caulfield12

Because it’s not helping at all if we just turn around and dump Abreu to save money. UNLESS THAT MEANS HARPER OR MACHADO. Biggest point is we are helping the Indians offload even more salary...which opens their competitive window into 2021 and 2022 depending on what they get back for Kluber and who else they can sign. Their only bad remaining contract is Kipnis, and that’s only for 2019 with a buyout for 2020.

It will ONLY be fine if they get Machado. Otherwise, it’s another debacle to add to Sox lore.

The whole point of dumping Santana was to move Hoskins to 1B...aiyo.

How would dumping Abreu for a B prospect and a lesser hitter than Palka help to secure Machado? That would mean the majority of our best hitters from what was already a pretty bad offense would be gone (Abreu, Narvaez, Davidson, Smith, Avi).

Cue the Machado/Belle comparison stories to start popping up everywhere.

Would feel more confident with Ozzie Guillen courting Machado than this train wreck.

That front office can run rings around the White Sox...not even close. They still have a hole at catcher (Perez/Haase), which means they end up with Grandal, Puig/Peterson, Santana and huge payroll flexibility. We might as well give them Colome, too. Heck, they might as well sign Machado or Harper.

That would be ironic. The large market White Sox getting a competitive balance pick in return from the smallest market Indians that have a payroll 200% bigger than ours.

Why are we helping the Indians? This is just idiotic. Call, that part is completely besides the point, although he’ll probably morph into their Jason Tyner. Why would Machado care about a teammate who would only be around one season?

Aren’t all indications Jimenez would be in LF? They really are going back to Palka in RF? There better be a solid indication they can bring in Machado or all these chess moves will look pointless. The Indians clearing salary of Encarnacion and Alonso means Santana and a bunch of hitters will come over from LAD for Kluber and free up RF for Harper. We actually helped improve the Indians’ payroll glut...which really clears up next year when they can dump Kipnis.

Puig for one year would simply be replacing Avi for the marketing department. Pederson’s the obvious target fitting the timeline much better. Kemp has been discussed into the ground.

Reinsdorf will never sign off on that in a million years.

Or the Indians. Then we’re back to the Kluber megadeal that frees up an outfield spot for Harper simultaneously.

Why would the Dodgers devalue all their outfielders...If Harper wanted the best possible team to play for, he’d simply tell them to maximize what they get could back for Puig/Peterson/Kemp and then they could announce a signing. Taylor can move back to 2B. They’d still have Harper, Bellinger, Verdugo, Hernandez, Toles, etc., for the outfield. Wouldn’t be a great defensive outfield, but they probably don’t care much.

The only way to not be the Padres, Rays, A’s, Pirates or Royals is to win consistently and create an exciting atmosphere at the ballpark. This is the way it has always been, there have consistently been 5-6 teams getting 80% of the attention. Even the Mets are not getting much attention since their pitching dynasty imploded, and they’re in a much bigger market and a WS appearance just three seasons ago.

Peavy44 is like that Kelly Gale (VIctoria’s Secret model) who just had to block the restaurant entrance with her jump rope workout routine in front of In-N-Out Burger yesterday...ostensibly to promote fitness (not fat shaming!) and the eating of healthier pears but mostly just to increase her Insta followers.

Let’s not forget Colome is almost getting that much...Quintana is going exactly nowhere.

Name another time when a long-term extension was ripped up years early by a team because the GM felt it was patently unfair to the player....that he only signed it to guarantee his poverty-stricken family’s future at the time, but it didn’t reflect his status as one of the 3-4 best catchers in baseball, and the acknowledged team leader as well.

No denying they were a lot of fun to watch last year, especially when it was at the Cubs’ expense. If the Sox ever did move, that would be one logical choice. Most could never really just turn into Cards’ fans unless it’s in your blood. Eucker is also a lot of fun.

Royals did this with Sal Perez...had a 5 year/$7 million deal and they ripped it up and rewarded him handsomely.

We’re the Dolphins now...except lacking a franchise history of past excellence. They just better sign someone, anyone to get excited about. The only other way to survive this as a fan of the sport is to find other teams that are enjoyable to watch or root for (basically Cubs’ opponents, for me it was the Royals from living in KC a decade) while waiting for your favorite team to get it going again. Kind of like hibernating for 10-15 years.

I think counting on Zavala to contribute much this season ranks up there with the front office’s idea that Adrian Nieto was going to be with the Sox for a decade as he developed...Zavala is more likely another Delmonico/Skole/Cordell and likely the 24th or 25th player on the roster until he can prove the ability to hit in AAA and stick at catcher instead of LF.

Pros Same division, familiarity with pitchers, team owner obviously willing to spend with huge t.v. rights deal after the WS era a decade ago underpinning all that, not a small/er market mentality, other than the Braves and crazy Mets, other teams are taking a step back, presence of Hoskins and Nola as foundation, newer stadium but not particularly memorable, Huge fan/media pressure=win big and you’re a Big Hero, Eastern Time Zone=more ESPN attention, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, Rocky Balboa, Liberty Bell (lol) Cons It’s Philly, the Braves have a much better young core at the MLB level as well as their farm system, the position players currently on the roster aren’t miles ahead of what the White Sox threw out there in 2018...not an impressive lineup like NYY, LAD or Cubs where he’d have a ton of lineup protection, market where there’s intense negative media and fan pressure if things don’t go well, Arrieta is still a solid pitcher but on the downside of his career, 2018 early competitiveness could have been a false positive (see White Sox in 2012 and 2016), Hoskins blocking him at 1B...no opportunities to rest as DH if slightly dinged up, brutal weather in April and most of May

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pension-fund-managers-poured-emerging-markets-right-tumbled-162434266.html

Which is one of the many reasons the Tigers had a huge advantage over the Sox from 2006 onwards...Ilitch was willing to risk his own personal wealth in order to provide a World Series winner to Detroit. It’s also where the Indians will come up short.