RickinIndiana

That was hyperbole on my part. Obviously he isn't twice the player Harper is. But, IMO, he is significantly better in all areas.

The track records speak for themselves.

Arenado is twice the player Harper is. If Arenado's value is $32 and Machado's is $30 then Harper, IMO, comes in around $28 AAV.

That's so much worse. Beyond ridiculous.

Not sure why everyone, okay not everyone, is so in love with Palka. His offensive game is swing really hard in case you hit it. He has no defensive position, no bat to ball skills, etc. I don't get it.

So you're willing to trade a year of Eloy at the other end for two months of him now? No, thank you.

Things aren't looking so hot for the Sox to score one of these guys.

But $4 mil is too much to pay for such a player. Given his age and his production last year that's at least a 100% overpay. It isn't inconceivable that he could have been brought in nearer to spring training without a major league guarantee. That alone gives some credence to all of the noise that this has more to do with Machado than Jay.

Jay is a useful, veteran presence on the bench and for occasional starts. If he gets more than 300 at bats than the plan has gone awry. If he stays healthy and gets less than 300 at bats than the plan may be coming together.

Not sure why everyone is so upset about this. Jay is a league average outfielder and the Sox didn't get league average production from any of the three outfield positions.

Ha! 'Zactly.

I'm not ready to give up on Rodon. Plus there's no way Cashman would give that much for him at this point.

Thanks for posting that. It sums my feelings up nicely.

At some point in the near future this will need to be addressed.

That would be okay with me.

I feel sorry for him. I can't remember another HOF selection that raised this much stink.

The Indians may not be sinking yet but they are certainly swinging out the lifeboats.

A catcher who can throw but can't hit, frame or block pitches. Hmm.

So if Machado signs with the Yankees we should see if they would take Alonzo for Bird?

Honestly I think he's just checking the block so he can move on to the Yankees.

I don't think Cleveland would make that deal unless they got a lot more. I certainly wouldn't. The level of SP the Yankees want to fit into their rotation is not something your going to get straight up for Andujar.

I think they know they won't get that for Andujar. But I agree that others could probably top the best offer we would be comfortable making. I would still ask.

If we can't make a deal, fine. But it's worth a phone call. Andujar fits our timeline much better than he fits the Yankees'. He needs some seasoning on defense and we can live with that. They can't.

As I said, Cashman is still filling out his farm system. Sometimes one or two of those "middling" prospects turns out to have more value in one organization than another. Everybody loves to project young pitchers and we have a good amount of that. It would certainly be worth a conversation. We still have a some international money that we can't spend that might sweeten the deal.

Certainly not. But it might be worth it to see if we could find a match with some middling prospects, quantity over quality.