GreenSox

Q was a bad trade for the Cubs. They overpaid. Tatis was an absolutely horrendous trade for the White Sox. Much worse in degree. Shields should have been nothing but a salary dump for an org guy.

Will do once the FO makes a commensurate trade to the Sox advantage, or once the FO clears out.

How could we not be better off with Tatis? The Tatis trade did make the major league team much worse, but not that much worse such that a rebuild wouldn't have been in order.

Not a bad idea. You can keep a coach friend on the bench for his entire contract and not disrupt much even if he can't coach. Exactly how long are the aging player friends supposed to sit on the 25 if they can't play?

And Jennings and Soria based on early returns. As well as the secondary prospects in the Robertson/Frazier/Kahnle trade. All for Rule 5 eligible (or near Rule 5 eligible) prospects who had been falling. But this level of talent evaluation is one of the basic reasons they are in this hole to begin with. Heck the Tigers got a decent 3B for 1/2 a year of Avilia. Hahn routinely says after getting a player that he's been after the player for a while. When these guys are 30+ year old veterans, does that have any relevance?

Yes he got a 33% raise after posting a .678 OPS. Great contract negotiation. Don't see the reason he should get any ABs but 300 should be the absolute max.

This has the makings of a much improved 76 win team!

Amen

Okay, so he's another friend of Manny's. Wonderful. But in the words of Rosenthal "“But would #WhiteSox otherwise pursue Jay, even with need for OF help? Coming off .678 OPS at age 33.” How dare he wonder such a thing?

Having a better OBP than the players on a 62 win team is the standard for a good OBP? LOL . Oh and you forgot one: Narvaez @ .366 OBP, a player this board couldn't wait to get rid of (probably because he wasn't a blue-chip prospect, despite being under 30 and improving). This is so ridiculous - Jay is not a good player, won't help the Sox win, and will block younger players. Why?

Yes, this OBP machine is just what the team needs. .306, .339, .374, .330 the last 4 years. The fluke year with the Cubs probably explains the zeal for this guy.

What's predictable is all of y'all thinking he's a good baseball player. .729 career OPS .678 last year. The 40 man is stacked with younger players who can produce that and actually could improve. And spare me the "Flip" stuff...it's the very players who now won't play (the Cordells, etc.) that they get when they flip better players than Jay.

$4 million for a .678 OPS? He earned $3 million last year off of a .749 OPS. More shrewd negotiation from Hahn. Career .729 (and that is with his best year as his first), 36 homers in 9 seasons. Don't let anyone ever say that they can't afford Machado when they throw away $4 million like this.

Good lord - he hits no better than Delmonico et al, guys who need the ABs. Old habits die hard.

I hear you. I don't know why they don't look for little deals like that.

That's largely because they underperformed last year and return to their norm would probably improve them 8-10 games. As for Heyward, he produces like a 4th OF and is owed $106 million. Attaching major league players to him seems counterproductive for a team trying to win...and guys like Happ and Schwarber, whom they could get by without, can hit but are poor defensively so they aren't in that high a demand. They could deal him to someone like the Giants, split the difference by taking back some of their high contract pitchers.....but those guys can still pitch decently so the Giants should want return on those pitchers plus assets to take on Heyward's contract. Seems like they'd have to throw a couple of really high prospects, if they have them.

I agree. This is simply isn't a case of 3 (or however many) equally-situated bidders where they can strategically place bids to ensure they don't over-bid. Sox are at the bottom. Instead of using Yankee reticence to try to get a bargain, the Sox should seize the opportunity to "blow them away."

If the offers are really low 200s/7, then Machado will certainly will wait for them until the end.

What??? No they aren't. Depends on the player. I don't hate vets - Ottavino is a vet and I hope the Sox sign him. i wanted the Sox to sign Charlie Morton. What I hate (in most circumstances) are declining vets....because that trend is far more likely to continue than it is to reverse.

Ottavino is 33, so I guess I see the hesitation on 3 years....although that would probably be no riskier than 1/2 year each on Alonso, Herrera, Jones, Cargo and others with tangible downward trends..

I'd rather Avi than Jones or Cargo (good lord).

Herrera hasn't pitched much in the last couple of years, and what he did last year wasn't good. Just as soon go with the young guys - they have two vets.

If I may ask, who is Bucket and how/where does one access his reporting? A poster? A twitter I guy?

And Puig and the pitcher are also good players...Heyward is a fourth OF.

I think Machado will sign relatively soon; he's got 3 suitors and it's unlikely that number changes. None of the teams need to move players or anything like that...should be able to knock this out. Harper, on the other hand, has 3 confirmed suitors but 3 or 4 possible more (Cubs, Dodgers, Cards, Yankees). That should take longer to play out.