FT35

QUOTE (Pasqua's Mailman @ Dec 18, 2017 -> 02:39 PM) Theo may not be that concerned about the luxury tax but you can bet the Ricketts are. The old man is running the show over there and has absolutely no interest in touching the luxury tax. They are currently making boatloads of money and project to make more... the Ricketts didn't get to the position they are by walking away from profits. There is no way they are going to lower their profit margin when they don't have to. Totally! Just not sure if it would lower the profit margin or if it would actually raise it. That's for them to figure out though...

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 18, 2017 -> 01:42 PM) 1) Nobody is taking Heyward and his contract off their hands, Cubs are stuck with him for now 2) Even the deep pocketed Cubs cannot afford BOTH Machado and Harper in free agency. Each player will command $30-40 million on the open market and it would be insane to commit that much payroll to two players. Cubs would be pushed way into the luxury tax. I mean...I agree...but Theo is creative and he could find ways to make it happen. More years/less per year, moving Lester/Heyward/maybe even Zobrist, talking a player down to make a championship run. My guess is that he's not THAT concerned with the luxury tax--given that his Red Sox were usually over when he was there and and his main competition was ALWAYS over it in NY. The luxury tax threshhold for 2018 is $197 million. If Machado and Harper made $30m each, that leaves $137 million to build the rest of their roster--a number that would have been 16th in MLB--right above teams like Cleveland and Houston. A payroll of $197 million would still only be 5th overall in MLB (using 2017 MLB numbers) and about $45 million LESS than the Dodgers. First off...It's insane money, I get it...but I bet Theo could write Machado's and Bryce's checks, bump his remaining salaries by $13 mil to spend $150 million on the remaining roster (only about $20 million less than his payroll from last year--for a total of $210 million). He'd be $13 million over the luxury tax line, costing him a whopping $2.2 million (lol) in luxury tax penalties...and STILL NOT have the highest payroll in MLB by a longshot. He would have Machado, Harper and a $150 million dollar roster around them. There may be some revenue benefits that follow that type of move.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 18, 2017 -> 11:32 AM) I agree, but this s*** makes me very nervous. I just hope the Sox know what they’re doing. I have no problem throwing out a moderate offer in the off-chance it sticks, but we definitely don’t need to get involved in a bidding war. Having said that, I still can’t figure out what teams would actually overpay for a year of Machado. To me, it’s the Cardinals or bust and I still don’t see them giving up a package that much bigger than what they gave up for Ozuna. Makes sense for the Cubs actually. I actually do think I would trade 4 controlled years of Russell for 1-year of Machado. They have Baez and Happ ready to contribute where needed. It'd probably save some money on a 5th starter too, because frankly they really wouldn't need a good one! I also believe Machado would fall in love with the city and the baseball atmosphere surrounding the Cubs and would re-sign because they are a team that is set up to contend for the majority of his prime. Plus, if they found a way to dump Heyward and somehow lure Bryce (which wouldn't be all too difficult with Bryant, Rizzo and Machado there), that would be an unbelievable situation. Lots of ifs. But ifs of this magnitude rule out most teams. Typically contending teams with bright futures and deep pockets can endure risk of this caliber. As for us...I think it would be great to see Machado here. But just don't think it's a good fit in a trade situation, NOW--in the event he resigns somewhere else. Could you imagine losing 2+ key pieces of our rebuild for a meaningless year of Machado (good or bad)? Do you think it's worth it to add him with the thought of flipping him at the deadline if we get the inclination he would not resign with us? That would limit the risk a little, but a deal for a mega-star player like Machado would take a while to complete. I do still think a team could part with a VERY TOP prospect at the deadline to get Manny Machado for their stretch run, with the inside track on resigning him if things went well. He's one of the very few who I think could make a difference large enough to justify that. I don't know...just ramblin' some thoughts.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 08:59 AM) I don't think young professional athletes carry your stereotypical millennial attitudes. These are guys who have been at the top of their sport their whole lives, always have been in control, I think they see things differently then a young twentysomething first breaking in to corporate America. It's also a very different setting, if a player can play when he's young, he's gonna be successful. Excellent point. On the flip side--these are the guys who have been on top of their sport for their whole lives so their sense of entitlement is sky high. Entitled to AB's, innings, high leverage situations, status, anything typically earned really. Kinda off the baseball topic, but remember when we all thought corporate America would serve as a great wake up call for the millennials? Sounding more and more like corporate America is going to end up bending/breaking to accommodate them instead...sigh...

