SCCWS

I think one factor will be Eovaldi's feeling at being a 4/5 in Boston. He has a World Championship but due to numbers ended up in the bullpen in WS. Maybe he will want to go somewhere that he can be a 2/3 starter.

Agree but the timing is coming at a bad time. If you overpay one of these two and the rebuild does not produce enough talent to challenge for a WS then they will be forced to add other big FA contracts. If Eloy, Moncada and Robert were all up and producing and 2 -3 pitchers were in place, it is a no-brainer. The other option is to wait and fill open slots in 2020/21 with 3-4 high quality FA signings a step down from these two.

Also because the organization has tabbed him as a top of the order hitter.

So you want Robert to skip AAA and most of AA if he gets off to a good start in AA next spring????

Damn: I just told my grand-daughther last week that having fun is more important than winning. Affixed to the backstop of the St. Anthony Little League Stadium in Utica, NY was a small and not terribly pretty sign that simply said: "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzogby/2013/03/08/its-how-you-play-the-game/#5586339133b7

Drop the word "top" and this is okay. They can use an innings eater.

I would love to see them trade him for a young 3B, C or CF. But I think Abreu's trade value is low . Maybe wait to early next season and he may improve his trade stock.

I think you left out one factor. Ability to compete for a World Series. I posted a few weeks ago that different things affect FA. I don't know how important is it for a player to want to go to a team that will compete next year. Machad , for example, is coming from a near miss. Will he be content to go to an organization that hopes it is a few years away?. Cano went out to Seattle when they were down so some players will gamble on a team 's future. But most seem to want to go to a situation where there are pieces in place and they put them over the top. Hopefully Machado/Harper see the chance to be the top player that a team builds around.

Every organization goes through injuries especially w pitchers. There are probably 50+ players between the ML roster and A ball that some segment of fans are following. Luckily we are still in the early rebuild and not counting on guys like Kopech and Burdi to be contributors next year.

Agree as long as they are paying enough to attract the right people. I would assume they will.

I think he is their #1 starter next year. I would guess there will be a plan developed as to how to strengthen his arm for the off-season and in-season for next year.

I posted a while back that Dombrowski has a totally different philosophy than Hahn. He says the best coaches are on the ML club and he is willing to let some young players develop in the bigs. Benintendi came up w Moncada from AA and stayed. Devers is 2 years younger than Moncada and he came up the same time as the White Sox brought up Yoan. As Smoltz said last night, Devers is still learning at the MLB level but put up pretty similar numbers to Moncada this season. I have been saying Moncada has a higher ceiling but w the 2 year age difference, I may be looking through White Sox tinted glasses. I don't know which philosophy is better and it probably depends on the prospect. But in Boston's case, these young players are getting playoff expereince really early on in their careers. Also, DD could care less about service time.

I think Sale's jersey cutting was immature and he was 27 at the time. Between the lines, I don't ever remember Sale's effort ever being anything other than positive. Machado can be up and down.

Remember though, the Red Sox had already switched Moncada his last season in the minors to 3B because of Pedroia . His then brief ML stint was also at 3B He struggled in a small sample. Once he was acquired, Hahn said he was moving him back to 2nd. Now at that point the White Sox did not have anyone blocking him at 3B so I assume Hahn felt he was better at 2nd. Moncada also said at the time he was glad he was going back to 2nd. So moving him to 3B might be an issue. If he is hitting well then maybe it is worth a try. If he is still having SO issues, any change might affect his offense as well.

I think most Sox fans agree with the heartbeat. the question is the money. $400 million could be the number for the winner which looks more like Machado than Harper. Team like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers can spend a huge amount on a player because they have enough good pieces already in place to compete. They also can afford a mistake if the player only turns out to be good not great (i.e Arod in NY and David Price in Boston) The White Sox might better waiting to 2021 to see when the next wave arrives where the holes are and spending on 2 or 3-- $100 Mil players( JD Martinez type).

This is Machado's 6th season in the majors so at 26 he should be as mature as he is going to get from a player standpoint. I find it strange he has shown some instances of not hustling in playoff games. He is very vocal on the bench which is a positive. I think he is a stud player with some warts which is not uncommon in this day and age in every sport. The Red Sox saw Chris Sale cut up basbeall jerseys and still paid out plenty to get him. I still think Machado stays in LA especially if they fall short in the World Series. But I have no clue if Machado has worn his welcome out there w management.

Hopefully Eovaldi has expectations to be a #1 or 2 starter somewhere and will cross the Red Sox off his list of suitors. Remember his season turned around when Pedro Martinez spotted a blip in his delivery and worked w him to correct it.

I wonder what effect the manager and staff have on big name free agent signings. Certainly each player has his own reasons from money to a chance to compete for a World Series. But does a stud pitcher rate the pitching coach as a major factor? Do Machado or Harper care who the hitting coach is? If the coaching staff is a major factor, Hahn may need to decide on his "next manager" before he starts chasing big names. FWIW--I heard the replay of an interview w David Price the other day on a Boston talk radio show. Someone asked him after his strong outing against LA in Game 2 if this is why he came to Boston so he could pitch in big games. Price said it was and being able to play for a team that has won the AL East 3 years in a row. After playing the interview the talk show hosts laughed and said lets face it. He really came to Boston because they offered more money than St Louis did.

Watching this edition of the Red Sox, the growth of Benintendi (who came to the majors w Moncada) and Devers (who was trailing him by 2 years in the minors ) tells me that Yoan needs a "growth spurt" in 2019.

Sports trends on changing. I was never a golfer because my friends and I played softball into our late 20's. Now that I am retired, I spend winters in Florida. I was amazed at the number of golf courses when I started going. In 10 years, there has been a drastic shift. At least half the gold courses in our town have closed because simply there are not enough 55 and over residents who golf. A recent survey found 10% of winter residents golf on a regular basis. They may be better having hockey leagues w the number of canadians who winter in Florida.

I live in New England so I don't have a feel for it. But I know the Red Sox have a ton of corporate tickets. Do you work for a living?? How many vendors offer tickets to fans in the workplace. That is a sign of how popular corporate tickets are. I can tell you that back around 2003 I was in Chicago on business and LaSalle bank offered to take me to a Cubs game so I knew they had corporate tics. Teams that have a lot of corporate tickets do not experience the ups and downs of attendance. You are a board moderator. Do the White Sox post turn-style attendance or ticket sale attendance?

I think it could depend on Sale's health. If he is sub-par, then I think the series could be a 6-7 game dogfight.

I have posted on this site several times ( maybe too many) , that a key factor with the White Sox attendance problem is the lack of corporate ticket sales. Those seats are not affected as much by wins/losses as the walk-up crowd. Big market teams sell a lot of corporate tickets not counting the boxes that are sold. I think it would be interesting to know how many corporate tickets the Cubs sell versus the White Sox. I would bet the number runs 5-8,000.

Putting the title of the thread aside, the topic is meaningful. Rebuild or no rebuild, the FO should be reviewing all the coaches performance at the MLB level as well as the minors. Losing 100 games does not mean someone should get fired. But being in a rebuild, should not mean everyone gets retained. The organization should have some objective and subjective criteria to judge their employees. In addition, someone above the FO should be judging the FO staff as to their performance.

The number of relief pitchers who are consistent year in and year out is limited. especially set-up guys. Thinking guys in the lower-mid minors will make good relievers is way too optimistic. It is interesting that we see starters in the playoffs coming in for 1 inning relief appearances.