tray

The rumors indicate that the Sox may have Offers on the table for Machado and forHarper. What if they both say yes to the White Sox ?

What do you make of the reported Hahn quote that Machado's agent has "not responded in kind." ? I think the White Sox are at least entitled to a counter-proposal from Lozano given all of the effort that the organization has gone to in order to attract Manny and his family to Chicago. If Lozano is just using the White Sox to leverage a higher offer, we will all be pissed off along with the White Sox ownership and management. I understand the competitive bidding process, but at some point it can get abusive. Lozano can just ask the teams still interested in Manny and that Manny would like to play for to submit their highest and best offer in x amount of time, then let him decide. This isn't rocket science as they say. Come on Manny for Chrissakes make a decision. We will all but kiss your ass to play here.

I would have preferred that the Sox sign Avi for a year than to trade any decent prospect(s) for an OF that is going to be a placeholder for Luis Robert, et.al. No problem with getting Pederson other than it signals that the Sox may have given up on Harper. Pederson could hit 25-30 HR with a decent amount of ABs. We could end up having a team with loads of power. Sox fans love HRs , fireworks, and walk-off wins. Now like the rest of us, I am just crossing my fingers and hoping we get Machado. He is a game changer, especially for the Sox where he would fit like a glove, Hope he gets announced as our dude at SoxFest..

Jay is placeholder for Luis Robert and a replacement for Engel who should be DFAed. Avi's replacement is yet to be determined. Once we know , then the comparisons to Avi can be ddiscussed' Palka is a tank - strictly a DH and pinch hitter.

Hey Avi only hit .330 over the course of an entire season once. Lots of major league players do that at least once during their career, right? Oh yea, he is prone to injury because of an accident fielding a line drive when he was playing at a much higher weight, but you know, he was injured last season so you put those injuries together and it is obvious, , he is a ticking time bomb, just waiting to be injured again. And he is slow....well at least he was before he lost weight and got in top shape. Low power numbers too which is absolutely unacceptable when you hit .330. No sense trying to master the strike zone a bit before starting to wail away.

Passan has always been partial to the cubs so I do not give any credence whateoever to his reporting about the White Sox.

If the Sox somehow land Harper, I would try to trade for Kris Bryant. Not sure with what,,,,Perhaps Moncada plus Cease but not Eloy or Luis Robert.

If JR lands one or both Manny and/or Bryce they should make arrangements to have SoxFest at a larger venue. Go crazy as Farmio says.

One reality inherent in the rebuild is the short shelf life that players have in the majors. Most of us consider that prospects, say under under 21 or 22 yrs. old, aren't "ready" to even start their careers on a major league team. Then once they reach 30, they are considered over-the -hill or perhaps not part of any rebuild process. Given that, it is understandable how difficult it is for each of the 30 teams to find that magical combination where all of the talent on the roster reaches a crescendo in the same season. We are not the only team that is having a hard time putting it together, even for some future season where you project talent, payroll, possible injury and varying performance from season to season. I'm glad I am not Rick Hahn.

Do the Sox project Eloy to be a corner outfielder in the long term (e.g. over the next 3-6 years) ? If Eloy is projected as another Big Frank at first base, then I see how trading Abreu might make sense.

It would be great if Moncada would agree to play some games at third and some at second in order to give the Sox some options moving forward. My own opinion about when to bring a player up is when he is probably the best option a team has at a certain position, or if they need his skill set for a particular reason such as speed, hitting , defense. I also think that some teams who are probably not going to compete, could justify bringing up prospects to see what they have and at the same time, give young players a chance to compete at the major league level. I think Robert is probably better than Engel right now. Madrigal's bat skills might compel the Sox to bring him up earlier than some have predicted. And please, don't blame the Sox for bringing him up Fulmer before he was "ready." Sometimes it is important to determine what type of talent you have but it is equally important to assess what you do not have.

GK: I would make that trade as well buy I don't think Burgur has an ounce of trade value.

I'd trade Moncada before trading Robert or Madrigal but I would not even go there unless Moncada either refused to play third base or just continued to be an average at best hitter with a high strike out rate.

