Leaderboard

I think if the Phillies offered 10/350 and the Sox offered 10/400 he'd choose the Phillies. At 10/425 I think that is enough to choose the Sox, and even then I'm not 100% sure. It might take the $440 that you talked about to get to that point. If Boras got the Phillies to $375 I think that would be enough to choose them, unless the Sox were approaching $475 at that point. I think the Sox have to beat the next best by at least $75M to get them to sign.

Hypocritical post of the year.

Grow up.

There you go again. Most of your "original thoughts" are others tweets, or trying to pile on when others rip a "stranger" you seem to have a problem with. You did come up with an original thought the other day when you said I rip Renteria for his hustle rule. I asked for some proof. Of course, that was the end of that.

Don't rain on his black cloud, dude.

100% agreed. Not getting one of them is absolutely unacceptable.

6 of the bottom 8 teams in strikeouts made the playoffs.

Based on this quote and everything we've seen in the market so far, it's really got to be only two teams: Phillies and the White Sox. Nats: Nats are out since they have a full OF and are ready to move on. I just don't see it happening. Braves: I can't imagine the Braves going out and spending that big for an OF that, while useful to them, is not needed... they can fill their team out with many more pieces for the $$$ that harper would demand. It's too risky for them to put their eggs in one basket with Harper since their team is pretty damn good right now. Cards are a potential spot, but haven't heard anything signaling that they will be going for Harper. I think they look elsewhere. I don't get how the Cubs could afford it with the luxury tax and all... and all their young guys that they will have to sign soon.

It was wrong. I never ripped Renteria's hustle rule. It's your claim. Trumpian is claiming something with no proof. Just saying something that fits your narrative. That is what you have done. It eats me because it its a made up lie. You are a liar. You told me a couple of posts ago, I don't have an original thought. Now, you say I make things up as I go along. Seems someone is trying to throw a bunch of things out to see if anything can stick. You wrote I ripped his rule. Show me where, or everything you just claimed, I am not guilty of, you are. It's all you trolling yet telling others to get a life.

Says the guy trolling posters. Keep making my point, and why can't you just say your post with the incorrect claim was wrong?

LOL.

You keep proving my point.

Meh, you guys are all crappy fans. This is how a real fan supports his team:

I kind of feel bad for the guy TBH. He has spent apparently decades of his life holding grudges against random strangers for not entertaining him enough, which he feels makes him a better "fan". I don't know what kind of response there is for that other than the same truths I keep trying to tell him. If you have time to be angry at complete strangers for decades, your priorities are out of whack. It doesn't make you a better fan, it makes you bitter and angry. I watch baseball because I enjoy the sport, and I enjoy the White Sox because of generational family traditions, the escape from daily life it brings me, and a joy of sport. I feel sad for people who don't get that. Especially if they do this for decades and feel nothing but anger and disappointment. Every time this discussion comes up, the same guy comes into conversations which didn't even involve him to start name calling and raging about his way somehow being better. The anger issues are so prevalent over something that shouldn't be. What does it say when you hate something so much, yet keep doing it? But, rinse and repeat. Sad is the only thing I feel.

Parkey said it was God's plan for him to miss those yesterday. So there you have it.

Weak response, Southsider.

You should put your philosophy on all of this on a bunch of flyers, and then go and stand in front of sports stadiums all around the world and pass them out to fans as they’re entering the stadium. Go and hand them out in England, for example, right before a Liverpool vs. Manchester United soccer match, and see how that works out for you. I’m sure you’d swayed the masses there just like do here with your (oddly contrived) suggestion that those fans coming to the game to fiercely cheer their team onto victory are sadly just seeking a winning performance as a substitute for something else missing in their lives, I believe as your theory goes. Because that’s why they all want their respective teams to win. And when you’re done in England, go preach this point of view in front of a place like Fenway Park right before a Red Sox/Yankees game. I’m sure you’d turn heads there, too. Or maybe locally in the Midwest, before a Norte Dame/Michigan game. See how your “Winning is just a bonus” mandate plays with those fans. So on and so forth. Then, it might make sense to go and have a little chit chat with Rick Hahn and suggest to him he chill out on this rebuild business, the goal, of course, which is to build a sustainable, WINNING ballclub. Psychoanalyze him while you’re at it, figure out what he’s trying to substitute in his life with his pursuit of a winning ball club. Convince him that it’s ok to run out 100 loss teams, because winning just isn’t everything, as you always say. That it’s us the fans who have a problem if we can’t get joy out of the caliber of baseball like he’s delivered to us for quite sometime on the South Side. I’m sure it’d be quite an eye opener for him and he’d understand. Finally, do you ever notice practically no one on this board seems to share your point of view on this matter? Think it could just be you are a lone casual fan thrust in a sea of diehard fans?