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 11, 2017 -> 08:38 PM) I still have severe doubts about this. But maybe his views have chaqnged Catchers usually get shots at being a manager and many are successful at it. I honestly believe young players could get behind his personality. He’s got fire, he’s a gamer and does whatever it takes to get an advantage and win. Plus he calls a great game and has fun. Sure, a lot of guys are punks when they’re young and he’s no exception...but what better voice for a modern day punk to find maturity. His will to win won out over everything else. He’s a perfect managerial candidate in my opinion. Can he win?! Who knows...but the guy would get a shot if he ever wanted one, I’m sure.

This makes my day!

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 9, 2017 -> 09:58 PM) You sure about that? I thought the same thing till I realized he wasn’t talking about Gleyber.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Dec 8, 2017 -> 07:03 AM) Agree but there is a caviat. Machado may go somewhere for a year, love the situation and sign there long-term. I think he ends up in Boston, LA or New York in FA. Not sure about Boston. Especially after the summer he had there. They also have Bogaerts and Devers on the left side of the infield. Obviously Machado is a monster signing so they might try for the sake of trying.

Anyone think Avi could net Alex Reyes in a deal with the Cards?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 10:08 PM) I thought it was a shoulder injury when he dove after a ball and landed wrong. You know...you are right. I'm not sure what I was thinking and need to get my facts straight on that one. Still a major injury that could have full body (and mental) effects--but not quite as bad as if it were the leg. Good call.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 06:43 PM) Probably because they couldn't trade him. Lol! Probably...but still! He was a cut candidate imo...

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 03:35 PM) That's EXACTLY the point. It's not just Avi, and that's why we're bringing it up. It's an extremely well-researched pattern of results over decades. The point isn't to pick on guys, it's to temper our expectations and give us a realistic outlook wehn evaluating how our front office decides to treat it's assets. Like everyone else, I'm just not sure. And I'm mostly not sure if the research and his numbers tell us as much of the true story as the logic behind them does. He had 2 off-years stemming from a major knee injury and the subsequent conditioning effects of...having a major knee injury. The "healthy numbers" have been there and been pretty consistent. Like Dam8610 pointed out earlier if you plug his missed month and a half numbers into his stat line from last hear you'd have a 25 HR player. Now would the average still be .330 with a month and a half of AB's factored in? Maybe, maybe not. But plugging in another 45 days of stats, an OF with a line of .315-.330/90/25/100?? would be in pretty elite company with other MLB OF's. To see all things past/recent past lead to producing a line like this is encouraging since all the scouting that went into acquiring him pointed to this type of potential. He might have been this player all along underneath the injury/long rehab process. We certainly thought he was when we traded for him. Why on EARTH would we have resigned him after the absolute disaster the previous 2 seasons!?!? There's something more behind the numbers to Avi Garcia that we might not realize.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 4, 2017 -> 12:58 PM) In my never ending quest to figure out how Avi became what we saw last year. I am more convinced than ever it was because of the better conditioning and weight loss. . I truly believe if we see a bulked up Avi again we will see the old Avi. If he continues to dedicate himself by staying a well conditioned athlete we will see more of the new Avi. I was looking at the ESPN hot zone on Avi to see what his hot zones were last year in comparison to previous years and the one thing that jumped out was how much better he hit within the strike zone especially high in the strike zone . I think when he was heavier he was too upper body heavy and his swing was less fluid because of the mass. Now it is much looser, more fluid and quicker in the zone. The hot zone divides the strike zone into 9 sections and in 2017 there was only 1 of those 9 sections that Avi didn't hit well. In the 3 previous year there were always 4 of the 9 zones where Avi did poorly. Also because of the better conditioning he was faster and became a better fielder. SO for those of you looking for a hint on how he will fare next year (if not traded) keep an eye on his weight. If he ever starts learning the strike zone better and taking more walks the new Avi could be even better. http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/hotzones/_/.../avisail-garcia Interesting stuff here. Don't forget that first glimpse we had of him in the days following his arrival (from the Peavy trade). He REALLY looked promising and had us all looking forward to his time here. He hit .304 over a 42 game sample after hitting .319 and .283 in his first 2 partial years in Detroit. Then he started off the following year decent and had 4 hits and 2 HR's the day before his injury. He was a different player after that injury. I think with it being a leg injury, he probably put on the extra weight from not being able to do normal cardio and maybe even faced a little muscle atrophy--which takes a while to build back up. Over that time and the games in his return, he became heavy and slow. Over the next couple years, his strength was built back up in his injured leg, the weight came back off and all of a sudden he starts hitting again at the .283-.319 level--then...enter the confidence factor that took him all the way to .330. SO...we're all surprised because we came to know Avi's "norm" to be what he demonstrated in the majority of the time we saw him here--the 2 heavy/slow years following a major leg injury. The .330 surprised us because it was SO different than the majority of his time here...however, it's not THAT much of a shock when you factor in that he had shown the high average skill set other healthy times in his career. I think you're on to something with the conditioning being the key for him. But we can maybe also use that as a small indicator of future performance--Assuming he stays in shape and is not injured--it may not be a surprise to see him repeat the success he had last year. Maybe not .330 because that's tough for anyone to repeat. But who's to say a .290+ year would disappoint? Now it's the power numbers that have not shown up the way we all had hoped. .290 plays in a lot of places, but there's absolutely room for improvement in the run production area--especially after playing in our stadium...but the higher average could be a normal occurrence that we just never knew about.

