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Fuck career backup David ross. Fuck him being called rossy. Fuck him getting a pre retirement tour that shit all over that nice gesture. Fuck the cubs

Safe to say the window has been pushed back.

$300 million with zero opt-outs isn't a serious offer IMO. It's more of a "hey look, we tried" thing for the fanbase, as he obviously wouldn't accept a deal without any opt-outs unless the total money was outrageous

Does Harper have any kids? He was a LaRoche supporter, and loved the Drake. He said he wanted the same for his kids. Might want to keep KW away from him.

What's wrong with the following two statements: 1. We should assume the person accusing superiors of harassment has a valid point until proven otherwise 2. We should assume Dipoto et al. are innocent until proven guilty by an MLB investigation These things are not mutually exclusive people. If they were mutually exclusive, the entire justice system of trial by jury would fall apart.

I'd give him $15m a year without blinking. I like having him on my team. He's a good, stabilizing clubhouse force, and he'll continue to be productive if he's healthy, even if he won't be a true star again. Keep him.

HUUUUGE loss for the Packers.

I would really hate a White Sox off-season headlined by the signing of Yasmani Grandal.

Grandal is terrible hitting against LHP, and so is Narvaez. Going after him would make no sense honestly, as I'd rather just go with Castillo/Narvaez.

He's gonna be a Philly and on opening day he's gonna slam 5 cheesesteaks

Yes, and he will look like Pablo Sandoval in about 6 months.

Really? Because of a TMZ post?

Harper is coming to the Sox. I've never been more confident about it than I am right now.

tens of millions? Come on man, in a country of 300 million people, you think 10% or more are saved every year by guns? You can't possibly believe that silliness.

This makes it all the more painful if he ends up with the Cubs.

Long time reader but first time poster. I believe we need to have a plan A, B and C and in sure we already do (I’m firmly in the in Hahn we trust group). plan A Sign Harper to a 10 year contract with multiple opt outs after the 5 year mark. (Opt out at four year mark if needed to get him). With the deal front loaded (something like 40mil,38,36,34,32,30,30,30,30,30) Sign Keuchel to a 5 year front loaded deal. Key here with this deal is I think he will not regress as much as other starters due to his control/groundout style. I also think with Anderson and Madrigal in the double play positions we can now play a ground ball pitcher. The reason for it been front loaded is that if all our pitching prospects progress he will be easier to trade. here is the bit that I expect people to hate but hear me out. Harper in year two plays first base. It will allow us to play better defence in the outfield with Adolfo’s arm or Rutherfords range. Harper used to be a catcher so has the hands for it. If we can’t extend Abreu it gives us a replacement and if we can’t it allows Abreu to move to DH as he regresses defensively. Plan B sign players that start our winning mentality but could be flipable lead by Donaldson on a 1 year with a more expensive second year option (basically like a bigger version of Moose’s deal last year. I’d still want Keuchel in this scenario. Plan C stand pat and see what Stephens/Adams and can do and wait for Arenardo and Sale ideally. Moncada. 2B Eloy. LF Harper. RF Abreu. 1B Palka DH Navaez. C Anderson. SS Sanchez. 3B Leury Garcia CF Pitchers Rodon Lopez Keuchel ???? Giolitto Year 2 Moncada. 2B Eloy. LF Harper. 1B Arenardo. 3B Abreu. DH Robert. CF Navaez. C Anderson. SS Adolfo. RF Pitchers Rodon Kopech Keuchel Cease Alec Hansen (I have faith in his stuff and hope he can fix his mechanical issues) Madrigal comes up halfway through pushing Moncada into a super utility player, Rutherford will hopefully be the leagues best 4th outfielder. Depth would be unreal. id also look to extend Eloy now, using the signing his brother good will to try and grab him for a further year or two. some of above is not going to happen, which is why the need for a plan A,B and C. i hope the Harper to 1B creates some debate. Thanks for reading (sorry it’s long)

The Yankees can have Machado. I want Harper.

