Southwest Sider

He explained that traditional opt outs are very player beneficial but have gravitated towards more balance for both parties lately. To me, it sounded like they aren't against them at all.

Can you imagine that being a Sox leak to see how everyone reacted? Lol "Let's just see...." 1 minute later. "...Yeah... bad idea."

Signing Harper nips this PR disaster in the bud, and eliminates the lens that the White Sox will be viewed under due to not ponying up for Machado. Boras has the Sox exactly where he needs them. He reads Twitter. He's got JR by the balls, and the fans don't give a shit. They'd happily see JR lose a negotiation for once and get their player. Thats the price you have to pay for the best players.

If he's smart, he will offer what it takes to get Harper, with a 5 year opt out. Gotta build some trust in this fanbase... it should be worth way way much more than any perceived overpayment for Harper's services.

Shack knew the Sox had framework in place for signing both, should the stars align correctly, but he never pushed the narrative that anything is a sure thing. Just cautious optimism. JMR was just another troll.

A sliver of Harper hope? I mean, if I were the FO, seeing the Manny fall out, I'd probably go balls to the wall for Bryce. But this game can't be played with emotion, right?

This is the most honest post. It's perfectly acceptable to be furious right now. I am furious too. Even though I can voice my frustration by not going to games etc... they will reel us right back in if this rebuild works. I'll still tailgate with some friends this year because that's important to me. But until they prove they can win.. anything at all.. i am now as disillusioned as I will ever be.

Yeah, this poor guy is clinging to any hope he can find. I'd be downright blown away if the Sox signed Harper.

I mean, hasn't it basically been proven that all this Twitter BS and mindgames means jack shit when someone finally steps up and offers acceptable money to the player/agent? The time for Twitter BS has passed. The only time left is to actually make a real offer.

They continue to prove that they are unwilling to actually step up to the plate when it comes to acquiring the best of the best players. Dontrelle was awful. But you would have gotten a Hall of Famer in return.

Remember how the Sox also failed to acquire Miguel Cabrera from the Marlins for dumb ass reasons? Yet another missed opportunity. Just like Machado. And evidently, just like Harper.

I've had a chance to think about it, too. In talking with some friends about this contract, the discussion of Miguel Cabreras contract came up. Which reminded me of none other than Miguel Cabrera. Another PRIME example of an absolute GOLDEN opportunity for the Sox to acquire a generational talent. And why didn't they? Because they didn't want to take on Dontrelle Willis and/or give up more prospects. We all knew at the time how big of a deal it was to lose to the Tigers there. KW blowing it off was ridiculous then, still is ridiculous now, and is STILL a part of this organizations LOSER mentality when it comes to doing what it takes to get the best players in MLB. Honestly, fuck the White Sox. Cabrera should have been a White Sox, but they blew it because of dumb ass restrictions. Machado should be a White Sox, but they blew it. Harper, maybe shouldn't be a White Sox but now I am arguing that he definitely SHOULD be a White Sox but the organization will not give into Boras demands because of loser restrictions. All of it, the mentality of losers. "All it does is put them in a better position to compete with us". Yeah fucking right KW. It put the Tigers in the position to win several divisional titles, go to a World Series and shit on the Sox year after year while the Sox began their epic foray into being mired in mediocrity. Fuck off.

