Waylo Kneehigh

Gonna play some Fox and the Grapes here. We can't get Manny? So what? He has some pretty strong character flaws as well as two questionable knees that will only be getting worse as he ages. His age made it seem a perfect match for the rebuild from a timing standpoint, but we are at least 2 years out from contending leaving 2 years of FA to go through before our window is supposedly open. Does it hurt not being able to seal the deal? Sure, but it may in fact be a blessing in disguise for no other reason then the Sox may have saved a boat load of money on somebody that may or may not last physically. It hurts losing his offense but if the knees flair up again than it's a moot point. I'm harping on the knees here if you hadn't noticed. Harper? We already had Adam Dunn, a big left handed power bat that is decidedly unclutch, strikes out a LOT, but walks a lot as well so it doesn't seem as bad. Machado was the better option of the two imo from an offensive standpoint so it doesn't make sense to me that Harper gets the bigger contract. It could very well be that these two are mirages and that the massive amount of time and money that is and will be spent on them is better served by another team that will get burned. Hey, we can't have em so lets justify why it's better that we don't! I jumped on board the hype train as the offseason went on but at the end of last season I was against the Sox signing either of them so I'm coming back around. Even with them the next two seasons would be losing seasons so there is little immediate impact either of these guys would make aside from ticket sales and league perception, but why pay hundreds of millions of dollars for perception when it's possible some of the pieces of the rebuild will do that, they haven't even had the chance yet aside from Moncada. There are more signs of doom and gloom then there are of a prosperous future at the moment for this organization, and a lot of that seems to be stemming from the front office, I won't deny that. Is it insurmountable? Probably not but it's way harder to overcome due to the decade of garbage and questionable decision making (I love Ventura but he didn't even want to coach, he had to be convinced! What a joke!). At the end of the day this was always going to be another development season. It would be great if either Harper or Machado were here, even if it was just to make us feel good. Some notable Machado stats: WAR by year: Season avg: .282 OBP: .335 SLG: .487 OPS: .822 '12: 1.5 '13: 6.5 '14: 2.4 '15: 7.1 '16: 6.7 '17: 3.5 '18: 5.7 combined BAL & LAD According to Matt Kelly in his article published on MLB.com two days ago the best case scenario for the team that gets Machado and who he comps with is: Manny Ramirez Barry Larkin Billy Williams Worst case scenario and the one I am focusing on with this post: Zoilo Versailes Sixto Lezcano Eric Chavez Chavez being the best known to myself (I'm 35) he too was at his peak in his age 26 season. The same thing that befell Chavez could very likely rear it's head for Machado and what I pointed out earlier, injuries. From his age 29 season through his retirement at 36, Chavez played more than 100 games only once. If a similar path is followed by Machado, that's a lot of time being missed for the richest FA contract in history. So has the Sox's ineptitude saved them from the greater, long term damage? Perhaps, but only time will tell. As for Harper: Lastly, and my own personal guff with Harper, the way he acted at the homerun derby last season just reeked of immaturity. It was fun to watch but I was sittin there like, dude, it's the HR derby... no the playoffs, dial it back. What I saw was, "See!?, look how great I am!!" meh.

Watch Machados knees blow up on him in two years

Maybe instead of wasting all that money they pull the parking fee for this season and actually give something back to the fanbase. Conservatively speaking I think that translates into ~$50mil for an 81 game season.... 50 mil......

I remember hearing around the time that KW was stepping up from his GM spot that there were a ton of teams inquiring about Hahn as I guess it was known he was a really good candidate as a GM. JR stayed pat and for a while now I've believed that Hahn has been digging the organization out of the massive hole left by KW. I'm still not ready to put this all on Hahn as evidence by KW coming out with comments showing he is still a large hand in what happens in this organization. Thing is, KW is a FA gomer type of guy that believes it's the best way to keep a relevant team on the field. I don't know how true it is/was but I recall about 5-7 years ago that the general consensus around MLB in regards to the White Sox and KW at GM is that they were one of the last couple of organizations that held to the old way of doing things and that the numbers guys weren't as prevalent in their decision making processes. It was apparently also widely known around the MLB that their talent evaluation and development was the laughing stock of the MLB. The last great thing to happen to this organization was Ozzie Guillen, love him or hate him. That '05 offseason just reeks of Ozzies input because it flew so far in the face of how KW operated. Then when push came to shove JR chose to stick with KW which IMO was the death knell of this organization. I'm still on board for the rest of this rebuild but if this thing peters out then I will stand behind the idea that this organization will not be relevant until after the team is sold and new owners come in that actually want to win. My thoughts are that JR didn't care all that much, it was a business and he ran it well enough. 05 whetted his appetite for winning so in 06 they went all in as they should have. That blew up in their face and the organization lacked the wherewithal to recover from it. The decisions over this time period justify these thoughts imo.

This is easy, how many current mlb players are home grown White Sox. I honestly can't think of one off the top of my head. Their talent evaluation has been one of if not the worst in the majors. Their farm system ranked up with all the other teams top talent they were lucky enough to get. Oops should have read closer... FA

Yes. It reeks of bush league, old style operations and thought processes. They thought friends were more valuable than 50 mil. Something to be said for dead presidents.

Meh, I'm a Falcons fan as well but I rock all my teams gear, no shame

Can't even here KW on 670, he sounds like his mother just died... but I don't buy it

to be fair Jay and Alonso are at least legitimate major league talents... maybe not tops but they are objectively better than what we had there before. At least imo

MLB reddit streams + google search = profit for.... you I do not condone such actions however

They knew this a few days ago, had to have with all the Moncada playing third and other hindsight hints and tips of the hat.

It's alright, I still have some things to look forward to this season. ps: this site is melting down as well, not just us lol

It may be pointless to say this now but I felt like the Alonso and Jay signings are an indication that this FO with KW and Hahn still operate under the old way of doing things. Why would anyone care if their brother in law or friend plays with them or not when they are going to make millions of dollars anyways. It's like not wanting to draft a guy because his girlfriend isn't good looking which means the player lacks confidence.... it's asinine. I held back on sharing this sentiment with people I know but the move reeked of bush-league thought processes. Maybe it's time JR sells and finishes the rest of his days content that he at least got 1. To hedge the above if the report is false the reporter should be castrated and the same consequence should fall on all these fake twitter loosers... err users...

So now they have all this money, they don't need us to show up right? Maybe ticket prices will remain reasonable for a game or two.

If he can shake Apollo I think Jake Burger is going to be a monster for us at the plate. I've already started calling home runs Jakeburgers in preparation. Most of our prospects make this FA somewhat bearable and at least offers a suggestion that the Sox may be just fine if they don't land either of these guys. I only worry if they don't sign one of them that the narrative of the Sox not being enticing enough of a franchise to play for is justified.

It's on the corner of Higgins and Mannheim I believe, basically the north eastern most part of O'Hare. Good prices and last time I was there the food portions were generous. They seem to know their customers lol

Pants!?!? pffffff

Figure I'd leave this here for everyone to wake up to tomorrow, plus I wanted to be apart of this madness! Enjoy *apologies for Joe Buck......