OmarComing25

What if the Phillies sign him for 15 years at $1 billion.

Another team I'm confused isn't in the bidding is Toronto. Just saw that their current payroll is about $50 million below what it was last year.

What other teams are going to jump into the bidding next year that can't this year? If he can't get the huge contract he wants at 26 why would it be any easier when he's a year older and has one fewer year of his prime left?

Could be. Wasn’t his initial info about Harper and nothing about Machado?

And if you approached the Yankees with an offer of 1 year of Abreu and someone like Basabe or Gonzalez you'd be laughed out of the room. If we reversed the situations and that's all the Sox got for Andujar you'd be ranting about how Hahn got fleeced again.

What's a fair price then?

It would probably be something along the lines of Robert/Dunning at the very least and that's if the Yankees would only accept prospects which is unlikely. That sound worth it to you?

I don't get the hate for that ending, I loved it and thought it was brilliant.

Just checked the Phillies subreddit just to see what their fans are saying and 50% of the comments are shitting on Dan Clark.

To be the laughingstock of the league would require others to actually think about us at all, which they currently do not do. A failed recruiting attempt with Machado isn't going to make them start doing it.

Who is Jay blocking?

Again what’s so can’t miss about Rodgers? From what I’ve read he’s an average defender and he’s really only had one standout offensive half season in High A that was largely due to a .413 BABIP and a hitting environment that is basically Coors on steroids. He’s a fine prospect but seems more like an above average regular than a future star.

Your example of a can't miss prospect is Brendan Rodgers? Really? In 2016 he also hadn't reached High A yet.

You wanted a can't miss prospect yet you keep talking about Devers? Have you looked at his numbers?

You want to pay two players ~$100 million/year combined and think that it would be a wise decision?

If Madrigal’s defense is as good as advertised, your latter scenario is easily an above average player. And Alexei was a 4 WAR SS in his prime so a slightly better Alexei would be a great outcome.

Nor should they, I'd do a hard pass if that's what it took to get them here.

This isn't the NBA, any team that makes the playoffs is a title contender.

2023 or 2024? There isn't a team in baseball that should take 7 or 8 seasons to rebuild no matter how dire the situation they start in, that is ridiculous. Even the most dire of situations should be able to turn it around within 5 seasons and we had a better starting off point than most rebuilds. If it takes that long then everything went wrong.

They didn’t forget us but still got their facts wrong. Article says our last playoff appearance was in 2010.

How is it a desperation move? Even if the young guys had all killed it in 2018 adding one of Machado/Harper would still make a lot of sense.

The original comment you replied to talked about contending in 2020, not 2019.

They were still somewhat competitive in the five seasons following 2005 though. If 2006-2011 had been more like 2013-2018 then those attendance numbers probably look a lot different.

Agree to disagree. It didn’t take long for the extra fan interest that 2005 generated to disappear and that was with a playoff appearance 3 years later and it being the first World Series title in Chicago in nearly a century. Another title wouldn’t have the impact 2005 did and if the team immediately started losing 90+ games again afterwards any gained interest would diminish even more rapidly IMO.

That’s not what I’m arguing. Hypothetical scenario A: The White Sox get a bunch of fluky career years out of otherwise mediocre players and win a title, but for the following 5 seasons the team averages 68 wins a season and don’t sniff the playoffs. Talent evaluation is still highly questionable. Hypothetical scenario B: The White Sox average 95 wins over a six year stretch with 5 playoff appearances and two pennants but zero titles. Even if the window of contention is now closing in scenario B which do you feel better about going forward and which one does more to generate fan interest?