I was initially ready to roast this for thinking the Braves would give up anything of value for Avi, but then I realized that Teheran has only been a 1.1 and a 0.7 fWAR over the last 2 seasons, while making $11M and $12M over his final 2 years in 2019 and 2020. He's had a few seasons of REALLY GOOD control numbers, and then some awful ones recently. I guess this would be a decent chance for the Sox to try to salvage his arm and possibly flip him in July, especially if Cease or Dunning are ready, or even next winter. The monetary cost shouldn't be much of anything, especially if we can get the Braves to even toss in $3M to cover the difference from Avi to Teheran. This really would be a decent chance for the Braves to make a salary dump. Hell, they could even non-tender Avi if they really wanted to just save money and use that $11M on someone like Carlos Gonzalez until Pache is ready to be promoted to the OF.

Now that's my kind of fan. Excellent post, sir.

I'll take it as you can't support that point.

How much do we really think the Yankees care about blowing up their budget?

Nia Jax sucks. Becky has been amazing and this is her best work yet.

Easily the worst comment I've seen on this site.

listeners are not quite as lucky

I need this to happen already cuz I keep coming back to this thread expecting it to be something other than "the Sox have never spent money" "do you really think Harper/Machado would actually play for the Sox" "they've never been in this situation before, Reinsdorf paid MJ" and it's just variations on that every time.

Perhaps. But I've observed Avi at Spring Training year after year, and he is an absolute tool with fans. Picture a string of kids lined up on the wall just wanting a hand slap. He's only 4 ft from the wall and and he maintains his "tough guy" strut and just glares at them. And this is not an isolated incident.....it's his MO. Contrast that with Abreu who goes out of his way to make every kid feel special. every chance he gets. I say good riddance to his career year and bring on whatever the future may bring.

