Sox trade for Yonder Alonso; Alex Call to CLE

[103 mph screwball]

1 hour ago, maggsmaggs said:

 I have a hard time believing that the prospect of playing with a friend for one year and at most two years will sway a player to sign a 10-year contract with that team. 

It won’t!  But it WILL make it more difficult to explain to his wife why he is turning down the higher White Sox offer.  

[TheTruth05]

 

Sox seem eager.

[reiks12]

11 minutes ago, default said:

Amplified by x100 if Harper signs with the Cubs and then takes a shit on home plate at GRF 

Post of the thread

[Vote4Pedro]

On his Twitter page he has #familyiseverything.....hopefully that is the case for Machado as well

[Chicago White Sox]

51 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

No upside? -between Delmonico and Palka they have less than 2 full major leagues seasons.

Not that they need upside to be better than Alonso - Palka was miles better with the bat than Alonso was last season. 
Alonso has been getting worse the last 2 years.
This is the "proven veteran" philosophy that Hahn used to build with Sale, Q and Eaton that maxed out at 78 wins.
The Sox also gave a big assist to Cleveland in its effort to dump salary.  Nicely done.
It's Machado or bust.
 

Cue the “hero worshipping” rants in 3...2...1...

[103 mph screwball]

So Sox don’t try, they are cheap.  If they do try and fail, they are jokes.  I’ll take my chances on being a joke.

[ChiSox59]

57 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Than a joke?  If they miss out on both, they still will be irrelevant.But this trade actually has made me more optimistic. I am no fan of Hahn, but I don’t think he would make this trade just as part of his presentation.  He must know more than that.

There is no other explanation for this acquisition. He is short term, and his position is already covered by players better and/or younger than him.

 

This must  be part of the tax the Sox have to pay to keep him from the Yankees. If it is not, this winter has been a total bust for them.

You’re going a bit far with this take dude. Yonder Alonso is a proven and legitimate major leaguer, not some Indy ball bum. No one is going to give a shit about Alonso if the Sox somehow fail to sign MM, and why do you even care if they do? 

[bmags]

6 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

You’re going a bit far with this take dude. Yonder Alonso is a proven and legitimate major leaguer, not some Indy ball bum. No one is going to give a shit about Alonso if the Sox somehow fail to sign MM, and why do you even care if they do? 

Yeah so if Alonso had no relationship to Machado you guys are telling me you’d be happy with this trade? It has no positive value outside of Machado. At best it’s neutral. He just isn’t very good.

[ChiSox59]

I imagine the Sox will now be in the market for a right handed bat to platoon with Alonso. He struggles against LHP, and obviously Palka cannot be his platoon mate. 

[ChiSox59]

Just now, bmags said:

Yeah so if Alonso had no relationship to Machado you guys are telling me you’d be happy with this trade? It has no positive value outside of Machado. At best it’s neutral. He just isn’t very good.

I’m not upset about it. Dude is due $9M, not some huge sum. He put up 2.4 fWAR in 2017, but fell at .7 in 2018. He’s paid what he’s worth, and could be a nice value if he bounces back to 2017 levels.

i don’t see the harm in this move at all. 

[fathom]

11 hours ago, fathom said:

"As we move forward in the rebuild, it's important that we acquire veteran leadership.  Yonder brings left handed power that should flourish at the Cell and he's familiar with Ricky from his Padres days and will be a good mentor to our young players.  We will continue to look for creative ways in which to acquire premium assets without losing sight of our long-term flexibility"

 

[ptatc]

1 hour ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I'm not knocking the acquisition of Alonso at all. Far from it. I like the move. Just saying That I don't care one way or another if people make fun of the Sox.Right now we are irrelevant until we can sign one of the whales. If that doesn't happen the scorn from not dong that will far outweigh the jokes about Alonso being acquired.

I guess since people are more concerned about how others view them as opposed to really trying to improve the team.  It seems the issue is the sox outing themselves out their and really trying to acquire one of these guys, then failing. Its better than not trying at all in my view, but some can turn trying for the golden ring a negative.

[ChiSox59]

 

[Dick Allen]

 

25 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

You’re going a bit far with this take dude. Yonder Alonso is a proven and legitimate major leaguer, not some Indy ball bum. No one is going to give a shit about Alonso if the Sox somehow fail to sign MM, and why do you even care if they do? 

