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Parkman is the type of fan who would rather watch himself play the other team on Madden on Rookie setting and blow every team out 50-0 to get satisfaction from a win. That's what he meant by him "having high standards".

Yes... why the heck not? That's the wet dream of every poster on Soxtalk ? But in reality, they would tell the other they would only sign them if the other falls through, or that the deal is on the table for him until the other signs.

ESPN (Jeff Sullivan) predicts Sox could realistically sign Machado this week. http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/25484819/mlb-winter-meetings-moves-all-30-teams

Sign Harper then we can talk the walk.

You guys don’t believe an owner is stupid enough show his hand in the most expensive deal in his lifetime, do you? It’s absolutely a decoy to drive up bidding for someone you’re not after to eliminate competitors for guys you’re really after. Why? Owners usually has the last say in handing out a deal, the fact that MacPhail said what he said and did not follow through when he has the finally blessing suggested it was a bait. Look at how it worked out - Nats knew Phillies had interest in Corbin and they went overboard and handed a deal to him no one saw coming - and guess what? They were one of the destinations for Harper and now they might be out of the race. Now Phillies will likely focus their attention on the real targets. On top of that, they could also now use the narrative that Nationals did not believe in Bryce and spent their money on a worse player instead. By signin with Phillies he could win division races against his former team and homer against the said player everytime they play. Harper strikes me as someone who would buy into that.

We don't know the AAV they offered for 5 years, it could well be that Nats outbid them on AAV, or they aren't comfortable going 6 on a pitcher. Between not adding an SP and shredding Santana's salary, Phillies may even be able to add both Manny/Harper, then trade someone like Kingery for an SP. And also let's consider that both Manny and Harper will go to the highest bidder, so if neither Yanks or Phillies committed expenditure on a top tier SP, the agents will likely use their now higher than expected budget to bid against one another, driving up the contracts and eliminating Sox out of the picture. I like your optimism CWS, but I think this is the first and last blow to any chance we had.

The more likely scenario is they have limits set on an SP, so they could go after one of Harper and Machado. If Phillies' plan was to go after an SP and OF/3B, shouldn't losing the top tier SP give them money to still go after the 2nd tier SP and more money for Harper and Machado? Also, if Corbin went for $140 M, you could pretty much bump up any Harper/Machado projection by about 5%-10%. This is bad news for Sox.

Ok, this last play call at least bails Nagy out of that questionable TO earlier

If we do end up signing Harper or Machado, we are competing now. Doesn't make sense to wait 2 years and waste $70 millions of star salary to wait on Robert, who has the biggest variance of ceiling and floor of anyone in our farm. Of course, if we don't sign them it's a moot point.

The word you used is gamble, for as good as Robert's tools are, he's a high risk/high reward type of guy and on top of that he's not been able to stay healthy. Camargo is already a 3-4 WAR switch hitter with above average bat and plus defender at both short and third base, cost controlled for next 5 years. Wilson is a projectable #3 type starter who debuted at 20 years old. You get 2 young players who are ready to contribute now for the upside/risk of Robert. Also if you sign Harper long term you have one less OF spot to worry about.

If Braves are willing to do that trade you run and take it to the bank.

With Camargo relegated to a utility role, now would be good time to check in with the Braves on him. Send LuBob, Yolmer and Nicky D to Braves for Camargo and Bryse Wilson. Sign another Bryce for $375M/10, Pollock $50M/2, and Eovaldi $48M/3 Quite and increase in expenditure, but the lineup is potent and a lot of potential in the rotation as well. 1. CF Pollock 2. 3B Camargo 3. RF Harper 4. 1B/DH Abreu 5. LF Eloy 6. 2B Moncada 7. DH/1B Palka 8. C Castillo 9. SS Anderson Rotation: 1. Rodon 2. Lopez 3. Eovaldi 4. Giolito 5. Wilson Bench: Leury/Rondon/Seby Bullpen: lots of strong young arms, sign a veteran to help stabilize.

If for nothing else, keep the defensive big plays coming cuz I’m loving these moves!

FWIW their rookie sensation Kerryon Johnson is also out, will have to lean on Blount and Riddick. We don't need Chase to be great to win this game. We have won games where Mitch struggled. So hopefully defense along with Howard/Cohen steps up tomorrow. But playing away in Detroit on a short week I could see defense slipping a bit in this one.

I don't have the stats, but from the eye test we're a better team in 1st 3 Q than 4th. More than the play calling, it's a matter of why aren't we executing in the 4th compared to the 1st 3 quarters and find a way to address those issues. Is it because teams toughed up their D and we couldn't score, is it because we aren't as focused as before, is it because players are tired? It may not be something we could address this year itself, but I think it's what separates great teams from being an elite team.

This. Gabriel is actually listed at 5'8, and 5'8 dudes do not win jump balls against NFL defenders, especially into double or triple coverage. If you do throw it, you're basically banking on making a perfect pass, not a risk we should take. I hope Mitch learns from it and it's the last of those attempts he makes.

I hope we pick up a legit deep threat this off season or that Miller becomes one. We should NEVER throw deep to Gabriel unless he clearly has his man beat in single cover. On a side note, do we have any stats of Bears offense in the 4th quarter this season? I think more often than not, we've been playing not to lose than playing to put the other team away, which resulted into quick 3 and outs and more opportunities to the other teams to take shots at our defense. Maybe that's just part of winning football after years of trying to come from behind in the 4th?

We should hire the same personnel Houston does, go after the same player they go after, even though we may or may not already have those types of players. Are we seriously going to have a thread created every time the Astros or Cubs make a move asking why is Hahn sitting on his ass?

We need to stop throwing to Gabriel deep facing double coverage. He could not go and get the ball.

Special team play need to step up.

But but this rebuild has been a failure... let’s go back to singing that tune.

I will leave the Hahn evaluation for a separate argument. But expecting him to hit on all prospects is unrealistic, and it’s even more foolish to blame him for the Kopech, Hansen, and Dunning injuries like some dude posted above you did. Anyways, at a time when Cubs are seemingly coming back down to earth, going after franchise changing superstars is absolutely the right thin to do. I applaud the Sox for at least giving a serious pitch to Harper/Manny.

Yep - even if we miss out on Machado and Harper - using that money to sign 3-4 impact players between now and 2020 will put us in a position to compete. Our window is starting 2020, if not earlier. You have to sign players if you see the right fit. You would have thought Oakland and Tampa wasn’t ready to compete but look at what they have done.

Why would you feel uneasy if Sox are active in FA market? All of the guys Sox are interested in present an upgrade over current situation. This isn’t us looking to sign an aging DH with huge K issues to a 4 year deal. If your argument is you don’t trust Hahn as a GM then you need to re-title the thread.

We're like 10 games into the season. I wouldn't worry about this until next year. He's not known to be an offensive minded, but with time he should be able to expand his game. Right now it's important for him to learn to take good shots within the flow of the offense instead of trying to force bad shots.