tray

I thought it would be a fun exercise to theoretically construct a roster for the 2019 season that could potentially win it all. I like the thought and appreciate your take on this. The Sox moves made prior to and during the 2005 caught lightning in a bottle for us. It would take a lot of luck, imagination and guile to duplicate that success as well as an enormous capital investment in player contracts. To have a championship season once again, the Sox need to have at least a few All Star level players and pitchers who reach a crescendo with their careers in the same year.

I'll bite As long as we are in the theatre of the absurd ....ok, If the Sox would be willing to sign Machado to an enormous contract just trade for him right now. I'd even offer Moncada for a package with Machado and a high prospect if that is what it would take. Then let Yolmer play second base until Madrigal is ready. Yea, I know, Moncada is the centerpiece of the rebuild, the guy we got for Sale.

Personally I could live with TA at SS or 3rd with sub-standard D if he hits the ball out of the park more, walks more and steals more.Tim can do all of that. I cannot live with Moncada starting every day at any position if he only hits .150 against LH pitching. That has gotten ridiculous.

Moncada can't hit left hand pitching after parts of three season in the majors and 140 or so ABs against LH pitching. On this forum it is not good enough to opine that a player might develop as a RH hitter. There has to be some statistic or a statistical trend to bolster one's argument or some definite short term trend that meets the eye test. Otherwise, I suppose, some attempt by the player to change his approach, or in this case, perhaps to have Moncada stop batting RH altogether and platoon with someone who can play second and hit LH pitching. I guess Moncada will have the rest of the 2018 season to prove he can hit LH pitching. If he can't then there are other options and decisions to be made. I am really disappointed in what it appears we got for Chris Sale, at least to this point. Time will tell though.

I would rather keep Abreu if he can be signed on a three year deal, not five. Meanwhile, Avi Garcia looks like he is the guy who hit .330 last season. His reputation suffers from initial perceptions that he was going to have a lot of swing and miss in his game and that he was slow. Instead he looks like he is turning into one of the leagues best hitters and he has uncommon speed for a player his size. Way underrated, in my opinion.

Moncada recently said that in hindsight, he was glad the Red Sox traded him so that he could play where he feels comfortable...second base. Madrigal probably does not have a strong enough arm to play on the Left side of the infield and make the longer throws. There is no room in the outfield for Tim Anderson and no reason to move him from SS unless the Sox have someone who can play SS better and hit.

Maybe Ti'Quan Forbes is in the running (among in-house options) for the 3B spot in 2020. IMO Madrigal will most likely be our second basemen and T.A will stay at short. Moncada ? Not sure. With Madrigal coming up perhaps late 2019 or 2020, Moncada has time to prove second belongs to him, or not.

Benetti - a pseudo-intellectual baseball mind that is just amazed by himself.

Avi has developed into a .300 hitter with power. He keeps getting better but some people just keep doubting him. I wouldn't trade him unless the offer was overwhelming. It is hard to get All-Star level player at any position let alaone someone who hit .330 over an entire season.

This would be considered heresy by most Sox fans, and others could easily outright mock the idea (par for the course on anonymous sports forums) but I'll ask it anyway, not to throw a bomb but just to stimulate friendly (I hope) discussion: Would anyone consider trading Moncada at this point and under any scenario they might envision? Here is one idea but not sure it would be realistic or plausible: What if the Orioles would trade Machado to the White Sox right now for Moncada? The Sox turn around and attempt to sign Machado long term. If that fails, the Sox immediately make Machado available for trade for the 2018 play-off run to teams like the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox and get trade value back from them. That all assumes Moncada is what he has show thus far - .An average fielder who can make the occasional spectacular play but a terrible switch hitter.

Thanks Joe! I read that WGN is dropping baseball at the end of next year but since this going I am going to add an HD antenna in my attic to pick up WGN .

