caulfield12

Doubt it...it’s that SoxTalk deadline that only we care about. Very little meaning to Lozano. If we lose him, though, the definitive book about these last few years in free agency will be called “Team of Vipers.”

True, but Machado also makes it MUCH more likely you can get all that money back and more starting in 2025 when you renegotiate the t.v. deal with a winning/successful organization in place finally. Without that whale, the whole proposition becomes much iffier. It almost forces Jimenez and Cease to be absolute studs, or the #3 pick...or for us to get a whale next offseason when the big spenders will all be out again, at least more so than this cycle.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/2019-oscar-nominations-complete-list-131536427.html All the Oscar nominations. It’s going to take a win for Roma to get me to watch. Right now, they don’t even have a host. Vice, Green Book, Bohemian, Spike Lee joint, no way, same with BP. The Favourite, A Star is Born or Roma....those are the three left standing.

This is all fine and good, unless trying to save $15-25 million loses you Machado to another team, while you’ve already committed to another $20 million on your roster for Jay, Alonso and Castillo EXPRESSLY to entice Machado.

Escape Room 2: Liberate Manny Machado from NYC You would be able to understand not bidding against yourself...but we’ve already spent $13 million, so let’s say that they’re currently at $215 million as their top bid because that’s the midpoint between high and low estimates ($170-260). Why not simply ask Lozano what it would take to get him to sign today? Whatever they ask...let’s say it is $350 million for their counteroffer over ten years, then you cut that difference in half and get to $282.5 as a very fair and reasonable offer (depending on the opt outs.) Somehow, this has to get settled at $275-305 million, unless someone gives Harper an insane number (what seems like it today, at least) like $375-400 million.

It’s almost feeling like the government shutdown...no resolution in sight, both sides are dug in and getting more stubborn/intransigent by the minute. Machado shouldn’t sign anything for less than $225-250 million, period. That’s $100-125 million less than everyone thought he was going to receive...and it’s not like he’s 31. Heck, it’s not like his fWAR values aren’t much greater than Stanton’s.

The problem with this theory is it would require a trade of another prospect for a different starting pitcher in May/June of 2016. Miley, Pomeranz, Feldman, Nolasco, Rich Hill, Bud Norris, Andrew Cashner, Niese, Drew Hutchison, Nova, LeBlanc, Liriano....would have had to pitch so well for us that we would have remained in the pennant race and not dumped Duke for Tilson as well. Not seeing many names who would have led to a different ultimate result. You can at least make the argument Drew Pomeranz would have managed that, until falling apart in September. https://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/3/16/14936630/san-diego-padres-prospect-anderson-espinoza-ready-to-shine Ironically, the Red Sox traded their equivalent of Tatis at the time, Anderson Espinoza, but he was already one of their top prospects. Of course, Pomeranz on the Pads was a much better pitcher than James Shields.

About as uplifting as Josh Groban for four hours on a road trip...

Time will tell, he's still only 20 years old...and just turned that age three weeks ago.

The problem is that Eaton and Q have decreased in value considerably since their trades, that's the obvious point in your argument. That said, I think most SoxTalkers would take Sale back for that trade as of today...if you could still have Buehler, Tatis Jr. and sign Harper, they would certainly come out ahead. That also assumes that they sign Luis Robert (again) in a "retooling/compete on the fly" mode. It also means someone like Moustakas or Marwin Gonzalez is now going to be your 3B instead of Machado. Perhaps Pollock becomes the cheaper version of Harper and they decide the risk is too high to go after one of the whales this offseason. The other big loss that we suffered (playing it out without a rebuild) would be not drafting Madrigal and NOT having another 1stRND/#3 this June. If they can't sign Machado or Harper in this cycle...with perfect positioning, then they've blown a large part of the advantage they developed by timing this whole thing almost perfectly to not be competing with the Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees or Cubs for one of those 2 studs.

