4 minutes ago, soxfan2014 said:

Definitely. It's ridiculous to say that Bryce Harper isn't a fit on a team that lost 100 games and currently has no OF's locked in long-term going forward (minus Eloy but he isn't really here yet).

Just imagine Harper and Eloy in the heart of the order for the next 5+ years...how amazing would that be 

Just now, Whitesox27 said:

Just imagine Harper and Eloy in the heart of the order for the next 5+ years...how amazing would that be 

I'd also be concerned about how poor our outfield defense might end up being as well. Eloy and Harper aren't exactly gold glovers out there.

Not to rain on the parade, but it is a legitimate question

3 minutes ago, steveno89 said:

I'd also be concerned about how poor our outfield defense might end up being as well. Eloy and Harper aren't exactly gold glovers out there.

Not to rain on the parade, but it is a legitimate question

Truthfully I'm not too concerned about that right now. Worst case scenario is that you get a burner like Engel who can cover the gaps, but I'll take a worst case scenario in which Bryce Harper is playing right field for the Chicago White Sox all day long.

6 minutes ago, Whitesox27 said:

Just imagine Harper and Eloy in the heart of the order for the next 5+ years...how amazing would that be 

And imagine Harper and Moncada joining forces to form the greatest head-of-hair combo the MLB has ever seen.

1 minute ago, Whitesox27 said:

Truthfully I'm not too concerned about that right now. Worst case scenario is that you get a burner like Engel who can cover the gaps, but I'll take a worst case scenario in which Bryce Harper is playing right field for the Chicago White Sox all day long.

Oh I would rather have Harper and Jimenez with crappy defense in my lineup as well, but it is a consideration. 

Fortunately Robert/Gonzalez/Basabe are project to have plus defense and provide options as well

https://mobile.twitter.com/MLBBruceLevine/status/1059937786453807104

Hahn doing nothing to quiet the rumors 

 

Machado fits the rebuild perfectly. He plays the one position the organization has no answers for right now, he's a legitimate Gold Glove caliber defender there, he rarely misses games, and he rarely falls below 5 WAR in a season.

Harper is more like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. He's a lefty power bat, but he's missed a lot of games due to injury, has bad-average defense, is a risk to need to be moved to DH, and plays the position where the organization has its greatest depth.

I love Harper but signing one of the worst defensive RF in baseball does not solidify RF long-term. It does, however, solidify 1B/DH long-term. 

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/MLBBruceLevine/status/1059937786453807104

Hahn doing nothing to quiet the rumors 

 

2 minutes ago, Sockin said:

 

He doesn't usually talk like this, interesting. His comments like this generally are more hypothetical and future-oriented rather than being in the present. 

Just now, Jose Abreu said:

I love Harper but signing one of the worst defensive RF in baseball does not solidify RF long-term. It does, however, solidify 1B/DH long-term. 

In which case signing him to the contract he'll want would be a huge overpay. If the White Sox can only get one, it needs to be Machado.

2 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

 

He doesn't usually talk like this, interesting. His comments like this generally are more hypothetical and future-oriented rather than being in the present. 

Agreed, and as ss2k keeps mentioning, is setting himself up for a ton of backlash from the fan base if they do nothing

8 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

I love Harper but signing one of the worst defensive RF in baseball does not solidify RF long-term. It does, however, solidify 1B/DH long-term. 

I'm not going to turn Harper away because of his defense. I can live with him being mediocre in the field because his bat is so good. Given his age, I don't see any reason why he couldn't be serviceable in the outfield over the life of his potential contract (even if it's a 7 or 8 year deal), I feel like the odds of having to move him to first or DH are slim .

Edited November 6, 20187 yr by Whitesox27

1 minute ago, Whitesox27 said:

I'm not going to turn Harper away because of his defense. I can live with him being mediocre in the field because his bat is so good. Given his age, I don't see any reason why he couldn't be serviceable in the outfield over the life of his potential contract (even if it's a 7 or 8 year deal), I feel like the odds of having to move him to first or DH are slim .

I'm not "turning him away" but his defense is WAY worse than mediocre.

 

https://sportsinfosolutionsblog.com/2018/09/20/why-does-bryce-harper-have-25-defensive-runs-saved/

4 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

I'm not "turning him away" but his defense is WAY worse than mediocre.

 

https://sportsinfosolutionsblog.com/2018/09/20/why-does-bryce-harper-have-25-defensive-runs-saved/

Yikes, I had no idea he was that bad. I just looked it up, he had a -3.2 DWAR this past season lol. But still, I would be fine with him in right as long as there's a guy that can go get em in center.

Edited November 6, 20187 yr by Whitesox27

3 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

I'm not "turning him away" but his defense is WAY worse than mediocre.

 

https://sportsinfosolutionsblog.com/2018/09/20/why-does-bryce-harper-have-25-defensive-runs-saved/

this seems more like a blip than a trend, he spent a fair amount of time in CF this year and i'm sure that didn't help

3 minutes ago, beautox said:

this seems more like a blip than a trend, he spent a fair amount of time in CF this year and i'm sure that didn't help

The link provided shows that he was awful at both positions 

 

17 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

The link provided shows that he was awful at both positions 

I get that but even steamer is only projecting him to be half as bad next year, defensive seasons are such small sample sizes. In the larger trend Harper is a slightly below defender in right field, i'm more inclined to believe that trend will continue when he is focusing on just RF and his contract season is off his mind.

How many season tickets would Manny Machado sell?  1000?  2000?   Harper immediately gets a lot of local corporations to consider buying back in...that “cool” or “it” factor, Q ratings, whatever you want to call it.

In the end, it’s about winning...but the marketing side here (right now) has to be 50% of it, and leveraging Harper’s presence to elevate the tv dollars.

They’re simply not going to bump up the tv rights deal $20-30 million per year for Machado.  They can point to the Orioles over the last 2-3 years as reasons why that doesn’t make sense.

Harper’s presence alone gives you the ability to add a Keuchel or Pollock for “free” essentially.  I would venture there are more kids out there who have grown up wanting to play with Bryce Harper since they picked up a bat and ball.

 

Also, RF at Guaranteed Rate is not that challenging to play...not nearly the size of other outfields, and we should (at least) have a legit CF defensively to help compensate for weaknesses on both corners.

The boys at PTI just opined that Stanton will waive his no trade if traded to one of the LA teams, thus opening the door for Harper in pinstripes. 

Nightengale's latest Harper tweet doesn't even mention the Sox at all. Interesting.

 Machado yes.....overrated Harper no

5 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

A promise that they will land a top FA.  Again, there is no guarantee.  No one has made such a promise.  They have to go through the negotiation process and see what happens.  This isn't OOTP where you just keep making the top offer and win.

This sucks. I thought the Sox had Harper in the bag before you said this. ?