Chicago White Sox

So it was all a joke then?

So just to be clear, your plan is to rush all our prospects to somehow make things “interesting”? I’d like to share my actual thoughts here, but would prefer to avoid a likely suspension.

What they have available today is not what they’ll have available tomorrow. There is no doubt they can afford Machado right now, but in the coming years adding him eats up some of their flexibility. I already called out Hicks & Gregorius being free agents after this coming season. I assume you just ignored these guys & their 9.5 fWAR in your future payroll assessment. Also, the arbitration estimates beyond 2019 are simply based on averages and do not reflect what young stars like Judge, Sanchez, & Servino will actually earn. And Tanaka falling off the payroll means another hole to fill. The same applies to Paxton unless they are able to retain him at signficanth bigger dollars. You are making their financial situation look much better than it really is. That doesn’t mean Machado is a no-go, but they may not be eager to sign a 3B with character concerns to one of the largest contracts in baseball history given these financial considerations in addition to the fact they have a cheap, controllable 3B already in place.

Well that sucks, but if even considering Segura they must not be convinced about spending big money on Machado.

I also think people are overestimating how much the Yankees are going to be willing to spend. Hicks & Gregarious combined for 9.5 WAR last year and will both be free agents after the season. Severino hits arbitration this year and Judge & Sanchez next year. Those guys combined for 12.3 WAR and will see their salaries rise significantly in the coming years. TLDR => their core is about to get very expensive. I’m not suggesting they can’t afford Machado, but I don’t anticipate them going all-out for him. I still believe the Phillies are the greater threat for Manny.

I still don’t get this line of thinking. The Yankees were always going to add two arms, with one likely being Corbin and the other being acquired via trade. They still have a great chance of landing Machado, but I’m not sure how this really changes anything.

This is the only part of your post I don’t agree with. The 2017 Twins improved by 26 games. The 2018 A’s improved by 22 games. The 2018 Braves improved by 18 games. That’s three examples off the top of my head in the last two year of teams taking massive leaps & making the playoffs without huge free agent spending. To say the odds of us doing something similar next year is akin to “playing the lottery” is being way too pessimistic IMO. And let me be clear, I’m not suggesting that type of leap is likely for us, but with enough free agent additions & internal development it is possible. I know it’s easy to be down on our first wave of prospects right now, but Moncada is a former #1 prospect, Rodon & Giolito were top 10 guy at one point, & Anderson & Lopez were top 40 types. Those guys are capable of taking signicant leaps next year. Jimenez is a top 5 prospect also capable of making an impact next year. Those guys (plus our LF’s) combined for 6.5 fWAR last year. The room for improvement there is significant. Combine that with several important free agent signings (including a whale) and there is a chance our team could take a massive leap forward next year. Again, nothing is guaranteed and it would take a mix of good health, luck, & development, but it’s definitely not as much as a stretch as you’re making it out to be unless you just don’t believe in the talent of our young guys.

Sign some people sure, but I’d keep trades to buy low guys for now. We need a stronger foundation in place at the major league level before we start trading from our minor league depth.

I was actually going to throw this same idea in the creative trades thread, but wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Greinke is still pretty good, but who knows for how long or in a city like Chicago. It’s no doubt interesting, but very risky IMO.

They won’t take a 4 to 5 year deal. And they could become a burden at some point, but at 10 years you’d be getting their age 26 to 35 seasons. I think both guys can realistically be expected to remain productive through their early 30’s, so hopefully you’re only looking at couple bad years and that’s only if they don’t exercise their opt-out. We can’t be afraid to take some calculated risks if we ever want to win a championship again.

So we’ll land the other guy then? I don’t see Philly adding both. They have a ton of holes and would be better off adding one whale and spreading any remaining funds across multiple needs.

That article does a pretty good job summarizing the need for Harper on the White Sox. Just give him 10/$400M with opt-outs after years 4, 5, & 6 and call it a day. Harper is the star this franchise hasn’t had since prime Big Hurt.

Thanks. This was good listen, but I really wish they would’ve dove a bit deeper beyond the top 10. Outside of Collins & Basabe, they didn’t really touch on much. I would have loved to hear them talk about Hansen, Sheets, Burdi, etc.

He’s saying Eovaldi will be burned out next year just like Morrow was this year after an enduring post-season.

The Sox clearly want to add one veteran starter to a multi-year deal. I agree with the concept, just not sure how to feel about Eovaldi.

If Jon Gray is unattainable, I would love to get me some Jeff Hoffman. I have no idea what we could offer though. They still could use catching help, but Castillo has little to no trade value and Narvaez is such a polarizing guy because of his defense. Abreu theoretically could be a fit to address offensive needs, but he’s coming off a disappointing season, will make a lot of money, and only has one year of control left. I’m guessing the Rockies will explore cheaper options.

His last name is Bohm, not Brohm. And lots of people / publications had him in the #3 / #4 mix. He may have signed for underslot, but he was far from a reach. I’m not sure what you’re trying to accomplish by showing him as the #50 prospect other than to prove he’s an incredibly valuable talent who will be costly to acquire. The Phillies will be in no rush to trade the kid, even if they sign Machado. I’m still not understanding how Bohm fits into all this.

It’s not good, but I wouldn’t call it awful, especially not for a backup who also provides an above league average bat. His entire value prop is can play all over the field without killing you and actually provide some offense. In today’s game that’s incredibly valuable.

I don’t follow at all. Why are we trading prospects for an overpaid 1B/DH? How does Bohm fit into any of this? And I don’t understand how Franco is blocking anyone (he’s not good), especially the #3 pick in last year’s draft who is multiple years away.

They want trade Santana to open up 1B for Hoskins, so I’m not sure why’d want Abreu.

Gotcha, I can respect that.

At this point, you wait and see how his first half goes. If the bat looks good, I’d be open to a short-term extension with the plan of making him a full time DH. The good news is if he’s not open to a team friendly deal, we can always extend an QO and control him for one more season (assuming the Abreu of old). That buys us some time to see what we have in Sheets, Burger, etc.

You despise the Sox? Please tell me this is just some poorly written English.

He’s played more innings at SS than any other position in the majors. I think you’re confusing his recent usage and assuming a lack ability and not realizing a lot of it is simply team need.

No offense, but reserve infielder should be amongst the lowest of priorities to improve this team. We have a couple capable options and any potential upgrade would represent diminishin returns. We have much bigger fish to fry and should be allocating our resources to those spots.