Superstar Lamar

and Machado would have made the lineup championship level

we are a Frank Stallone away from a world championship

$50 million separated the Sox from Machado. The Sox spent $32 million on Herrera, Alonzo, Jay and Mc Cann.

People are recognizing that an extra piece outside of the organization will be needed in order to be great. The Sox balked when presented with that extra piece.

wins are almost irrelevant. We are bad. I don't care about the degree of bad.

This may not be the bottom but I'm not joining them any further on a trip downward

As I said in my earlier post, I don't view employment in baseball to be something sacred. It's a meritocracy. He deserves a shot at the job if his talent is sufficient.

There was a very thorough article about the situation a couple of years ago in, I believe, SI that is worth a read. One interesting excerpt, among many, was a third party expert in the field detailing that recidivism among underage people who commit the crime but undergo proper treatment is incredibly low. I don't know how much that changes anyone's analysis. Personally, I don't think we have to entirely forgive and forget but you also cannot damn a 20 or so year old guy to walking the earth alone unworthy of employment once he has paid his debt. I also don't romanticize a job in baseball as some special privilege bestowed on only the purest. If he were hired for the lowest job you can think of, would you hate the company that hired him? If so, then you are essentially saying he should never have employment. In my opinion that position leads to additional legal problems against society in the future. I may find it repugnant but my line of thinking has to lead to an answer that I wouldn't be against the Sox hiring him. Obviously there would have to be restrictions on his employment.

I think they should experiment with the opener by announcing the chairman and general manager's names at the same time as the players just to get anecdotal evidence of fan sentiment

I don't want him to sell. I want him to kick the bucket

Alonso and Jay were Reinsdorf's baseball equivalent of sending Benny the Bull to the airport to seal a deal.

We are the one's who have to pay for JR unwillingness to stay up to date with the game, how it is played and how it is generally managed.

Stop it. I'd take every one of those worst case scenarios. Versailles was an MVP

After a few days of reflecting, I am angrier than I was. The most likely scenario in all of this is that it is a 5 year contract after the opt out. So we lost Manny over refusing to guarantee the final two years that will most likely never become an issue. Even more infuriating is that if the Sox had matched, they would have paid less over those five years than they were proposing to pay under their final offer. I am just getting myself angrier biting into this layered shit cake.

I think it would be a perfect time for a reporter to write a nice, long article about the history of JR ownership in this city and how he has made an almost willful effort to destroy the fanbase in order to ultimately move the team.