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Be sure to check your biases against certain Cuban slugging 1Bs at the door.

Says everything about who you are as a person that your instinct also included the comment about the haircut.

I'm actually being optimistic when I think the Whitesox won't go after Machado. Dude is a loser and a complete douchebag. If the Whitesox are going to lose 80,100 games which they will do regardless of whether Machado is on the roster I'd rather them do so with guys who will run to first base and who I don't want to punch in the face everytime I hear them talk. This is baseball it ain't basketball. Why are you so excited for Machado anyways? He aint Lebron. I mean even if he wasn't a complete douchebag with terrible cornrows we aren't going to make the playoffs if we sign him. We aren't going to even finish .500? So why? What is the rush to spend 200-250 million when we could be 2-3 years away from needing a finishing piece like Machado. Also do we really want to expose our young players to this guy? Is this the guy we want to set the example for Eloy, Moncada, Kopech, and Robert? You can say he doesn't have to be a leader if you are paying someone 200-250 milllion and giving them a 10 year deal he's the leader and are giving him more power then even the coaches. So no I don't want Machado for a variety of reasons not just baseball related. I also don't want Harper. Instead lets do this thing right and see where we are in 2 years because at that point Eloy should be up. Robert and Rutherford should be up or very close. Kopech. Cease. We'll know how sucessful this rebuild was and more importantly we will know what we need moving forward as adds to the ML roster. I'd much rather target a young blocked player like Chavis on the Redsox.

Ha, there was only one direction this thread was going to go. One good post to start, and then mostly people making up what they think they know here.

unbelievable run of breaking news by sleepy harold

However, I really worry that another year trotting out garbage will adversely effect development. I'd much rather have a veteran presence who can perform, and who pushes others to match it, than this 6 pitchers with a 5+ ERA all just saying "well he's having issues too". You can't measure it, but I don't like idea of bookending garbage pitchers around the young guys.

The hair comment ranks up there as one of the slick ways of mentioning race by touching on racial stereotypes instead of just saying it flat out... Things that usually fall into that category include items such as that rap music, being lazy, pull up your pants, the neighborhood doesn't look like it used to, black quarterbacks not being smart, thugs, gang members, etc.

Maybe you can crack the code what did I really mean when I criticized his ugly conrows? When is criticizing a new haircut more then just criticizing a new haircut? When does it turn into something else? Something darker? Comeon dude some people can pull off conrows others can;t. Machado can't.

This is one of the more confusing posts I've ever seen on here.

What in the fuck

And if you take away the one Super Bowl Rodgers won, he would have none. You can't take a game away just to fit a mindset. He isn't turning the ball over and his YPA continues to creep up. He had Tampa on the schedule and beat their ass. The Bears offense scored more against Tampa than New Orleans, Philly, Pittsburgh, ATL and Cincinnati did.

100% agree. And there is zero evidence showing us that Jerry Reinsdorf would make the biggest offer.

HOT STOVE SEASON IS HERE!!!!

The Sox got a Manny! Just like they said they would!

Even though he reminds me of a lefty-hitting Rangel Ravelo I would have hung on to Yurchak for at least another year. Bet he probably hits somewhere between GF last year and Kanny this season which wouldn’t be terrible. Too bad he couldn’t stick at 3rd.

75% Manny; 0% Harper Based on several kryptic remarks/hints made in the last year by Hahn re: shurking old "standards" and ways of doing business in the past, and the team having the financial resources (they've always had them, btw) to add pieces from the open market when they were ready to, I think the team is ready and willing to pull off a deal of Albert Bellesque proportion. I think the current owner is going to do exactly what he did at the time he signed Albert Belle - identify the price point that he knows no other team will go beyond, then go beyond it himself to try and make this happen. Belle wanted the most money he could get, which the Sox offered, and the deal actually happened fairly quickly. For whatever reason I feel history is going to repeat itself this time around with Machado. The only way I think it doesn't happen is if Machado is willing to accept less money to play for another team he'd prefer to be on, but all indications are he's after the big payday which, why not. But I think the Sox will be the ones with the largest offer.

Can never complain about getting a Mexican pitcher.

post-post-hype sleeper

Not throwing James Shields out there every 5th day is a step in the right direction. Improving on an offensive black hole in 3B and CF is a step in the right direction. A full season of Rodon and step forward from Giolito and Lopez is step in the right direction. I project improvement from Moncada and Timmy. The bullpen is young and inexperienced, but the Sox have an organization loaded with high potential back end of the bullpen arms. I think the bullpen will be much better, and will improve as the season wears on. So no, adding Eloy doesn't fix everything. But I also don't expect the rest of the team to look the same. If they trot out basically the same team as last year like you seemingly want, and no one improves, yah, they're going to suck again. Like I said earlier - I am setting my sights a tad higher and hoping the Sox share those sights. I'd prefer not to get behind the "Sox are the worst organization ever and there is nothing they will ever do to improve this team" narrative you often push.

My offseason plan is to bring in Machado and a solid SP. I think these two moves could get us to .500 if our guys take a step in development. I don't want to wait to attract talent because there is no guarantee future FA's will sign here, so take what you can get. I would also like good vibes going into the 2020 season and not worrying about if we can go from 70 wins to 92.

What racial overtones? What are you even talking about? NVM not interested. Move on, find a new slant.

So if his health was outstanding starting in 2017 WTF was with all the disabled list time and injuries affecting his 2018 performance?

Rusty Kuntz

I did answer the question. I think there is a path that allows for a competitive team if things go right. That path does not include a 37 year old James Shields who has absolutely zero upside. Do I think there is a realistic way to turn this rotation into well above average playoff caliber rotation heading into next season? No. But I do think its possible to at least create a rotation that if the young guys take a step forward, it has a chance to produce a team capable of playing winning baseball.

