Special K

Hahn should face the media for this and own it like a man. He said (or lied) with a straight face saying this had nothing to do with Mcachado and that it was a good fit for the team. At least call it what it was. Hahn has to be the worst GM in baseball right now - maybe ever. Anybody can make the Eaton, Quintana, Sale trades. You get the best talent for your best players. He should be judged by his drafting and utterly abysmal FA signings. Do Sox now have the record for signing terrible washed up “power hitting” lefties to awful contracts. At least we got to see Carson Fulmer pitch, that’s wasn’t a complete bust. Thanks, Rick. Maybe you me next great move can be an extension for Ricky.

Yonder Alonso should be DFA'd. Why is he getting any reps. I say this fully understanding it's magnitude, but i would rather see Palka (or some other minor leaguer) get a chance.

This makes sense. Rodon wants to be healthy for next contract, which will undoubtedly be with another team. Rebuild = not going as planned.

This exactly. This, to me, screams KennyHahna saying: I put together another terrible team this year and wasted lots of money on washed up FAs (see Nova, Santana, Alonso) - even though I promised not to do it anymore - which amounted to the same money I missed out on Machado for. Oh by the way, the susperstar prospect I traded away for another washed up FA is now up and playing with the superstar FA I missed out on. But look away from the mess on the field and all my bad GM moves, I’m going to rush up some prospects so we can talk about that to show you not everything I did here was awful. Anyways, is Adam Jones available yet? I wonder if the D Backs would deal him for Robert? We’re only sitting about 5 back from a wild card. That should put us over the top.

it's actually only to save $37 million

Fair point. Somebody is incompetent though. Should've just defaulted with Hahn / KW.

Agreed. Fulmer is a bust (unless he can turn out to be a decent reliever). Collins up in the air. Burger injured. Hansen looks to be a reliever. Burdi injured. Let's hope they got it right with Madrigal. That would be 1 out of 6 success rate with that bunch. I don't think it's unfair of fans to hope they get 1 out of 6 right.

Yes, I understand that. But he became a No. 1 prospect. It's almost sadder that the FO had no idea what they had when they traded Tatis. San Diego clearly knew what they had, which is why they traded for a guy who hadn't played a single minor league game. Just shows you how incompetent scouting department is.

That’s like saying no team is dumb enough to sign a guy’s washed up best friend and trade for his declining brother-in-Law before being absolutely sure they will sign that guy too. Or saying no team is dumb enough to trade the number 1 prospect in all of baseball for a declining (frankly bottomed out) starting pitcher, and also agree to take on his enormous and terrible contract in the process. You just can’t put anything past this FO at this point.

Agreed. IMO, you cannot strictly depend on the draft to have a competitive team year in year out (unless you never miss on the draft, which obviously isn't the case with this Front Office). Similarly, you cannot strictly depend on Free Agency to have a competitive team year in year out. It has to be a smart blend. You need to be willing to spend the dollars when the right time comes. Sox absolutely refuse to spend dollars wisely. They can't get past this psychological hurdle of a large contract to a premier player so they'd rather waste money on garbage. And, frankly, the jury is still out on whether they draft well. So, yes, this rebuild is not going to go the way we had hoped.

Good Front Offices now how to get the job done. It's like night and day when comparing Sox Front Office to the Front Office's of other teams.

Now with Santana signed. I feel like we’re just missing a couple of pieces before we compete. Any chance we sign CarGo, and/or Jones? Maybe check in on Kemp too? Would love an outfield of Jones, Kemp and CarGo.

I can already tell you the Sox offer without being privvy to the discussions or having any inside sources. It’s likely $220-$250 guaranteed over 10 years and then an addition $75 can be made via “incentives” such as Bryce being MVP in like 5 straight seasons at the end of the contract. The Sox will have a unilateral option to opt out of the contract after year 5. then the Sox can claim they offered the most, act shocked he didn’t sign, and claim he didn’t believe himself. They can then tell their fan base they were again at the table and be proud of how far they’ve come.

Does anyone else just get angry when they hear the Sox involved in rumors? There’s not a chance in hell they will sign anyone high profile - that’s been established as fact. Their lowball offers are clearly just fodder for agents looking to scare other teams and just a slap in the face to Sox fans. They should not be involved in any of these processes moving forward because it just ends up pissing off the fans. Yes - I am advocating they withdraw from all Tier 1 FA negotiations moving forward. They can stay in the mix for washed up over paid FAs because they’ve have basically cornered that market.

Fair point

You’re right. So why ever try then for big FA. No use. Plus owners continue to rake in the cash by saving

That’s why you add FA superstars when you’re payroll is the bottom of baseball and the big boys aren’t bidding, to hedge your risk if your prospects don’t work out

Someone tell me what the plan is now to win? Do we just count on every one of our prospects to work out and then add a couple of the standard overpriced declining veteran FAs that this FO is perfect at adding? what if Moncada is what he is? What if Kopech doesn’t come back right. What if Gio continues to suck. What if Collins can’t hit or catch in the big leagues. Lopez likely to regress based on peripherals. What if Burger isn’t the same. Even assuming Eloy is a superstar, which is a big IF we all seem to take as a certainty, if half of those players fail, we’ll end up a 75 to 80 win team with a superstar who can’t wait to get the hell out of here because he knows the FO will never pay up to be a winner or pay him when time comes to be a FA for that matter. The future is not bright.... worse part is, Hahn will likely spend money just to prove the Sox will spend money, and it will be all on total crap FAs that bring this team back to the melky and la roche mired in mediocrity days. Then when the time comes to spend on another FA, they’ll cry poor

The quote is dead wrong. That’s literally the only thing it came down to - throwing more money in terms of a guarantee. If he doesn’t understand that, he’s in an idiot. If he does he’s a liar. Either way, he sucks.

The fact that they weren’t willing to guarantee the money should give you (and Manny and everyone) every indication they had no intention whatsoever paying that money on the backend. It was illusory. Just like manny playing on the south side.

If KW thought that was a better offer, he ain’t too bright.

Exactly. Free Agent opportunities to sign a hall of famer entering his prime years come once every decade or so? Yup Sox blew heir chance and won’t need to worry about that cap ever again. They can keep pretending there is no cap. But they won’t ever get a chance to sign a player like that for a very long time. Arenado will likely sign an extension and even if He doesn’t, does anyone in their right mind think Sox will win that bidding war. We cant produce superstars. Only other way to get them is to sign them.... let’s stay mired in mediocrity.

It's definitely because they're cheap. It's not like JR regularly hands out $100 million dollar contracts. Our biggest contract ever is $68 million. That is a JOKE this day and age. What major free agent is signing for anything under $200 million? Just tells you the Sox aren't even on the same planet when it comes to negotiating for big FAs. And no organization will ever compete consistently if they not in those talks.

My comment was aimed at your belief the Sox couldn't avoid sending Machado out for 550 plate appearances - which most everyday starters might not achieve - in order to avoid paying him in the final 2 years of his contract. That's insane you think those final 2 years were guaranteed. Insane. Machado would've went for the deal if they were guaranteed. They weren't.

If you think this, then JR, Hahn and Levine have done their job.