Chicago White Sox

I agree, the idea Harper would leave money on the table to play for the Dodgers seems like insanity to me. He can probably lock in close to $350M this offseason and then return to free agency at age 30 & potentially have an opportunity to play for his beloved Dodgers, Yankees, or Cubs. With his injury history and ego, he’s going to take the money / record breaking contract and re-evaluate in a few years.

Are there any pitchers who have the ability / stuff to pull a Mize and shoot up to the top of the draft? I think that’s our best chance (along with some Witt helium) for Rutschman to drop to us.

Lol...of course you wouldn’t.

I don’t think you get how the Cubs’ ownership structure works if you actually believe this. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that the Cubs are operating on a tight budget. This comes directly from the Cubs’ front office. The Cubs can not add Harper without moving significant salary. If you think the Cubs are somehow going to blow past the second luxury tax tier while owned by a trust fund that hasn’t yet pocketed its new TV deal money, then more power to you.

The Cubs are owned by a trust fund and are heavily levered. I know it’s fun to treat the Cubs as the boogeyman around here, but the Ricketts are not going beyond their means until they have cash in their pocket. Their new TV contract doesn’t help them in 2019.

Fathom, I love you bro, but I’m worried you wake up at night with nightmares of Theo spooning you in bed. There is zero reason to believe the Cubs are the favorites for Harper until they move significant salary which still remains extremely unlikely IMO.

Machado has had 6+ win seasons in 3 of the last 4 years, why is that not expected?

Are you really using fWAR to evaluate catcher’s?

That’s you, not everyone is going to feel that way. And honestly, this is about giving us an edge over the Phillies if the money is close and nothing more.

I would like to believe there is more meat on the bone with this one. Realistically if it’s Kikuchi, we should hear something this week. Doubt they risk waiting until the actual deadline.

I have no idea how any of this is comparable to the 2014-2016 “non-sense”. We have a bunch of young guys that will be hitting the show over the next two years, we have a bunch young guys in place that can better, we have significant payroll space that can be used to add impact talent, and we’ll have excess prospects that can be used to fill holes. Our situation is completely different than the time period you’re referring to. If your plan is wait for the entire W-S team to reach the pros, then this rebuild will fail because our first wave of talent will have already significant service time and will start getting expensive.

Frank Thomas Bobby Jenks Chris Sale Robin Ventura Alexei Ramirez Ray Durham (just missed)

If the Sox add Machado and/or Harper, there is zero reason the Sox can’t be competitive in 2020. Part of the allure of Kikuchi is it provides another veteran starter to the mix that can potentially take some pressure off Cease & Kopech in their first full seasons. The Sox will not sit by idly and burn service time of numerous young players in 2020, they will do what it takes to put a competitive roster in place.

A 2019 rotation of Rodon, Lopez, Kikuchi, Nova, & Giolito would at least be interesting and has a chance to be solid if enough things went right. It also gives us a ton more flexibility heading into the 2020 season. As long as the price is reasonable, I think it would be a move worth making.

Seems like it’s got to be something of substance based on his wording and I can’t see us making a crazy trade right now. Assuming it’s not Machado or Harper related, I’m keeping my prediction that it’s us signing either Ottavino or Kikuchi.

So our own Buerhle>Wood posted the following rumor on Christmas Eve: Seems like this might have got lost in the shuffle due to the holidays, but probably warrants its own thread given nothing else is going on right now. What are people thinking this could be? Free agent signing or trade? Is this something substantial (possibly whale related) or simply more filler?

That’s very true.

Great post and fully agree. Unless the Yankees change their stance, I really think Machado is ours for the taking. The next question is whether or not we still push forward with Harper and my guess is we do. I think there is room for two whales in the budget.

To me, outside of the whales, I don’t see much we’d go after that would be of much substance. Grandal makes sense if you don’t believe in Collins & Zavala being major league catchers, but would they really cut bait on Castillo while pursuing Machado? After that, the only upgrades I could see are pitching. I still think Ottavino could be in play if they offer him the closer’s job and get him to agree to a 2 year deal. I don’t think any of the other high-priced relievers left make much sense for us. The only long-term starting pitching options are Keuchel & Kikuchi and the latter obviously fits much better from an age perspective. Will be very interesting to see what this move is.

What about Kikuchi? He was posted on the 3rd and has to agree to a contract by January 2nd. That’s something that could have “escalated quickly over the last two weeks” and could be expected to be announced before New Years.

Signing or trade? If a signing, I’ll say Ottavino.

If I had to guess right now, here’s what I’m thinking assuming eligibility: Luis Robert, CF (Top 10) Michael Kopech, RHP (Top 20) Dylan Cease, RHP (Top 20) Nick Madrigal, 2B (Top 30) Micker Adolfo, OF (Top 50) Dane Dunning, RHP (Top 60) Luis Basabe, OF (Top 80) Luis Gonzalez, OF (Top 90) Jimmy Lambert, RHP (Top 100) Steele Walker, OF (Top 100)

I think Machado’s market is pretty set and he’s simply giving the Yankees a chance to improve their offer. If not, he goes to the Sox or Phillies pretty quickly. I think with Harper the market is just not what Boras was envisioning. None of the traditional big spenders are overly interested or simply can’t afford him right now, at least not in the $300M range. That leaves teams like the Sox, Phillies, and maybe a mystery team or two. Makes much more sense for him to drag things out and see if someone joins the fray or at the very least make one of these less desirable clubs bid against themselves.

This might help you out. Looks like $14M of benefits included in total payroll: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.truebluela.com/platform/amp/2018/3/29/17150586/dodgers-opening-day-payroll-luxury-tax

Sure, but the $199M wasn’t their luxury tax payroll so you can’t really jump to any of these conclusions.