almagest

It was. They wouldn't have changed their operating procedures even if they didn't catch lightning in a bottle that year. We'd probably be in the same place we are now, just with no "Palmeiro, over the head of Jenks... Uribe charges, throws... OUT! And the White Sox have won the world series!" to repeatedly watch on Youtube.

It's possible but way less likely than paying an established player in the prime of his career what he wants so he comes onboard to anchor your team against the prospects that don't pan out. Other people have said it already but this is the biggest failure by this franchise that I can remember and I've been around for almost 37 years. It's almost unbelievable and it's all their fault.

100%. I can't believe how badly they played themselves. They really are incompetent.

I also don't understand why this organization cares about payroll 7+ years down the road when they haven't been in the postseason since 2008. Who cares about salary flexibility then when you've gone much longer than that without being competitive?

I don't even think they're smarter. They just wanted to seal the deal and did it. The White Sox were too smart for their own good and got burned.

And thats why they won't sign either of these players and I'll be watching the Cardinals/Brewers/Eloy highlights this year.

That's the only way this will work apparently. These "swell-opts" and other complex contracts are bullshit. Players want guaranteed money. Give it to a guy who could give you 9 WAR in his best years and at worst is still an above average player.

The Padres offer was player-friendly. The Sox offer was team-friendly. Not rocket science here. It was a competitive offer in that it was likely second-best. As usual. I am so, so so angry with this team right now. This is the lowest I've ever felt about this organization and its understanding of how to successfully run a rebuilding franchise.

No.

What the hell is going on

If its true the Sox are trying to get both Harper and Machado I'd think it more likely they have the top offer for Machado but he's still seeing what he can get on the market, and they're still in contact with Harper to see what it will take to get him signed. They could've pitched them both on playing together as well. They may have also structured the offers for both in a way where it makes sense if they actually sign both (I doubt this is true though).

Didn't say I thought they would, just they would have to be at the luxury tax to be able to field a competitive roster with so much money tied up in two players.

If the Sox believe they can be consistently competitive by signing Bryce and Manny I think they can do it, but they'd have to be at or above the luxury tax threshold. Which is $208 million (and up) starting in 2020. You'd be looking at ~33% of your payroll being occupied by Bryce and Manny, assuming each is at 35 mil/yr. That seems doable while maintaining a competitive team, I just don't know if its smart.

I don't know why they would damage the relationship with one of their biggest clients to post a troll job. Seems really stupid and short-sighted.

As much as I'm trying not to get excited over small things, those gloves are getting me a first-class ticket on the hype train...

This picture is actually this guy: https://about.van.fedex.com/our-story/leadership/brian-philips/

Yeah I think they're a few years early on trading prospects en masse like this and I don't understand why they're doing it. A Realmuto move for them now just wouldn't make any sense.

I think they're doing the opposite of what I want the Sox to do. I think they're in that 75-80 win no-man's land the Sox were for years before they decided to trade Sale and Quintana.

If you just want a 4K blu-ray player there's no need for the X. The S does just fine.

If teams know the Dodgers need to trade Joc to sign Pollock that seems to remove some of their leverage. I don't know if they'll get full value (which is good for us).

Notable quote:

If he's bad probably.

Do you know if there is any validity to the idea that the White Sox are a source for all these contract leaks? Or is this just a ton of noise that journalists are not vetting and running with for clicks?

The only reason you have the max contract is because of the salary cap. If there was no max contract you could pay a superstar whatever you wanted and still fill out a roster with fair salaries for complementary players. So I don't know why you think the cap isn't the root problem. Also any team that pays 90%+ of their cap room for one player is begging to be non-competitive. There's no way that strategy would work in reality because there's a bunch of other teams that could spend responsibly and fill out a complete roster and beat the one star + scrubs team. Also why would an average player take a minimum salary when they could go elsewhere and make more, and probably have a better shot at being competitive?

Team control should absolutely be cut to a max age or max number of years or some combination. The lower the better in my opinion. Players should be allowed to spend their most productive years wherever they like for the amount of money they want/can get. I think the floor raised the midlevel salary specifically more than the cap. The cap just suppresses earnings on the whole.