SB Nation User Blog: MarketMaker

Anybody want tickets for 4th of July?

MarketMaker — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:46:16 -0000

Oakland Athletics. Section 160, Row 11, Seats 7-10.

I work in the loop and live by the lake, so I can hand them off whenever you're around. I'd like to get rid of these as soon as possible. I'd hate to waste Sox tickets.

I'd make this a fanshot, but I'd like any passersbys to see this, too, so this is me yakking to get to the 75 word minimum.

have we seen the dawn of a new aj?

MarketMaker — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:49:23 -0000

aj has more than half the doubles(13) he's had in each of the last 3 seasons(24, 24, 21). he also already has 10 walks. that might not seem like a lot, but consider the fact that his career high for walks in a season is 25 (2008). prior to that he had seasons of 22, 23, 19, 24, 13 and 16. that accounts for all of his full seasons in the majors.

i’ve heard mention of some different contacts aj has been wearing this season; and, i think he was the one that got hawk raving about the nintendo ds. could these factors really be contributing to what i’m at least temporarily calling the “new aj”? i don’t know if this trend of great offensive output can continue, but aj seems like a different hitter these days.

and you know what else? many of us were probably surprised to see aj in the 2-hole in the lineup, but his current output is pretty nearly ideal for that spot in the order. so kudos to ozzie for seizing what might be a great opportunity. now if we can just get him to put swish back in the leadoff spot and drop ocab towards the bottom of the lineup i could be convinced that ozzie is starting to get the knack of this filling out the lineup business. good times!

FJM- The Selfish Meme

MarketMaker — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:51:08 -0000

FJM- The Selfish Meme

I'm sure most of you probably peruse firejoemorgan.com on a regular basis, but I saw an article about our beloved Sox and the writing phenomenon known as Joe Cowley. If you hadn't bookmarked this page prior to this do it now. It's usually good for a laugh at some idiot sportswriter's expense.

A New Direction for the 2008-09 Bulls

MarketMaker — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:52:53 -0000

I wanted to address Matt's post about trading Deng and Gordon, but I thought my idea took up a little too much space to be a response. With that in mind, here's what I'm thinking:

I know a lot of Bulls fans are really biased towards BG and Deng, but there are a couple of young restricted free agents that I would much rather the Bulls went after.

Josh Smith, Monta Ellis and Andre Igoudala are all going to be restricted free agents this summer. Let's make a play for one of those guys.

Let's look to make a deal moving as many of Nocioni, Gooden and Hughes as we can. Perhaps Hinrich, too. We've got a young group intact. Thabo, TT and Noah will still be here. Say Hinrich stays, too. If we could get any one of the above mentioned free agents I'd be ready to roll with that 5 as my starters.

Any way we can get some of our junk out of town is a plus. If that can't happen, then play them, but limit the hell out of their minutes. I'm talking off the bench no more than 10-12 minutes a piece. We have talked so much about depth. I think it's overrated. Teams with a good starting group let them get most of the meaningful minutes. You need two quality reserves, and a couple of space fillers for when your starters are tired or in foul trouble.

So imagine a starting lineup with Hinrich, Thabo, TT, Noah and one of Ellis, AI and Josh Smith. Coming off the bench to spell them is maybe a PG you drafted this year, whoever you picked up in the Noc trade, Gooden and Hughes if you got stuck with them and then our end of the bench, just-in-case scrubs.

We would be young, athletic, fast, defensive-minded and perfectly built for a fast-paced run-and-gun style team. Bring in a like-minded coach who wants to play up tempo with a swarming defense. We would also be in good financial shape moving forward.

In summary, we had some good times with Gordon and Deng, but this year was unacceptable. They both have flaws. They both stepped back when we needed them to step forward. Let's not throw money at a couple soft guys that showed their true colors in their contract years.

Just out of curiosity, I included a poll to see what you guys think of the Bulls' potential options this summer.

Poll

SB Nation User Blog: MarketMaker

Anybody want tickets for 4th of July?

have we seen the dawn of a new aj?

FJM- The Selfish Meme

FJM- The Selfish Meme

A New Direction for the 2008-09 Bulls

Which restricted free agent do you most want to see in a Bulls uniform next season?