I realize a bunch can change and there are other Ichiro stories out there that will forever change the game like he did. I also realize that the Sox probably made a great case for him to be a part of what we're doing. But there's a little bit of me that is OK with things not working out. I think we have a good thing going here and an Ohtani signing brings a couple of sizable unknowns. You never know how well a guy will adjust to the MLB game. It's not even that players aren't good enough, but it's that they have established a set of expectations, goals and routines around the Japanese game their entire lives. It's tough to make that transition--as many have tried and come up short on their mega-star vision. In my opinion, Ichiro was the most successful, Nomo had some great seasons (although--he carried a 4.24 lifetime ERA which seems human), Tanaka has shown signs of dominance...but overall, the players seem to come in under the expectations set. I don't think it's a problem with the player...I think it's a problem with our expectations. Chances are, Ohtani will be a great player--he obviously has the skill. But many before him have had the skill as well. As Sox fans have learned so many times--even with MLB player signings...in baseball...there's no silver bullet...no sure things (OK--aside from maybe Mike Trout...but we might not ever know because I doubt he's ever traded!!). A player's past impact on the game only determines our expectations for their future impact--not their actual production. For every Jermaine Dye, Estaban Loaiza signings out there, there are 10 Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche signings. Whoever trades for Stanton could just as likely see a .266/26/85 season as a .290/55/130 season. There's certainly some bust potential on international signings of this caliber as well. I think it's OK that we can stay our course with developing prospects and aiming for the FA players who are as close to "sure things" as you can reasonably expect. We can hold our head high that we put our best foot forward on Ohtani, but we still have plenty of work to do of our own and plenty to get excited about.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Nov 30, 2017 -> 03:08 PM) Love this. This is how it's done,you tell em Rick. Exactly. It's the Red Sox who are inquiring...not us. The pressure is on them to ante up because they are the ones in "win now" mode. I think it's funny all the Boston fans saying this prospect or that player is TOO MUCH for Abreu. Well...it doesn't really matter because if it's too much, you don't get the player you're asking for if you don't match the price. I know the logic is profound...but if you believe a certain player is the missing link to a championship run, you pay to get him. If not, you pay an inflated amount to get someone not as good on the FA market and hope it works out in your favor. Not much else to it. Go sign Adam Lind if that's closer to your price range.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 30, 2017 -> 09:38 AM) I tried for a whole summer in my teen years to do it. Could never get the fluid mechanics down as I did from my natural side. I was terrible. It's got to be a brain thing more than anything. Left/Right dominance starts there. I just don't think most people have proper (natural) development in that area of their brain. Now if you want to make a lot of money, figure out what needs to be done from a surgical standpoint and "pitch" the idea at a medical conference. While they're in there intentionally tearing/repairing every HS freshman's Tommy John parts so they "heal stronger", they can make a quick switch in the head so they can all wake up super human.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 30, 2017 -> 09:21 AM) Supposedly this guy will make about $20 million a year in endorsements, so that will ease the burn a bit. I still think he's foolish for not waiting. I hope he can do both hit and pitch. It would really be fun if he was successful at both. One freaky thing I still don't understand why we don't see more of is switch pitching. Yes! Seems like the value is HUGE. However...have you tried to throw with your off hand? When I try, I look a little like Chuck Knoblauch in his "lost" days. I'm lucky if my arm moves forward--and who knows what's going on with my legs...bunch of jerky circular motions that usually end with a trip to the chiropractor. Apparently it's difficult to achieve for most.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 29, 2017 -> 11:39 AM) I don't see a deal happening here. I think Rockies and Cardinals would have better pieces to move. Never underestimate the possibility of a 3-way. Sox love em!

