steveno89

At the end of the day, Lozano did his job in getting Machado $300 million guaranteed. Teams were certainly nowhere near that a month or two ago, and he proved that holding out and waiting works for elite free agents. Harper will only benefit from Machado's camp holding out for $300.

Not an innings eater, but could still be a solid buy low addition to the rotation?

Not saying Harper would or would not be worth investing in at this point, but Hahn saying "the money will be spent..." and then hearing the Sox are out on Harper just completely sends the wrong message. At what point are they going to start delivering on what they promise? Several days later I still feel gutted about missing out on Machado. Huge wasted opportunity to acquire a 26 year old all star for only cash, not even a qualifying offer attached.

I will agree with that. If a sticker price of 10/300 was not willing to be met prior to the offseason, then shame on the organization for being cheap when it counted. You cannot be a serious suitor if your top offer does not come close to what is being asked for.

Kenny and Hahn did try, I'm not going to deny that. Jerry/Kenny/Hahn all thought their offer was the best on the table and they would get Machado largely on their own terms. The lack of urgency to realize the Padres could leapfrog them did not occur, and they are left with a mess on their hands. Sticker price of 10/300 was known all along, and it shouldn't be a shock that it was met on deal day

I thought that, but regardless if Manny gets fat and awful now, signing him would have been the perfect addition to the rebuild. They simply were not aggressive enough and now are made to look like fools for coming up short. There are no prizes for second place in free agency. They are putting tremendous pressure on our prospects to carry the MLB team in the future with little support around them. Winning does not happen by accident, teams need to spend in order to get results. Not every signing will work out, but I can't fault an organization for trying their best. The Padres clearly wanted Machado more, and got their guy. Giving 10 years to ANY player will almost always turn out to be a mistake, but in this instance the Sox absolutely should have done it. The resulting PR nightmare is not one that the fanbase will soon forget. The narrative, unfair or not, of the organization being cheap will persist.

Machado was right to take $300 guaranteed all day

I don't blame Machado for taking the additional $50 million guaranteed in this case. What if his knees give out and he can't manage 550 at bats? Take the money all day

Buckle up for a largely pointless 2019 White Sox season where the best we can hope for is no major injuries to key prospects

Free agency is a simple game after all. Offer the biggest pile of guaranteed money to the player and 99% chance you end up signing said player. Nothing else really matters.

Man, it's tough being a White Sox fan. When you look at it that way, wow it's been rough

Sox are not serious bidders for Harper, as the Phillies really need him in order to contend. This offseason should go down as a wasted opportunity and a significant failure for the rebuild. Might as well tank and lock in another top 5 draft pick in 2019.

Rick Hahn 2:11 Should I be looking for a new job in the near future? Tim Dierkes 2:12 Absolutely not. The White Sox pursuit of Machado comes from owner Jerry Reinsdorf, of course. If Reinsdorf greenlighted $310MM, the Sox would be getting ready for this week's press conference. Jerry drew the line wherever he drew it ($250MM?). 2:13 In the 90s, no one beat the drum more against rising player salaries and baseball's supposed need for a salary cap than Reinsdorf. I'm surprised he even got into the arena here, even in light of the Albert Belle aberration.

Sadly, their payroll is so low moving forward, they still will be hugely profitable even if attendance drops

Hahn and Co. asked for patience and to buy into the rebuild being a success. I seriously question whether we are any closer to true contention as we sit now, than we were two years ago? With HUGE AMOUNTS of payroll flexibility moving forward, they elected to be outbid for a premium free agent and tapped out. I do not buy into the BS that Kenny and Hahn are selling anymore.

No chance the Sox shell out for Harper at this point. To lose out on Machado after years of planning is a blow this fanbase will not soon recover from. They cried poor at the worst possible time. How can the fanbase expect them to build a winner without substantial free agent additions along the way? Shameful

The emotional range I'm going through is swinging between shock, heartbreak, uncontrolled anger, despair...and back again

NO ONE CARES WHAT KENNY, HAHN OR JERRY WILL TRY TO SPIN. THIS IS PURE FAILURE TO GET THE JOB DONE. This is such a blow, I'm beside myself

Lozano totally called Hahn and informed him the Padres offered 10/300. Hahn knew he didn't have that kind of ammo and had to tap out. What a crushing blow to every Sox fan. This cheap organization is EXACTLY who we thought they were. Not deserving of a seat at the big boy table.

My concern is not the anger the will come from the die hard fans like us, but from the general apathy the club will receive from the general fans. This is one of the worst days in franchise history. The damage is done.

Lets be honest here, we were never really in the Harper derby as a serious suitor. The money was not there.

F*ck you Kenny, f*ck you Hahn, and f*ck you Jerry

No explanation necessary. The ONLY thing that matters is the club did not get the job done.

It is completely unacceptable for the White Sox to not land a premium free agent given how low their payroll was. Getting outbid by the Padres is pretty much a disaster at this point. F*ck!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cancel the rebuild. Que the Hahn-speak "Well, we tried..."