5 minutes ago, turnin' two said:

Maybe he can catch? 

I thought Tim Anderson and Moncada were gonna platoon at catcher?

Just now, bschmaranz said:

I thought Tim Anderson and Moncada were gonna platoon at catcher?

Obviously they would have to approve of it so they could move off their position.

Maybe the Sox are trying to re-enact the OOTP all-Adam Dunn team experiment?

EE is a 35 year old 1.0 fWAR player last year making $20 million, and the Sox are in the middle of a rebuild with 2 vet 1B/DH who are cheaper, and at this point, maybe better, but at the very least not significantly worse. 

So why not get him? Nothing could make less sense. 

It doesn’t make any sense unless more pieces involved. I am thinking Sox just checked in, I doubt their interest is that extensive. As others have said, it doesn’t make much sense. 

But I would probably consider EE + Mallex Smith + a couple million for Alonso if the Sox miss out Machado.

14 hours ago, Whitesox27 said:

Why? 

We take on 20 million for a player who has a number of red flags that he is as good as last year:

- Any player the Rays trade off after a plus season, especially to get 1 year of a 2 WAR catcher

- His plus season showed off very little power, making me skeptical his OBP will maintain but especially improve. Seems like a big regression candidate.

- His defense does not seem to be plus and if it drops off that kills a lot of value

Meanwhile Basabe is a top ten prospect that shows he can likely stick at center, has shown good ability to walk and possibility of power. It’s way too much than I’d ever give up for Smith plus 20 mill in cost.

If The Sox miss on the 2 big guns. The mood at Soxfest will be interesting. Acquiring a guy like Encarnacion will only add gasoline to the fire they started. I hope they're not this stupid.

15 hours ago, The Sir said:

Why are we interested in either Martinez or Encarnacion? What hole do either of those fill? We don’t need any more 1B/DH/LF types.

If true, the White Sox have an unhealthy obsession with 1B/DH types. The current roster probably has too many of these guys already with Alfonso, Abreu and Palka (DH, but attempting to say he's now a better OF). I'd much rather have the rotating DH in an ideal situation, but it probably doesn't matter much on the current version of the White Sox.

3 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

EE is a 35 year old 1.0 fWAR player last year making $20 million, and the Sox are in the middle of a rebuild with 2 vet 1B/DH who are cheaper, and at this point, maybe better, but at the very least not significantly worse. 

So why not get him? Nothing could make less sense. 

Just seems, if true, they like acquiring the same two positions over and over. If they have to trade anything of value (i.e. prospects), does that really make sense?

Alonso would have to be an upgrade over Greg Bird right? The Yankees were interested prior to the Sox trading for him. The Yankees need some left-handed bats to balance out the lineup. If Machado signs with the Yankees, I'd see if the Yankees are interested in dealing for Alonso again. Maybe see if they're interested in a Gray for Alonso one-for-one swap?

Edited December 29, 20187 yr by soxfan2014

5 minutes ago, spiderman said:

Just seems, if true, they like acquiring the same two positions over and over. If they have to trade anything of value (i.e. prospects), does that really make sense?

Simplest explanation is they traded for Yonder to try and get Manny, it failed, and now plan b is trying to upgrade over him.  Would much rather have Jose Martinez than EE.

3 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

EE is a 35 year old 1.0 fWAR player last year making $20 million, and the Sox are in the middle of a rebuild with 2 vet 1B/DH who are cheaper, and at this point, maybe better, but at the very least not significantly worse. 

So why not get him? Nothing could make less sense. 

Only thing I can think of is something important to keep in mind through all this.  If we sign Harper or Machado, that would completely alter the organization as we would immediately go from “rebuilding” to “win now” mode.  Our prospects who we now view as our future team, would all be on the table to acquire win now pieces.  Only the elite would be safe—Jimenez, Kopech, Robert (maaaaaybe Madrigal)—that might be it.  Harper/Machado changes our lineup, sure, but it also immediately changes how we view everyone else and their future with us.  

IMO, trading a prospect for EE could only make sense if there’s a drastic philosophy change due to a mega signing.  

