Chicago White Sox

I have no idea what in the world you are taking about here. They sold high on a catcher that was essentially replacement level (once you factor in framing) coming off what is likely a flukey offensive season for a pretty good setup man with two years of control. That guy takes pressure off our young relievers and can probably be flipped for a return greater than what Narvaez would have come next year’s deadline. They traded a guy who was barely in our top 10 OF prospects and has nowhere to play next year for a left-handed bat with one guaranteed year who was obviously brought in solely to improve our chances of landing a whale. There is nothing more to this trade whatsoever. Finally they traded a complete lottery ticket and some worthless international slot money to get one year of back-end starter. I’m not a huge fan of Nova, but we needed to add a veteran starter to eat some innings. Stop trying to act as if we gave away some “controllable” asset in this deal because that’s beyond absurd. None of these moves suggest this “go for it” plan that you’re accusing our front office of.

I can’t believe any rational person could actually believe this and I’ve found your opinions to be of high quality over the years. It doesn’t really matter where the players want to land, if they want their money they’re signing with the Sox or Phillies. Boras can wait all he wants, but the desirable teams apparently do not want commit big dollars and/or are afraid of the luxury tax. I’m not sure what teams you think are going to jump in and do something crazy.

Why? Do you enjoy being bad because I can’t think of any other good reason to not want to add Harper and/or Machado.

Sign both whales, add Kikuchi & Ottavino and let’s win the Central next year. Roster projects out to 45 fWAR which gives us an outside chance at the division in 2019 and sets us up greatly for a legit playoff run in 2020. 1. Moncada, 2B (4.0) 2. Machado, 3B (6.0) 3. Harper, RF (5.0) 4. Abreu, DH (2.5) 5. Jimenez, LF (3.0) 6. Alonso, 1B (1.0) 7. Anderson, SS (2.5) 8. L. Garcia, CF (1.0) 9. Castillo, C (2.0) IF: Sanchez (1.0) OF: Engel (0.0) UT: Rondon (0.5) BC: McCann (0.5) #1: Rodon (2.5) #2: Lopez (3.0) #3: Kikuchi (2.5) #4: Nova (1.5) #5: Giolito (1.0) CL: Ottavino (1.5) SU: Colome (1.0) SU: Frye (1.0) MR: Jones (1.0) MR: Frare (0.0) MR: Hamilton (0.5) LR: Covey (0.5)

I think it has to be pitching related and originally through out Ottavino, but given Morosi just tweeted about him today I’m assuming he hasn’t agreed to a deal yet. Just me guessing though.

But here’s the thing. He has literally has less than a week to finalize a deal. I’m assuming MLB offices are shutdown on January 1st, which means he effectively has until this coming Monday to wrap things up unless he plans to wait until the very last minute. Between now and then, he’ll need to fly to the US, meet with team officials, and take a physical. That’s a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. My guess is either he has agreed to a deal in principle (like the rumor suggests) and is in process of finalizing things or close to finalizing something (whether with us or another team). Regardless, we should hear something very soon.

Correct. He negotiates a deal and then his Japanese club gets a commission equal to 20% or less (depending on size) of the overall contract.

His road slash line last year was .295/.372/.527/.900.

Depends on the team. I think he would be for us and probably the Red Sox, but definitely not for the Yankees and several other contenders.

I can’t find the article that specifically indicated January 2nd, but this article highlights he has a 30 day negotiationing period from the day he’s formally posted. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.mlb.com/290440098-yusei-kikuchi-may-join-mlb-in-2019.amp.html

CL: Ottavino SU: Colome SU: Fry MR: Jones MR: Frare/Bummer MR: Hamitlon LR: Covey/Benuelos AAA: Burdi, Burr, Fulmer, Ruiz, Stephens, Vieira, Medeiros (maybe) That’s a talented bullpen with a ton of depth. And if things predictably go south next year, we have several guys who could be highly desirable assets come the trade deadline.

To me, if this rumor is legit, it has to be about Kikuchi. First, we know the Sox are still pursuing Ottavino which means this can’t be bullpen related. I don’t think the Sox address any positional holes until the whale situations have been addressed and that won’t be happening until next year. That leaves the rotation and Kikuchi best fits the narrative around this rumor. He has to have a deal agreed to by January 2nd and assuming it requires a physical, he probaly wants some wiggle room just in case and that means something has to happen in the next few days IMO.

I agree, the idea Harper would leave money on the table to play for the Dodgers seems like insanity to me. He can probably lock in close to $350M this offseason and then return to free agency at age 30 & potentially have an opportunity to play for his beloved Dodgers, Yankees, or Cubs. With his injury history and ego, he’s going to take the money / record breaking contract and re-evaluate in a few years.

Are there any pitchers who have the ability / stuff to pull a Mize and shoot up to the top of the draft? I think that’s our best chance (along with some Witt helium) for Rutschman to drop to us.

Lol...of course you wouldn’t.

I don’t think you get how the Cubs’ ownership structure works if you actually believe this. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that the Cubs are operating on a tight budget. This comes directly from the Cubs’ front office. The Cubs can not add Harper without moving significant salary. If you think the Cubs are somehow going to blow past the second luxury tax tier while owned by a trust fund that hasn’t yet pocketed its new TV deal money, then more power to you.

The Cubs are owned by a trust fund and are heavily levered. I know it’s fun to treat the Cubs as the boogeyman around here, but the Ricketts are not going beyond their means until they have cash in their pocket. Their new TV contract doesn’t help them in 2019.

Fathom, I love you bro, but I’m worried you wake up at night with nightmares of Theo spooning you in bed. There is zero reason to believe the Cubs are the favorites for Harper until they move significant salary which still remains extremely unlikely IMO.

Machado has had 6+ win seasons in 3 of the last 4 years, why is that not expected?

Are you really using fWAR to evaluate catcher’s?

That’s you, not everyone is going to feel that way. And honestly, this is about giving us an edge over the Phillies if the money is close and nothing more.

I would like to believe there is more meat on the bone with this one. Realistically if it’s Kikuchi, we should hear something this week. Doubt they risk waiting until the actual deadline.

I have no idea how any of this is comparable to the 2014-2016 “non-sense”. We have a bunch of young guys that will be hitting the show over the next two years, we have a bunch young guys in place that can better, we have significant payroll space that can be used to add impact talent, and we’ll have excess prospects that can be used to fill holes. Our situation is completely different than the time period you’re referring to. If your plan is wait for the entire W-S team to reach the pros, then this rebuild will fail because our first wave of talent will have already significant service time and will start getting expensive.

Frank Thomas Bobby Jenks Chris Sale Robin Ventura Alexei Ramirez Ray Durham (just missed)

If the Sox add Machado and/or Harper, there is zero reason the Sox can’t be competitive in 2020. Part of the allure of Kikuchi is it provides another veteran starter to the mix that can potentially take some pressure off Cease & Kopech in their first full seasons. The Sox will not sit by idly and burn service time of numerous young players in 2020, they will do what it takes to put a competitive roster in place.