Southwest Sider

Well this conflicts everything I thought I knew regarding JR's relationship with Scott Boras. Or maybe it was KW I was thinking of...

Gotta hope Harper likes the outlook of our talent then. But it wouldn't be surprising if he preferred a more established contender.

Will Boras be on MLB Network?

He's making concessions so that he can sign with a team other than the Sox. Sucks to suck. ?

To me that says that it definitely will be a drawn out process, well past the Winter Meetings. Or it means those guys are shut out from info and instead info is getting leaked to "friends of friends" when it probably shouldn't be.

I love that "Luke" guy flexing his confidence in his sources. Liam doing the same thing... "don't sleep on my sources". These guys are crazy.

Well, at least one of them is a liar. Probably both of them. This is just nuts.

I was going to say something very similar. He's still very young and has a ton of potential.. maybe not defensively.. but I don't think anyone would be shocked if he turned into the top bat in whatever league he ends up signing in.

If I were more of a gambler, and looked at the scenario as it is, I might. Especially if I was given nice odds. But I wouldn't bet a lot.

Man, Kluber is 32 years old. That's not horrible, but this seems like a great time to just sell high on a guy because he could be starting the downswing of his career. Good for Cleveland if they extract a lot of talent from LA.

I have a quick argument as to why the Sox should probably bid against themselves if they truly want Harper. The Dodgers are lurking, they are attempting to shed their excess OFs. One can only imagine that if the Dodgers offer a similar contract to the Sox, he will go to the Dodgers. But first, they have some work to do. Maybe the Sox should just ask Boras/Harper... "what contract do you want?", then try to put it together to give them the highest possible chance that he signs now instead of in January. There's not much beating around the bush you can do if a team basically meets your demands. Sadly, I don't even think Boras would be happy with a 400m contract... he'd try to find someone to bid 410. The longer it drags on, the more opportunities other teams will find to make a Harper signing work. On the flip side, the Dodgers could also sign Harper now and worry about their other OF later, though it does hurt their position in trade negotiations.

That'd be some premium entertainment right there. PPV prices I'd probably jump at.

That last quote from Hahn is awfully cryptic. Not going to try and get mine or anyone elses hopes up, but it seems to me he wouldn't really say that unless he was told by another party that that was the case.

Nationals? Didn't see that coming.

Could be a bit of a buyers market for SPs considering how many good ones are available via trade.

?

Wow, I literally just read this on the Athletic before seeing that. It’s not clear when Bowman will negotiate a new contract with Nick Schmaltz, but it’ll be on his list of things to do before next season. Schmaltz has so far underperformed this season with two goals and eight assists in 22 games. “He’s playing better lately,” Bowman said. “Obviously he hasn’t scored a lot of goals. He’s not really a goal-scorer per se, but he did have 22 last year. We’re looking for that. We’re looking for him to score some goals. … Haven’t really used him at center much. I think we’ll try him at some point here because he’s probably more natural there. “But as far as his contract goes, I’m not that worried about that whether it’s going to be a shorter term or a longer term. We’ll figure that out as time comes. But I think the most important thing is for Nick to get his confidence. I’ve seen signs of it lately where he’s had the puck more, he’s making some plays. Like to see him shoot the puck and he’s heard that a million times. That’s a work in progress. His contract isn’t like a top-of-mind issue right now. We’re not up against the cap, so it’s not really like a problem point.”

It's laughable that this guy thinks Boras would let his client sign somewhere for $50 million less dollars. Boras is in it for his big payday too, not just Harper's.

If the Sox sign Bryce Harper and Bryce Harper doesn't live up to expectations (assuming good health), it will be Bryce Harper's fault, not Rick Hahn's. This isn't really a case where bad free agent scouting can be your downfall. These guys are elite MLB free agents, potential Hall of Famers.

Now that is something I forgot about. At least it seems he will still be giving the Sox the time of day to discuss a deal.

I am an optimist but at this early juncture I can't help but look at the Sox from 11-20% given how many other potential suitors there still are.

If Duensing chose a 7M contract over an 8M contract, that is a LOT of money for him to forfeit given his earning power is less than a guy like Harper. Harper likely won't, but he could choose a contract with say 10 million less dollars and not even worry about batting an eye at it because it's still 300+ million dollars. 1 extra million means a lot more to a guy making 7 million than 10 million to a guy making 350 million. I hope that made sense. EDIT: To remove 10 million "per year" error.

Yeah I honestly don't see the appeal of a pitch that includes putting his jersey on the Jordan statue and his name on the digital banners. I mean, I guess it would be kind of cool if I was Bryce, but a little over the top. Sox looking for that wow factor? Or are they filming an introduction video? A fan can dream.. ?

I dare to dream. Nothing about the last couple of years has been status quo. The White Sox have deliberately shed payroll in order to be ready for this offseason in particular. Term and dollars should not be an obstacle. Indeed, the timing of the first opt-out and the players willingness to play here will be the primary obstacles. I have no doubt that the Sox have created the best strategy they can to sell their team to Bryce or Manny. Whether it works or not remains to be seen. Hopefully we can secure an opt-out after year 5. A significantly front loaded contract could be more appealing with a 5 year opt out instead of a team that offers a 3 or 4 year opt out. Rick Hahn is a great negotiator, I have faith that if he's getting close to the finish line, he will find a way to seal the deal. More importantly, I don't think the White Sox would have went this far just to come up a little short in the bidding war and then cry poor. While KW is indeed still a figure in this organization, I think he's fully onboard with this new strategy. Additionally, the 'crying poor' usually happened when the Sox already had a somewhat robust payroll, relatively speaking. Not the minuscule payroll the Sox are currently enjoying.

A lot of smoke around the White Sox lately. I like it. Let's get this offseason underway already!