Sox interested in Encarnacion per Morosi

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

Depends on what’s available. I’d rather keep getting .850 ops out of DH than try to improve center field from .700 to .740. Also black hole is pretty strong.

How else would you describe the Indians CF and RF situation the past couple years? When you are giving 33/34 yo Melky Cabrera serious playing time after he’s spent spring training and part of the first half of the season at home, I’d say that’s a pretty dire situation. 

How can anyone that watched the 2016 World Series not think RF was a black hole for them? Like I said one might be able to argue that they thought they could cover CF between Zimmer and others but you’re telling me they were better off upgrading DH than RF? Sorry, I just don’t buy that. 

Thank god they didn’t trade for Yelich. He would have been a perfect fit.

[oldsox]

6 hours ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

How else would you describe the Indians CF and RF situation the past couple years? When you are giving 33/34 yo Melky Cabrera serious playing time after he’s spent spring training and part of the first half of the season at home, I’d say that’s a pretty dire situation. 

How can anyone that watched the 2016 World Series not think RF was a black hole for them? Like I said one might be able to argue that they thought they could cover CF between Zimmer and others but you’re telling me they were better off upgrading DH than RF? Sorry, I just don’t buy that. 

Thank god they didn’t trade for Yelich. He would have been a perfect fit.

We should have traded for him.  Perfect fit here, too.  Geez, he's better than Harper.

[GREEDY]

Scrambling for what they feel is a big name, just because he is available?

Because they took what has to be the most pro-rebuild fanbase in the history of professional sports and somehow managed to ruin that patience and understanding in two months of hot-stove season?  

 

[southsideirish71]

The irony here is the front office could have negated this by being quiet.  

Fake Reporter "I hear you are looking at Harper or Manny. "    Fake Hahn or Kenny  "We are committed to the process here.  We are excited about the next wave of our young players that are coming up and look for that to provide star power.  Its an exciting time for our organization."

Then you go and bid for both.  If nothing happens with it, no one is the wiser.   Talking about things in the open press is stupid. 

 

 

[bmags]

7 hours ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

How else would you describe the Indians CF and RF situation the past couple years? When you are giving 33/34 yo Melky Cabrera serious playing time after he’s spent spring training and part of the first half of the season at home, I’d say that’s a pretty dire situation. 

How can anyone that watched the 2016 World Series not think RF was a black hole for them? Like I said one might be able to argue that they thought they could cover CF between Zimmer and others but you’re telling me they were better off upgrading DH than RF? Sorry, I just don’t buy that. 

Thank god they didn’t trade for Yelich. He would have been a perfect fit.

It wouldn’t have been that bad if not for injuries. Chisenhall obviously isn’t great defensively but he’s had good offense last two years just couldn’t stay healthy. Tribe wouldn’t know that going into 2017 when signing EE.

[SoxBlanco]

7 minutes ago, southsideirish71 said:

The irony here is the front office could have negated this by being quiet.  

Fake Reporter "I hear you are looking at Harper or Manny. "    Fake Hahn or Kenny  "We are committed to the process here.  We are excited about the next wave of our young players that are coming up and look for that to provide star power.  Its an exciting time for our organization."

Then you go and bid for both.  If nothing happens with it, no one is the wiser.   Talking about things in the open press is stupid. 

 

 

You think they’d be able to keep it quiet when Manny visited the three cities? Hell, what about the Harper sign at the United Center? And it would have leaked during the winter meetings if nothing else. 

I see nothing wrong with the way they have “gotten our hopes up” like everybody is so up in arms about. It’s not like Hahn or KW ever said they were confident they would be able to sign one of them. 

[GREEDY]

I often wondered if Hahn had trade for a superstar in his back pocket in the event he missed out on Harpchado, as I couldn't understand why they were so public with their pursuit....  never could come up with a name though, if this is his plan (and it is a dumb one) I sure hope he doesn't think E5 will appease the fanbase.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

19 minutes ago, bmags said:

It wouldn’t have been that bad if not for injuries. Chisenhall obviously isn’t great defensively but he’s had good offense last two years just couldn’t stay healthy. Tribe wouldn’t know that going into 2017 when signing EE.

