Dick Allen

How can you say that? If, and it's a huge if, Cease and Kopech turn into Sale and Q, how is the rotation better than when they won 78 games? Eaton was a 6.0 WAR corner OF. If Eloy is one, great. Maybe they get back to that level with a lot of these guys working out. But sustained success? That's crazy at this point.

It's time the White Sox attempt to make themselves one of those teams, instead of just trying. Making excuses shows you have accepted mediocrity at best. If you want to be the best, you have to act like the best. Corbin wanted to play for the Yankees as well. But the Nats offered him $40 million more. He's a Nat. It's OK for the Yankees because they have others that will sign with them, despite guys like Stanton getting booed out of the building.

Bah Humbug is right, but you do make several good points. I also LMAO at any poster who thinks Alonso's $9 million is no big deal, but scoff at offering Manny $40 million a year vs. $35 million. WTF? But if they miss out on these guys it will be one of 2 things. Either they are not willing to offer the most money, which may someday make them think sweet talk really doesn't work with top free agents. Or they offered the most money by a reasonable amount but the perception of the team they run is so bad, they don't want to play here, even if the manager speaks Spanish.

I would imagine so. The problem is, if they don't improve much, and take a swing at next year's free agents, they will have the same problem as this year. Bad team, not much interest, more desirable destinations. Hopefully, Moncada and Eloy, and TA can all take a leap forward, and Gio, Rodon, and Lopez do the same, and Cease continues improving, and Dunning puts his elbow issues behind him, so at least they will have a little more to hang their hat on.

The Sox have to dare to be different. Try something new. Do whatever it takes to sign one of these guys. Bill Veeck said that paying stars wouldn't kill you, it was paying for mediocrity, which seems to have been a White Sox staple for years.

You can say that, but they have finished in first place twice. And espn had them with the 3rd highest payroll in baseball. And it is only going higher.

Look at what the rebuilds did to the Indians fan base, and they have actually had some on field success. White Sox attendance has decreased from the previous season every year beginning in 2007 except for one, when they slashed ticket prices and there was a modest increase. If they don't start winning soon, the people who found some other way to spend their time while they sucked, will be less inclined to come back. I do think their public acknowledgement of their pursuits will have a more negative impact than when they usually strike out with little comment. I think there were a very high percentage of White Sox fans who thought at least one of these guys was going to be a White Sox. If that doesn't happen, a lot is going to have to go right in 2019 for the trend not to continue.

So what. The White Sox have to break the ice or be the franchise they always have been. Maybe someday, some player will actually want to play for the White Sox instead of one of the other teams that are always interesting. You aren't going to have sustained success without gigantic payrolls. And we aren't signing the checks. So you either want the Sox to break the bank and sign one of these guys or think the way they have gone about being "all in" is satisfactory. Peaking at 78 wins sucks for me.

Spend it on players not as good.

But why not? It is $5 million a year. The Sox have to decide if they want to be with the big boys or not. If the goal is sustained winning and multiple championships , that cannot be done with a mid market payroll. The best they could do if they aren’t going to throw a ton of money at it, is a run like Cleveland is doing now, or Detroit had or a couple of years like KC. But those aren’t all that sustained and usually quickly followed by prolonged awfulness.

Bring back Avi and Shileds 2018 was so much fun, we decided to put the band back together.

7 of the last 8 seasons have been losing ones. They mad the playoffs 10 years ago. Barely. How much is a fan supposed to take? At what point is this not on the fan base but on the guys who have been in charge for close to 20 years? Someday, everyone will be able to block out all the filler KW and RH use when they speak, and realize even if they may be bright guys, they pretty much suck at their jobs.

I get that. But if the White Sox were ever really serious the line has to be really high. Some actually thought even MSM guys, they were in position to sign both.

So if Eloy is the stud we all hope, he is a 5 year White Sox since their mid market status would make a giant extension foolish. Better start winning aoon.

So what? I would think if $9 million is nothing now, it will be nothing down the line. And chances are it will eventually be someone else's problem either through trade or shift in ownership down the line. Except for Pujols who is immovable most of the giant contract guys eventually find their way to other teams. Will the money really look bad 5 years from now?

No question. But the question is do you just accept it or try to change it? I am voting for trying something different. 7 out of 8 losing seasons with no end in sight has me flustered.

If giving Alonso $9 million is no big deal, why would giving Manny an extra $9 million ten times for an additional $90 million if it meant the difference between signing him or not? It's not my money. But I' d rather have Manny and a guy making minimum than Alonso and a mid tier free agent.

Unlike other mid market teams, the White Sox always have the possibility of upgrading to a large market if they play their cards right. Bringing one of these guys in, especially Harper IMO would be a big step.

I don't know his track record, just that his error helped the Sox beat the Yankees while not getting a hit. And the 9th inning wasn't even a save situation. But there isn't a guy out there that hasn't got some wrong.

His livelihood could be at stake. As for first to report, I don't get the fascination. But I guess if you get one or two under your belt, your Twitter makes you a little money. As far as I can tell no one really is keeping score. I do admit I like a good scoop as much as anyone. But like with anything else, when someone misses, if you like them, things are constantly changing. If you don't they are a fraud just making things up for clicks.

He would be known as a joke. This is a big one. It isn't the Orioles signing someone to a minor league contract. There was a kid who was breaking a lot of info 2 or 3 years ago, and the main guys even gave him credit. Does anyone know if he is still doing his thing?

You're a stalker. If I bother you so much, the ignore feature is your friend.

If they didn’t sign Machado, I think the plan would be to sign a 2B and temporarily move Torres to SS. At least that is what Cashman said on MLBN during the Winter Meetings.

So he’s not unlike Bruce Levine, Phil Rogers, Bob Nightengale, any White Sox beat reporter. They all get slammed here, yet we have numerous threads that are based on their reporting. There really isn’t one guy who hasn’t been slammed before. People get things wrong, but this guy is putting his blogging or whatever he does career on the line with his tweet. Maybe to him it’s worth the risk , but I really don’t see what ultimately he gains by being right here. It won’t put him on a national stage and make him millions. Being wrong will basically ruin this portion of his life. That is why I believe he is telling the truth

They probably would never admit it sets it back, but it’s huge. These guys are most likely perennial MVP candidates. It would be like the White Sox in the early 90 s sans Frank Thomas. The Cubs without Kris Bryant. Houston without Jose Altuve. If an additional $50 million to $75 million over 10 years is the difference from being a have or have not, it is a pretty small price to pay. JR gave Jabari Parker a good chunk of that just to try to find a team where the Bulls could trade him.