Chicago White Sox

Yup, and the part I love about adding both is you suddenly have a ton of expendable pieces. We could build a nasty package to acquire a cost-controlled TOR and still maintain plenty of prospect depth. It advances the rebuild quickly without jeapordizing it’s long term viability. Just makes too much sense IMO.

I think the reality is we’ll never be able to win a bidding war for Trout. He’s so damn good that every major spender with sufficient payroll space will be in the mix. I have no doubt the Yankees and many others already have their eye on the 2020/2021 offseason. Knowing that Mookie Betts could be the consolation prize provides even more incentive to wait if you’re already a 90+ win team with no gaping holes. Their markets are going to be crazy and I just don’t see us winning those sweepstakes. We’re also very lucky that Harper and Machado both have their warts. Bryce due to his health, inconsistencies, & defensive concerns & Manny because of potential characters flaw. The fact there are only a couple teams in the mix for these guys is absolutely bonkers, but speaks volume to the desire of teams to spend $300M or more on these guys. If this year’s market isn’t the definition of “right time right place” for us then I don’t know what is because both of these guys fill huge needs for us (impact 3B & face of franchise star) and are the perfect age to fit our projected window. We can potentially add 11 WAR / year (for the next 4 or 5 years) for around $70M annually, which is basically paying $7M per win. That’s a fucking steal in this day & age, especially when you consider the premium we should be paying for all that WAR coming out of two spots. Trout may provide even better value over the first few years of his deal, but who really cares if we can’t land him. Instead, let’s take advantage of this year’s market and add two 26 year old whales while we actually can.

Gotcha, just shocked by that number and didn’t see anything in his twitter feed.

Where did he say this?

Alright, I just powered through 30 pages or so of this shit and am now convinced the Machado sweepstakes are nearing an end. The Yankees are officially out at the same time a mystery team conveniently enters the fray. I don’t care what anyone says, this is a two horse race between us and the Phillies. Also, I still maintain that 8/$280M is the magic number. Give Machado at least 8 years and a record breaking AAV (Balta - I’ve had a bit too many White Claws so check my math) and I think he signs. And like raBBit said, I trully believe this ends by Wednesday if not sooner. Unlike Harper, Machado is not going to be a game changer off the field which is greatly restricting the size of his market. With the Phillies meeting with Harper tomorrow, now is the time for the Sox and Machado’s camp to get this thing done and I really think it happens soon. But the fun doesn’t stop there. I actually believe Jon Morosi wasn’t kidding when he said the Sox might be interesting in Machado & Harper months ago. Despite my pivot towards Manny in the past week, there is zero doubt in my mind that Harper is the player this franchise truly needs. And I 100% believe that our ownership group & front office also agree with that sediment, especially with a new TV deal in which they own an even larger stake in and which relies solely on White Sox baseball for a big chunk of the year. No longer can they cake off those fat Cubs ratings during the summer and their partners aren’t exactly providing riveting products at the moment. NBCSportsChicago needs a star and as talented as Manny Machado is he simply doesn’t fit the billing. Now, the question is can the Sox actually pull off two whales? I posted some numbers in the “Harper + Machado?” thread that IMO proves it’s most definitely possible to sign both of them and still field a quality team. To me, it all comes down to whether or not there is another team out there that is going to do something stupid. If someone is prepared to go 10/$400M, then we simply have no chance after adding Machado. But what teams are there? This Nationals talk is complete BS IMO. This is the same ownership group that has killed multiple trades over money, including a Robertson trade involving us. All of sudden they’re going to blow the luxury tax out of water and enter unprecedented territory as a three time offender? No way that fucking happens and they are nothing more than a name mystery team. Who else does that leave? The Yankees have already said they’re out. he Dodgers just don’t make sense to me. He’s not a great fit based on their current needs, they can’t realize the full value of the intangibles he brings to the table, and the contract he’ll demand certainly doesn’t fit Friedman’s MO. The Cubs? Yeah fucking right. I’ve been screaming all winter they don’t have the budget to pull this off and that they’d need to move significant salary (i.e. Heyward) to pull this off and that’s not happening. Maybe some teams like the Padres & Braves are poking around, but I do not see either prepared to go 10 years AND $300M+. So after eliminating all the other rumored teams, I truly believe the Phillies are the only real threat for him. They are a tough read for me, but I do question if they’d go 10 years for Bryce. I just view a MacPhail led organization to be somewhat conservative and based on the fact they were outbid for Corbin after some tough talk I have reason to be skeptical. Honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Phillies capped out at 8/$280M for Harper. If so, that would allow the Sox to jump in with something around 10/$330M and provide Boras with the record breaking contract that will be needed to get him to say yes. It also allows Machado retain his record breaking deal, which should keep both guys happy. Look, I’m not making any guarantees here, but I don’t think the stop pursuing Harper if they land Machado and I honestly believe the stars have aligned so perfectly that we have a legit chance to pull off something that would be nearly impossible any other offseason. I truly believe both whales is a legit possibly. Feel free to flame away!!

Today has got to be the day. Machado’s agent doesn’t want to risk losing the Phillies to Harper, because then their market is suddenly the Sox and a “on our terms only” Yankees. While the Phillies signing him tomorrow is incredibly unlikely, it’s within the realm of possibility they find a rough framework that creates optimism and causes them to shift their efforts to Harper. Even that would be bad news for the Machado. It really is time for Machado’s camp to put their cards on the table and say “first one to x” wins the race. They really can’t afford to dick around much longer.

Playing three guys out of position just seems crazy to me. I really don’t believe the SS issue is really even a thing.

Lol...no one is picking a team based on how interesting the other teams in their league are.

You good with your source again?

What did the fake Passan tweet say and what did SSS write accordingly? Really wish I didn’t miss this article.

Wow, they obviously pulled the article which sucks because I would have loved to had read it...lol.

Oh I know that, just was curious what they posted.

Link?

Yup. Also, if Harper was their favorite originally, they would have met with him in Vegas during the Winter Meetings. It’s odd the narrative is changing right now unless they’re less optimistic about their chances with him.

I think Boras is more concerned with breaking Stanton’s deal. Don’t think he’ll get 10 years with a $35M AAV when there will only be one or two teams willing to spend crazy money on him at that point. Maybe he can pull off 10/$326M though.

I really think the winning offer will be 8/$280M. Being able to brag about highest AAV ever would be a big deal for Manny’s agent.

So has Heyman.

So much wrong with this post. I especiallly love the comment about the Tigers getting a decent 3B which completely ignores the main part of the trade.

Sorry, meant 8 years. Obviously when I said he’d get two less years than Harper, get $280M total, and have an AAV higher than Greinke’s it should be pretty easy to determine that was a typo, but then again robots are incapable of deductive reasoning

No please share!

Which tweet?

I’m really thinking they’re trying to pull off both with record breaking contracts. Machado gets 10/$280 (topping Greinke’s AAV record) & Harper gets 10/$326M (topping Stanton’s total dollars record). Machado gets an opt-out one year earlier for taking two less total years in his deal. Both guys get winning deals their agents can brag about.

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of F ?s coming from me.

Agreed. It’s close, but we actually traded for Teahen so he wins.

Where is this rumor of Harper to Philly coming from?