They’d have been much better off moving Chisenhall to a DH/utility man role than sign EE after the 2016 season. Like you said he’s a solid hitter but he’s dreadful in RF. Always easier to fill the DH spot than every day position players, especially with average to plus defenders. Just look at the White Sox 😀

That’s why I’d never spend big money for a full time DH after the Dunn debacle unless the guy is an elite hitter in his prime like JDM.

[bmags]

5 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

They’d have been much better off moving Chisenhall to a DH/utility man role than sign EE after the 2016 season. Like you said he’s a solid hitter but he’s dreadful in RF. Always easier to fill the DH spot than every day position players, especially with average to plus defenders. Just look at the White Sox 😀

That’s why I’d never spend big money for a full time DH after the Dunn debacle unless the guy is an elite hitter in his prime like JDM.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/2016-17-top-50-mlb-free-agents-predictions.html

Take your pick. EE was definition of elite hitter. I don’t know that any of those outfielders made a better team.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

11 minutes ago, bmags said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/2016-17-top-50-mlb-free-agents-predictions.html

Take your pick. EE was definition of elite hitter. I don’t know that any of those outfielders made a better team.

EE was going into his age 34 season. Not what I would consider his prime years. Indians, like the WS, typically avoid signing big free agents (because they are generally overpaid and present poor value especially for lower budget teams). They could have easily packaged a couple of their prospects for a major outfield upgrade with a modest increase in payroll. Like I said, thankfully they didn’t put together a package for Yelich last winter. They could have easily beat the Brewers package if they wanted.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

1 hour ago, oldsox said:

We should have traded for him.  Perfect fit here, too.  Geez, he's better than Harper.

I don’t think the Sox were in a position to offload 2 or 3 top 100 prospects in a trade last winter for someone that hits FA after the 2022 season. Heck, I don’t think they are in the position to do that now either. I don’t think the WS window opens until 2021 personally. Maybe 2020 if everything goes right but that’s probably optimistic with the number of questions surrounding the starting rotation.

I would consider that type of trade next winter or the following winter but not sooner. At least with the way the team is currently constructed. Now if they sign Harper or Machado maybe that changes their outlook but until then I’m not keen on unloading that type of depth when they still have so many holes to fill.

Edited December 30, 2018 by JUSTgottaBELIEVE

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 hour ago, southsideirish71 said:

The irony here is the front office could have negated this by being quiet.  

Fake Reporter "I hear you are looking at Harper or Manny. "    Fake Hahn or Kenny  "We are committed to the process here.  We are excited about the next wave of our young players that are coming up and look for that to provide star power.  Its an exciting time for our organization."

Then you go and bid for both.  If nothing happens with it, no one is the wiser.   Talking about things in the open press is stupid. 

 

 

So do you think there are any teams actually in on Machado and Harper that we haven't heard about? That's basically what you are saying because the Sox , Phillies, Yankees , Dodgers and Cubs so far are the only one connected to them and none of them has been quiet about it . The Yankees even went so far as to say they would need an explanation about his Johnny Hustle comments which seems pretty strange if you really want the guy . Why put him on the defensive ?I bet the Sox didn't even bring that up.

Edited December 30, 2018 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

8 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

But that has never stopped them until now. KW came out and said what they need is available now. So if they don’t get what they need when money apparently isn’t an object, would be a complete and total failure.

I would agree. Not signing Harper or Machado is a failure on the Sox part. They’ve said as much that they have planned for this. It doesn’t make the rebuild a failure, as many people are tying the two together. But it does slow down the rebuild. The Sox have this spending room for a reason. They have to capitalize on it.

[Dick Allen]

6 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

I would agree. Not signing Harper or Machado is a failure on the Sox part. They’ve said as much that they have planned for this. It doesn’t make the rebuild a failure, as many people are tying the two together. But it does slow down the rebuild. The Sox have this spending room for a reason. They have to capitalize on it.

They probably would never admit it sets it back, but it’s huge. These guys are most likely perennial MVP candidates. It would be like the White Sox in the early 90 s sans Frank Thomas. The Cubs without Kris Bryant. Houston without Jose Altuve.

If  an additional $50 million to $75 million over 10 years is the difference from being a have or have not, it is a pretty small price to pay. JR gave Jabari Parker a good chunk of that just to try to find a team where  the Bulls could trade him.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Dick Allen