CWSpalehoseCWS

The Sox have been down that route before and it got them nowhere. Give me the superstar generational talent to put the team on the map and make them relevant. You're making it sound like it's easy to develop a Harper.

I think you've been lucky. I've experienced both sides of the coin with Yankees fans. Like all fan bases, some are great, some can be real unsufferable pricks.

Gavin Floyd 2.0 - with probably a little less upside. He was awful and it took a while for him to be a valuable rotation arm.

Gun to my head - I think Harper will ultimately end up being the more productive player between the two. We've never seen a player of Ohtani's caliber in modern baseball, and I'm actually kind of relieved the Sox didn't land him. I'd much rather let another team take a chance and see what kind of wear and tear a 2-way player will endure. He already blew his elbow out - so that right there would make me worried that he ultimately ends up exclusively as a hitter (and a DH). He's super fun to watch, but I'd rather go after the more expensive option that has a pretty good track record.

I disagree. When opportunities present themselves, you have to jump at them. This is the time for Hahn and co. to put up or shut up. Signing Machado or Harper would greatly take some of the pressure off these young prospects and help push the rebuild in the right direction.

You do realize the Royals went to the World Series back to back in 2014 & 2015? I'll gladly take that.

Absolutely. People expect results immediately and are quick to apply the bust label if the player doesn't perform to their expectations. There are so many great examples of players having mediocre results through the first few years of their careers only to turn it on later once they develop and get older.

So theoretically they are adding Kluber, Pollock AND Harper? How the hell can they pull that off and stay under the luxury tax?

Not sure if this was posted earlier.

No way. There is no reason to trade for rental players like Puig. It doesn't move the rebuild further, if anything you take a slight step back because you lost one of your top prospects.

What a ridiculous trade. This offseason continues to get uglier...

Him prolonging his decision might actually favor the Sox. I would assume that statement confirms that offers have been made. Might mean the Yankees don't have a strong offer on the table and he really is contemplating elsewhere. Wishful thinking? Hahahaha

At least we know an end is coming. That's better than sitting in the dark wondering if this drags into February.

That’s a good point. Very real possibility.

I don’t think Harper to the Dodgers or Cubs is realistic until either of those teams move some dead contract weight. They are both players in his market, but they have a lot of dominos to knock over before being able to offer Harper the deal he’s looking for. Has there even been any solid rumors attached to either of these teams attempting to lower payroll? I know we’ve seen some random rumors, but I can’t recall any big media guys running stories about them.

I could totally see Adolfo starting in WS to get his comfort level of playing the field back to normal - but only a short time. I haven’t given it much thought how this would affect WS though. They’ve been relatively patient with most of not all of their top guys, which is why I think they play it closer to the side of caution. I think we see a starting OF of Rutherford, Booker, Basabe, and Gonzalez in Birmingham + using the DH to get everyone consistent playing time. Fisher has been really terrible as a guy with no position, so he’s really a non factor and massively buried on the depth chart. Wouldn’t be surprised if they just cut him or force him to 1B. Once Eloy’s called up, that could change things, but I just don’t necessarily see the Sox aggressively pushing Basabe at this point. Personally I’d like to see him have more prolonged success before being promoted. I think he could be an impact-solid regular in the long run.

True, but this also comes across as a agent leak to up the other offers from the Sox and Phillies.

So based on this thread title.... can we get Thanos to snap his fingers and make the Yankees and Phillies disappear?

Another reliever off the board.

Plus Kaplan is such a massive homer, I think his opinions affect his insight.

I wonder if Pollock could be a guy that gets a Moustakas-type deal?

Man I remember those, though I was only a lurker here with no account. Those were my WSI posting days...

But he hasn't even had a full season at Birmingham yet. I would think the Sox would want him to get some more reps down there. He didn't exactly light the world on fire after he got promoted. Newly acquired George and Bennett can both play the OF, and are age appropriate organizational filler. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a FA addition with S.T. invite.

A short meeting would signal to me that they were pretty far apart on something. Hopefully this works out the way we all want it. It’ll be interesting to see how long his Phillies meeting is.

I don’t get the constant Michael Jordan references. Do people not realize the Sox and Bulls are owned by the same person? Plus he never played in the MLB... seems irrelevant to all this.