ChiSox59

Yah, I said that. I am as pissed as anybody that they missed out on Machado. But the fact that they did offer a quarter of billion to one player with the chance for the deal to end up $50M higher than the one he ultimately accepted, it gives me at least a sliver of hope that eventually this team will land a marquee free agent. I prefer that they were in the race and seemingly in 2nd place than sitting in out completely like other teams in similar spots to the Sox like the Twins, Blue Jays, Rays, A's, Mets, Brewers, etc...

It doesn't mean anything - to use one of Hahn's favorite words, it is binary - but they DID bid more than 28 other clubs.

Is there any real reason some of you seem more hopeful as it pertains to Harper this morning?

Sure, it’s inoortant in the context that it’s $8M (his buyout is $1M). But it’s not some huge sum hamstringing any org, and it won’t prohibit teams from being interested trading for him this summer. I bet Hahn could trade Alonso now if he wanted to, but I highly doubt we see them admit failure like that.

Alonso may be a tad overpaid, but the dude makes $8M. It’s nothing.

I hope we just roll with Gonzalez or Basabe for July-September in CF.

Jose can still really hit. Would have no problem with a 3 year extension in the $45M range.

No one here really thinks that, though. Maybe a couple hopefuls is all.

You can’t convince me that those gloves weren’t made in anticipation of signing with the Sox. Impossible.

Disgusting, really.

I think it would be awful, but I wouldn’t be that surprised at this point. Never been super negative towards this front office and felt they turned a corner, but this offseason has just been terrible. Ervin is a fine milb deal guy. The $4.3M is whatever. But Hahn and Co have literally done nothing to improve this rebuild process this offseason. That’s the real bummer about the last week.

Sure, but adding flexibility to a young guy that’s at least a little interesting and out of options isn’t a bad idea.

That would help, but I just don't see it.

FFS, why even bother with Jones or Gonzalez. This place is going to explode.

Machado has also been described as a lazy, has exhibited dirty behaviors on the field and seems like the type that could coast once getting a huge payday. Harper seems just the opposite. Also important factors.

Honestly tho, competition is important. As of this am, there was very little for the 5th spot.

Well, clearly I am arguing with wall. I am not some huge proponent of backing up the Brinks Truck for Harper, but this narrative that he is an average player asinine.

I just told you his average fWAR was 4.39 over the course of his entire career, not 3. Conservatively, 1 WAR is equal to about $9M on the free agent market. Let's assume just for the sake of your own argument Harper regresses to a 4 WAR player moving forward. 4 x $9M = $36M per season in value $36M X 10 seasons = $360M So yah....he probably is worth $350M+, and that completely discounts inflation on the backend of his contract.

Dude. Cherry pick whatever stat you want, he's still not average. He has averaged 4.39 fWAR per seasons across his career. He is a damn near HOF shoe-in at 26, and its likely he's just now entering his prime. The one year you want to call average a 1.6 fWAR he was hurt and had less than 400 plate appearances. WAR is a counting stat, so of course his WAR was lower that season.

What a jagoff, that Brett Santos cat.

I wish one of the beat guys or reporters would at least as him about this. "So Rick, earlier in the offseason you said no stop gaps would be signed/traded for and your focus would only be on adding players that helped the club long term. You've sine added almost 10 veterans on short term deals and spent close to $50M on them, and have yet to add a player that projects to help this club beyond 2020. Please explain."

This is such a bad take. Harper has never been an "average player". His career OPS+ is 139, which means he is 39% better than an average player offensively. His worst season was in 2014 as a 21 year old at 111, still 11% above average. I am not the biggest Harper fan around, and I too think he will likely at some point be a financial burden to whomever signs him, this idea that he isn't a legitimate superstar is insane.

I hope they try to turn Rondon into a utilityman. We know he can cover the IF spots, but he was supposed to play OF in winterball and played very little. I know Renteria mentioned it again that they're going to give him some reps in the OF in ST...hopefully it works out.

At least those guys are young. Palka, Delmonico and Cordell and infinitely more of a chance to be a part of the next Sox playoff team than Ervin Santana or Ivan Nova.

Let's be real tho, Covey is a reliever. Just let him do that. $4.3M does seem a tad high, tho. But that's just if he makes the club.