The Sox have Abreu playing 1B, and Palka a LH DH. Hahn has stated over and over again how this winter is about long term pieces not short term fixes, if even Alonso can be considered a fix. Picking him up is about 1 thing and 1 thing only. If that doesn’t happen he blew $9 million for what?  Wouldn’t spending even less than that been better to see if Avi Garcia could hit .330 again? Not only that, he helped Cleveland at least a little bit with their payroll problem.

if the Sox don’t sign Machado after spending $9 million to do so, they are a joke, if it makes Machado a White Sox it is a great move. It is that simple.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Dick Allen

[The Beast]

12 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I’m not upset about it. Dude is due $9M, not some huge sum. He put up 2.4 fWAR in 2017, but fell at .7 in 2018. He’s paid what he’s worth, and could be a nice value if he bounces back to 2017 levels.

i don’t see the harm in this move at all. 

There is no harm in this move. There is wayyy too much b****ing about this move. “If they don’t get Machado then this was a waste” is getting old. They need to fill out the roster while they wait for Machado or Harper to respond to an offer. There are still holes elsewhere and I fully expect them to be filled before Harper or Machado to make up their minds. I fully expect there to be a plan B and that this board will have the same meltdown that I did when Trump won the presidency if neither sign.

Edited December 15, 2018 by The Beast

[ChiSox59]

Just now, Dick Allen said:

 

The Sox haAbreu playing 1B, and Paaka a LH DH. Hahn has stated over and over again how this winter is about long term pieces not short term fixes, if even Alonso can be considered a fix. Picking him up is about 1 thing and 1 thing only. If that doesn’t happen he blew $9 million for what?  Wouldn’t even less than that been better to see if Avi Garcia could hit .330 again? Not only that, he helped Cleveland at least a little bit with their payroll problem.

if the Sox don’t sign Machado after spending $9 million to do so, they are a joke,

The Sox payroll WITH Alonso is still projected to be one of the smallest in the league. $9M is nothing - who cares? The Sox gave up a guy that was never going to be a long term piece for them.

I think the only one making the “joke” is you. Ken Rosenthal was just saying the other day that he projected some “savvy” team would do this. If the Yankees or Phillies did it, you’d be lauding the move. 

[bmags]

1 minute ago, The Beast said:

There is no harm in this move. There is wayyy too much b****ing about this move. “If they don’t get Machado then this was a waste” is getting old. They need to fill out the roster while they wait for Machado or Harper to respond to an offer. There are still holes elsewhere and I fully expect them to be filled before Harper or Machado to make up their minds. I fully expect there to be a plan B and that this board will have the same meltdown that I did when Trump won the presidency if neither sign.

They did not need to fill out what Alonso fills.

I think it’s cool that they made this move regarding Machado, I do.

I don’t think I need to trick myself into thinking acquiring bad roster fits in McCann and Alonso is actually great news after watching Hahn do that for 6 years now.

So yes, if this was not coordinated with the agent or machado and was just a failed bail Mary, that would be a bad sign for how disciplined and good Hahn will do at building this club back up after being allowed to tear it down.

[ChiSox59]

Plus, if the Sox don’t get Machado, and they decide to be bad again for some reason, they could easily give Alonso away, and poof! The $9M is back, and put Palka back as everyday DH. He could also turn in a nice first half and return a better prospect than Call. 

Its really not a concern of mine. 

[ChiSox59]

1 minute ago, bmags said:

They did not need to fill out what Alonso fills.

I think it’s cool that they made this move regarding Machado, I do.

I don’t think I need to trick myself into thinking acquiring bad roster fits in McCann and Alonso is actually great news after watching Hahn do that for 6 years now.

So yes, if this was not coordinated with the agent or machado and was just a failed bail Mary, that would be a bad sign for how disciplined and good Hahn will do at building this club back up after being allowed to tear it down.

I like Palka, but Alonso is an upgrade. He’s also better at 1B than Abreu. He does improve he team, and he’s not very expensive. 

I didn’t like the McCann move at all because he isn’t good at anything, and if you wanted a guy that isn’t good at anything, sign a few minor league deals and let the best of bunch have the backup role until Seby is ready. 

I have zero qualms about The Alonso move. I love the effort. And let’s be real, there’s a decent chance Palka is terrible in 2019. I like the guy a lot and am rooting for him, but he’s already a low OBP, terrible defender and home run or  nothing guy, and that was with a very surprising rookie campaign. 

[Dick Allen]

8 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

The Sox payroll WITH Alonso is still projected to be one of the smallest in the league. $9M is nothing - who cares? The Sox gave up a guy that was never going to be a long term piece for them.

