Balta1701

But then he went through the building continuing to shoot, so maybe the intern wasn't in that room?

As I said - lineup flexibility is fine once a guy has actually developed at his position. Moncada had tools to be a good 2b but he was weak there last year, he needed time to improve at the position and regular reps before we would hope for positive results. If he remains a weak, unpracticed 2b, and we have him also be a weak 3b because we've moved him around so often, we haven't done him or the team any favors. The worst thing with this particular player, who is raw and needs work and reps, would be moving him back and forth. If you're going to start working him at 3b, put him there and keep him there and hope you have another 2b available soon.

Yolmer takes the spot until Madrigal is ready and they race Madrigal up to the bigs as fast as possible.

So why is he moving Moncada for a guy who "might be there in the future"? (Madrigal).

We still owe him a tarring and feathering for his 2016 decisions so no complaints from me.

Well you've also got Renteria saying that Moncada has a good chance of starting there opening day.

6 years isn't enough.

Rather I'd say the team is now acting as they would be expected to act if they believe they will not sign him - moving Moncada to 3b to clear space for Madrigal, even if it's to the detriment of Moncada's development because his work at 2b becomes devalued.

Then we should put him at a single position and have him work at that position until he's actually good at it.

Instead of getting their guy via FA, they were literally bailed out by the Tigers being willing to part with Verlander. Had that Tigers team not collapsed, the Astros don't win a world series.

Unless he winds up jack of all trades, master of none. Moncada has the tools to be a strong 2b and was improving at the position, but he was still a below average 2b last year altogether. He needed time to continue working at that position too. So, he spends some time at 3b, works through a year or so of struggles there, then moves back to 2b, and we've created a guy who is a below average defender at both?

Moustakas is signing with the Brewers right?

Madrigal will only be hitting .220 if he's hurt. In the minors his batting average is going to stay high because he will put the ball in play and the fielders won't be good enough to get him out. He'll be hitting .275 even if he's doing poorly, unless he's actually hurt. If he's doing "normal" he'll be hitting .300, but that .300 might translate poorly to the big leagues because even if you're good at putting the ball in play in the minors...here's Chris Sale good luck. The thing to watch will be whether there's any punch in his numbers, the ground ball rates and the extra base hit rates. If he's hitting the ball with authority, line drives, in the gaps, piling up the 2b and 3b, then at least he'll have a shot.

Because it's the White Sox and they are going to rush Madrigal up as fast as they can because that's a White Sox thing.

Because they are going to move Moncada to 3b permanently to clear a spot for Madrigal and since they're not signing Machado, that's the only IF they can make work with the current org. That's pretty straightforward logic.

Honestly impossible to guess at this point. If he plays as he has for the last 4 years, with revenues growing over time a 10/$400 deal could look like a good deal at the end. He's been worth more than $40 million a year in his performance over the last 4 years on average. If he got hurt or stopped caring early...then maybe not. At the rates the White Sox have spent for free agents, a 10/$500 deal could very well be the best spending on the free agent market for the White Sox over the last decade.

From Hell's heart I stab at thee. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

So if the White Sox are insistent that they will not bid against themselves...isn't a plausible scenario that the White Sox would not believe Lozano if he said they had a $280 million offer, hold firm at $250, and then find out that the offer was real when he signs elsewhere?

Several people (most recently Nightengale) are posting potential San Diego offers that are higher than we've heard the White Sox offers to be.

If the White Sox have 8/$250 on the table and it would take $280 to get him to sign, they should already have this done.

So if Machado would sign that deal why not get it done?

I would describe your plan as the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016 White Sox.

Absolutely not. The mid-level of the Free Agent market is the absolute utter worst.

This really isn't true. You're getting 1/2 the career of a player who is on a path that should put them into the Hall of Fame. Things can implode, but they shouldn't. On paper, signing Machado for $500 million would be more effective spending than any FA contract we've signed this decade other than the minimum dollar ones and Abreu.

Honestly, he just needs to do his job right now so we don't have to figure out how we're going to react.