FT35

This is beautiful. Thank you.

Still gotta hit the ball, but I really like what our stadium potentially does for his power numbers too.

Is it just me or has LA inquired about Fulmer in the past? Keep getting this feeling like he's been on their radar.

Peer reviewed journal...lol! I like it!

I know, I know...just seems like everyone has stolen it—doesn’t make me happy to see it anymore because of all the false over-uses...

Guys...we’re freaking out about eyeballs...do we know how crazy that sounds?! And they’ve been so overused at this point...people are just using them to get a rise out of people because for some reason it works?! There’s never a time when White Sox baseball fans’ eyeballs should out-trend LASIK. The ratio is now 900 eyeballs to 1 legit piece of info. And yet we still freak out as if it means something! 900:1. We’re getting close to Tim Anderson’s K/BB ratio and only we have the power to stop it. Time to get back to real-world reality. Let scrolling breaking news banners be the new eyeballs—when something is ACTUALLY HAPPENING!

Ha! True...I have noticed that they always seem to come in low. How a lineup with Manny, Jimenez and Jay would be calculate lower WAR than a lineup with Davidson, Engle and Delmonico I'll never know. Those would be the 3 most notable changes.

No way. They have met, planned, rehearsed every team representative on what to say. They know it's coming and they have their talk tracks all set. The Machado-related questions are already getting old before the first one is officially asked. There will be a groan at the FIRST question asked because really at that point the QA session will derail to nothing useful. Case in point, the Jon Jay press conference...the guy got annoyed at the FIRST question with a Machado-like flavor. Like bmags said...the trap is set. The ones who will be trapped will be the ones who ASK, not the FO guys...they are trained to diffuse the public through calculated answers that will sound informative but say absolutely nothing. What should we ask instead? Not sure! Maybe things like "hey, has Moncada figured out how to hit right-handed yet?" Ask them a question they haven't prepared an EXACT beat around the bush answer to. Unless you don't mind not getting your question answered!

In all honesty, the dumbest SoxFest questions to ask would be Machado-related questions because they are not going to be truly answered. AND EVERYONE knows this. However...you watch...the only questions people will try to ask will be Machado-related...assuming THEY are actually going to get worthwhile info from our FO guys. They'll bring their accounts of these encounters back here and discuss how the questions were just given a blanket, planned response and how they really didn't say anything. Humans....SMH.

I mean yes...that's the "right" thing to say...but you know...I'm kind of ready for the wrong thing to be said if it's the RIGHT thing to say--it's RIGHT if it's true. Come out and fight for your job. The FIGHT is what we've been missing for a long time. Wet noodle blanket statements of "whatever I need to do to help the team" do nothing in building the right culture. Come in to camp, fight for your position with a World Class athlete and WIN it outright...THEN do whatever you can to help the team with your ACTIONS not words. I think this is what Tim is doing!

Call me crazy, but I think Tim Anderson has a shot at becoming a star. He's kind of become written off because he didn't light the world on fire his first year, but I'm telling you...kid's got talent, edge and the will to win. I actually love that he believes he's just as worthy at being the SS as Machado. It shows that he believes in himself and his abilities. My hope is that Tim Anderson is our "caged animal" and busts out soon!!!

I could get on board with this. The thought would be if they make a decent jump in 2019 through big FA adds and internal growth, that they will add more before 2020 crunch time--possibly giving them a push down the 2020 contending path. Like another stud SP, more bullpen specialists, another couple bat upgrades. I think if that all happens, you'll see the competitive team shell starting to form. One that might be clear enough that they can begin considering moving prospect assets to help the MLB cause.

HA! Well...it's my understanding that they would prefer to contend at some point in the near future--next couple of years for sure! Otherwise...I'm not sure they would be going after guys like Machado if it wasn't the goal to contend soon. Judging by the timeline of things--if I had to guess, the plan would be to play well this year, and contend next year? Just sayin, I don't think Engel will have a spot on those contending teams when they arrive. Do you?

This is all correct. I love great defense as much as anyone, and I love watching Engel go get em in the outfield. But when you are contending, you need players who are both. And if you have players who aren't both, then they have to be able to hit more than anything. I'm not sure Joc Pederson is the answer, but he's a massive improvement over Engel. Honestly, I will cherish my 2018 Topps Adam Engel baseball card of him going over the wall to snag a HR away, but he is no where near our roster when we start to compete. I doubt he would make many MLB rosters--the opportunity was with us during the rebuild and mostly because he got hot in the Arizona Fall League a couple years ago. I honestly think, if that doesn't happen, we don't give him the extended look in CF--even with the immense amount of skill he brings to that position defensively. The hope was that he would come around and show a little of that AFL spark at the plate, and it just hasn't panned out. Omar Vizquel changed everything for that type of player. NO ONE thought he would be able to hit at the MLB level but you had to give the guy a shot because of his glove. Then something clicked and he found an amazing niche offensively and boom...you have a tremendous asset. You have to give guys like Engel a look to see if that could happen--but unfortunately...it didn't. There aren't many Omar Vizquel's out there. True lightning in a bottle.

Anyone think our supposed offer would increase if we knew of an actual team who has outbid us? If true, think it's a perfectly priced offer that no one else seems to have beaten. I'm starting to think it's the current market value for Manny Machado (plus a little room to bump up if there's actually another team willing to beat it).

Unless they sign Machado. If that happens, they won't need a convention to get the reporters out. It will be a national news break and will call on the same local reporters who were at SoxFest to report the signing at that time. Manny signing with the White Sox is bigger (to more people) than SoxFest, so anyone (who matters) covering SoxFest will cover that story if/when it happens.

I agree. While it would be a nice publicity opportunity, I doubt a team is going to risk rushing the largest asset acquisition in team history so they can save face in a question/answer session at Sox Fest. If you think about it like this: what's it going to take to get Manny to sign now? Oh I don't know...reports of the offer are at least 75 million dollars lower than he's looking for. So...do the Sox press the panic button and shell out an additional 75 million dollars simply to "get it done before Sox Fest?!" Uhhhhh....no. I really don't think we would want our FO to do something like that just so WE could feel better about the whole thing as we browse through the new 2019 Sox gear selections...or stand in line for a Yolmer signature... If I'm Rick Hahn, I go ahead and field questions/frustrations from fans for an hour to keep from rushing that move!

I'd much rather have Marte. How about a 3-way where Sox get Marte, Pirates get Pederson and LA gets better in other areas? Plus...Marte WAS in one of those photos with Machado........

Ah! Love it! That makes total sense now!

Anyone know how Pederson is related to Machado? Blood or just friends from LA?

Which here's the other thing...72 hours? How long does it take to pull up the Word document from the first offer and change the 1 to a 2? I'm in the wrong business...

No no...it’s Machado’s dad in the video. Plain as day!

Absolutely. Always thought this was in play. People's interpretations of technicalities/terminologies. Sooner or later the need for a tweet became larger than a person's willingness to stick to their rule about only posting correctly termed details. It became mush quickly.

Forget the hat for a minute...the child...is he a relative? If so, he’s next to sign.

They’ll have to tell the everyone they got him for 8 years/$14 million at some point.