If only we'd drafted Walker Buehler instead of Fulmer and held onto Fernando Tatis, Jr., we'd have the best farm system in baseball and a realistic shot at the playoffs this year with Machado/Pederson and another veteran starter like Hill/Miley/Gio/Pomeranz (throw in Kimbrel there if you want complete overkill.) It just goes to show you how a couple of "bad breaks/wrong decisions" and Kopech blowing out his elbow can sway perception incredibly for a farm system only 2-3 spots removed from #1. With those two players in place, we could be throwing $350-400 million at Harper and still acquire Joc Pederson/Hill. 2B Yoan Moncada CF Joc Pederson 1B Jose Abreu RF Bryce Harper LF Eloy Jimenez DH Yonder Alonso/Palka C Castillo 3B Fernando Tatis, Jr. SS Tim Anderson Walker Buehler Rich Hill Carlos Rodon Reynaldo Lopez Lucas Giolito/Ivan Nova LR: Dylan Covey 2020 (Cease/Kopech/Dunning/Hansen)

MLB GMs make sense of the Bryce Harper and Manny Machado market, and the changing dynamics of free agency What do the people who run front offices have to say about some of the market's shifting trends? https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-gms-make-sense-of-the-bryce-harper-and-manny-machado-market-and-the-changing-dynamics-of-free-agency/ But one executive from a smaller-market team said he sees bigger-market clubs as being more prudent now too. "It certainly wouldn't surprise me if high-end guys have a harder time finding irrational spenders early in the offseason going forward. As a group, the people running big market teams now are pretty different than the group that ran them 10-plus years ago." Moving beyond Machado and Harper, one GM said he doesn't see this winter's market as abnormally slow to develop. Instead, he says, this is now the new normal. "GMs are a different breed today than they were 10 years ago," he said. "They are less willing to sacrifice the medium- and long-term health of the franchise in exchange for a short-term benefit." The result, one GM says, could be more potential bargains for patient shoppers. "More of an opportunity for us. It would be nice to know more of your roster before March 1, but not necessary. And, it's worked out pretty well for us a couple of times in recent years to be patient." ... One National League front-office member said the longer wait time could lead to a glut of teams trying to land the same bargains, with unintended consequences. "Small-market teams always want access to bargains. I'm honestly not sure if there are more true bargain opportunities now than there were in the past, though -- if the reason the market is slow is that teams value players more efficiently now and players simply haven't adjusted to the lack of irrational spenders, it stands to reason that it actually will be harder to find great deals, because many teams will be competing for those."

Examining the role of 'Mystery Team' as the Machado and Harper markets drag in a stagnant MLB offseason But just for the sake of argument, let's say that bringing up Mystery Team is nothing more than a negotiation ploy by other interested parties. Could you really blame them? The highest bid made public so far for Machado is a seven-year, $175 million offer by the White Sox. Machado's agent Dan Lozano blasted reports of that offer as "inaccurate" and "reckless." Giancarlo Stanton, a terrific power hitter whose overall game doesn't approach Machado's (Machado dwarfs Stanton in Wins Above Replacement over the past four seasons) is playing on a contract worth almost twice as much as that supposed $175 million White Sox offer. Lozano's client is a durable star in his mid-20s who rakes, plays excellent defense, and who many observers believed could challenge or beat Stanton's record $325 million deal, yet here we are. Meanwhile, Lozano's also locked in a competition with superagent Scott Boras, whose own client Bryce Harper has also been rumored in the past to be a candidate to set the new all-time record for biggest contract in baseball. Making matters worse for Lozano's client is a murderers' row of possible reasons to explain why no team has stepped up with the kind of premium offer the baseball world long expected. Today's GMs are just really, really, really smart and risk-averse, we're told. No wait, maybe it's that Machado has a bad attitude, as evidenced by his infamous "Johnny Hustle" comment during the World Series. Maybe it's just that not trying to win for a few years has become an acceptable, even admired tactic, prompting gobs of teams to lay down their arms and not bid on a ham sandwich, let alone a marquee free agent. Or maybe, as another agent recently claimed, it's that teams are flat out colluding against players in an effort to drive down salaries. Could you blame Lozano, or a distant relative, if he were to plant a few Mystery Team seeds out there? Or let's say you're the Nationals. Your big divisional rival's owner has said he's prepared to spend money, "and maybe even be a little bit stupid about it." That owner has Machado at the top of his team's shopping list. Could you blame the Nats for sprinkling a little Mystery Team pixie dust out there? Ah, but that division rival is also interested in a player Washington likes, with both clubs rumored to be after Harper. So maybe it's another hungry division rival trying to sow chaos by invoking multiple Mystery Teams that could be in on both Machado and Harper. If anything, we might need more Mystery Teams to move the market along. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/examining-the-role-of-mystery-team-as-the-machado-and-harper-markets-drag-in-a-stagnant-mlb-offseason/

Fulmer needs to first get his walks down and control the running game before he can ever be a late inning/high leverage guy.