I copied the template below from SouthSideSox's Offseason plan. Offseason Plan Introduction My plan, because it's more fun, is to vastly accelerate the rebuild for 2019, in hopes that Kopech steps back in to a situation in 2020 where the team is ready to take the division. I'm going to be spending a ton of money. A ton. So the chances of this happening are slim, I grant you that. But without further adieu....here we gooooo. Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR😞 José Abreu – $16 million - TENDER Avisaíl García – $8 million - NONTENDER Yolmer Sánchez – $4.7 million - TENDER Carlos Rodón – $3.7 million - TENDER Matt Davidson – $2.4 million - TENDER Leury García – $1.9 million - TENDER Impending Free Agents Miguel González (2018 salary: $4.75 million) - Cut loose Hector Santiago (2018 salary: $2 million) - Cut loose CURRENT PAYROLL GOING IN TO FREE AGENCY - $52M Free agents Using the list of free agents, tell us who you’d sign, keeping in mind our salary cap, and good, old-fashioned logic. Include your maximum offer (total years, total salary). Explain your choice at least briefly, even in the case of the most obvious, superstar signs. There is no minimum or maximum number of free agent deals. For illustrative purposes, here’s an idea that by no means you should implement: Bryce Harper (11 yrs, $424 million, $38.5M AAV, Opt outs after years 5, 6, 7) I don't really feel the need to explain this one. Sox need an absolute thumper in their line-up to pair with Eloy. Imagine the nightmare of these guys batting lefty and righty next to each other in the line-up. I would also welcome Machado, or certainly Arenado next year, but the idea of this bat coming from a lefty makes me tight in my White Sox male romper. Opt outs are a trend. Everyone wants opt outs. Fine, Bryce, take your stinkin opt-outs. But you aren't getting one until we get 5 years out of you, sir. The Sox may not even be a playoff team for the first 2 years of that deal. Can't give an opt out any sooner than 5 years in my world with the possibility that this rebuild fails and we blew unbelievable amounts of cash to go no where and see him walk. LHP Patrick Corbin (5 yrs, $115 million, $23M AAV) I honestly did not have him originally in my plans until I saw a rumor suggesting that a White Sox source said he was #1 on their offseason target list. I'm choosing to bite completely on that rumor. A 29-year-old lefty than can be the Sox veteran anchor of the competitive window. The Sox have recently been extremely left-handed, with Sale, Q, Rodon, and Santiago all in the rotation at one point. But now, Rodon is the only lefty in the system for.....a while. Giolito, Lopez, Kopech, Cease, Dunning, Stephens, Hansen; all RHP. The next lefties anywhere on the future radar are Pilkington and Medeiros, but they are both likely ranked after all of those guys in the pecking order. Corbin has completely blossomed as a starter and Arizona is a tough, TOUGH place to pitch. Nearly every single metric has trended positively for him over the last 3 years (GB% has gone backwards 3 years in a row, interestingly enough). I know the Yankees are suppose to have big interest in him, and he's publicly said it would be great to pitch for his childhood team, but I am going to assume the Yankees play in to that leverage and offer him a little less than his asking price, hoping they can get a discount for his childhood fantasies. RHP Garrett Richards (3 yrs, $27 million, $9M AAV, with a team option for $17M for 4th year with $3M buyout) This would be a relatively low risk-high reward situation. Garrett Richards is can be a stud. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery (sup Kopech), but as we know, that's nothing to be afraid of anymore. For this reason, he will miss the entire 2019 season. So this signing would really be more like 2 yrs/$27M, with a team option. Drew Smyly got 2 yrs/$10M last season in the same situation, and he's not even close to the level that Richards is on. Richards gets $30M promised with this deal, with a chance at $44M over 4 years if he proves healthy and successful. RHP Trevor Cahill (2 yrs, $20 million, $10 AAV) Cahill had one of his best seasons ever in 2018. But more importantly, he actually saw his velo tick back up, to the 2nd highest it has ever been. That's encouraging for an oft-injured 30 year old. He also uses his slider a lot more now, and gets a lot of groundballs leading to a very good HR rate last year. He is basically just a guy we would sign to give us some innings and then hopefully flip either next offseason or July of 2020. He is keeping the seat warm for Kopech and Richards return, or Dunning. RP Adam Ottavino (3 yrs, $27 million, $9M AAV) Ottavino found a couple years of decent success out of the Rockies bullpen in his late 20s. But it wasn't until he dove completely head first in to analytics and advanced technology that he saw a breakout year in 2018 at age 32. He turns 33 in a couple of weeks, so there is certainly some risk here, but the guy seems smart enough to adjust to what his arm is allowing him to do. His strikeout rate soared, and his HR rate plummeted. Get him out of Coors and let him set up Zack Burdi in the future. CURRENT PAYROLL AFTER FREE AGENCY (using AAV) - $141.5M Trades White Sox acquire RP Shawn Armstrong from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for 1B Gavin Sheets and RF Ryan Cordell The Mariners are tearing shit down. Unfortunately, the guys they likely to want