caulfield12

??? I have an I-Pad. The same one that turns LUIS Robert automatically into CAPS every time.

1) Keeping his client happy 2) Setting another record for biggest contract in baseball, which puts a huge target on that player...which undoubtedly Harper would probably claim to enjoy.

Sounds more like a plumbing company, ala Roto Rooter.

Here’s yet another compelling argument for signing players so late hurting MLB...season tickets or souvenir Harper/Machado jerseys can’t be given away as gifts at Christmastime...and corporations looking to invest in season tickets would have been much likelier to do that this past November than now waiting into Q1 2019. https://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/gabe-lacques/2019/01/07/mlb-offseasons-hindering-baseball-bryce-harper-manny-machado/2502916002/ The biggest win, however, may be in convincing a large segment of fans that winning “efficiently” is almost as important as winning at all. And it’s created something akin to Stockholm syndrome: Unless that fan roots for the Yankees or Dodgers, he or she is accustomed to their team eschewing big-bucks expenditures and fears that one suboptimal contract will poison the entire operation. "Little old us, making a play for Bryce Harper? That’s just crazy!" Even the Yankees can pull this off; GM Brian Cashman's semi-annual "Bubba Crosby will be our center fielder" gambit used to be greeted with almost universal eyerolls. Now, he can say with a straight face Troy Tulowitzki will be his opening-day shortstop and largely avoid scorn. It's one thing for Cashman to bluff his way through winter, and time will reveal the Yankees' ultimate intent. But it's quite another that fans are willing to buy what he's initially peddling. Meanwhile, what, exactly, are teams supposed to promote? There was a time not long ago when the bulk of free agency was wrapped up a couple weeks before the New Year. And what timing! Clubs could sell holiday ticket packages generated by the excitement of the forthcoming new star. A few weeks later, said player might make his first appearance at a winter fan-fest event, slap some hands, generate some friendly Internet content and, theoretically, sell a few more tickets. So what happens two weeks from now, when Wrigley loyalists gather for their annual three-day Cubs Convention, and a team still in its prime yet in need of reinforcements offers up Daniel Descalso as its major addition? A franchise, mind you, that is about to launch its own TV network, is wringing every possible penny out of re-developing Wrigleyville and manages to sell naming rights to two ballpark entrances and even a bullpen gate. Pity poor Theo Epstein and Co. if Lou from Naperville demands such answers during a Q & A session. Baseball is still plenty healthy, even as death knells sound from within and without the industry. As more massive local TV contracts kick in, revenues should continue to rise. It’s awfully hard to ignore that 4% drop in attendance last year, though. Manfred blamed the brutal weather in April and May for that dip, and it certainly was a factor. Yet if a more cooperative polar vortex in 2019 ushers in a more pleasant April, the weather excuse won’t fly. And should this off-season wrap with a good 50% of teams still suffering from what Boras calls “non-competitive cancer,” it will be far easier to correlate that with soft box-office returns. In the meantime, gentle baseball consumer, get out your credit cards. Florida and Phoenix beckon, just weeks away now, followed by the regular season. It’s baseball, after all, and it’s hard not to have a good time. Especially if you’re merely rooting for the laundry.

https://nypost.com/2019/01/05/boras-client-may-show-creative-way-to-reach-harper-machado-deals/ This is old news, but the Sherman post makes just as much sense (that the Yankees are coming up with a really creative contract) makes as much sense as Hahn asking Machado if bringing Alonso and Jay on board would sway his decision. The only thing that makes you believe Machado to the Sox is that all these desperation (so crazy, they’re brilliant!) moves would look almost as laughable as the Stewart/LaRussa days in Arizona. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/ranking-the-five-worst-moves-of-the-dave-stewart-era-with-the-diamondbacks/ Of course, that worst GM in modern MLB history saw his former team advance to the playoffs in 2017, regardless.

Or Yolmer...assuming Machado has to be signed for this offseason to make any sense...and Yolmer would have a lot more trade value at this point in time. How well can Leury play 3B? He’s almost exclusively played SS on the infield, right?

I can’t recall at least two players ever being added to an MLB roster to specifically entice a big-time free agent to sign. That doesn’t even count Castillo, Colome, Nova and Herrera, and their connections to Machado. One thing’s for sure, if we don’t manage to sign Machado, every Hahn trade from that point forward will be a punchline to a joke about putting the gang together to connect a new group of Sox acquisitions to a potential 2019-20 Free Agent target.

