Sox fans worried he was. I keep waiting for them to snap out of this hitting funk they're in as a team, but I'm starting to lose confidence.

If this keeps up, July 31 will be very interesting for the wrong reasons...

Bye Bye

I'd like to start off by saying first and foremost, I don't hate Vinny Del Negro. I really don't. I always liked him as a player all the way from when he was at NC State. He seems like a nice enough guy. He's never (to my knowledge) been boorish, or a jerk to anyone. He's been fair with the media, fans, his teammates and players throughout his career. He was put in a pretty unfair situation by a GM who hired Vinny as a bailout for not landing Mike D'Antoni. There were also other things that happened to this Bulls team that were out of his control.

Yet 24 hours later my reaction to the Bulls exit from the postseason is still, "Please for don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out too Vinny." Rick Morrisey had the best line in his column today when he said Vinny was nothing more than a "Point A to Point A" guy. That's absolutely correct because Vinny wasn't ready to be a head coach in the first place, and hasn't done anything with this team that any other coach couldn't have done. Maybe he will be a good head coach someday, but that won't change the fact that he was a bad one with the Bulls.

I've covered the many reasons over the past season for why Vinny should have been let go a long time ago i.e. blowing a 35 point lead at home to the Kings, losing twice to the Nets, etc. There's another ultimate, much more tangible reason though, and that reason is a reason I've heard time and time again. The reason is that basketball Head Coaches ultimately earn their money and reputation one way only, and that's how successful they are at drawing up out of bounds plays to give someone an open look following a time out. Fairly, or unfairly, that is the ultimate measuring stick for coaches in any level of basketball. Vinny was just completely inept when it came to this skill. You only needed to watch this last game, when he was drawing up plays for Flip Murray...FLIP MURRAY!

So while the Del Negro era is soon to be over, a new much more interesting era begins. I haven't the foggiest idea of who the Bulls next head coach will be? What I do know is that there's a WHOLE lot of Cap Space now, and the Bulls are committed to bringing a superstar(s) player into the fold via Free Agency. Whether they hire a coach first before going out and spending money on players remains to be seen. Personally I'm hoping they do hire a coach first and make a firm commitment to him contractually. That way it tells any potential free agent that if you come to the Bulls you are going to play for this guy no matter what happens.

Like I've said before, now the real Bulls season can begin...