Jack Parkman

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 08:10 PM) In a bidding war like this second place doesn't matter if you are the White Sox. Of course, and I think KW and Hahn are probably having conversations about how that went down. IIRC, the animosity between KW and Boras stemmed from A-Rod not signing here. In 2000, the Sox were a young team that just won their division with the #1 farm system in baseball. KW was angry that he didn't have the opportunity to make his offer competitive. Do I think they would have beat Texas' offer? No, but I think they might have gone to 10/225, which might have gotten the job done because of team circumstances.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 08:09 PM) That is $56 million short. Well yeah, but Texas blew everyone away.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 07:15 PM) He never mentioned a specific player before He's not allowed to, so why would he open himself up to tampering accusations?

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 07:10 PM) Machado and Harper will get way more than ARod Well of course, but if they were willing to go "there" then, why wouldn't they now? Obviously it has to be someone special like Harper or Machado. That was an unprecedented contract offer 17 years ago.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 07:03 PM) Still have my doubts they will get into an unprecedented bidding war They were widely regarded as runners-up to Texas in the A-Rod sweepstakes in 2000. They offered 8/196. I remember that vividly, it isn't unprecedented.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 06:28 PM) If the White Sox repeatedly make the playoffs only to be big underdogs to the Yankees, I would call the rebuild an overwhelming success. All we are looking for is repeated trips to the playoff lottery, then seeing what happens. Anything can happen in October baseball, just get there. Oh, I agree, but at that point winning even one WS would be an overachievement.

QUOTE (Tony @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 06:18 PM) I actually agree with you, if I'm Machado's agent I'm not letting him sign an extension now, he's hitting FA... The only point I was making that if he's somehow open to talking about an extension over a 72 hour period, I think the Sox should come in with a strong offer to the O's. I know he would possibly be a FA the year after, but to secure his services for the next 7-8 years to me, would be worth sending over some assets now. But that's far fetched to begin with. None of this is happening, ha. Machado knows this, His agent surely does too, and I don't think this is worth discussing until a deal is agreed upon and a 72 hr window is granted. Let's move along without partaking in mental masturbation.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 06:05 PM) Keep in mind their newest asset is injury prone They have no pitching Judge is more of a very good player than perennial MVP as he showed post ASG Rookie Manager Not sold on them at all Severino and Tanaka are solid. Tanaka didn't have as bad of a season as you think based on his numbers. In fact, he was lights out after June 15th. I had him in Fantasy Baseball, I should know. Luis Severino finished 3rd in Cy Young voting this past season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 05:58 PM) That's just not how it works. We'll still have overwhelming talent and plenty of money to spend. F*** it trade Garcia sign Harper. What if Harper wants nothing to do with us though?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 05:39 PM) I'd still rather pass, hold the pitchers, and if he's not available as a FA target someone else. Me too. No reason to give assets to someone you could potentially get for free. Question: If the Yankees get Machado and Cole then how does that change things for the Sox? Realistically, at that point, the rebuild is doomed to nothing more than make the playoffs, hope and pray that you can beat the Yankees.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 12, 2017 -> 05:37 PM) For 1 year!? I’d hate that. Obviously there would be a 72 hr window along with that.

I don't think that anyone from the Sox is getting moved this week. Far too many less expensive options(asset wise) or more attractive options(Better players, more of a track record of success Obv. referring to Avi) than Abreu and Avi. Furthermore, there are enough options out there that it is probably an extreme buyer's market. I'll be shocked if both are not on the Sox roster when pitchers and catchers report.

There the Bears go winning meaningless games again. They could have had a franchise-altering draft with a trade with someone coming up to get a QB, and they blew that now. Next week is an auto-win vs. Cleveland. Detroit is out of it and Minne may have nothing to play for week 17 so 6-10 or 7-9 is possible, and that would be a disaster.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 10, 2017 -> 12:05 PM) Bradley is controlled for only 1 more year than Abreu. Red Sox have an alarming lack of power. It's a more a question of why the Whitesox would want to trade Abreu for Bradley. Yup. Benintendi or Devers otherwise Dombrowski can go pound sand. Hahn should tell him "Good Luck competing with the Yanks" before hanging up laughing.

There is nothing in Boston's farm that is worth Abreu at this point. If I was Hahn, they'd have to get my attention by offering either Benintendi or Devers straight up, or I'd tell Dombrowski to go pay JD Martinez and pound sand.

Guys, to clarify on Trubisky/Pace- It isn't that I don't think Trubisky is talented, because I do. He's just incredibly raw and my issue is more on the position in which Pace decided to draft him vs. where he actually is in his development. IMO he was a mid-late 1st rounder in my book, because of how raw he was as a prospect. Pace picked him 2OA. He would have been perfect for a trade down. I would have had less issue if they moved down a few spots and ADDED assets to draft him, rather than TRADE assets to draft him. Based on where he was drafted, it creates unreasonable expectations from the fanbase about how quickly he's supposed to be good. The fanbase will turn on him if he isn't good by the end of next season, and that would be a shame. Trubisky is going to take time. Again, I think that QBs taken top 3 are supposed to be generational prospects, and you don't take QBs that high unless they are exactly that. Though I "wrote him off" after his first start, that was more out of frustration of the incredibly high pick they used to get him and the expectations the fanbase has for a QB picked that highly. In most seasons, Trubisky would have been a 2nd round prospect, and that is OK. I understand that when you are that high up and you need a QB you take one because you don't know if you'll have an opportunity again.

