Sarava

You need stars to win the World Series. Gather a handful of stars (hopefully a few of them are homegrown like Eloy), and fill out the roster will good/solid players. Hope that wins a World Series or two. The reality is, teams winning the World Series without big free agent spending (or trading for big contracts) are few and far between. Yes it's happened and will happen again. But it's not a path I would want to bet money on working. So yes, if I'm Rick Hahn I absolutely try to sign Bryce Harper. Manny Machado I'm a little more afraid of of, but I'd probably bite there too if Harper falls through. Free agency is always going to be a big risk. And if you aren't willing to risk that backend of the contract blowing up in your face, then you simply won't get big free agents ever.

Dallas Keuchel

I agree with this. I don't like this from Arizona's side. And for St. Louis - it will depend on if they can re-sign him.

Yep. Obviously this means Bryce is coming here ?

I think the Sox made a great trade. But yeah, it hinges on Rutherford and nothing else. That's the way I've always looked at it.

I'd want him to show some sustained health and production before giving him more than 2 years. Years like he had last year are all too often the beginning of bad things.

There's definitely reasons to be skeptical of Rick Hahn spending in free agency. But we have no choice here. All we can do is support him and hope he does well. And to be fair, his past failures also came with one hand tied behind his back. If the payroll is indeed unleashed now, as it seemingly wasn't in the past, then maybe now we'll get to see what he is really made of. The important thing here is to set your targets. And if you miss on the targets, that doesn't mean you go running in any direction to spend the money. Save it for next winter if the Machado's and other prime targets choose other destinations. And it does concern me what it might take to get a Manny Machado to sign here. For instance - if the Yankees offer Manny $330 mil and the Sox offered him $350, I'd guess he would sign with the Yankees. My fear is the Sox will have to blow all other offers out of the water to get him here.

I think everyone know this, but trading a bunch of high-end prospects for Bryant defeats the purpose of the rebuild we've been suffering through. We don't need to be trading away our top prospects for a guy who will sign elsewhere in 3 years. The Sox need to augment their prospects with free agent signings, so they are adding to the organization's assets.

Same with me. Previously I preferred Machado. As this goes on, I more and more prefer Harper. Both for leadership, on field play, attitude and feeling safer he will give it his all for a long contract more than Manny might.

So Jerry spends big every 15-20 years. Fisk....Belle....Machado/Harper....

Thanks for linking the interview. I don't think there's anything there that changes the situation as I knew or figured it. While I hope they sign one of the big guns, I would be shocked if it actually happens. I'm an expecting a 'valiant' effort that lands the in 2nd place with one of them.

What exactly is he pleased about? The under-performing prospects? The bad fundamentals? The team mailing it in?

Good news

I agree that many things went the wrong way this year. However, there's still quite a bit to be excited about. I mean, Eloy has the potential to be one of the best hitters in White Sox history. I don't want to put too much on a guy that hasn't even debuted yet, but man does he looks promising. That the Sox have so many promising players...it allows for some injuries or busts, etc. Blake Rutherford had a very nice bounceback year. He showed a little more power, and hopefully that continues to grow next year. I'm surprised you put him in the disappointing column. I'm still cautiously excited for the future. But I think the fanbase needs needs a jolt from the front office. Find a way to get Machado or Harper here. Something to excite us. They owe us something big.

Yep. And yeah, the Bears is a testy subject right now. The team looks soooo good outside of Trubisky.

This makes me think Moncada might be moving. Maybe if Machado is missed on (as is likely), Moncada moves to third next year? It opens 2B for Madigral in about a year.

The excitement will be through the roof if they sign Machado, and we know Eloy will be here a few weeks in to the season.

Great game for Reynaldo!

I enjoy your posts, both here and on HF. I hope to see you sitck around, in whatever capacity works for you.

I've figured for the last few months that Steverson getting canned is pretty much a lock. Moncada alone with guarantee that. The investment in him is so great, and you figure they will want to try a different approach.

Hell no. The Sox getting a potential impact player is infinitely more important than rooting against the Cubs. Especially in the 3 or 5 or 6 range. Often there's a few big guns at the top of a draft and then a fall-off.

No doubt the rebuild has gone backwards a bit this year. But I'm still hopeful. There's a lot to look forward to still. I think the onus is on the Sox to do something this winter that will excite the fanbase. I want to see a big free agent signing. Pair that player up with Eloy next year, and the future will hopefully look a lot brighter a year from now.

Also Vlad is 2 1/2 years younger than Eloy. Despite the slightly better numbers, there's just more of a case to keep him down than there is with Eloy.

They have broken many of those molds in the last year or two. And going just before the turn of the century,. they did break the bank for Albert Belle. I think they'll be willing to spend. But the player has to want to come here too.

I doubt they'd offer him a deal before he's even debuted. What if he is the next Jorge Solar?