caulfield12

Maybe this means the whole offseason was a misdirection and he signs with Boston (Nantucket’s close enough.) Devers finally ends up on the White Sox, this time for Nate Jones, Fulmer, Fry and Bryce Bush.

Perhaps if you do one for Lozano as well, it might push us over the top...

Hey, but I boosted your likes by nearly 10. I should get some kind of kickback, lol. It’s going to make Fathom have to up his humor game, but he’ll probably catch you in all the game threads...especially if we sign Machado and there are more lively threads this year. At any rate, that’s my contribution to balancing out the board, let’s call it message board homeostasis. A new year arrives, Cold winds from hot air blowing Where are we going? The eclipse is nigh Tomorrow the moon conceals Shadow over us For all the pizzas The world has enjoyed so far the last is not yet

Are you calling out Bucket, lol?

That pretty much describes the situation the Sox are in right now. Machado=Beauty White Sox=Beast (due to an unmitigated disaster over the last six years, and their 40 years of signing only Fisk and Belle that were close to in their prime future HoF candidates) I guess I missed the memo where we had ANY relevant news to discuss...instead of raw conjecture, speculation and 100 multi-faceted theories about what was actually taking place behind the scenes.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to have the extra $30 million (keeping Smith and Narvaez, no Colome either) for Jay/Alonso/Castillo to allocate to both Harper and Machado on the 2019 payroll??? That’s almost the per year salary for ONE whale, at least as currently projected. Not to mention there was no need to acquire Alonso (since your assumption was Harper in RF instead of Palka) when you could simply DH Palka with a RH counterpart and allocate the money elsewhere. In other words, why add three lefties when we already had Palka or Delmonico for DH? Odds are one of those two would give you equal results at a fraction of the cost.

Except now we have two platypuses hanging over the entire market, slightly different dynamic. Plus, their on-field positions are more impactful to the series of moves that would be connected. Machado goes to the Phils, they’d have to trade Franco to the Padres before SD went to Moustakas, etc. Same with the moves the Sox would make after signing Machado...such as trading for Pederson, lower-tier starting pitcher, etc.

Give me ten Bryce Bushes over the likes of Walker, Call, Fisher, etc. Players with a limited ceiling coming out of the college ranks just aren’t very likely to ever become 3 fWAR regulars. The bust rate is obviously higher for the high schoolers, but the upside often is worth it, but it’s such an inexact science compared to the NBA or even NFL. Some of the best players who mature physically at an early age often peak early in baseball and then end up getting passed by later. https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=7949&position=SS A good example of the different timeline is Gordon Beckham and Tim Beckham from the 2008 draft. Tim’s career fWAR is just 4.5 at 1-1 and Gordon at just 6.0, Tim with the best overall season with one 3 breakout...in the end though, neither one was able to make the adjustments (offensively) that were necessary to succeed.

Isn’t this from the theme song of Beauty & the Beast? Tale as old as time True as it can be Barely even friends Then somebody bends Unexpectedly Just a little change Small to say the least Both a little scared Neither one prepared Beauty and the Beast

Title should be ITS impact...

Then we’d essentially be the A’s or Rays...just more cost efficient than 2013-2016, hopefully.

The only top player we have a connection to is obviously Sale...maybe getting rid of KW instead off adding vets would work, but that’s seemingly riskier than adding a stud everyday player to anchor the offense. Plus, we were already hamstrung for part of the last decade due to the Danks deal. Sale’s will be at least 3X that size, with the fact that he hasn’t yet had a major injury but is breaking down in the second half each year weighing heavily.

The only danger would be losing Pederson to a team like the Indians if they wait too long. Right now, there’s not much pressure on Cleveland to add before the trade deadline, but that might change if the Twins could at least challenge them in the first half. A $5 million salary has to be incredibly attractive to a small market team that fought hard to get rid themselves of Encarnacion, Alonso, Gomes, etc. Really, the main pressure is from the fanbase and the sense they don’t have the horses in the starting lineup or bullpen to realistically match up with the Big 3 in the AL.

Going back to Harper would make some sense, because everything’s at a stalemate...Phillies don’t feel pressure from anyone to continue bidding up Harper’s contract, either. The problem for them is if he really has no intention of going there unless they were just to blow all other offers out of the water (which they very well might do.) Its going to come off like a bluff from Hahn, because of all the eggs being in the Machado basket...but someone needs to make a move, it’s like a game of checkers, and the two sides are just chasing each other around the board. We need to switch it Go or at least chess.