My way too early 2019 picks for starting players by position (with some R/L platoons): and of course, subject to multiple revisions over the next several months: SS Tim Anderson 2B Madrigal/Yolmer 3B Davidson/Moncada 1B Abreu LF Eloy CF Luis Robert RF Avisail Garcia C- Collins/Smith DH Palka/ Micker Adolpho

"the days of over-the-air free Chicago television sports will end in October 2019. " Over-the-air broadcasts are free to the viewer but the teams still make some money from advertising . Sports franchises also reap the benefit of gaining new fans who don't subscribe to cable. The Sox have a long and mostly unpleasant experience moving away from WGN so I brace myself for what this next move might mean.

OT a bit even on the catch-all: I only have HULU live for TV, no comcast cable. HULU has the games on csn/nbc sports. However I also want to watch our Sox when they are on WGN. My question is, does WGN broadcast Sox games over the air through digital UHF and if so, does anyone get that with an HD antenna ?

That's not what he said . He is commenting on his potential value. If Abreu is not going to bring back an elite level prospect, no reason to trade him. Then why would the Sox want to sign him.? Any Sox fan knows the answer to that.

I prefer games where attendance is low so I can mill around easier, get food and beer and go to the bathroom without waiting in long lines, then get out of the parking lot easily. The worst experience for me was the last time I went to a cubs/sox game which was the last time I will ever go to a cub game. What a pain in the arse. Man some of you guys need to take a chill pill and put your posts in a broader perspective. You have an opinion on a sports team or player....OK, big deal. If you cannot find some degree of friendship and camaraderie with fans of the same team you supposedly root for, you are missing out on some of the best things about being a sports fan. I high five fans sitting around me when someone on the Sox hits a home run. It is pretty much all smiles among Sox fans at GRate so I don't know why some fans get so mean, so dark and so strange when they get behind a keyboard.

The new stadium Globe Life Field will have a retractable roof which will help attendance on hot, humid or rainy days. This is a public/private venture which seems like it is or will become a model for future ventures like that.

Machado will be worth more as the season progresses and teams feel he might be the final piece. It might be possible for a non-contending team to trade for him now, then try to sign him to a long term deal. If he doesn't agree, then trade him in a few weeks when teams will need him even more.

The Cubs and Joe Ricketts got plenty of favors from the City of Chicago including taking part of the streets surrounding the park. And never forget how Arlington stadium was built There are examples too numerous to mention of public financing and favorable tax treatment for private businesses including sports franchises to locate themselves in the city.

Listen know-it-all. Who are you to talk to me or any other poster like that? You know nothing more than anyone else here. You just have another opinion. If Machado is treated fairly and offered what he is worth, he will sign before free agency. The likely outcome now is the Machado will be traded to a contender like the Cubs this year. The Cubs will then do precisely what is suggested - try to sign Machado to a long term deal before he hits free agency.

I would like to see the Sox jump start this rebuild by trading for Machado with a package that overwhelms the O's, and then open the check book to sign him long term before he goes to Free Agency. So, for anyone who might agree, would you consider including Moncada or Giolito or Abreu as a potential centerpiece in a trade for Machado? My guess is that it would take one of them plus another player like Avi or a pitching prospect like Fulmer to get it done....to beat teams like the Cubs who will offer up a substantial package of prospects/players to get Machado.

Moncada should be starting at third base now so he could start getting used it.

5'7" 150 pounds.

If Hostetler implied or rather meant exactly what he said, he probably should have selected Kelenic. 3-4 years? Come on. We need a third basemen with power in the next year or two. We can't wait 3-4 years to play musical chairs with Moncada, Anderson and Madrigal in the infield. "Who's on second" is now the Sox version of" who's on first."

Hostetler said it didn't matter what position Madrigal plays and in any event that decision will be up to Renteria and Hahn 3 or 4 years down the road. 3 or 4 years down the road? Not sure if he was serious about that timeline, but in any case, I do not think that view of the rebuild window is shared by most Sox fans. I see most posters most often referring to next year or the year after for the Sox to compete, not 3-4 years from now. https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/video/nick-hostetler-nick-madrigal-can-play-gold-glove-level