Devers + Jackie Bradley Jr. sounds like a good place to start! : )

QUOTE (harkness @ Aug 23, 2017 -> 09:00 PM) the bunt worked... I was keeping semi-track at one point.. it was like 4-35 that the bunt worked... But hey it worked there... Yep. Gotta get that up to about 50% or higher before they can start to get defenses to respect it. Then punching those balls through a drawn-in infield will become a lot easier.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 05:03 PM) I was merely disagreeing with the tone of inevitability that many take when it comes to his struggles. Almost everyone seems more concerned with when he'll figure it out than if he'll ever develop. From what I've seen there is cause for doubt regarding the latter, and it has to do with a lot more than just his last 20 PA. Aside from maybe 10 individual moments he's looked almost completely hopeless during his MLB career. Have good (even great) players had stretches like this? Yes. Is he definitively a bust? No. But is there cause for concern? Yes. No doubt about it, he has to get a LOT better. I hope he goes 4/4 with 2 bombs tonight, I hope he makes me look dumb. I get it...but think of it this way...the kid is 22, is raw, been up for about a month and already has 10 of those "moments." That's a moment every 3 days--at 22. And he's doing it in a tough part of our schedule--after a thumb injury and a bruised knee. Those injuries linger--even though you see him out there everyday (another good sign that he's not a pansy). I'd probably go as far to say that we haven't seen him at 100% healthy--still out there going oppo on a 98mph Ken Giles pitch.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 11:28 AM) This exact post is why I would like the White Sox to find a way to target guys like Joc Pederson. Dodgers have a glut in the outfield...will probably consider moving Joc and while the Sox don't have anything to offer, I would be all for being a 3rd team and potentially leveraging prospects to facilitate a transaction that worked for all sides. If people want to think patience, think Joey Gallo, ultimate top prospect, very early call up, saw his stock slip a bit and then re-emerged this year as a great player. He was always really young though and it wasn't that long until he re-emerged, but I'm sure if it were a Sox prospect, we would have went that entire next season talking about how Gallo was a bust. Absolutely! It's a great time to give those types of players at bats. Although with us, we tend to take on these types of pitchers rather than hitters. Coop projects are common for us, but I'd like to see them go out and land the hitting coach equivalent to Cooper so we can a. Develop our own guys better, and b. Take chances on the hitter projects. Guarantee it pays off big eventually.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 08:49 PM) I do like Bennetti, but he's killing poor Rowand with all the questions and jokes tonight. Agree...it's a bad announcing habit to get into because the result is the non-polished voice getting long stretches of air time dominating the broadcast answering the questions. He needs to find different ways to start conversation. It's like starting every sentence in an essay with "The." Tough to listen to. Describe something, expand on something, establish yourself as an expert on baseball.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 09:05 PM) Honest question...how did the Sox leave camp with Asche over Delmonico? I know it happens...but geez. Nick was raking in ST too.... Ha! Cause Cody is Legend? Probably just not overthinking it--didn't think Nicky was ready, start the season with your vet--place hold him for someone young to take his spot. I'm not sure anyone saw this type of promise from Delmonico back in ST.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 07:44 AM) It's an instant gratification culture. Look at the minor league board. Literally every game thread has a post about promoting/demoting a player. Literally every single one. It's pretty hilarious if you just read them for updates. Totally true and sad. Moncada goes 2-4 with a home run, he's the next Robinson Cano. Next night he goes 0-4 with a couple of k's and he's a complete waste and not able to hit MLB pitching. Next night he's 1-3 with a double and a walk and he's the next Robinson Cano--love that swing--so much promise.