caulfield12

He just signed on as Padres’ hitting coach...

Except the actual value in current dollars was low $280’s...the biggest thing we would never cave on is 4-5 years for an opt out, or the biggest guaranteed FA contract in MLB history. Both are likely non-starters. And Harper’s way too competitive to sip it around for at least two years for a competitive team to catch up with him. If he’s hesitating over Philly with their bevy of win-now moves, we really don’t have even a remote puncher’s desperation 10th round KO of a chance.

Maybe not 100% guaranteed (since nothing in life is), but at least 75%, because the feeling was that failing after taking those drastic or desperation measures would make Hahn look like the biggest buffoon since the Bozo Show on WGN.

No Sox radio or t.v., but you can pick up both Mariners’ feeds with any type of MLB.com subscription...

It’s too bad the Cubs didn’t get him...that would seemingly/finally put some pressure on the front office not to slip completely into irrelevancy. The Cubs having already peaked alleviates a bit of that doomed feeling that they’re just going to swallow all of Chicago whole, along with the upcoming backlash about subscription rates for their standalone channel.

Occam’s Razor. Doesn’t want to waste time on a rebuilding team, Sox won’t bend on five year opt out or are simply unwilling to guarantee the biggest FA contract in the history of the game. Probably all three, in equal measure.

CarGo or Adam Jones a decade too late sounds about right...they were once quasi-stars/All-Stars, at least.

It’s a distraction. Do you think they prefer Sox fans focus on clouds of uncertainty enveloping Dunning, Basabe and Hansen...or keeping down Jimenez at the beginning of the season?

Kind of like Jay and Alonso guaranteed Machado...getting a clue in the front office about how to build a winning organization is much more important than anything else at this point. If you were Jimenez, you wouldn’t be likely to commit until you felt confident the Sox were going to be capable of fielding perennial pennant contenders. Heck, the Phillies can’t even convince Harper with everything positive they’ve done already this offseason to commit more than three years of his life...whereas we just keep going backwards, or are at best stuck in neutral.

Right now, they’re desperate for a Lambert or Flores breakthrough...someone not Top 10-12 on the current prospect charts just flying up to AA/AAA like McCarthy and Hudson did.

CF? Catcher? SP? Those are our three biggest needs, currently. Rutschman is likely gone, and the second best catcher, Langoliers, is already injured. Being optimistic, Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal, Jimenez and Robert cover five positions. That leaves us short at 1B/DH, RF and C. Sure, you’ve got Palka/Collins/Burger for 1B/DH and then five more solid to ver pay good prospects to cover RF. So logic dictates college starting pitcher (not much depth yet) and a catcher...because it’s the White Sox and we almost always draft for short-term/college players vs. long-term. Vaughn might just be the best option, unless it’s this Abrams dude, because most of us have zero confidence we can actually develop our own raw/athletic/toolsy SS (Tim Anderson notwithstanding.)

Just hope he fares better than Beckham, our last Golden Spikes winner or finalist.

Or they don’t have critical needs at those two positions...or they don’t want to go into luxury tax....or just don’t have enough financial flexibility. Teams like Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees and Cubs are trying to extend their own homegrown players first. Harper has already received interest from the Nats, White Sox, Padres, Reds, Giants, Phillies and Dodgers. He doesn’t need to have 12-15 suitors to prove a point. Lindor and Trout will have no more than 6-8 legitimate suitors as well.

From the Tribune in the last 24 hours...it is a bit hard to understand if it’s about this camp or an overhanging issue from last season. But we haven’t seen or heard anything positive about Hansen. Maybe it would be a relief if his problems last year were attributable to physical rather than psychological issues. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/ct-spt-white-sox-reynaldo-lopez-20190227-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp2 Edit: very misleading the way that article was written about Hansen, because the shoulder issue was in the offseason, unless it just popped up again? It said “has been” fighting shoulder problems...recurring...new? We don’t really know much, besides it’s undoubtedly not a good thing. Pain re-occurred for Hansen this past December, only this time in his shoulder when he started throwing in his Oklahoma City hometown. After it didn't go away for two weeks, Hansen got in touch with the White Sox and came to Arizona five weeks ago. "At first I was a little hesitant," Hansen said. "I was like, 'Man, I don't want to leave this early. Spring Training is still two months away,' but as of today, I'm glad I came down here. I'm glad they made me come down here. I'm right on track right now. Maybe I might be a week behind everyone else, but the pain is gone." "We've identified some exercise and corrective things to help him work through everything, feel healthy, stay healthy, so he can have a productive season," Getz said. "It's nice to be around an Alec Hansen that is confident in the work he's putting in. Hopefully it transforms him on the mound." There was a time when future projections had Hansen as part of the top three in the White Sox rotation. That projection took a hit last season, with a velocity and confidence dip on the mound.

He was still overpaid....or basically paid as an elite, Top 3-5 closer in the game. 2.7 fWAR in 2015 and 2016. We couldn’t afford to pay an outside closer like that with the budget ceiling we were at, which is why almost every closer since 2000 has come internally or via trade (rather than free agency.) The sad thing is that he is pretty much considered Hahn’s best non-international FA signing.

Dye=broken leg AJ=clubhouse cancer, card player in the clubhouse during games El Duque=washed up/ancient, lost his stuff Contreras= great stuff, but questionable mental makeup, chokes against Boston Pods=sophomore slump Iguchi=nobody even knew who he was Hermanson=all kinds of health issues Jenks=close to being out of baseball due to off field issues

This kind of thinking leads to signing Cabrera, Robertson and LaRoche...along with the Samardzija trade, and asserting it’s the equivalent of signing one superstar and is enough to push the team into contention.

Hahn surely...in the last few days. Nobody else talks that way, or asks to be patted on the back for accomplishing basically nothing.

What moves (besides actually having a playoff contender) for individual players with Harper off the board that would actually excite a totally deflated/demoralized fanbase?

Right-hander Alex Hansen, ranked 10th in the organization, has been fighting shoulder issues. Eloy Jimenez had an array of minor injuries last season that might have — OK, probably didn’t — cost him a midseason call-up. chicagotribune.com

He really loves the sound of his own voice.

Gonzalez and Rutherford have a shot, too. Of Course, now we have three months of Basabe’s season wiped out...there’s pretty good odds one of those lefties or switch hitters make it.

I lived in Armenia/Quindio, about halfway between Cali and Medellin...finca (farm) and coffee/banana plantation territory. Perfect weather, almost, didn't need to have either a heater or air conditioner. Actually very close to the National Coffee Park, which is the Colombian idea of an amusement park without all the roller coasters, more cultural/historical. The Willy's Jeep was also mass produced there, still see many old ones in that area of the world. Also spent about 6 weeks in Cartagena...one of the hottest cities in the world during the daytime, but lots of fun at night. It's also a place where you learn fairly quickly that you can't give out money to all the street kids every day or you'll very quickly run out of money.

Well, I did live and work in Colombia for one year....went to quite a few of the professional league games in Cartagena and Barranquilla, even met with the Renteria Brothers a couple of time about their charity and working/cooperating with them.

Well, my wife always jokes that my Chinese is so bad after 7-8 years here that I am faking an a CIA agent under cover as a teacher. If it wasn't for my almost four-year old son and wanting him to learn Chinese as his first language (and then getting a better STEM education in elementary and maybe middle school)...I'd undoubtedly be back in the Quad Cities, where I have a house and car just sitting around.