steveno89

After a disastrous 2018 season, I have dropped expectations considerably for Hansen. He should begin the season as a starter, but I think he might figure things out enough to be a reliever. Too soon to write him off, but he's in dangerous territory

The only real knocks on Vaughn are the position, 1B, is tough to draft that high unless the bat is special...which his might very well be. Teams will stop pitching to him if he keeps this up

Sox probably offered 7 years, $200 million...but if every incentive is hit and vesting options reached the total value could be $350 million Or some BS. Most likely the Sox did not even submit a bid

Even if the rebuild was done in good faith, which I still believe it was, this offseason has been terrible from a PR standpoint. The organization has ZERO excuse to cry poor and not be aggressively bidding on Machado/Harper. They have enjoyed one of the lowest payrolls in the league the past few seasons, and have virtually nothing on the books moving forward. They knew and targeted this offseason for two years and failed miserably to land a single free agent of note that can help medium to long term. I expect the response to be a crucifixion

Agreed. When a pitching prospect is ready I strongly believe they should be called up to the majors. The exception is with elite position player prospects like Vlad Jr, Eloy, etc. where the additional season of control down the line is very important. Predicting where a pitcher will end up in 6 seasons is impossible.

We need to see strides from Giolito, Rodon, Lopez in the rotation otherwise we are essentially starting from scratch regarding starting pitching. Nova is a stopgap band-aid at this point. I never said that I am using wins and losses as my sole metric either. At some point the franchise needs to turn the corner and try to win games instead of tanking.

If the Sox lose 100 games this year, we all should have grave concerns about the rebuild. That would mean our young players struggled to produce and 2021 contention would be in serious jeopardy.

They aren't going to be available, which is why whiffing on Machado is so painful. At some point the organization needs to be willing to go all in on a star player to aid the rebuild.

Me too. I just cannot picture the Sox being bold enough to win the Harper derby.

I'd like to see the Sox go with highest upside player at #3 overall versus the "safer" college prospect. I really do not like drafting a college 1B in the top 5, because there is little margin for error if the bat is not clear plus.

If news breaks that a miracle happened and the Sox signed Bryce Harper I highly doubt any of us would give a crap about an opt out after three years

If the plan going into this offseason was not "We NEED to be the highest bidder for either Machado or Harper and ink one" then what the hell was the plan? Free agency is a simple concept, offer the largest pile of guaranteed money and you will sign the player. This is not the time for bargain bin shopping if you are serious about contention.

Happy for Arenado to get his payday, a really good contract for him overall. This reinforces how big of a failure it was for the Sox to whiff on Machado, and likely Harper soon. The premium free agents are going to get the guaranteed years and payday, a club either needs to step up or sit out.

Why wouldn't Arenado wait until free agency at this point? What is essentially a raise in 2019, plus a six year extension is not necessarily the best offer he could see I feel like.

1) RUTSCHMAN 2) VAUGHN 3) ABRAMS 4) WITT JR 5) JUNG 6) MISNER 7) STOTT 8 ) ALLAN 9) CARROLL 10) ESPINO

That's the sense I am getting. Philly, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, maybe White Sox on the periphery? All seem to be bidding over $300 million for Harper on long term contracts at this point, because why the hell not?

If the Sox would not guaranty Machado $300 million, no chance they guaranty Harper substantially more.

How is it a defensible position to say losing out on Machado is anything less than a total failure by the organization? You are more than welcome to disagree, but it is beyond me to understand how this could be spun into anything short of a colossal miss at an opportune time. There is nothing to spin, the Sox flat out got their pocket's picked by San Diego and are searching for answers. Kicking the can into next year's free agency to improve the club is a complete unknown. The pressure on our home grown talent grows even more.

There is no excuse to defend the organization after nothing less than complete failure in the pursuit of Machado. This team has shown an unwillingness to spend to improve the team, even with limited competition. All of this financial flexibility moving forward means little if they tap out when it comes time to pony up. They got cute thinking their offer was the best on the table and were badly burned by losing out on Machado. While the rebuild obviously does not hinge on one player, they missed a golden opportunity to add a premium talent. Pressure to become competitive again absolutely should be happening, as the rebuild should be turning the corner in 2019/2020 towards contention instead of tanking.

I would be infuriated if the Sox did not secure the additional season of control at this point. It would be inexcusable from the club's perspective.

Not with our current pitching staff it is not^ The Indians are still easily the best team in the AL Central right now

No chance Harper takes a two year deal, it would be insane to pass on a huge payday

This is hard core drinking the koolaid^ If Robert or Madrigal see the majors in 2019 I would have serious questions for this organization short of them having a MAJOR breakout season. Second half 2020 is far mroe realistic.

In fairness to the Sox, the early meeting with Harper were moreso to sit down and get to know the player. I do agree that their interest was false unless they were willing to spend at least $300 million on either player. Boras is going to hold out until he gets a king's ransom for his client

I would say less than 1% chance the Sox sign Harper at this point. With an estimated price tag of $350-360 million, there is no way the Sox go to that level of commitment. I'm not even sold that Harper is much better than a 3.5-4 WAR player moving forward?