I also like that offensively Harper will at least always bring nice OBP. Like your absolute floor is .350 with him. His down year he had 130 BB and 103 Runs. You get on base, you help your team score. Thomas always had like 120 walks and 100+ runs. Even if the power years are inconsistent.

12 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

The White Sox have been working on the pitch to Manny Machado with presentation and all for weeks. He's their target. It's reached the National Media now. 

When are they giving this presentation?  At the Winter Meetings?

I think it goes like this: All out pursuit for Manny Machado. He eventually signs. Then they become one of the team's mentioned in conjunction with Harper if they miss out on Machado. I think Machado signs much sooner than Bryce will. 

5 minutes ago, Lillian said:

Harper does, in fact, fit a need. He provides that much needed, middle of the order, left handed bat.

Not only that, he gives the Sox credibility, even more than Machado, even if ultimately Machado is the better player. Suddenly, the White Sox become relevant in a way they haven't been since the halcyon days of the Big Hurt. 

2 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

I think it goes like this: All out pursuit for Manny Machado. He eventually signs. Then they become one of the team's mentioned in conjunction with Harper if they miss out on Machado. I think Machado signs much sooner than Bryce will. 

Boras does like to drag things out, but if I am Machado's agent, I try to wait until Harper signs. Teams that miss out then have these funds they were hoping to pay Harper. It could improve Machado's final figure.

6 minutes ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

If we are going to go out and spend $, then get 2 guys...I don’t really want to watch Machado turn the Sox into an 80 win team with not enough talent around him. 

 

Id rather have Corbin and Pollack 

If they land Harper, what about signing Donaldson? That ideas been kicked around.

1 minute ago, soxfan2014 said:

If they land Harper, what about signing Donaldson? That ideas been kicked around.

If they land Harper, I'd rather go for Moustakas. Younger and cheaper, still a massive upgrade even if the OBP sucks. 

Edited November 5, 20187 yr by Jack Parkman

4 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Not only that, he gives the Sox credibility, even more than Machado, even if ultimately Machado is the better player. Suddenly, the White Sox become relevant in a way they haven't been since the halcyon days of the Big Hurt. 

+1 for use of "halcyon" in a sentence

Just now, Jack Parkman said:

If they land Harper, I'd rather go for Moustakas. Younger and cheaper. 

That's fine too.

7 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

When are they giving this presentation?  At the Winter Meetings?

I am going to guess ASAP.

4 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Boras does like to drag things out, but if I am Machado's agent, I try to wait until Harper signs. Teams that miss out then have these funds they were hoping to pay Harper. It could improve Machado's final figure.

Boras does like dragging on but it seemed to either bite him or at least give him no advantage last year. I do wonder if it causes any shift or if he goes to his old playbook.

It's interesting with boras, his bread and butter used to be feeding the owners egos and showing b.s. analytics to justify the costs, but few teams operate that way now, especially the big spenders. I don't see him being that much more effective than any other agent now. FOs have become pretty smart at the same time.

Just imagine how insane it would be if the Sox got both. I'm not expecting that by any means, but good lord.

10 minutes ago, bmags said:

Boras does like dragging on but it seemed to either bite him or at least give him no advantage last year. I do wonder if it causes any shift or if he goes to his old playbook.

It's interesting with boras, his bread and butter used to be feeding the owners egos and showing b.s. analytics to justify the costs, but few teams operate that way now, especially the big spenders. I don't see him being that much more effective than any other agent now. FOs have become pretty smart at the same time.

This is different. The Nats along with the Tigers and maybe a couple of others have always been one of Boras' fallback teams. I don't think there is any chance the Nats won't bail him out to re-sign Harper if dragging causes teams to pass.

Edited November 5, 20187 yr by Dick Allen

11 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

This is different. The Nats along with the Tigers and maybe a couple of others have always been one of Boras' fallback teams. I don't think there is any chance the Nats won't bail him out to re-sign Harper if dragging causes teams to pass.

