1 hour ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

White Sox not willing to sign Harper or Manny to a record setting contract....I take it that it means we aren't signing them then 

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/25539918

Hard to tell what’s real or not.  Even if we’re in the thick of it, it’s not like we’d be broadcasting to Boras that we’re eager to go silly.  

 

11 hours ago, Ross Gload Fan said:

If that were true, they wouldn't even grant us the meeting in the first place. Money talks.

I would have preferred he broke it down into $100M deals of FA's who have never won a World Series before rather than just all FA deals of $100M.

Edited December 16, 20187 yr by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

16 hours ago, Sockin said:

What is the obsession with Puig? I’ve seen so many Sox fans putting out hypothetical trades for him. He’s a FA after this year and comes with some baggage. There’s no reason they would trade for him.

His name would naturally come up because he is being moved,  happens to be Cuban and we need OF help. I suppose it is a chicken or omelette thingy with not facilitating the Dodger's position to harpoon Bryce. My thought being that if Puig was being recycled sure we would take a look. Puig is not in a market position to pressure teams to open their wallets regardless of his contract status. The oddest thing about Puig is that he does not hit lefties well. 

If it turns out that the Boras-Harper venture was just waiting for the Dodgers to clean house then we have all been played. 

8 hours ago, fathom said:

I don’t disagree. You would hope they wouldn’t have wasted 30 million so far this offseason on what amounts to some pretty meager “upgrades”.  

Are you saying Nova, McCann and Colome weren't needed pieces ? They had to spend some money  and all three of those pieces protect the young arms which are so vital to our future success.

I know you wanted Grandal but that was never going to happen with Castillo being Manny's buddy and Grandal costing a draft pick and at the same time telling the baseball world you don't believe in one of top prospects and diminishing his value and  admitting you made a huge mistake in selecting him so early.McCann brings one thing to the table and that is a strong right arm. The Sox probably will work Castillo to the bone while McCann will get 1 start a week 

You can't even really say the Alonso money was wasted if indeed Machado signs here. The Nats just signed Matt Adams and he got $3M plus $1M buyout and was a team mate of Harper . Adams is a similar player to Alonso. I don't see where much if any money was wasted. They all serve a purpose that was needed in some way.

7 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Are you saying Nova, McCann and Colome weren't needed pieces ? They had to spend some money  and all three of those pieces protect the young arms which are so vital to our future success.

I know you wanted Grandal but that was never going to happen with Castillo being Manny's buddy and Grandal costing a draft pick and at the same time telling the baseball world you don't believe in one of top prospects and diminishing his value and  admitting you made a huge mistake in selecting him so early.McCann brings one thing to the table and that is a strong right arm. The Sox probably will work Castillo to the bone while McCann will get 1 start a week 

You can't even really say the Alonso money was wasted if indeed Machado signs here. The Nats just signed Matt Adams and he got $3M plus $1M buyout and was a team mate of Harper . Adams is a similar player to Alonso. I don't see where much if any money was wasted. They all serve a purpose that was needed in some way.

Except we’ve done exactly that by dumping Avi and essentially Fulmer.

The only difference is Collins hasn’t yet failed at the big league level...but isn’t he usually listed around 7-10 these days on most Sox lists?   It would be idiotic to go into the pivotal 2020 with Collins as the starting catcher if they weren’t 100% believers in his ability to get the job done.

As far as Alonso/Adams goes, we’ll surely be able to list about 10-15 guys like him or Pedro Alvarez that could have put up a 738 ops at that position for half the price...which won’t matter if they sign Machado, but essentially forces him into whipping boy position with the fans if they don’t.  He’d just be another version of James Shields, where you think more of the player you don’t have instead of the one you’re left with to try to get behind.

10 hours ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

I dont believe this for a second.

I hope you are right, this really did throw cold water on the evening for me.   Just hope Hahn not being played and that he will actually sign a major free agent. 

8 hours ago, aeichhor said:

 

This article is exactly why Harper won’t end up in L.A. unless he’s willing to take a lot less money.  The Dodgers have zero reason to spend 10/$350M+ on him.  I still think this comes down to us or the Phillies.

I know I got an “LOL” reaction last time, but again I ask, isn’t $350M significantly less due to California tax code as opposed to IL tax code? I know players are taxed in the cities they are actually playing in and in LA not only would he have 81 home games but another 18 on the road (at least) playing in the same division as SD and SF.

12 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

I know I got an “LOL” reaction last time, but again I ask, isn’t $350M significantly less due to California tax code as opposed to IL tax code? I know players are taxed in the cities they are actually playing in and in LA not only would he have 81 home games but another 18 on the road (at least) playing in the same division as SD and SF.