There are a TON of great comments on this thread, both on the positive side and the negative side. The rebuild is not doomed because they didn't sign Machado. It is indeed possible that the Sox take over this division and win fans back in the coming years. That said, Machado would have gone a long, long way towards helping this rebuild reach it's endgame. Machado insulates the organization from the absolute need to strike a Cub-level of success with prospects and hit on all of our non 1B infielders. TA, improved his defense yes... but we still need him to develop into a consistent offensive threat. This is not a given for TA. Moncada, sure he could explode next year. I still feel really good about Yoan personally, but... it is not a given. Madrigal, super great prospect despite his shortcomings that many here love to talk about... not a given. Hell, even Machado isn't a given, but I think he has proven that you could reasonably expect several years of quality MLB level play before the eventual decline. Top of the range? Hall of fame caliber. Now, you absolutely need to hit on TA, Yoan and Madrigal. You absolutely need TA to hone his offensive skills. You need Moncada to explode. You need Madrigal to pan out. There's no insulation, there's no "well, if TA busts but Yoan and Madrigal hit, then at least we have Machado and that makes up our IF". Hahn talks so much about critical mass. He has that possibility in the OF, sure. The fact that we are loaded with OF prospects is why Machado makes so much more sense than Harper. How in the actual fuck can you expect a critical mass of talent to take over and consistently win in this situation with the IF? Even if all 3 of our IF guys hit, what if they get injured? Then you have guys like Yolmer and Rondon... acceptable 4th IF guys taking a full time role. Beyond those guys, you are hoping Jake Burger can hit like a stud and stick at 3B.... questionable. After that, you have wildcards like Lenyn Sosa and Luis Curbelo and that is... about it for MIF prospects. Sure, it is within the realm of possibility that one of them explodes as a prospect.. but it is honestly somewhat bleak looking right now. Signing Machado was essential to this rebuild. It was essential to Rick Hahn's critical mass master plan. No, it is not doomed now, but to go ahead and miss an absolutely golden, shining opportunity to add an elite MLB player, in his prime, at a reasonable price with the only real downside being the last few years of his deal, which is when our window should be closing anyway, is completely absurd. It is, frankly, unacceptable. Look around you. This is a group of absolute die-hard Sox fans. Thick and thin. Everyone is mailing it in. As if the Sox weren't already under a lot of pressure to reignite this fanbase, it somehow got worse today. Well, here's the facts: You aren't winning back any casual fans today, and diehard fans are losing their shit. They all understand the opportunity that was just missed. Overall, it was a smart idea to sign Machado, given the circumstances. I won't rehash them because they've been said so well already. The bottom line is this, can you expect another elite MIF to be available as an FA, in their prime, without any of the "big boys" bidding? If so, can you expect the Sox to actually win that player? Can you expect to win ANY player if the Sox will never give an opt-out in a contract because they're unwilling to budge off of a ridiculous perception of how MLB FA "should be"? Are the Sox going to be the pioneers who usher in the MLB FA Age of Reason? Every other team will say "Wow, look at how smart the White Sox are for showing us the way."? LMFAO. Fuck all of that. Let me preface this by saying I give it about a 5% of happening, but the only way to save this situation is to say fuck it and sign Harper. Sure, you'd rather add an IF to get to IF critical mass rather than another OF... but he is still a generational talent. Adding him eases the pain. Adding him brings the diehards back from the ledge AND piques the casual fan. This is the price the Sox are going to have to pay for fucking around with Machado and getting too cute with his contract. Now, you have to basically suck Scott Boras dick and give him a blank check. Now that I think about it, I amend my 5% chance to .1%. No opt outs, no 325+ over 10 years, no Harper. I'm with everyone here in the complete frustration with the franchise. Baseball is a wonderful game, it will be fun to follow some of the young guys. I can't give any time to other teams, I don't have more free time, so I won't just abandon Sox fandom. That's just dumb anyway. But, the Sox needed to earn my free time, and Machado would have gone a long way for me, personally. I'd have been in on some sort of ticket plan and allotting time to go to the park and watch this team. This missed opportunity, at an epic level, completely kills that desire in me. I'll just pick up tickets on Stubhub for a few dollars if I feel like watching them live. Or, more likely, just be content watching highlights and saving money AND time. Cheers, everyone. I hope your drinks are tasting okay tonight.

Everyone gets lucky eventually, I guess. It's really too bad that the only major MLB contract ever given out by Reinsdorf was one to spite the rest of the owners.

And let the injury bug rain down on all of our prospects to add more insult to injury!

That's the thing- rock bottom keeps getting redefined around these parts.

I wish I could say hey the Sox still have a chance but with KW crying to the media and Hahn going on the radio... it's fucking over folks.

My desire to go to as many ST games as possible this March has now been reduced to "ehh maybe I will go to one." My desire to go to season games has been reduced from at least 1 a month to probably zero. The Eloy debut will be fun, I guess, but I go to go to the Kopech debut so I'm good I guess. This will hit the bottom line, no doubt about it.

Sad.

I guess, but id be shocked if that happened.

Even with all the optimism going around about Manny, that little white sox fan inside of me told me to be prepared for this seeming inevitability. Sox strike out again.

Wow

Okay, Padres are "all in" according to that guy? So they don't have any higher they can go. Right? So the Sox can top the bid and win this thing.

I do. I really can't see why they wouldn't be involved at the end here. Some people think that the ship sailed on Bryce, but I don't think the Sox would allow any doors to close on any opportunities. And Boras will gladly accept more bidders.

Where do you stand with respect to both? I was definitely curious if your article was pure speculation or somewhat based in reality.