See Phillies, Nationals, Braves...even the Mets, or the way the entire NL Central is approaching this offseason. Those two divisions are going to be crazy competitive, especially if Harper goes to the Phillies. Then you have the Boston/NYY/Houston triumvirate and the Indians desperately fighting to keep up with those three. Most of the AL teams pretty much know exactly where they stand, other than the A’s, Rays and Twins (due to financial handcuffs.)

And if they counter, we’ll get back to you in 48-72 hours...Manny and his wife need to mull it over, etc.

That’s where you ultimately have this, well...he’s worth $37-38 million per year to the Sox, but not $40? You’re really going to risk the morale of the fanbase or “psychological state of the rebuild” over that gap, having already committed $13 million and arguably close to $20 million by keeping Castillo and shedding our two younger catchers? Doesn’t make much sense. That said, no way they agree to $42-45 million per year AND a 3 year opt out unless the number of total years on the deal is six or no more than seven.

But it does allow the impasse to continue over which year the opt out kicks in if they’re (the Machado camp) not really convinced the White Sox are the best situation long-term. It’s also not wrong for him to be at least a little hesitant about being locked in for 4 years with only one of those likely including his buddies and BIL. Especially going into the offseason expecting at least $275 million...you want an inspired/motivated version of Machado, which is why there must be some follow up moves to at least make contention in 2019 a glimmer of a possibility if you squint hard enough. Otherwise, you run the risk of his becoming a not so positive role model to the likes of Jimenez and Moncada if they end up around 60-65 wins again.

Great, a frozen Harper statue outside 35th and Shields might not be too helpful this week. Better to meet him in the Caymans.

Half serious about the whole thing, or just the Sox Twitter accounting releasing it at that precise time...before noon news?

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25872174/anthony-davis-crisis-test-pelicans-ownership Celts, Lakers, Sixers...Maybe for Porzingis or #1 pick. Of course everyone wants Zion Williamson, but just 1 2/5ths years of Davis for Zion is extremely risky.

He did start 50 games at SS, so it seems the guy has the arm and range for second too. Not saying he’s superior to Madrigal, just that he doesn’t even make their Top 10 whereas Madrigal is 3-4 in our system.

Mostly good...although it could go on for quite awhile with a price set (based on Harper’s numbers) few if any will be willing to meet for Manny. If the White Sox aren’t at 8 and $240-260, they’re going to lose him to a more creative deal from a contender...especially if they won’t bend on the 3 year (vs. 4) opt out condition (assuming that’s part of the hang up, protecting Machado if the rebuild flops.)

If it’s Kluber, Ruiz and Verdugo will be involved. They need to replace Mejia, and their catching is barren after dumping Gomes as well. Pederson would be something much less than Kluber/Bauer, that’s where it gets trickier. Their outfield prospects have been injured or have performed below expectations, but I would throw Zimmer out there as one name for sure.

I don’t think it was trolls...that’s probably too strong. More about appreciating the inside information that we do get access to. Maybe it’s also a fear with so many new posters surrounding this Machado soap opera that so many “attacks” on the so-called insiders will result in virtually no public information, or just friends sharing with each through PM’s. Of course, that would eventually leak out or be hinted at through cryptic “knowing” comments. There are two sides to every story, of course. The problem is you’re unlikely to get much accountability in these situations. Think of it like Jim Cramer on CNBC, Motley Fool or Gordon Chang arguing China is on the verge of collapse every year for at least a decade. Eventually you’ll be right about something. Some have a better track record. It’s also human nature to crow about the times you were right, not the times you whiffed. It does get annoying when people have vague Rich Hahnesque exhortations that we should be confident or chill out because there are things going on behind the scenes we are not privy to (this limited info will also be the case for every original source except for maybe 10 individuals in the front office and board members), which comes into collision with almost four decades of only landing two Hall of Fame talents in Fisk and Belle via free agency. The equal parts excitement and fear or disappointment are rubbing together like two tectonic plates...it would be hard to imagine otherwise, as long as this has dragged out with already two ESPN front page headlines connecting the Sox and Machado.