The Narvaez, Davidson, Avi moves were a defensive purge. The end of the clown show on defense. Hopefully, but that depends on who replaces them.

Lol same thought Same lack of thought.

So just to be clear, your plan is I’d like to share my actual thoughts here, but would prefer to avoid a likely suspension. I guess you missed "semi-serious" or do not understand what that means or you cannot appreciate sarcasm. Anyway, I sense some repressed anger. If that's the case go ahead and vent if that makes you feel better.

Lilly: I am sold on getting Harper and plugging in some veteran talent , especially for our rotation and bullpen. But I know you don't want to hear that so let me bite on a semi-serious alternative: Tank 2019, but in committing to that end, put a AA team on the field and let them be baptized by fire....kind of like the mid-sixties NY Mets. Infield: Moncada at 3rd (make him play there) , Timmy at short, Madrigal at 2nd, Abreu at 1st. Outfield Eloy, Robert and Avi G. Catcher: Bring up Collins or Zavala Meanwhile, try to trade Abreu and Avi. If a trade gets done, replace them with other AA type talent, like Basabe or Micker. Same idea with pitching - cycle pitchers up from the minors to see who can cut it in the bigs. That would guarantee another 100 loss season, but fans might actually enjoy watching the rebuild happen in real time during actual major league games. What more would we have to lose if we are going to lose anyway ? So tank 2019, but at least try to make it interesting.

When you account that the Cubs own 75% of Chicago, you can't really say they are a large market team. If that is the case, they are in one of the smallest markets in Baseball. I hate to burst everyone's bubble. Please just become a full time cub fan since you have already bought in to the hype.

Avi G under-performed in 2018. I think injury was the main reason. He had his knee scoped and should be back at 100% in 2019. I am betting that he comes back and hits for power and average. Therefore, I am going to go against the grain here and suggest that the Sox try to sign him to a 3 year deal. If I am right and he starts raking in 2019, then you have a valuable trade asset moving forward.

Moncada has too many strikeouts....way too many. Madrigal is just the opposite. A big part of his game is getting the bat on the ball. If Moncada keeps taking third strikes and generally having too many strike-outs, he probably should not be in the starting lineup. Madrigal, even without great HR power. is what is needed in our line-up. Most pf us have not seen that much of Madrigal. I only saw him in the college playoffs and college World Series. I look forward to reading everyone's opinion after we have all seen players like Madrigal and Robert in the Spring. Some of us might be singing a different tune about these prospects, when they will be ready, and what their upside might be. If you are baseball addicted like me, you are already counting the days until ST.

Your theory was since Adam Engel was not ready (despite over a thousand PA’s above that level) and given the the major league CF job that we should hand Luis the job next season. That was not my theory. My opinion is that any decision about promoting a player should be predicated on a talent evaluation of the specific player, not on age, their progression through the ranks of the minor league, time spent in those leagues, and plate appearances. I have already seen opinions expressed that Luis Robert lacked power and that he is prone to injury. I do not think either of those has merit. Don't rule out the possibility that Robert can make it to the majors next year. I think it can happen and if I am wrong, it won't be the first or last time. I think Robert is better than Engel right now....by a lot.

Rushed ? Talent evaluation is the key more than the timing of a call-up . If a player has the talent they will make it whether they are 21, 22 or 26. Devers, Benintendi,,,so many young guys make it without complaints about being rushed.

Adam Engel's stats in 2017-2018 according to baseballreference.com: 730 At bats .207 batting average 246 strike-outs 12 HR Was Engel "ready" for major league baseball or was he brought up to try to adjust to major league pitching on the fly to see how that worked out? Why wouldn't Robert be given the same chance ? If he continues to play well in Spring Training, no reason he should not replace Engel on the 25 man roster. His speed on the bases along with that of Tim Anderson and Moncada would be formidable. Engel is DFA material.

The Sox are in one of the top markets. They just need to get their rightful share of it. The cubs do not own this town. They fizzled out and choked in games 163 and 164 and people don't like chokers. Their window to win another championship may be narrowing with Milwaukee rising in that division. S[ports fans are fickle....what have you done for them lately.

Michael Jordan championship Bulls era bankrolled by Jerry.