"Question 1: how do you feel about Jose Abreu?" Ron: "......I'll show myself out."

I mean it is one thing to engage in the typical groupthink of the Sox are cheap kind of stuff, but this? Yikes. Do yourself a favor and delete this post.

Highly recommend listening to this week's Intercepted podcast where they dissect the current playbook being used and comparing it to what brutal fascist dictators did in the past.

The current version of the GOP is basically the party of white nationalism, racism and fear mongering. And the sad part is that it is working.

Take away the Tampa Bay game and its probably more reflective on how he's played. Definitely not bad, but there is a lot to improve on.

I'd rather have a POTW now rather than back out on a bet I proposed but had no intention of honoring ?.

I mean, that’s not entirely true. Albert Belle was signed to the biggest contract in baseball history at the time. Joe Borchard was given the largest signing bonus ever at the time. Yes these were ages ago, but Reinsdorf has had his moments and recently he outbid everyone for Luis Robert. Regardless, the situation is much different now. Jerry is really getting up there in years, the Sox have almost zero financial obligations going forward, and the team is desperate for attention as it preps to negotiate a new TV deal. Adding a legit superstar isn’t just critical for the long-term well being of the franchise but something that we’re actually positioned to do. As grim as this may sound, I have zero doubts in mind that Jerry doesn’t plan to die during a rebuild. He’s going to add a legit star (and other pieces) to help put an end to this rebuild and the first target will most certainly be Machado. That doesn’t mean the Phillies or some other team won’t beat us out for his services, but I truly believe Reinsdorf will do everything in his power (within reason) to land us a star.

Machado isn't going back to the Dodgers and from what I've seen, the Cardinals are more interested in Harper. That leaves the Phillies, the Yankees, and us as the top 3 for Machado as of now. I don't think it's as impossible as some of you think.

What I'm concerned about is that Yes, Money talks but when you get in the $250-350 M range does an extra 10-15 M outweigh the other factors? I'd think the Sox would have to blow the competition away to get their attention.

I don't think that the Sox aren't interested or don't want to play ball, I think that it is doubtful that Machado and Harper are interested in the Sox.

People are WAY too pessimistic here. We are clearly planning to go hard after Machado. We wouldn’t have considered trading for him last offseason if that wasn’t the case. I’m a little concerned they have no interest in Harper, but that’s purely speculation. Regardless, I still think us & the Phillies are the favorites to land Machado.

I'm really really excited to see WCJ and Lauri together. It seems like they are going to complement each other so well.

I have to get in front of a decision maker. I also haven't written a program in a decade, lol. I'm signing up for Code Academy and I'm going to teach myself python because I got recruited today for the EY Autism at work program. I would rather work for the Sox for less money, because it would be something I truly love and it would probably pay enough for me to be happy, especially as I've been living with my parents with a monthly income in the hundreds, not thousands since I graduated from college.

0.1% Machado 0.00001% Harper

I agree here.

5% Manny, 0.0% Harper

As of right now, what do you guys think the odds are that the Sox will get Machado or Harper? I'll say 25% for Machado and like 1% for Harper, I don't see it happening with him.

I'm just going to make the obvious argument that you don't get guys from Cal Tech, MIT and NASA (see Astros) without giving them an incentive to leave their much more profitable private sector jobs. Would most of us be willing to work for 25-50% less than our current salary to work for a professional sports franchise? Maybe? Probably? Depends on age and life circumstances (family/children), etc. The bottom line is that it's not unlike the arguments we're making about having to overpay for Machado or Harper. The Sox need to do the same here, not offer a couple of kids from Northwestern/Illinois/Michigan/Notre Dame/Purdue internships. The White Sox don't have the reputation in the industry, you've got three strong leadership figures (JR/KW/Hahn), so you'd have to convince anyone coming on board that they would have a REAL say in changing the way the team operates, and wouldn't just be a figurehead to pay lip service to the "we do analytics TOO" to cover themselves if the rebuild doesn't work out as intended.

Where did you see dollar amounts? I know one of the roles in an internship so obviously the money is probably little to none, but you have to remember this is the MLB and people will happily take less to work for a professional team.

Until they start paying at LEAST $75K (and realistically, it should be at least $150-300K) to attract the best minds from jobs in the tech sector or best math/comp sci universities in the world, it's not going to succeed.

Are you kidding me this is a total embarrassment, they are worth over 1 billion dollars, I would rather not know about this, what do we have as Sox fans to be proud of, nothing.

The stakes of getting banned are too high. This isn't a bet I'm willing to take knowing our FO.

What an absolutely terrible post. You should be banned from this site for this bullshit. Ozzie actively chose himself over his players when the team was battling for a playoff spot. We were heading to Detroit and needed to take care business and he decided that was the time to start whining about his contract. He’s a selfish motherfucker who will always place self over others. I would be enraged if the White Sox ever gave this ego maniac and the clown show of a family that comes with him a second chance.

Harper is likely signing with the Nationals/Phillies/Yankees/Cubs, but I soooooo badly want him on the White Sox. Machado we might have more of a chance at, but I sooooo badly do NOT want him on the White Sox. I don't care how good he is -- he's not someone I want to cheer for and he seems like someone who will play with half energy after the big pay day. GRRR.

What on earth are you talking about? The return was literally the #1 prospect in baseball at the time (or 2 or 3 for some folks), and one of the top 2-3 pitching prospects in baseball at the time, and a borderline T100 outfielder, AND also a guy who throws 100 as a throw-in. The return for Sale was enormous. No one "settled for a throw-in".