caulfield12

The odds of an ARod like deal with stupid money and Boras conceding this early in the process are pretty low. That said, there’s a ton of pressure on the Phillies while they have Harper’s full attention to do exactly that. They probably can’t afford to wait two more years on Trout...and still be stuck treading water in the middle of a contention window as a low 80’s win team.

Not only that, but you’re unlikely to get much back for Jay, Alonso, Castillo, Nova or Colome when half of their reason for being on the roster just went out the door (especially the first three guys).

The White Sox would be stupid to get pulled into that when they created spots for literally 5 players on the active roster because of their connections to Machado...

Because the Phillies are clearly the team with the most incentive to sign one for this year and next, and the most to lose with fans if they don’t. White Sox fans are comparatively used to being disappointed.

Because then you give the Nationals, Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals, Padres and other teams more time and options to make a run at Harper...if Machado’s really leaning White Sox, that’s a dangerous position to be in, taking a huge risk you’re not going to end up with either guy. Hard for the ownership group to live that one down with the fan base chomping at the bit for TWO.

Yep, the Phillies are the only team who have to think about really finalizing with Harper or Machado in the next 48-72 hours. If they don’t get either, they’re going to have to make a quick course correction with guys like Pollock or Moustakas in order to compete this year. Their pitching depth is still iffy after the top 3, and their three best hitters are Hoskins, Segura and an aging McCutcheon.

Rendon is so quirky he might retire. If you polled that fan base to choose one long-term, pretty easy to imagine it would be 90% for Harper and only 10% for Rendon.

Adding all those pieces just to court Machado...after possibly giving him SS...would seem to preclude them going into a take it or leave it negotiating stance with Lozano this weekend.

But they can still play Taylor or Kiki Gonzalez at second...plus LeMahieu’s road numbers are less than ideal. Unless they offload Verdugo+ for Kluber or Bauer, it doesn’t make much sense in terms of need and financial risk vs. reward, aka opportunity cost.

That wasn’t the point. It was whether it would make up for he who will not be named or not.

At least he’s on the Padres. If he was in our own division or league, it would be much harder to swallow. Plus, Petco is such a huge park it will suppress his offensive numbers. He hits quite a few line drives out, and those will merely be long outs in that marine layer at night.

As long as Cease stays healthy. You have a feeling that Tatis can put up huge WAR numbers simply because of his position and strong defensive stats...so it’s not unlike Harper vs. Machado when one weighs Tatis vs. Eloy. Personal preference.

Just HS coach’s comments on position preference...unclear they’ve actually spoken recently.

Except his previous debacle of an outing...

But this is one remarkable case where the Phillies would have the “hometown advantage” decidedly in their favor.

Or Giancarlo Stanton, for that matter...

“I don’t think they need to go out and get Harper and Machado,” Ryan Howard said. “If you miss out, that’s not the worst thing. Because there’s a guy named Mike Trout — who I believe has season Eagles tickets — who’s there every week … Build your roster, build your team up to where you can go make a run at Trout if you’ve got that stupid money, and you’re looking to drop it." http://www.philly.com/phillies/ryan-howard-phillies-mlb-network-espn-bryce-harper-manny-machado-20190109.html

http://www.philly.com/phillies/manny-machado-phillies-free-agency-infield-coach-bryce-harper-mlb-20190111.html Philadelphia Inquirer story on the Dickerson coaching hire. Why didn’t Rick Hahn think of that one, lol? Would have cost us a lot less money. Same with Beltran to the Yankees’ front office.

If they somehow manage to get Adley as well, you can pretty much guarantee the Sox will go after the Oregon State ex-manager as a consultant. Pat Casey just resigned at age 60 after the College World Series. https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2018/09/live_video_updates_pat_casey_e.html

Next Transformers movie title?

It seems like it’s more difficult to find elite 3B for the Hall, actually. Rolen was one of the best of his generation, and he’s likely going to struggle to get in. Beltre is the gold standard.

There DEFINITELY is a Harper/Boras meeting with the Phillies on Saturday. Unless they sign Machado in the next 12-18 hours, and probably still, even then.

We would then have the majority of WBC representatives...goodbye, Tim Anderson. On the plus side, we can convert half of Miami and Latin America into White Sox fans.

Anderson was an excellent point guard...in some ways, his skill set and physical resiliency (not wearing down too much from stealing so many bases) would seemingly make him the better candidate for CF. That said, he was really playing much better the second half of the season...almost Gold Glove level, were he on a media favorite team.

If we can keep him healthy...granted, Robert’s injuries this year were mostly related to base running. He played the majority of his time in LF for Cuba and in Series Nacional, definitely has the speed/range for CF and a strong but not Adolfo-esque arm for RF.