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Why would the Sox spend $100M on a CF ? Didn't I just say they got a bunch of prospects they are waiting on and probably 3 of them can do a good job in CF between Robert, Basabe and Luis Gonzalez. I frankly don't understand why you want to argue for Cleveland . Who's next, the Twins ? We are in a great position to succeed in either 2020 or 2021 when some of the young guys get more seasoning. Why keep mentioning Nova , Alonso and Colome ? 2 of the 3 are unlikely to be here in 2020 maybe all 3 depending on how the young relievers do. I readily concede 2019 to the Indians. Beyond that fuck the Indians and the Twins Tigers and Royals.

2019 is irrelevant to the discussion by 2020 we should be competing with Cleveland. Out of 30 teams their Farm was ranked 25 at the end of the season. Ours was 3rd. The gap between us and them is closing rapidly. We have money to spend they don't. By 2020 we should have a pretty good idea about a lot of our top prospects abilities . Eloy this year, Cease and Kopech should be in the rotation, maybe Dunning too. We give Lopez Giolito Moncada another year to figure things out . We see how close Robert,Madrigal and the next wave of OF's are doing. Maybe Hansen finds his mojo again. Add Harper or Machado and a top tier starting pitcher next off season to take some pressure off the young guys. We have the 3rd pick in the upcoming draft. Need I go on ?

I've been all over their message boards and the tweets. My $18M is correct . I can't go over every contract they dealt and lost and received. Don't forget they extended Carrasco.

In fairness the Alonso deal doubled what they have saved so far taking them from $9M tp $18M saved. Still not a significant amount. They've been operating higher than they want as far as payroll goes to keep their window open but its closing fast and they lost a lot of good pieces from their 25 already. They had 8 FA's non tendered Chisenhall who promptly signed with the Pirates, Donaldson gone he wasn't on the original 8 I listed. Traded Encarnacion, Alsonso, Yan Gomes, Yandy Diaz; Their OF is in shambles and their relief pitching took a big hit. If it wasn't for Lindor and Ramirez their 40 looks as bad as ours and that's right now while we wait to see if the fishing is good.

So far they are $18M ahead. Lindor isn't signing an extension, I already said Cleveland's pitching is better. Why do fans always insist that guys are going to sign an extension ? It rarely happens when you are talking about megabucks. You can try to sell me on Cleveland all you want. I never said they were bad . I said they are 1 bad season away from rebuilding. by 2020 the gap should be closed between us by quite a bit.

Yes that huge $9M life preserver should make all the difference in the world to them. All I said was one bad season. They won't be getting much competition within the division next year but we shall see after that.

For now...

Sale was just an example of a front line starter for next year.

Cleveland is drowning and one bad season from going full rebuild. They are trying to retool on the fly. Still much better pitching than the Sox . Add one or both whales Add Kopech Cease maybe Dunning sign Sale to starting staff and Sox quickly on the rise while Cleveland sinks.

I don't even click on those things anymore. When someone signs I will know it soon enough. Of course if you imbed it I can't help but read it.

Guess it's time for the bubble wrap

Oh I understand that but i wanted to sell it a bit more than was inferred because the whining about Alonso is off the charts absurd when if you really think about it could end up in a chain reaction like this. Alonso=Machado=Harper =OMFG !

Sorry you lost me what have we done by dumping AVi and when did we essentially dump Fulmer whatever that means ? You better start listing those 10-15 guys who cost less who still can provide a chance to influence the Machado signing. Oh there aren't any ? Fine I'll take Alonso then If you need to argue this from a purely on the field perspective then it's pointless to discuss it with you or anyone else. Alonso as a whipping boy has got to be one of the sillier things I have even heard . Hahn yes Alonso no and even then it's just a minor move in a non contention year. Ican understand a big FA signed for many years not producing becoming a whipping boy but surely not a 1 possibly 2 yr player making peanuts becoming one. Poor performance and salary is the ultimate barometer of whipping boys. As far as Grandal are you taking my side or are you arguing against what I said ? Castillo is our catcher for another 1 or 2 years. and Machado's friend, Why do anything to hurt that ? If you sign Grandal for what probably ends up a 4 year deal isn't that admitting we have lost faith in Collins as a catcher of the future thus telling the world that when Hostetler said we would've drafted him 1-1 that we have no idea how to draft and evaluate talent? We had to keep Castillo and I said that when the whole Grandal discussion started and so far I've been proven right.