Confused by last sentence, you think the Nats are still a good fallback or are no longer going to be available if his market strategy fails?

16 minutes ago, Whitesox27 said:

Just imagine how insane it would be if the Sox got both. I'm not expecting that by any means, but good lord.

A likely +$600 million offseason? I'd be pretty surprised if we land one, let alone both. Long term payroll flexibility would swiftly be out the window, and I'm not even certain adding them both makes us a playoff team with the way the rest of the roster is constructed. 

With the payroll being as low as it is, there is no way to cry poor during the bidding process. I can't help but feel it might be more shrewd to sign shorter term free agents for substantially less money though. 

2 minutes ago, steveno89 said:

A likely +$600 million offseason? I'd be pretty surprised if we land one, let alone both. Long term payroll flexibility would swiftly be out the window, and I'm not even certain adding them both makes us a playoff team with the way the rest of the roster is constructed. 

This isn't really true, our payroll would be around $130 million, still about $70 million below the luxury tax for now. Even with increasing arbitration salaries, I don't think it would be hampering 

7 minutes ago, bmags said:

Confused by last sentence, you think the Nats are still a good fallback or are no longer going to be available if his market strategy fails?

He thinks that Harper will re-sign with Washington if it drags out into January. 

Would be nice to get SOMEBODY to allow them to start being relevant again in their own home market. We'll see what happens. Maybe we will all be very pleasantly surprised. 

3 minutes ago, bmags said:

Confused by last sentence, you think the Nats are still a good fallback or are no longer going to be available if his market strategy fails?

I don't think the Nationals are desperate to keep Harper with Robles likely being ready soon. With Eaton, Soto and Robles their outfield is pretty set. 

10 minutes ago, bmags said:

Confused by last sentence, you think the Nats are still a good fallback or are no longer going to be available if his market strategy fails?

I think the Nats would bail him out if ultimately his dragging cost him a bunch of suitors, and other teams had to look elsewhere.

2 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

This isn't really true, our payroll would be around $130 million, still about $70 million below the luxury tax for now. Even with increasing arbitration salaries, I don't think it would be hampering 

Assuming nearly everyone else on the roster is barely getting paid? Then sure we end up around 130 million. We still would be far short of building a competitive roster even if we added both Harper/Machado hypothetically. This team still has numerous holes to fill as currently constructed.

Just now, Dick Allen said:

I think the Nats would bail him out if ultimately his dragging cost him a bunch of suitors, and other teams had to look elsewhere.

I think that could be true but I don't know what a bail out price looks like. Frankly its embarrassing that the nationals aren't going to go all out to keep harper.

3 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

This isn't really true, our payroll would be around $130 million, still about $70 million below the luxury tax for now. Even with increasing arbitration salaries, I don't think it would be hampering 

You think they would push the luxury tax threshold?  If we're an actual contender maybe we go up to 150ish, but I see 0% chance we ever come close to hitting the tax.

I was originally all in on Machado, but after watching him in the playoffs he really seems like a "sign 300m deal and immediately get fat" kinda guy to me.

Just now, steveno89 said:

Assuming nearly everyone else on the roster is barely getting paid? Then sure we end up around 130 million. We still would be far short of building a competitive roster even if we added both Harper/Machado hypothetically. This team still has numerous holes to fill as currently constructed.

It's a correct assumption... payroll currently projects at 50-60 mil, so adding both in this hypothetical leads to 130 or so. Obviously arbitration salaries will increase over time, but probably not to the extent that we'll have no long term flexibility. 

1 minute ago, jenksycat said:

You think they would push the luxury tax threshold?  If we're an actual contender maybe we go up to 150ish, but I see 0% chance we ever come close to hitting the tax.

I was originally all in on Machado, but after watching him in the playoffs he really seems like a "sign 300m deal and immediately get fat" kinda guy to me.

My point is that we don't need to push that threshold like some seem to think