KiwiSox

Not particularly uncommon. Had to do it with the Bears lurking. I also think the 49ers are a little sore about getting absolutely robbed by the Bears in a trade everyone at the time thought was a 49ers win. If it were another team after Gould they'd probably let him walk, but the idea of Trubisky having playoff success haunts them.

This was avoidable. Sox really fucked up the Sale and Eaton trades.

I think the Sox chances here are way better than people want to admit and all the evidence is there for those willing to see it. Lots seem happy to just mire themselves in sadness and dread when it comes to the team even though this Harper situation seems very favorable to the Sox. Favorable enough that it adds a lot of context to letting Machado walk.

If he wanted to be in Philly he'd be in Philly by now.

I would almost be surprised if he didn't get injured in Charlotte.

While the Sox probably dont look too bad for leaving him down since its fairly standard practice in MLB (at least for now...), they would get a lot of positive coverage for letting him up. Since the tenor around the Sox at this moment is one of absolute dread it may not be a bad idea to add a little positive momentum.

If they offer him the most money on the open market I'm sure he'd come back, but he's clearly not doing them the favor of agreeing to an extension and the control time games are clearly a reason why.

At what point do the Sox just give up on this mentality of "aw shucks we cant win anyways" and go for it?

Eloy/Harper alone is probably enough to win the AL central. That presence in the middle of the lineup would make everyone around them better. .... then they get pasted 0-3 in the first round of the playoffs because they dont have anyone who can pitch but I think we'd all be quite happy being in a position to win a division this year.

Less about attracting free agents and more about preserving some sort of morale in the clubhouse. Or you know, actually trying to win some baseball games instead of constantly punting until the next year.

They obviously should and the potential blowback from doing this is not worth risking. See how Bryant isn't forgetting what the Cubs did to him? But people have made up their minds about it and this thread is just going to get you lampooned even though you're ultimately correct.

After thinking about I suppose it is true that since Cleveland and Kansas City will again be worse while the Twins and Detroit wont be appreciably better the Sox will likely be better than you'd think since so many of their games are against shitty competition.

What is this guy on all of these guys are terrible lol

Does a good football podcast with Chris Simms. Not interested in his baseball thoughts.

I just am not as enthused about guys who can't stay on the field as others are. Nobody likes to talk about how injury prone Eloy has been, I think we all just kind of pretend it doesn't exist and hope it goes away when he gets to the majors. I'm still more upbeat on the Sox overall than a lot of people, but man they really blew it with their minor league prospect acquisitions. Yikes.

Who is worth getting excited about? Moncada and Anderson arr hopeless, Giolito and Lopez are clearly not cut out for being major league starters, Kopech is hurt and Cease's injury red flags are terrifying. Robert, Adolfo, Madrigal, Burger, Dunning...they all went back this year. Madrigal maybe unfairly, he's the one we can still expect to be something, but the rest just blew. Personally I think Blake Rutherford has to potential to be a really special player but not many share my optimism regarding him.

Aside from Eloy there is nothing exciting about any young player under the White Sox control. Anyone looking forward to Seby Zavala is nuts.

I know you're asking him but I'll answer for myself. I think Harper was their primary target all along. I think they only wanted Machado if it meant they could also get Harper. I dont think the Phillies are the frontrunner for Harper any more than the Sox were the frontrunner for Machado. Its all media smoke & mirrors. Not saying they are going to get Harper but I believe quite strongly, without any inside knowledge or anything mind you (such a silly caveat to need to provide), that he is their number one target and has been for the better part of a year.

I think all but a few people assume they are out on Harper already.

I think the disappointment from Sox fans over Machado is a culmination of an utterly failed project to reload the minor leagues and repeated moves that defy belief, particularly Tatis Jr. Phillies fans will be pissed but they'll get over it. The Sox are just hopeless if they dont land Harper.

I dont see any reason to believe they aren't in the mix and withholding judgment on the Sox until the Harper situation is resolved.

Harper is a lot better than Machado. Look, I dont have a problem with spending $300m on Manny Machado because 26 year old players of his caliber dont hit free agency too often, but I gladly let him go to San Diego rather than lock him up and risk losing out on a truly generational talent like Harper.

There are a lot of safeties available and it should drive the overall price down. If money is the same I expect the Bears would be able to deliver a much better pitch to Collins with the opportunity to get paired with the best safety in the NFL and his former college teammate than Malik Hooker. Plus Pagano has such a good reputation around the league, I think we may be surprised at how attractive the Bears prove to be as a destination. Bears have to do something to improve beyond getting a new kicker. Looks almost certain Callahan, Lynch and Amos are gone. I dont have a problem with that, I think all of them can be replaced, but the Bears were still a 12-4 team that got bounced in the wild card round. They are not a team that can just make another run at it with the same group next year. The rest of the league is going to get better.

I think were all pretty well emotionally prepared for it.

As long as Alonso's option doesn't vest, which it probably wont since he wont play a defensive position, I think there's a chance the $10m they pay him actually turns out to be an OK use of funds. Same applies to Jay. Its not like those guys aren't MLB-caliber players or taking time away from someone we actually care about, I mean who is there to care about? The minors got decimated last year. Everyone except for Eloy and Cease is a corpse. I dont mind giving Jay and Alonso some time while we wait for one or two once-heralded minor leaguers to try and reanimate. Nobody wants to view those moves outside the context of Manny Machado but I think its about time for us to do just that. Would I have liked to see the Sox drop $300m on Manny Machado? Sure. Its not my money. Do I really think Machado is that great of a ballplayer? Not really. Would I sacrifice a chance at Bryce Harper to sign Manny Machado to what is honestly going to wind up being too much money? Absolutely not. There is a better class of ballplayer available than Machado and I do not think Harper is going to cost that much more to acquire. Everyone's ready to burn down everything and salt the fields right now and I'll be right behind you if Harper goes elsewhere...but something is telling me the Sox are in the driver's seat when it comes to Harper. Same way the Sox were publicly all over Machado the Phillies are with Harper. Fear the team that is not being talked about, the Sox could easily be that team.