The thing with Harper is that he is so young that he could conceivably still be good towards the end of his next contract, even if it's a 10 year deal. Signing him is a no-brainer. Get it done Rick.

But that’s 75. You said it’ll have to be 100-125 more.

He actually said 75m more JUST to get their attention. It would take 100-125m more to actually sign them apparently lmao

I refuse to accept that. If we don’t land a whale today, there may be no whale to land tomorrow. It’s really that simple. And knowing that fact and having a top farm system & practically zero payroll commitments, there is really no excuse not to make a baller offer to both these guys and make it as hard as possible for them to say no.

I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think that. The Sox are a longshot for either, so expect neither and be pleasantly surprised if they get one. That is my attitude. The best way I'd describe the Sox chances to land one is "non-zero" if you know what that means. (it means the odds aren't zero, but somewhere in between getting struck by lightning and winning a $1.6 Billion Powerball/Mega Millions Jackpot)

I’m going to add this right now, but signing one of Harper & Machado should be viewed as a must. I get there is truth to the “we can’t force these guys to sign with us” idea, but there are offers that can be made that would be very difficult to turn down. I really truly hope our front office & ownership will look to be aggressive with these guys from the get-go. Don’t slow play shit and let a team like the Yankees go “fuck it, I’ll play ball at that price”. We should come out to Bryce with a 10/$400M offer and say there it is bro. Let Boras know we’ll be making a similar offer to Machado in a couple weeks and if he bites then we are the fuck out. If this shit ain’t wrapped up by the Winter Meetings, we better be all-in on Machado by that point.

I disagree as well. From an entertainment standpoint, MLB has a big problem with too many Ks. From a White Sox standpoint, this offense has too many Ks, I believe leading the league. From a Moncada standpoint, his game has too many Ks, I believe leading the league. Too bad no one could have seen that coming, and maybe brought him along slower, right? [/green]

I would offer Harper 10 years $350 million and a no trade. No trade players like but unlike the NHL, they don’t mean too much. It just gives them some control where they are going next, and with a contract this big, it’s limited anyway, See if Boras gives it the time of day. If not, I would move to Machado, and circle back to Harper later if necessary. I also would leak that offer to the world if they turned it down.

We don't know 100% for sure and it could play a role in his eventual destination. The general line of thought was that the reason he wanted to play SS this year was so that he could maximize his value when he hit free agency so that teams who need a SS could still go after him, but if a team wanted him to play 3b and that team paid him the most money he'd play 3b, but no one truly knows what's in his head.

Poop.

Umm....kickers are going to miss field goals. Entering the game against the Lions, I didn't have any massive issue with Parkey. Was he great, no, was he bad, no. I'm certainly not going to blast a guy for missing a 53 yard field goal. Those are not gimme kicks, therefor, he is going to have misses. The Arizona game was a high percentage shot and the Jets game was ugly so not one you'd like miss, but I can certainly understand it given the conditions. The Lions game was plain old awful. I'm not even sure what happened or if he just is that uncomfortable with the conditions as it seemed like he thought he made every kick. And usually kickers have a pretty good idea when they hit it, what they've done, so something was amiss yesterday. My bigger fear is that at somepoint, these type of games can get in your head (at least for the season) and those memories can be tough to get rid of.

I have no idea how these things are going behind the scenes, but if I were the White Sox and I were after Machado, I would have an offer on the table for him that was at least a competitive offer right now. He might not be ready to sign right now, but if there's a $300 million offer on the table for him right now, and better ones don't come around in the next week, he might well either accept or counter-offer with an acceptable total amount and we could walk away with this done in November. These 2 sides have to understand exactly what you said as well. Boras won't care because it's not his style, but Machado's agent might.

One issue Boras may have dragging this out is contenders need to make moves. They all can't hold aside the money they would give Harper all winter. If they missed out, they would really be behind the 8 ball. So that seems to be one advantage the Sox may have, although the Phillies seem to also be able to wait it out. And probably the Nats as well. I wonder about the Braves. I think if Machado doesn't sign with the Phillies they are going to blow everyone away for Harper.

Not only a loss of pick, but catcher isn't really the position the sox should be spending big dollars. They already have 2 major league catchers on the roster, and another two interesting prospects that are pretty close. Much bigger holes to fill.

