caulfield12

The Phillies have three good to great hitters in Hoskins, Segura and McCutcheon (depending on what he has left). Plus Franco, if they don't trade him with Machado signing...obviously, Harper would take one of their OF slots, which continues to be the logical sign because it would strengthen their weakest point and weaken one of their divisional opponents. They have a VERY shaky rotation after you get past Nola/Arrieta, unless you believe 100% they can repeat last year's unexpected success. Jean Segura – SS – 2.4 WAR Odubel Herrera – RF – 2.0 WAR Rhys Hoskins – 1B – 3.6 WAR Maikel Franco – 3B – 2.4 WAR Cesar Hernandez – 2B – 2.1 WAR Andrew McCutchen – LF – 2.9 WAR Jorge Alfaro – C – .8 WAR Roman Quinn – CF – .9 WAR They've also improved their bullpen a lot, but this is not an everyday line-up that can compete without Harper or Machado.

The biggest concern is who's going to be in charge of disciplining all these players who are basically connected to keeping Manny Machado happy? Right now, it's basically 20% of the roster with a connection to him in one way or another...and the final point is what effect will creating a clique like that have on our ability to bring in 2-3 critical free agents next off season?

Bryce Bush is a 2018 3B/1B with a 6-0 205 lb. frame from Birmingham, MI who attends De La Salle Collegiate HS. Strong athletic build, still has room to get stronger. Right handed hitter, low hand still start, very quick hands create outstanding bat speed, ball explodes off the barrel, has barrel control and the ability to drive the ball long and far, high ceiling hitter. 6.76 runner, clean actions in the infield, plays under control with soft hands and steady feet, gets plenty of carry on his throws. Corner infield tools with the athleticism to play left field as well. Bat is his carrying tool. Good student, verbal commitment to Mississippi State. Selected for the 2017 Perfect Game All-American Classic. https://www.perfectgame.org/Players/Playerprofile.aspx?ID=407844 Who actually watched him play 3B on a daily basis for Great Falls? He made 24 errors in 60 games at third between AZ and GF. (Waiting for the caveat about Derek Jeter's 55 errors at Greensboro in 1993, lol.)

Amen. Not only that, but getting a player (even with a financial subsidy) who partially hamstrings you payroll-wise down the line. It would be one thing if we were trading talent for talent, like Rodon for Jonathan Gray, but this era of adding aging/experienced veterans years after their prime has to stop at some point.

Except that's not 100% fair because Giolito wasn't in that vicinity after his fastball already started showing signs of dipping 2-3 MPH even with the Nationals.

If they think Bush has the potential to really be an excellent 3B...they shouldn't trade him. We're doing the Dodgers a favor here taking those two salaries (especially Hill). If the Braves want to give a rival team in the NL a better return (or the Dodgers want to help someone who can knock them out of the playoffs), more power to them.

Joc Pederson major league games played... CF=410 LF=122 RF=7 Somehow I doubt Bryce Harper has played 76% of his career MLB games in CF.

Since a lot of board members think Harper should already be converted to 1B, I don't think Harper has much to do with it. So let's not call it the Manny Machado Principle, then let's call it the all players who can stick at catcher, middle infield or CF are going to be more highly valued in Free Agency than those who cannot play those positions defensively...and their fWAR values should be correspondingly higher (maybe not in the case of Machado playing Gold Glove 3B vs. average SS, I'll leave it for the statniks to argue which has the higher value).

Guess their pitching coach/staff sees something the Yankees don't/didn't...or it's all predicated on getting him out of NY and giving him a fresh start and confidence with an extension behind him. You think they would have learned with Homer Bailey, but maybe not.

Clearly they signed Gio Gonzalez (an ex-Nats teammate) because we're now turning our attention to Bryce Harper with Machado already in the fold...and to make up for the two times KW traded him.

Well, this is the same argument that other teams make for not giving up draft picks to sign the likes of an AJ Pollock. That said, if you could have a 2nd round draft pick (or let's even throw out a name, Steele Walker)...wouldn't you rather trade Bush than Walker or a 2nd round pick? No matter how impressive he was last year, has he really elevated his value THAT much based on one short-season of baseball?

Where did I say anything about DEMANDING anything? The previous poster was opining that he could be signed as a 1B/DH after 2020. The argument is simply that he's going to be worth a lot more to other teams playing CF for the White Sox. Now I suppose you could argue that they should play Jay in CF over him, but Jay's 34....Harper/Markakis/Adam Jones acquisitions would all likely put him in CF for the Sox as well. The Machado is DEMANDING the White Sox allow him to play SS isn't even something we know to be a fact, right? It's just speculation, based on what his former high school coach said. So if your interpretation is that he wouldn't go to the White Sox unless we put him in CF, well...frankly, it doesn't matter what he wants. Of course, he can act out like Nick Swisher and get himself traded eventually, but that's pretty far-fetched for someone who will be hitting FA at age 28 (turning 29). In fact, he's MUCH MORE likely to play CF for the White Sox than pretty much any team in baseball, particularly the Dodgers. So he should welcome a trade, because he can play nearly everyday...although not in the pole position of being on a team with six consecutive playoff appearances and climbing.

What doesn't make much sense is what's the upside of what logically appears to be the same person in the White Sox front office sharing information with him over these recent years...unless it was information the club wanted to be out in the public, but not via a direct announcement or Merkin release? He's not actually getting any financial benefit from having more online followers, is he? Or does he get paid because of more page views at Barstool? Pretty incredible even mlb.com sites are taking up this "Is it a White Sox hat or not?" debate... https://www.mlb.com/cut4/manny-machado-was-wearing-a-white-sox-hat/c-302928612

There's no way they're going to add Keuchel this year...it's going to be someone like Miley/Gio/Pomeranz, depending on whether we get HIll or not. It doesn't make sense to go all-in on the FA pitching market until we know exactly what we have (and we still won't know about Kopech 100%) heading into 2020.

So you're saying that Joc Pederson is going to be playing 1B for the White Sox? Why wouldn't he play CF?

If you can't fix it, you gotta stand it. or I wish I knew how to quit you.

When he hits FA at 28 years old...turning 29...it will be as an OFer, and probably still CF. Same principle as Machado at SS.

When can they get 3 WAR CFer for such a low price point, though? Three years would be better, but then you’re probably blocking Robert or one of the other outfield prospects. It seems a much easier route to get to 80 wins than to jump twenty at one time, especially with Kopech coming off surgery in 2020. Having a veteran lefty in the rotation for one year to be around the youngsters could be equally valuable. Adding payroll just for 2019 doesn’t really matter, in the overall scheme of things. And would love to know if this suggestion (Pederson/Hill) came from the Machado camp or internally...

No way rebuilders can be against this move, as long as we still get Machado or Harper. Even without, there’s no need to run Engel out there 140 games...or watch more Dylan Covey starts. And odds are, Dylan will still get more opportunities, anyway. Unless the White Sox view Bush as a sure fire 3B, and even then, it might not matter depending on the opt out.

At least we now a temporary diversion...seems like we were all of the verge of going insane or inane in the membrane there for awhile. Doubt the Pederson thing takes more than 2-3 days, if it’s actually going to happen.

Or moving Alonso, should Machado still somehow fall through...

Well, his ETA is also 2022-23...

He’s been saying that for 2-3 weeks now, though...

Unless Bush can play a premium position like middle infield or CF, his value will always be tied to his bat. Then it comes down to the usual for the Sox, sticking it out at third, we’ve already got Burger in that same minefield.

Eaton and Quentin say hello. Those literally are the two biggest success stories of the last decade...even Davidson finally became a contributor. Or we can only target the NL West, lol.