1) There might not be any left to spend on at that point. 2) Hahn will have a very difficult time getting fans to buy into moves for players like Moustakas/Markakis/Adam Jones/Marwin Gonzalez and Miley/Gio/Pomeranz without Machado. The reaction from the fanbase will be lukewarm, AT BEST.

A bit surprised Nebraska lost at Rutgers. Iowa has MSU at home, at Minnesota, MICH at home and then at Indiana. Just hoping they can win one of those games, 2 would be great and virtually guarantee an NCAA berth unless they completely fall apart down the stretch. After they started B10 play 0-3, it looked like the entire season was on the brink.

We can entice Beltre back out of retirement if we sign Machado and put him at SS...and dramatically overpay Adrian, lol. That way, we can claim yet another HoF player for the White Sox organization.

His 2015 season argues the counterpoint...just like Harper's one 10 fWAR season. I'm pretty sure it was around 5.9 or something like that. If not for that solitary breakout season, he'd be lucky to get $12-13 million per season with that injury history and at age 31. Basically, he'd be a similar contract to Melky (albeit he can play CF, not just below average defense at a corner).

Yeah there's got to be a better option if they're actually trying to be a .500 ballclub this season...and maybe having an outside shot at competing for the WC or division if Cleveland suffers some major pitching injuries or Jose Ramirez becomes a lesser version of himself. Too bad no Avi in CF, lol.

Age 31/32/33 seasons make a lot more sense than 34/35 for this franchise, at this particular place and moment in time. Also can't imagine them giving up the draft pick if they can trade some riff-raff off the 40 man without parting with a Top 10-15 overall prospect to get someone like Pederson. With all the injuries, some would view him as even older than 31 in terms of wear and tear on his body.

Yeah, the last 3 years (combined), Pederson is at a 521 OPS against LHP. That's Moncada (2019) or Jose Valentin imbalanced. In 2015, he was at 692, though....that's the last season before the Dodgers gave up playing him against most lefties. They would have to decide whether to send Engel to AAA to play full-time, trade him or just give him at-bats against the really tough LH pitchers.

https://www.12up.com/posts/6277016-rumor-dominican-mlb-insider-says-pirates-look-like-mystery-team-on-manny-machado "Pittsburgh seems to be aggressive in trying to clear payroll, which makes sense if they are going after Machado. He's the kind of star player and middle-of-the-order bat who can play shortstop for the Bucs, so there is a baseball fit here." If the Pirates somehow land Machado, the NL Central in 2019 is going to be insane. Even the Cincinnati Reds are trying to make moves to compete with the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals. Game alllllll the way on." Hector Gomez getting his name out there again. Here's a good one, lol. Pirates are the mystery team in on Machado (even though they brought back Kang, they let Harrison go)...trade Marte for Pederson, boom! Contenders. Well, if we can't beat the Pirates after they've dumped Cole, Harrison and McCutcheon...not sure what to say. Which makes it a lot less likely than the Padres (as the mystery team) being in a similar position to the White Sox (but still staring up at the Dodgers). And the Padres already signed Hosmer as well last offseason.

As long as we don't see any accompanying article about Bryce Bush being the fastest rising high school signee from 2019! Heck, a Jace Fry "puff piece" would even be okay.

The fact that the Reds are committing extensive resources to jump start their rebuild in the face of 4 teams that on paper are better (and definitely at least 3) puts more pressure on teams like the White Sox and Padres to step up their efforts...or end up in limbo like the Blue Jays (at least they have two future stars on the way), Pirates and Mariners.

Okay, so we're back to competing in 2019. That requires Pederson and Hill...a second-half contribution (rather large) from Cease/Dunning and possibly signing Kimbrel. Or Miley/Gonzalez/Pomeranz signing to a short-term deal and the Pederson deal requiring more talent going back to LAD. (I'm in agreement that drafting for need for the current MLB season, see Burdi, doesn't usually work out. Sale was such a unique exception, somehow he became the norm based on the ease in which he transitioned in 2010.)