How are you still surprised when your 1st reason has everything to do with your third reason. If it contributes to us getting Machado in even the slightest way it was worth it. Machado is a big family guy. Played for the DR instead of the US in WBC to make his parents happy knowing it would fill them with joy and pride. Really ? Switching your allegiance to another team is that flimsy ? Sorry most of us here are diehards. Live and die with the team. We don't sell out no matter what . I have no idea how a $9M 1st baseman is detrimental to the team. He is here for 1 year maybe 2. Only way he is here for 2 is if we get Machado. That's a good thing or if he hits much better than we anticipate. So its win win if we keep him longer. Are we going to compete in 2019? The answer is most likely no, however if we believe the Alonso signing might influence the Machado signing then take it a step further and ask yourself how might Machado signing with us influence Harper. It's possible we end up with both in a chain reaction type of events. In for a penny in for a pound baby. It's ridiculous to say it's a bad move just to make a bad move. All kinds of things can happen from it or nothing could happen. Alonso might be a lottery ticket but if they are a bad move millions of people make bad moves every week buying them. Perhaps even you have.

You are actually underselling it since you only talked about what Alonso brings. Machado:3rd base huge upgrade defense and offense. Eloy :huge upgrade offense defense probably better than DelMonico and Palka. Castillo: more power and better defending then Narvaez. Plus still could add Harper or anyone else.

Very funny and now I even understand what the name Jack Parkman means so I learned something.

Are you saying Nova, McCann and Colome weren't needed pieces ? They had to spend some money and all three of those pieces protect the young arms which are so vital to our future success. I know you wanted Grandal but that was never going to happen with Castillo being Manny's buddy and Grandal costing a draft pick and at the same time telling the baseball world you don't believe in one of top prospects and diminishing his value and admitting you made a huge mistake in selecting him so early.McCann brings one thing to the table and that is a strong right arm. The Sox probably will work Castillo to the bone while McCann will get 1 start a week You can't even really say the Alonso money was wasted if indeed Machado signs here. The Nats just signed Matt Adams and he got $3M plus $1M buyout and was a team mate of Harper . Adams is a similar player to Alonso. I don't see where much if any money was wasted. They all serve a purpose that was needed in some way.

I would have preferred he broke it down into $100M deals of FA's who have never won a World Series before rather than just all FA deals of $100M.

According to Rosenthal the TV rights deal might be announced as early as this spring even though it won't take effect until after the 2019 season.

Flip a coin your guess is as good as anyone elses.

Ok I guess my definition of a stop gap is the same as a place holder. It's all the same in my eyes. Just splitting hairs i suppose.

Delmonico will be joining the cast of AAA depending on how many options he has left. He might be a worse OF than Palka.

You never thought the Sox had much of a chance for Machado or Harper anyway so you thinking "it is looking more like they don't" fits your previous narrative. I won't pretend that I also thought there wasn't much of a chance previously but it's no sin to now think otherwise. I think there's a decent chance to get one of them.. I thought tht way before the Alonso trade and that trade doesn't change my opinion one way or another except to think it's just another move to accomplish that.

If he did you know that it isn't true. What is Nova but a stop gap ? McCann? Castillo ? Hell half the roster are stop gaps in that thy will be gone as soon as they can be replaced by better players Some stop gaps are just longer term stop gaps like Engel or whoever plays 3rd base.

Some mountains are just too high some rivers just too wide. It's the body of work that gets you fired. This would just be the cherry on top of that body and it's still doubtful he'd get fired. We are not in the business of hiring and firing baseball executives so it's easy to be harsh or forgiving. In the end it doesn't really matter. I like that i could loosely use the Supremes and Linkin Park all in one post