caulfield12

So we have the traditional White Sox red flag warning sign flashing...player coming off a major second half slump.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Winter meetings are done, but the Indians aren’t done trading. Late Friday night they traded first baseman Yonder Alonso to the AL Central rival Chicago White Sox for minor league outfielder Alex Call. The trade follows the Indians acquisition of first basemen Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers on Friday in a three-team deal with Seattle and Tampa Bay. The Indians sent Edwin Encarnacion and a compensatory draft pick to the Mariners for Santana. They acquired Bauers, who can also play left and right field, for Yandy Diaz from the Rays. As soon as that deal was made, it seemed as if Alonso would be next. Alonso signed a two-year $16 million deal with the Indians last December. He will make $8 million in 2019 with vesting club option for 2020 worth $9 million with a $1 million buyout. Alonso hit .250 last season with 23 homers and 83 RBI last season. He appeared in 145 games, finishing second among AL first baseman with 81 RBI. Alonso faded in the second half, hitting .238 (51-for-214) with 10 homers and 30 RBI in 60 games. This Indians, who are trying to gain payroll flexibility, have traded Yan Gomes, Encarnacion, Diaz and Alonso since Nov. 30. For the lyrically inclined, you’ve probably already realized that the Indians have traded Yan, Yandy and Yonder in an extremely short period of time. Gomes was scheduled to make $7 million in 2019, Yandy was just over the big-league minimum of $555,000, while Yonder was scheduled to make $9 million in 2019. They’ve also taken the two years left on Santana’s contract at $35 million, while trading away Encarnacion and they $25 million he’s owed -- $20 million in 2019 plus a $5 million buyout on his club option in 2020. The Indians and White Sox traditionally don’t do much business. This is the first trade between the teams since the Indians since catcher-first baseman Matt Merullo to Chicago for outfielder Ken Ramos on March 30, 1994. Call, 24, played at Class A WInston-Salem and Class AA Birmingham last season. He hit a combined .248 (107-for-431) with 28 doubles, four triples, 12 homers and 58 RBI in 123 games. He entered last season and Chicago’s 21st ranked prospect according to Baseball America. He was Chicago’s third round pick in the 2016 draft out of Ball State University. That the Indians received just a minor league outfielder for Alonso in all likelihood means the White Sox are assuming the bulk, if not all, of his contract. Chicago may have had an ulterior motive to make this deal. They are pursuing shortstop Manny Machado, who is Alonso’s brother-in-law. The Indians 40-man roster stands at 38 players. View Comments cleveland.com Paul Hoynes

You’re forgetting they’ve already cleared Gomes, Encarnacion, Miller, Allen, Brantley, Alonso....adding back Santana. Kluber will be another huge salary to clear.

Has there ever been a time in MLB history where just TWO players with $500+ million in combined contract value were brought in over one offseason?

Why didn’t the Indians just keep Alonso and use him to secure Machado on a deal with an opt-out after Year 3?

Yonder Alonso is a consistent 0.533 fWAR player (2015, 2016, 2018) unless you’re suddenly expecting the 2.4 from 2017 as he turns 32 to open the 2019 season. We ALL know how well that always turns out for the Sox when we look at the numbers on the back of the baseball card, lol. At least we now have our very own version of Logan Morrison, albeit he could cut down on Anderson, Moncada and Machado throwing errors appreciably.

That’s not even counting Delmonico. We already got rid of Davidson and Avi that essentially were offense-first players who fit a similar profile.

Maybe the best thing is Harper to the Cubs and Machado to NYY...then the White Sox would have no choice to clean house or end up like the Redskins. The only thing standing between that happening and the Sox current quandary is the Q trade, Robert, Madrigal and another #3 pick.

Exactly...there was a simultaneous league-wide run on Alonso? Well, not according to what we gave up in talent.

Well, just like the Bulls never landing a whale and turning into a dumpster fire, what SHOULD the fans do if they strike out, clamor for a Hahn statue at 35th and Shields when he’s the one largely responsible for creating this Hail Mary desperation play in the first place in order to save his job?

Does Abreu even have a desire to DH?

Someone better check who has Reinsdorf’s power of attorney right now when you start talking about $600-800 million committed for just two players.

They can’t trade him now, that’s for sure...they simply would try to max out his value and open the spot for a Madrigal, but there’s nothing to say he couldn’t play CF with Jimenez in LF and Robert in RF, other than his history of nagging injuries like the hamstring. A Machado signing and Jimenez up takes all the pressure to save the franchise off his back.

I was responding to the trade Abreu and bring him back in the future argument...

Why would Machado want to sign up for a team with Yonder Alonso as its best “proven” hitter?

It would be less risky if they weren’t helping our main divisional rival get better simultaneously.

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?