iamshack

You think Hahn is going to come out of the gates and make his final offer first? Secondly, I already said the premise was ridiculous, but so is the premise that they would be interested because Machado had moved on already.

How does anyone know it means Machado has moved on, as opposed to it being leverage in negotiations with the Sox?

Which transactions did Ed Wade make that were of the significance of Hahn’s trades of Sale/Eaton/Quintana?

How do you know it doesn’t mean Lozano is trying to push up their number/years? Let’s say hypothetically the Yankees are unwilling to make a competitive offer, and Machado doesn’t have a particular interest in playing for Philadelphia. What is Dan Lozano going to do?

I actually tend to agree with you on most of this. From what I understand, we are not doing any of what you describe in the second paragraph.

No, but there is a narrative which continues to push for Hahn and KW to be fired mid-rebuild. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s foolhardy to allow someone to complete some of the most significant transactions in your history and then not allow them to reconstruct the organization because there are some very customary bumps in the road.

See, they have accomplished some of the things you would applaud them for in your first paragraph already. They have created the payroll space, they have clearly understood the market, and they are attempting to use their resources in an aggressive, yet responsible way. What if actually landing the player(s) required using their resources in an irresponsible fashion? Would you still consider it “embarrassing” if they failed to land the player(s) if that was the case?

I don’t really care what 95% of fans care about. Rick and Kenny should have the opportunity to see through what they are building. If you didn’t believe that, you should have fired them and brought in someone else to dismantle the mlb team after the ‘16 season. Nearly everything they’ve done since the Chris Sale trade has been to put this franchise in a position to sustainably compete, and despite some of the early returns on those moves being frustrating, if you look at the Astros and Cubs rebuilds, it was never about the success of a few guys, but instead, the success of the plan. We need to allow the plan to play out, and not bail because Lucas Giolito or Yoan Moncada are a bit frustrating in their first full seasons.

So let’s say the Sox land one or even both of these guys. How does one evaluate Rick Hahn and Co versus if they land neither?

Pretty Sure Rosenthal is in the Dominican or something.

No. I’m saying this is not an exercise in futility, by any means. I’m honestly not sure what the Sox’ thinking is regarding where they need to be regarding other clubs, particularly those which might have certain advantages other than $. To be honest, what they think doesn’t matter. All that matters is whether they have offers on the table good enough to entice the player to sign with them. And they do.

Based on things I have been told from people who have reason to know.

This is not the case.

I don’t follow.

And that is your perspective. One that is certainly understandable. However, if you truly believe that, signing one or even both of these guys isn’t going to matter.

They are in the position they are in. You want to go down the road of saying “they should have had the org in a more attractive position than to rely just on bribery,” that is your prerogative. There are a significant number of paths this organization can take to sustainable competitiveness, something that simply was not the case 2 years ago. As things currently stand, even if the Sox do strikeout on both of these guys, they are in a FAR better position to land at least one of them than sane person would have expected even 6 months ago. Should they miss, the timeline certainly gets pushed back a bit, but the future is still extremely bright.

It would for sure take a boatload.

You are going to believe Bruce?

No one is claiming they don’t know it’s going to cost them more than the Yankees.

Nope. If they were going to try and trade for someone, I think it would likely be for someone with significant control. Very doubtful that he is available, but perhaps someone like Senzel.

Hey, I said the entire premise was ridiculous, but if you are going to put any stock in Morosi’s info, wouldn’t it be as a way of trying to hedge against Lozano coming back to the well?

I think the entire premise is ridiculous, but can anyone really rule out Jerry Dipoto trading Edwin Encarnacion for Yonder Alonso +?

I think the Sox are sitting around waiting on a few guys that are entertaining some other options and maybe are letting one of them know there are contingencies in play should a particular agent want to continue to drive their price up.

Does it? Why wouldn’t they just check in on him for due diligence reasons?

Nah