9 minutes ago, Tony said:

I really don’t know you would want the Sox to be more obvious. 

“It goes hand in hand sometimes,’’ Williams said. “But we’ve prepared for this. This is not by accident that we’re in a better position to do some things in a more aggressive way. We’ve prepared for this, and that was part of our plan all along. We knew that we would get here, and it may be a year too early, but the opportunities that exist exist this year.”

By prepared, Williams was alluding to the payroll obligations the Sox have allowed to dwindle over the last few years. The Sox have four players on the books for next season for about $15 million before adding arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players. Asked if it’s time to be more aggressive in the pursuit of talent, Williams answered with an emphatic, “Yes.”

“Yes, it is time now,’’ he said. “The conversations in the room are very different this year. We’ve got our eye toward getting better

———

 

None of that proves anything other than they said they were gonna be aggressive, which everyone here agrees upon. In no way does he allude that they will be able to convert on those targets

41 minutes ago, fathom said:

I might be naive but I don’t think the Dodgers go after Harper. I’m thinking Pollock and Realmuto

Maybe, but if I’m the Dodgers that’s what I would be putting out there through my media sources to give the appearance of pursuing other options. If this trade guaranteed Harper he would have signed by now. There’s still posturing and negotiating left, and LA doesn’t want to appear like this is their only option. 

1 minute ago, whitesoxwinner said:

None of that proves anything other than they said they were gonna be aggressive, which everyone here agrees upon. In no way does he allude that they will be able to convert on those targets

Sometime this decade, Hahn will hopefully get judged on actual results on/off the field instead of talking a good game.

Not sure if this was posted earlier.

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by CWSpalehoseCWS

6 minutes ago, fathom said:

Sometime this decade, Hahn will hopefully get judged on actual results on/off the field instead of talking a good game.

He talks a big rebuild and so far he has delivered in the farm system.

 

 

1 minute ago, Tony said:

This fan base sometimes remind me of the “Good Job, Good Effort” kid from Miami. What a rally cry.

“We tried!” 

Thought a friend of mine put it best after the trade happened...."if Eloy isn't amazing, the Sox are screwed"

18 minutes ago, whitesoxwinner said:

None of that proves anything other than they said they were gonna be aggressive, which everyone here agrees upon. In no way does he allude that they will be able to convert on those targets

Machado is the player who the fanbase will be more upset about. Not matter how anyone may spin Alonso’s signing to make sense outside of the Machado sweepstskes, fair or not, he will forever be associated with the deal. If we fail to sign Machado, Alonso better find that 2017 spark because otherwise he’s a living symbol of our failure. 

Also, I think whiffing on both just reaffirms our place in baseball. We’re not an ideal destination for top FAs, even when we do have the money available. It wont stop with Harper and Machado, either. There are always going to be teams with higher payrolls and more to offer (location, history etc) than the White Sox. 

It’s a disappointment no matter the reason. 

 

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by Flash Tizzle

6 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

Not sure if this was posted earlier.

Kluber + Pollock is a better use of resources than Harper (for them) and could be had for probably less total dollars.  I do think they’ll go back and make an offer for Harper first, but I think it will be of the 4 or 5 year variety and I can’t see Bryce accepting that.

5 minutes ago, AustinIllini said:

He talks a big rebuild and so far he has delivered in the farm system.

 

 

That hasn't produced at the MLB level yet. Moncada, Gio, Fulmer, and sadly Kopech have clouds over them right now.  

1 minute ago, Flash Tizzle said:

Machado is the player who the fanbase will be more upset about. Not matter how anyone may spin Alonso’s signing to make sense outside of the Machado sweepstskes, fair or not, he will forever be associated with the deal. If we fail to sign Machado, Alonso better find that 2016 spark because otherwise he’s a living symbol of our failure. 

Also, I think whiffing on bith just reaffirms our place in baseball. We’re not an ideal destination for top FAs, even when we do have the money available. It wont stop with Harper and Machado, either. There are always going to be teams with higher payrolls and more to offer (location, history etc) than the White Sox. 

It’s a disappointment no matter the reason. 

 

We haven’t whiffed on either yet.  And I still don’t get why everyone is suddenly so negative on Machado.

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Kluber + Pollock is a better use of resources than Harper (for them) and could be had for probably less total dollars.  I do think they’ll go back and make an offer for Harper first, but I think it will be of the 4 or 5 year variety and I can’t see Bryce accepting that.

They really should just go all in and get Kluber and Harper, as their window would be the next 2-3 years.

Just now, Chicago White Sox said:

We haven’t whiffed on either yet.  And I still don’t get why everyone is suddenly so negative on Machado.

agreed, the fact Manny hasn't chosen means there's at least one thing going on that made him not say yes immediately to the Yankees.

8 minutes ago, fathom said:

Thought a friend of mine put it best after the trade happened...."if Eloy isn't amazing, the Sox are screwed"

They HAVE to hit with Eloy. None of this meddling, taking 3-4 to adjust to the league. If we cannot sign top tier FAs, and we wont trade for them (which is left to be see ), we will have no choice then to expect our system to start producing quality ML players. 

Is the Dodgers trade the secret move that couldn’t be posted and had to go to a moderator to confirm? It wasn’t peavy44 who posted it, it was someone else.

Just now, The Beast said:

Is the Dodgers trade the secret move that couldn’t be posted and had to go to a moderator to confirm? It wasn’t peavy44 who posted it, it was someone else.

No

Just now, fathom said:

agreed, the fact Manny hasn't chosen means there's at least one thing going on that made him not say yes immediately to the Yankees.

Yep, the holiday season haha. Or trying to get more money out of them. 

Just now, Flash Tizzle said:

They HAVE to hit with Eloy. None of this meddling, taking 3-4 to adjust to the league. If we cannot sign top tier FAs, and we wont trade for them (which is left to be see ), we will have no choice then to expect our system to start producing quality ML players. 

And the Sox need to get their Mike Trout to lock him up and lay him handsomely, whoever that may be.

Just now, fathom said:

agreed, the fact Manny hasn't chosen means there's at least one thing going on that made him not say yes immediately to the Yankees.

My take on the situation is the Sox & Phillies have both made offers much bigger than the Yankees and Team Machado is giving New York a couple weeks to raise their bid before settling on one of the other two teams.

As much as I hate being the "didn't want him anyway" guy, I really didn't want Harper anyway. 

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

No

Then what the hell was it that was so secret that it couldn’t be shared? It better be shared after Harper or Machado sign. We better piece all of the information together to see who was full of shit, who needs to be blamed and where the pitchforks need to go.???

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by The Beast

 

1 hour ago, bschmaranz said:

They still may be in on Kluber too, who knows.

Grab Kluber and sign Keuchel and suddenly, they look good. Their offense wasn't bad last year.

Just now, fathom said:

 

So theoretically they are adding Kluber, Pollock AND Harper? How the hell can they pull that off and stay under the luxury tax?

2 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

So theoretically they are adding Kluber, Pollock AND Harper? How the hell can they pull that off and stay under the luxury tax?

I think it's either Harper or Pollock, and not both for them (unless the end up trading Bellinger)

3 minutes ago, Tony said:

They haven’t, and I hope against all hopes they nab one of them. I’ll be thrilled and it will change the entire makeup of the franchise. 

If they don’t....unless they have a killer “Plan B” this offseason will be a mess. They have yet to do a thing to help the long term future of the franchise. 

If they miss on these two guys, it puts the rebuild in a really tough spot.  I’ll maintain optimism until that actually happens though, because I have to believe the front office sees it the same way and will act accordingly with their bids.