What’s the additional payroll coming onto this year’s roster, $39 million now? We must be paying about $10-12 million/1 fWAR. Where are we now in terms of added versus subtracted WAR with all the players we pushed out the door to make room for Machado’s friends? We kept Castillo (and McCann) over Narvaez/Smith, added Alonso over Davidson, Jay instead of Engel/Leury...Nova replacing Shields essentially, plus Colome and Herrera.

Ronnie Bass...a little bit, 50% is the blonde flowing locks. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2090702/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t24 https://goo.gl/images/qYTYyZ If you combined the two (this guy was on Shameless and The 100), you’d be onto something.

Well, we might be able to succeed marketing this team in Miami a lot better than Chicago. So there’s that. And at least we now lead baseball in Spanish speaking team members, plus one manager and another manager in training.

I don’t recall writing anything about who he identifies with (it was about how fans would perceive him...but whatever. All season long whenever Herrera blows a save, everyone will mention his two months in Washington and never once the rest of his career in the majors or what team he played for 95% of the time. Got it! He will go into the HoF as a National, for sure.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/25676643/mlb-stock-watch-midwinter-winners-losers Nationals the most improved MLB team this offseason, even with the possible loss of Harper...

What team would you identify Herrera with if we acquired him, KC or Washington? 1/2 a season versus an entire career? Jermaine Dye played 4.5 years with KC and 3.5 years with the Oakland A’s. He was more identified with a perennially contending Oakland A’s team as a veteran leader than the Braves or Royals at that point in his career.

Greg and I were referring to him as a closer, which he didn’t end up doing as a member of the White Sox more than once or twice. It’s okay, if they sign Herrera, you will still be hearing how Greg will refuse to buy MLB Extra Innings or concession items and souvenirs at the ballpark this year. Without Harper or Machado, the only reason to watch this season is Jimenez and Moncada. If they were smart, they would realize how much value there is adding a name player that would take the pressure off all those young guys.

Basically, doing the same thing the next two offseasons as this one...eventually, they’re going to have to put their careers on the line and sign guys who are “part of the core” for 2021/22 and beyond. Right now, there are only Moncada (2023), Anderson (2024) and Jimenez...you can include López and Kopech if you want, but that’s still a ton of uncertainty. If you went into Year 3 of the Cubs or Astros rebuilds, you could’ve envisioned roughly 40-50% of their playoff rosters at that point.

He came from the Athletics. What next, guys who only played in their minor leagues? Most often, we’re taking them directly from KC, dudes like Felipe Paulino or Mark Teahen.

The problem is that the market for 4 of those 5 guys is down or way down. Generally, sell low and buy high isn’t going to lead to great amount of success in any endeavor. And teams like the Giants would have more need for Almora because of that huge outfield.

In terms of reliever years, with his overusage in KC and the resulting drop off in FB velocity the last two years and considering that Latin American prospects are throwing hard in the mid 80’s at 13-14, 29 is no longer a spring chicken.

You don’t have to throw them into the closer’s role right away...when’s the last time we did that with a rookie pitcher? Jenks?

I seem to remember Sox months ago hearing that our system was overflowing with middle and late relief prospects. If they manage to increase the payroll by $50-60 million on placeholders and don’t add Machado...this might end up being the worst offseason of all time for Sox fans...worse than Jeff Keppinger as the headliner, even.

Dan Clark on his youth baseball team in Adelaide? By the end of this saga, he’ll have more followers than Kourtney Kardashian.

Soria netting someone who won’t even be our next playoff roster versus 12-15 ex Royals signings that didn’t help at all the last twenty years? Okay. In general, they tend to look better against the Sox than ON the Sox. By that theory, we can only successfully trade with the DBacks and Cubs now.

Why not just bequest the White Sox to Sale in the JR Revocable Trust plan if you’re giving him the 12 year?...that way, he can spend the rest of his years cutting up different jerseys. Drake LaRoche can be permanent batboy. Old-timer’s games can be filled with former Sox prospects who failed to put up a lifetime 650 ops. By the end, they can lop off the entire upper deck.

Haven’t we learned our lesson yet about signing ex-Royals? Apparently not...Herrera is toast. Granted, Soria worked out okay, but these are the kind of moves that make the rest of the baseball world think we really don’t care or have much of a strategic plan.

I think we need to reach out to Dan Clark for an exclusive SoxTalk interview...that would be more entertaining than the last 2-3 days of blah blah blah, at least. And long live the Filibuster!