Sarava

I would say Eloy is more likely than Kopech. Despite being in a lower league, he feels more ready.

I don't believe this. That's kind of throwing him to the wolves to debut at Wrigley in the crosstown classic. The idea isn't to make it as pressure filled as possible.

I wasn't in any way suggesting to bring anyone up before they are ready. I figure those guys probably will be ready within a few months. And yeah, the Sox will have to pay someone to get them to come here. What I'm more getting at is this. Say the Yankees offer Machado 300 mil and the Sox offer him 340 mil. I could easily see him going with the Yankees offer. The Sox aren't the Cubs. They don't have the national draw. And they also don't have a connection to Machado, that Theo had with Lester. So that's a little bit of apples to oranges.

Last year was a weird free agent year, and if you're referring to Eric Hosmer, it was widely reported that he didn't have a whole lot of options. A Manny Machado will probably have 5+ teams willing to pay him 300+ mil. At that point, he likely will choose the destination that makes him the most comfortable.

That is why we need to see Eloy and Kopech up sometime in the next few months. Show the potential free agents that something special is coming here.

Eloy is something else. I'm so anxious for him to make his way to Chicago.

I don't see it happening. A month from now we could have Rodon and Kopech in the rotation. Might be a whole different team then.

Hahn mentioned his forearm soreness has subsided and he will start bullpen sessions next week https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/white-sox-wont-rush-michael-kopech-to-majors/c-274730372

He certainly has the athleticism to play CF. But I don't see it happening unless Machado signs here.

He will actually miss 3 games since Saturday is a DH. Condolences to Rick and his family.

They have some far out promotions. For example, the Star Wars night. If you buy tickets through their link, you get a Star Wars/Sox beanie, the hawk solo bobblehead and can walk around the warning track in a mini parade before the game. That's a lot of extras to entice people.

Well said.

That's a good point. Makes me wonder if Hahn went too far with this tank stuff. Yeah... yay we might have the #2 pick in the draft next summer. And then all the free agents will laugh and hang up when the Sox call this this winter.

If Yoan was benched for dogging it, I support that. This is how he will learn his lesson.

The good news is, the Sox have a 5 game series with KC next weekend. They're even worse than the Sox. Some wins are coming.

Well, we should hope Coop would be able to help him. The guy is a hot mess right now.

Great start...uggh

Yeah, it's bizarre that they wouldn't at least put a retractable roof on a baseball stadium up there.

I think Benetti is alright. He sounds like a well trained announcer. But that's a lot of why I always liked Hawk, that he had an actual personality and wasn't your standard boring announcer. Yeah I prefer Hawk, but I knew it would be a drop-off no matter who they brought in. It could have been worse.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 4, 2018 -> 10:57 AM) Starting the season with a 4-city trip every year will never happen. Teams won’t go for it. Imagine starting 4-8 on the road before the home opener...not happening. This is just an unfortunate year. Nothing more, nothing less. The reason this wont happen is not because of the potential visiting northern teams. They'd all be for it. Playing on the road isn't that hard where you would normally only win 4 of 12 games. What would stop it is the dome and southern teams. As much as it's more playable in their ballparks. They all sell tickets better in the summer and they simply won't give up their summer dates to accommodate northern teams in March or April.

Out of curiosity, is there a date where draft pick compensation no longer applies? Like opening day or May 1st, etc. ....?

QUOTE (Sleepy Harold @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 01:16 PM) Jon Heyman @JonHeyman 8s avisail garcia wins his arb case vs. chisox I would have been shocked if he lost. He was 2nd in the AL in hitting. Surprised the Sox took it this far.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 12:27 PM) Do you believe the White Sox are saving the money that they are not spending in 2017 and 2018 and putting it up for 2019? Do you believe they shouldn't have signed Luis Robert, because that was $50 million? Did that effect the likelihood of their participation in the next big free agent market? If they have an inkling that they might spend $300+ mil on Machado next winter, then yes I think they would take it easy on the bank account leading up to that to better afford it. And I love the Luis Robert signing. He's a bigtime prospect. He was billed as a guy that very well could be a top 5 or 10 prospect in short order. And did that affect next year's chances? Well, all the numbers come from the same place. But I've thought all along, they spent the $50 mil, knowing the next year's payroll (2018) would be significantly lower. In any event, you aren't going to get a Luis Robert caliber prospect for Kemp's contract. But hey, if you can, then I could accept hurting the chances of signing Machado next year. But it's not happening. The Dodgers are stingy with their prospects. They certainly aren't giving up a haul to remove one contract.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 12:24 PM) Why would this be the case? Payroll would still be low. I was replying to the comment that the Sox wouldn't spend any real money until Kemp's contract is off the books - which would be in 2 years. Thus it would mean the Sox aren't players for Machado or others next winter.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 12:05 PM) A guy like Kemp would be off of the books before we would be spending in any real amount again anyway. For starters - it looks to me like he has 2 years left on his deal? So we're conceding that they aren't even trying for a free agent in next year's big free agent class? Also, even if it were off the books, the money is still spent. $40 million is still $40 mil. It's going to eventually come out of something. The Sox don't have an infinite amount of money to spend.