I think the only one making the “joke” is you. Ken Rosenthal was just saying the other day that he projected some “savvy” team would do this. If the Yankees or Phillies did it, you’d be lauding the move. 

It doesn’t matter. It will be $9 million spent that doesn’t help the team. That is $9 million they cannot spend elsewhere. And since you have been a White Sox fan a long time, youwill remember KWs favorite lime you can’t spend $1 when you only have $0:50. The $9 million might come in handy some time. 

On top of that, you just did the Indians a solid with their payroll crunch.

if it works, and I now have every reason to think it will, awesome. If it doesn’t, it was stupid.

And I have not ripped the move. If it fails, I will.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Dick Allen

[bmags]

2 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Plus, if the Sox don’t get Machado, and they decide to be bad again for some reason, they could easily give Alonso away, and poof! The $9M is back, and put Palka back as everyday DH. He could also turn in a nice first half and return a better prospect than Call. 

Its really not a concern of mine. 

That’s cool it’s not a concern of yours but if you take away the Machado angle this looks exactly like a move the Sox would make from 2010-2016 where they acquire a middling vet hoping for a bounce back and call it progress.

If this was uncoordinated and Machado doesn’t sign, then what it doesn’t do is show me an example of how the Sox will be better at structuring a roster after a decade of this same org trying and failing to structure rosters.

Even for small deals, I just have higher standards than “who cares we didn’t give up much and it doesn’t hurt” because during a rebuild every move that doesn’t add to long term winning is taking time, money, or prospects that could be used toward that front.

If it doesn’t matter, than don’t do it. Put $9 mill toward player development instead.

[The Beast]

3 minutes ago, bmags said:

They did not need to fill out what Alonso fills.

I think it’s cool that they made this move regarding Machado, I do.

I don’t think I need to trick myself into thinking acquiring bad roster fits in McCann and Alonso is actually great news after watching Hahn do that for 6 years now.

So yes, if this was not coordinated with the agent or machado and was just a failed bail Mary, that would be a bad sign for how disciplined and good Hahn will do at building this club back up after being allowed to tear it down.

Then as a fan base let’s continue b****ing and see what that brings. There are too many unknown variables that people don’t have any inside information on. A team has needs each offseason, why can’t people identify the remaining holes instead of just have the meltdown that they do? It’s not productive and while I don’t agree with everything rabbit said on Twitter, fans need to set themselves up for the possibility that neither sign here. I will be thrilled if one sign here, but there probably is a plan B if they don’t sign here. Having prospects coming soon and players like Harper and Machado would be a healthier and better direction, but there is still talent that could be brought in in the future if they miss on either or both players. It’s just not worth freaking out about Colome, Nova, McCann and Alsonso yet.

[bmags]

Just now, The Beast said:

Then as a fan base let’s continue b****ing and see what that brings. There are too many unknown variables that people don’t have any inside information on. A team has needs each offseason, why can’t people identify the remaining holes instead of just have the meltdown that they do? It’s not productive and while I don’t agree with everything rabbit said on Twitter, fans need to set themselves up for the possibility that neither sign here. I will be thrilled if one sign here, but there probably is a plan B if they don’t sign here. Having prospects coming soon and players like Harper and Machado would be a healthier and better direction, but there is still talent that could be brought in in the future if they miss on either or both players. It’s just not worth freaking out about Colome, Nova, McCann and Alsonso yet.

Um, the Sox continuing to bring in bad players instead of good ones is  it a good sign that they will bring in good ones in the future, and pointing that out is not “freaking out” and nobody claimed posting on a message board is going to improve the rebuild.

[ChiSox59]

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

It doesn’t matter. It will be $9 million spent that doesn’t help the team. That is $9 million they cannot spend elsewhere. And since you have been a White Sox fan a long time, youwill remember KWs favorite lime you can’t spend $1 when you only have $0:50. The $9 million might come in handy some time. 

On top of that, you just did the Indians a solid with their payroll crunch.

if it works, and I now have every reason to think it will, awesome. If it doesn’t, it was stupid.

1. It does improve the team. Incrementally, sure, but it improves 1B defense and Alonso is better than Palka.

2. The $9M wasn’t going to be deposited into an account named “Future Free Agency Fund”. Dollars are fungible, and this wasn’t going to be reallocated to future years. Not how it works. Couldn’t be less concerned about paying a solid major league veteran his market rate. The White Sox have a $1.25 to spend and they just spent away 9 pennies. Big fucking deal. 

[Dick Allen]

Does anyone really believe Alonso was brought in for some reason other than Manny Machado?