I believe it’s effectively a 4% to 5% difference, which on $350M would be roughly $14M to $18M.  It’s not an immaterial amount by any means.

35 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

I know I got an “LOL” reaction last time, but again I ask, isn’t $350M significantly less due to California tax code as opposed to IL tax code? I know players are taxed in the cities they are actually playing in and in LA not only would he have 81 home games but another 18 on the road (at least) playing in the same division as SD and SF.

I posted a article doing the break down of taxes in the Harper + machado thread

24 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I believe it’s effectively a 4% to 5% difference, which on $350M would be roughly $14M to $18M.  It’s not an immaterial amount by any means.

Hey, I’d sign a contract to work in a less desirable city if I could afford this bad boy with the tax savings. Or 18x of these. ?

15 minutes ago, The Sir said:

Hey, I’d sign a contract to work in a less desirable city if I could afford this bad boy with the tax savings. Or 18x of these. ?

There’s the sales pitch right there!

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Except we’ve done exactly that by dumping Avi and essentially Fulmer.

The only difference is Collins hasn’t yet failed at the big league level...but isn’t he usually listed around 7-10 these days on most Sox lists?   It would be idiotic to go into the pivotal 2020 with Collins as the starting catcher if they weren’t 100% believers in his ability to get the job done.

As far as Alonso/Adams goes, we’ll surely be able to list about 10-15 guys like him or Pedro Alvarez that could have put up a 738 ops at that position for half the price...which won’t matter if they sign Machado, but essentially forces him into whipping boy position with the fans if they don’t.  He’d just be another version of James Shields, where you think more of the player you don’t have instead of the one you’re left with to try to get behind.

Sorry you lost me what have we done by dumping AVi and when did we essentially dump Fulmer whatever that means ?

You better start listing those 10-15 guys who cost less who still can provide a chance to influence the Machado signing. Oh there aren't any ? Fine I'll take Alonso then

If you need to argue this from a purely on the field perspective then it's pointless to discuss it with you or anyone else. Alonso as a whipping boy has got to be one of the sillier things I have even heard . Hahn yes Alonso no and even then it's just a minor move in a non contention year. Ican understand a big FA signed for many years not producing becoming a whipping boy but surely not a 1 possibly 2 yr player making peanuts becoming one. Poor performance and salary is the ultimate barometer of whipping boys.

As far as Grandal are you taking my side or are you arguing against what I said ?  Castillo is our catcher for another 1 or 2 years. and Machado's friend, Why do anything to hurt that ? If you sign Grandal for what probably ends up a 4 year deal isn't that admitting we have lost faith in Collins as a catcher of the future thus telling the world that when Hostetler said we would've drafted him 1-1 that we have no idea how to draft and evaluate talent? We had to keep Castillo and I said that when the whole Grandal discussion started and so far I've been proven right.

Possible more smoke for the Dodgers, as this guy has some connections it would appear:

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottwarner18/status/1074339516788310016

5 minutes ago, fathom said:

Possible more smoke for the Dodgers, as this guy has some connections it would appear:

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottwarner18/status/1074339516788310016

I don't even click on those things anymore. When someone signs I will know it soon enough. Of course if you imbed it I can't help but read it.

10 minutes ago, fathom said:

Possible more smoke for the Dodgers, as this guy has some connections it would appear:

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottwarner18/status/1074339516788310016

How did you find this out of curiosity?

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

How did you find this out of curiosity?

Just searched dodgers Harper on twitter. This guy is a CEO of an entertainment company and I believe he’s associated with Steve Sax.

And I still think all these Dodgers rumors are coming out of Boras’ camp with the intention to put pressure on us and the Phillies.

Just now, Chicago White Sox said:

And I still think all these Dodgers rumors are coming out of Boras’ camp with the intention to put pressure on us and the Phillies.

Not out of the question, as this could all be coming from the same 1 or 2 guys.

I wouldn’t worry about the Harper to the Dodgers thing until you start seeing some salaries moved by them to help in the potential deal

1 minute ago, fathom said:

Not out of the question, as this could all be coming from the same 1 or 2 guys.

Why do you think we haven't heard more rumors about the Phillies and Harper? I know there was the rumor he didn't want to play there. Clearly we're focused on the Sox here, and the Dodgers talk is big on Twitter. Seems like it's been quiet with them on Harper at least.

And Bruce Levine is going all in on the Sox being cheap, it appears

1 minute ago, beckham15 said:

I wouldn’t worry about the Harper to the Dodgers thing until you start seeing some salaries moved by them to help in the potential deal

Exactly.  Adding Harper before they move some OFs puts them in a tough spot from a negotiating standpoint.  It could happen, but seems a bit unlikely.