to move don't fit my contention window for the Sox, or cost too much money. Shawn Armstrong, fits that window and doesn't cost much. Would the Mariners have any motivation to move Armstrong? Maybe not, but oh well I'm offering them prospects for a RP, just take it, Jerry. Why would the Mariners want Gavin Sheets when they have Evan White in AAA who plays 1B? I dunno guys, maybe they need a DH? Stop asking the tough questions. Swap out Sheets for Alex Call or Steele Walker or AJ Puckett or any other back-end top 25 guy. The point is that Shawn Armstrong has seen a slight tick up in velo since his short stint with the Mariners. He's throwing his plus curveball more, and his cutter more. He struck out 97 batters across 70 innings between AAA and Seattle (12.47 K/9) to go along with a 3.6 BB/9 and 1.67 ERA with only 4 HR allowed. He is still pre-arb, so the Sox would have him under control through 2022. He's 28 years old. White Sox acquire 3B Nick Senzel from the Cincinnati Reds for SP Dylan Cease, SP Alec Hansen, and 3B Jake Burger Oh boy is this one juicy! You like how I buried it after the Armstrong trade? I'm a sneaky b****. Nick Senzel is a fucking stud. He's an easy top 10 prospect in baseball, maybe top 5. This trade would be an effort to even out prospect needs. The Sox need someone who can play 3B in their org. The Reds desperately need pitching. We give them a stud pitching prospect in Dylan Cease who is exploding up the charts. But given that Cease is likely a top 25-40 pitcher on most lists, the Sox will have to sweeten the pot a bit more for Senzel who has never stopped hitting since he was a small child. What the Reds will get are 2 guys who could easily be mid to back-end top 100 guys, if not for injuries. They are rather risky prospects, for that reason, and ones the Sox should be willing to gamble away if a deal presents itself. Senzel is only on the table because the Reds currently have the revelation of Eugenio Suarez at 3B, and even Senzel's 2nd position, at 2B, is blocked by Scooter Gennett who has also bloomed. Senzel was then tried out at SS to help find him an unblocked path to the Reds, but even there they have Jose Peraza who had a very good 2018 season as well and is only 24 years old. This is all to just add to the fact that the Reds 2018 1st RD draft pick was 3B Jonathan India at #5 overall and is an advanced college bat. They also happen to take a SS with their 1st RD pick in 2017 in Jeter Downs. AND THEN they also have a prospect named Shed Long who is a top 100 prospect who plays 2B. The Reds are LOADED in the infield. The Sox could honestly make a trade for Jonathan India and do it without losing Cease, but Senzel is lined up perfectly with this wave of prospects, whereas India might be more of a late 2020 debut guy if everything goes great for him. White Sox acquire C Keibert Ruiz and SS Gavin Lux from the Los Angeles Dodgers for SP Carlos Rodon I love Rodon. I really do. But he only has 3 years left with the Sox, and his shoulder issues scare me. This may be the right time to move him, before he has another injury and tanks all of his value. I would say even this trade may be a little lobsided in the Sox favor, if not for the fact that, like Senzel, Ruiz is so totally blocked in the Dodgers system. Yes he is their #2 prospect according to Fangraphs....but their #1 prospect is ALSO a catcher, Will Smith. And Smith is just about ready for the majors. But they also have Austin Barnes in the majors. So Ruiz is a 20-year old switch hitting catcher with amazing plate discipline at his age, and spending half of his 2018 season as a 19-year-old in AA. He struck out only 8% of the time in AA, and walked almost as much, to go along with 12 HR. Also considered an above average defender. Gavin Lux is a guy who myself and many others really really wanted in the 2016 draft with our 2nd pick at #26. The Dodgers ended up popping him at #20 instead. Lux spent his age 20 season in A+ and AA where he hit .324 with 15 HR, 13 SB, a walk rate of about 11% and a K% just under 17%. Another kid with great plate discipline, a bit of pop, but plays a premium position with 60 grade speed. Oh, and he bats lefty. Still love me some Gavin Lux. He is rated the Dodgers #8 prospect. Summary A lot of my moves are more for the year 2020 and beyond. Not too much for the 2019 season, as I would expect most of these plans to be laid out. But I also continued to stockpile high end prospects by adding Senzel and Ruiz to the mix. Senzel is an easy top 10 prospect. Ruiz could be a top 25-30 guy. I also spent a ton of money. I doubt the Sox add $90M in AAV, but I'm not the Sox, and I want to win. 2019 projected team Line-up: 1) SS Tim Anderson 2) 3B Nick Senzel 3) RF Bryce Harper 4) 1B Jose Abreu 5) LF Eloy Jimenez 6) 2B Yoan Moncada 7) DH Daniel Palka/Matt Davidson 8.) C Wellington Castillo 9) CF Adam Engel Bench: Omar Narvaez, Luery Garcia, Yolmer Sanchez Rotation: 1) LHP Patrick Corbin 2) RHP Reynaldo Lopez 3) RHP Lucas Giolito 4) RHP Trevor Cahill 5) RHP Dylan Covey Bullpen: Nate Jones, Jace Fry, Ian Hamilton, Caleb Frare, Aaron Bummer, Shawn Armstrong, Adam Ottavino Payroll - $137.8M The next year, Covey gets kicked out or bumped to the 'pen, and Cahill gets traded as Richards and Kopech take their spots. Dunning possibly takes over for Giolito if he continues to struggle. Burdi takes over for Nate Jones if he can't stay healthy. Ruiz will hopefully be ready to take over the catching duties by then as well.