QUOTE (GenericUserName @ Dec 3, 2017 -> 06:59 PM) I know they could be out already, but one reporter said the cubs are believed to be the exception to the west coast preference. I think that is wild speculation dude. I'd actually think the WC exception may be Texas or Houston, but what do I know?

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 3, 2017 -> 07:02 PM) Didn't know how many connections the Padres have to Ohtani. Would be fascinating if he went there. Who wouldn't want to live in San Diego? LOL. The more I think about it, the more I think he's going to be a Padre.

QUOTE (GenericUserName @ Dec 3, 2017 -> 06:52 PM) I understand that the teams are the ones announcing when they are out, but how are the Cubs still in and the White Sox out? Neither are on the West coast Cubs are a bigger market when he wants small market He didn't want a team that was already established He could get DH at bats with the Sox but would have to play the field with the Cubs We have Don freaking Cooper I knew we were a long shot, but seeing the Cubs still in it gets me mad I think the Cubs are out dude, I'd imagine it would come down to M's/Giants/Padres. If the West Coast thing is so important to him, anyone outside of the Pacific TZ has no chance.

I'd give it to Giants/Padres over M's. Ichiro is a hard act to follow, If he wants to go to AL team M's are obvious choice though.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 2, 2017 -> 02:44 PM) They have been saying he didn’t want to be in Chicago past his rookie deal since 2014. They have had plenty of time to deal him if that is the case, and it certainly seems to be the case. At this point even a 7th rounder would have been better than the Nothing the bears received If that was the case, there was no reason for anyone to pay anything anyway because nobody would have wanted to give something for an asset they could get for free.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 3, 2017 -> 06:51 AM) Fixed that for ya there... you may want to clarify with him as "you guys" does not equal the user Dam8610. Yeah, He's like the biggest Avi Fan out there. I used to be, thinking that he had a chance to be late career Magglio Ordonez at his peak, but then I realized Avi just sucks.

His batted ball profile isn't that different from 2015-16 so I don't know what you guys are talking about. His exit velocity went down too, from 104 to 90 mph last season so it wasn't like he was hitting the ball harder.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 2, 2017 -> 07:56 PM) The Athletic has a great article on Avi by Eno Sarris and I highly recommend anyone with access read it. It might convince the guys who voted for Abreu in this poll to reconsider. If you look at the data on Avi there is no reason why anyone should trade for him. If you believe the underlying stats, 2017 was an extreme outlier, and is highly unlikely to be repeated, and a team would be giving up valuable assets for someone who would be a non-tender candidate in the 2018-19 offseason. I posted in the Avi thread about this. It only takes one sucker though, and if Hahn gets an offer of anyone who is or could be a prospect, he should take it and run.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 28, 2017 -> 12:10 PM) My perspective on the current FA market is a little different. Based on my view of the last few years, I think you need to understand that any free agent signing is a huge gamble, and this totally includes guys who are in their 20s who you would think have many productive years left. Jayson Heyward, Chris Davis have been utter and complete busts despite signing contracts at age 27 and 29. The difference is - if you offered both of those teams a guaranteed chance to undo every move they made since the start of the 2016 offseason, one of them would say yes and one would say "no we like this trophy". Take a look at what the Cubs did, what the Astros did. They started off by building loaded rosters from within. Multiple, home grown, young all stars on each squad. They then went out to the FA market in strong positions, looking to fill a handful of pieces rather than needing to reshape their club. The Cubs signed Lester, Heyward, and Zobrist. Out of those 3, Heyward has been a serious disappointment, Zobrist had one decent year and flopped in the 2nd year of a 4 year deal, Lester has been the best of them but he now looks like a pitcher who might be declining and he has 3 more years and $75 million more guaranteed. The Astros signed Beltran, Reddick, and Charlie Morton. Reddick and Morton probably overperformed and Beltran Underperformed. What is in common? Each of those teams was ready to go and filling holes. They were strong enough that if the guy they brought in wasn't the best in baseball, it didn't cost them a title. The Giants wasted a lot of money on a poor Hunter Pence this year, they suffered through a rough season, but you think they like that 2014 trophy? Contrast that with what the Tigers did. The Tigers were signing big money FAs as a way to stay relevant and maybe increase their window. Or the Orioles or Mariners - they're always signing big money FAs to try to fight against the tide. They don't want to wait to be competitive, they think they're just 3-4 players away from being competitive. But, if you have to go out and sign 3-4 players, you better have an answer for how you'll win if 2 of them bust. If you're trying to extend your window a-la the Tigers, you better be ready for the guys you sign to be dragging you down in only a couple years. That was the lesson of the 2015-2016 white sox. They were teams trying to piece together a contender out of one or two good players and a whole bunch of FA signings. With such a weak core to the team, they couldn't even sustain .500 records if any of the guys they signed underperformed. Melky Cabrera comes out magically weaker in 2015 after signing his contract, LaRoche flops, and all of a sudden their offense is flat and they have no solutions to how to fix it. If you want to play this FA market, you have to understand you're playing a sucker's bet. If you are going after Harper, great, but understand that you have to have a team around him ready to go. The modern FA market will not build your team, things are too expensive and there is too little value. You have to not care if you lose money on the deal, you have to expect it. If you're signing Harper, you have to expect that the last 5 years could be a complete flop and NOT CARE. If you're signing Machado, and he hits a wall at age 29, you have to NOT CARE. That is the only way to win this market if you're bidding for guys. Be ready to win a world series without them and have them be the icing on the cake. It's the only way. Completely agree, and people have to look at their own team's pending free agents the same way. It is almost never a good idea to sign anybody on the market to more than a 2-3 year deal, and even that could be bad.