26 minutes ago, fathom said:

Simplest explanation is they traded for Yonder to try and get Manny, it failed, and now plan b is trying to upgrade over him.  Would much rather have Jose Martinez than EE.

What does it say though that the smarter franchises keep ditching players like this and the Sox keep scooping them up.

Just now, bmags said:

What does it say though that the smarter franchises keep ditching players like this and the Sox keep scooping them up.

The smarter ones (Indians) were also the ones to sign these guys in the first place...even the smart guys makes mistakes. Indians are still stuck with Santana and his remaining salary though. No one’s going to lose sleep over one year of Alonso at around $10M.

1 minute ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

The smarter ones (Indians) were also the ones to sign these guys in the first place...even the smart guys makes mistakes. Indians are still stuck with Santana and his remaining salary though. No one’s going to lose sleep over one year of Alonso at around $10M.

Still think it was just a win now signing.  Indians were on the verge and thought EE would put them over the top.  Not a mistake, just a very common move for a franchise in win now mode.  If it doesn’t work out, you just have to get creative to work around it if your win now status changes—to smart franchises, that comes a little easier.  

14 minutes ago, FT35 said:

Still think it was just a win now signing.  Indians were on the verge and thought EE would put them over the top.  Not a mistake, just a very common move for a franchise in win now mode.  If it doesn’t work out, you just have to get creative to work around it if your win now status changes—to smart franchises, that comes a little easier.  

Nah. It was a mistake. No doubt about it. They admitted as much when they traded him to bring back an also declining and overpaid Carlos Santana.

4 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Nah. It was a mistake. No doubt about it. They admitted as much when they traded him to bring back an also declining and overpaid Carlos Santana.

A move can be the correct move at one time and still be a move you need to correct from a few years later. If 3-4 teams make win now moves when they are realistically in position to win, only 1 of them can actually win.

4 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

A move can be the correct move at one time and still be a move you need to correct from a few years later. If 3-4 teams make win now moves when they are realistically in position to win, only 1 of them can actually win.

Few years later? They just signed him last winter. And yes, most agreed it was an overpay at the time of the signing as all signs pointed towards Edwin having a very limited market. 

No one would be defending that signing if it was the Sox instead of the Indians that made the signing...

Just now, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Few years later? They just signed him last winter. And yes, most agreed it was an overpay at the time of the signing as all signs pointed towards Edwin having a very limited market. 

No one would be defending that signing if it was the Sox instead of the Indians that made the signing...

Encarnacion? They signed him 2 years ago, to a 3 year deal. He hit 70 home runs for them over the first 2 years of the deal, had an .881 OPS in year 1 of it for a team that won 102 games.

1 hour ago, soxfan2014 said:

Alonso would have to be an upgrade over Greg Bird right? The Yankees were interested prior to the Sox trading for him. The Yankees need some left-handed bats to balance out the lineup. If Machado signs with the Yankees, I'd see if the Yankees are interested in dealing for Alonso again. Maybe see if they're interested in a Gray for Alonso one-for-one swap?

Pretty sure Voit has the inside track at 1B.  Bird is a injury riddled bust.

Just now, Balta1701 said:

Encarnacion? They signed him 2 years ago, to a 3 year deal. He hit 70 home runs for them over the first 2 years of the deal, had an .881 OPS in year 1 of it for a team that won 102 games.

Ah my mistake. Time flies, was thinking they signed him last winter. Either way, despite the homers he was old and on the decline. He’s been a disappointment in Cleveland, I know that much.

Just now, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Ah my mistake. Time flies, was thinking they signed him last winter. Either way, despite the homers he was old and on the decline. He’s been a disappointment in Cleveland, I know that much.

I wish our 1b or Dh disappointments could produce like that.

4 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

I wish our 1b or Dh disappointments could produce like that.

Yeah I would gladly take those numbers lol

6 minutes ago, bschmaranz said:

Pretty sure Voit has the inside track at 1B.  Bird is a injury riddled bust.

Voit and Alonso could make a really good platoon. 

2 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

I wish our 1b or Dh disappointments could produce like that.

3.3 fWAR for $33.5M over two years? I can think of a better way for the Sox to allocate their resources.