This seems a bit overly dramatic to me. There is cause for concern with Collins, but there is also cause to believe he can be an impactful player. Guys with that discipline and power don't grow on trees. He may benefit from better umpires (don't tell Moncada...) and he may also benefit from time. He will almost certainly also benefit from playing half his games in Charlotte instead of Birmingham. Collins showed what he can be at the high end for a stretch last season, if he can tap into that with more regularity, he could really be a special player.

If this presses them to go for it on 4th down more and to go for more 2 point conversions, good.

Sigmund Freud, ladies and gentlemen!

I wonder with all this tanking, and how many think it is really killing the middle class free agents, is at some point, will MLB goes to a draft lottery?

The amazing thing is the amount of people who believe this is a pretty normal thing, and want to arm "veterans" and put them into the schools as protectors, instead of something productive like overhauling the VA.

Weird how the Lions kicker was completely unaffected by this wind

It was, but he probably thought it the safer route to go rather than trying to fly his flimsy “The desire to win is a character flaw!” argument by me again.

Before the injury, Martes was a very highly regarded arm in the Astros system. BA had him ranked #20 in the Top 100 in 2016.

Great post. I will say I started out despising Shields, but by the end of his Sox tenure I liked him for a.) his effort. b.) his performance; wasn't gawd awful anymore and c.) his tutoring of the younguns on the pitching staff. Hail to you Mr. Shields. You earned your Sox paycheck. Thank u.

Great great post. I mean fan is short for fanatic. Message boards generally show you how important winning is to a pro sports fan. Or a college sports fan. My take is if there are zillions of dollars involved, I want my team to win and win now. I'm a fan that gets upset at the price of games and food/drink/parking at games so yes I DEMAND my teams win or try to win. Now we go down to the high school level? I am a Brother Rice football fan. If Rice loses in the semis to Marist will I be the least bit mad? Hell no. They are high school kids trying their best and playing football, a game that is fun to watch when executed properly. Would I ever be mad at a Brother Rice player or coach for screwing up? Hell no. I appreciate them. Even in a dismal season. But the Sox?? Give me victories as our fans give you owners millions of dollars. Just.Win.Baby. (Or try hard at least and contend).

Why? Here's what I found: "Martes, 22, underwent surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, a surgery that typically has a 12- to 16-month recovery. Martes threw 54 1/3 innings for the Astros last year, going 5-2 with a 5.80 ERA in 32 games (four starts).Martes threw 19 2/3 innings this year, mostly in four starts at Triple-A Fresno. He walked 17 batters in 18 2/3 innings for the Grizzlies, including eight in 4 1/3 innings in his last start for them on April 29. He threw one inning in a rehab assignment on Aug. 2 in the Gulf Coast League." What makes Martes even a solid prospect. I get it; Avi is considered no good. So why did the Astros want him if he has little to no value? Just an old school non advanced stat person shaking his head at what constitutes a decent player nowadays.

Why? People here want to non-tender Avi. Even if Martes ends up being a reliever, I'd still gladly take him.

This isn't how PTSD works. People with PTSD don't (usually) go flipping out and murdering people, If anything they're more of a risk to self-harm (just like most people with mental illnesses). They'll have feelings of withdrawal, flashbacks, and so on, maybe try to deal with those feelings by numbing them with drugs and/or alcohol. This is what I meant when I said that's an actively harmful stereotype. Not to make things about me, but for example, just like this guy I used a machine gun in combat and had problems re-adjusting to normal life when I came back and at no point was I ever a danger to anyone. That's not the type of help I needed and that would've just made my issues worse.

I don't know. But I don't think other posters should have to do your research, when it was you that lumped all ex Marines together, in all honesty. If you're going to make such a statement, and forward such an argument that lumps all Ex Marines together, then support your view with a link. Otherwise, it was kind of a dick statement on your part. [Disclosure: I'm attacking your post, not you.] Why not point out that the overwhelming majority of mass shooters are white males, and then lump all white males together, instead? [If you did, it would be a more accurate statement, although no less dickish.] Signed, One of many Ex Marines who, together with many other vets of other services, provided you with a blanket of freedom.

Really tired of people bringing up "PTSD" when a person who commits acts of violence is found to be a veteran. That's an actively harmful stereotype, not just to veterans but people suffering from PTSD (veterans and non-veterans).

for a small market team or a high potential team like the White Sox, they really won't regret it

It’s like Tim Anderson didn’t take huge strides this year.

I could give a fuck about where Moncada plays, IF he can fucking strike out less than ~30% of his PAs next year. Regrettably, I don't know who will "coach him up," given the incompetence and enabling of this coaching staff and FO, respectively.

That last sentence you said was my whole point. We are just not discovering enough talent be it trades or the draft so far But we seem to be very good at hanging onto our wonderful ML talent to evaluate them.