This Week In Chicago Sports

I did my whole catching up post a couple of days ago, and now it's time for me to be going back to somewhat of a regular schedule. It was an interesting week in Chicago sports. Kevin Hayes signed elsewhere, light rumors circulated about the Bulls' 13th roster spot, the White Sox made a trade and got swept twice, and the Cubs had some controversy early, but finished the week with a sweep. There's also going to be some news from the farm, as a lot has been going on down there recently for the Cubs, and there's even some to talk about for the White Sox as well.

First things first, Kevin Hayes decided to sign with the New York Rangers. This is the risk with some of these NHL guys that are picked out of high school and then go on to play college. The Blackhawks will receive a compensatory 2nd round pick in the 2015 draft, but this one still hurts a bit, as Hayes has some solid potential and could possibly have even contributed to some extent next season. There's many reasons, from money, to his brother being traded away, to him feeling that it would be too hard for him to crack the Blackhawks rotation that are being thrown out as reasons for why he didn't sign with the Blackhawks, but I really have no clue as to what it was. I'm guessing it was the third if you put a gun to my head.

There were also rumors around the Bulls this past week that Leandro Barbosa was going to possibly be the 13th player on the Bulls roster for next season. I don't think it's the worst idea, as I do think they should get someone who can run the point for that spot, but I don't think that Barbosa is the guy they should sign for that. I'd like to see them go after someone who is more of a pass-first point guard, but I would like a veteran, which Barbosa is. If the Bulls do sign him, I'm not praising the FO, but at the same time I'm not moping around either. He has qualities that can help the Bulls, and he would probably be fine with playing sparingly at this point in his career.

The Bears had an absolutely brutal week. When I did my review on Friday, it was still in the first half of the game, which was really the more awful part of the game. However, things did get better. I mean, at least the 2nd and 3rd units for the Bears are just as good as Seattle's. Also, I thought Ferguson and Sutton looked pretty good. As a whole though, the Bears just looked overmatched, no thanks to Richard Sherman though, who Cutler/Bears Receiver on that Side went at often and beat often. Sherman pretty clearly is not a corner you can put out on an island. He's good, but he still needs help, unlike Peterson or Revis. Thomas and Chancellor have really helped him out.

This isn't a rip on Sherman section, I just liked seeing him have to eat his words over and over, and while I know that if I said it to his face he'd tell me to look at the scoreboard, I'd still remind him that it's no thanks to him. Bottom line is that the Bears just looked horrible though. Cuts followed that. The main ones that have happened have been Wilson, Palmer, and Collins. I wasn't too surprised with Wilson, as he clearly didn't wow anyone this preseason. Palmer was just enough behind Clausen that I can see why the Bears cut him, plus he now has a chance to sign on with another team. As for Collins, I was a little surprised by that one, as I thought he had done pretty well, and his injury was one of the toughest for the Bears last year. However, I have a feeling that he was also cut early to give him a good chance to sign on with someone else.

The White Sox had a very rough week. Going Monday through Sunday they went 0-6. It was the Orioles, followed by the Yankees. The White Sox have gone from being out of it to being in the bottom 10 of the league, and in danger of falling further if they don't get things fixed soon. On top of that, they had to see Gordon Beckham go for what looks like it may be very little. PTBNL guys in trades after the deadline rarely amount to a whole lot. It's not all doom and gloom for the White Sox though, Carlos Rodon looks like he will be making his way up in September, and while I've said my peace on them rushing him, it is still something to give some excitement to the fans. That along with Paul Konerko entering the last month of his career should bring a surge of fans to Comiskey despite their drop. Rodon pitched his second AAA game today and was good again, giving up one earned run in 4 innings, striking out 8.

On the north side things are looking...well, north. The Cubs started the week off in bizarre fashion. They won their first two games of the week before dropping their next two, but finishing the week with a 3 game sweep over the Orioles to go 5-2 this week. That's not the bizarre part. The weirdness ensued during a rain delay on Tuesday night. A rain cell (during a night game, so the sky wasn't very visible either) popped up from out of nowhere and just poured down on Wrigley. The umpires tried to let the game go on for a short time, but were unable to. By the time the grounds crew was called out the field was already quite wet. As they put the tarp on the field it collected water which caused it to come out a bit goofy, and ultimately left a good portion of the infield uncovered. They had to try to start again, and eventually did get the infield covered, but it was too late. They tried to get the field into playing condition, but it was impossible, despite a 4 hour effort. The game was initially called since it was official at that point, but the Giants protested, and the game was finished on Thursday, before the Thursday evening game. Of course the makeup was delayed by rain as well. They got it in, and the Cubs held on to win.

On the farm, the Cubs have seen a lot of fireworks lately, capped off by another one from Bryant (43 total on the season right now, 22 at AA and 21 at AAA), 2 from Schwarber, one from Soler, and one from Russell today. Soler's was his 7th since coming up to AAA, Schwarber's was his 10th since coming up to A+ ball, and Russell's was his 12th since the trade to the Cubs. Schwarber seems to be off of his slump, as he's been very strong lately and his OPS is back up over 1 in Daytona. Soler's day yesterday didn't include any home runs, but he did get 5 hits and a walk. He is also looking a lot better right now. Addison Russell has been on fire since he broke out of his short slump he was in when he was first traded over. His OPS with the Smokies is .899. No doubt that's acceptable for a shortstop. The hitting on the farm has been insanely good, and while the pitching didn't have an especially great week, the Cubs still have a strong crop of pitchers on the farm that have been horribly overlooked these past couple of years. While the big league team starts to show obvious improvement, the minor leagues have been shaping up great. It's getting more and more exciting to be a Cubs fan right now.