he gone.

True, but the point of that exercise is really to prove that a certain amount of the fan base is entirely too worried over how trading for Joc Pederson affects Palka, Engel and Leury. The answer is it really doesn't matter because those guys aren't really the type of players that should or will be on a true White Sox contending team. And if you do have players like that on an eventual championship contender their names will be Rutherford, Basabe, etc. not 30 year old Leury, Palka or Yolmer, or Engel. (Yolmer maybe.... maybe... I have a soft spot for him)

Also, Palka barely has room on this team after 62 wins and signing Jay and possibly acquiring Pederson .... I think that says about as much as anything else on his actual value.

Just FYI, Gattis got like 100 AB's post all star break. Marisnick got 57 ab's post all star break and was largely replaced by Tony Kemp. And Marwin is Yolmer but with more positional capabilities. The fact is those who weren't cutting it were quickly cut off. Palka would have had a shot at playing on the Astros, but not sure he'd even get the chance. Here's a list of players who didn't get an extended chance because of the talent level at the MLB level. Tyler White, Tony Kemp, JD Davis, Kyle Tucker, Derek Fischer over the guys we rolled out there in 2018. Not to mention add Yordan Alvarez to that list this year. And they went out and signed Brantley..

One last thought ... Delmonico, Palka, Engel, etc. all got their shot last year NOT because of their amazing play in the minors, rather the Sox tank plan. They wouldn't have proably sniffed the MLB on most other teams. These aren't necessarily major league players, rather AAA/AAAA players that were given a good opportunity. The only one that really did anything with it was Palka. Engel showed off his top notch defensive skills which affords him another shot as well. But in no way did any of these guys show anything that should prevent the Sox from going out and acquiring players. The chances of Engel figuring it out to where he's a .250-260 hitter are slim. The chances of where Palka can be more selective, walk more, strikeout less, and still barrel up the ball are slim. You gave these guys a shot and we saw what happened. They are more than welcome to go back to Charlotte and tear the cover off the ball down there to get another look over these next few transition years. I'd love for one of Nicky, Engel or Palka to force the Sox hand and play them over a Jay or Pederson, but if we want to be a competitive MLB team, that means those guys are going to have to EARN their spot, not be just given it.

Quick thoughts: Joc Pederson would be an upgrade and a perfect mid-level player with a short term contract, and ability to possibly over-perform. He's a perfect bridge type player. If a Tilson, Cordell, Engel, or Palka performed as well as he has, does, and will we would be very happy. I mean... Palka did and look at the love fest surrounding him. As I've stated before none of these guys are part of the future... Palka included. Pederson included. This is a two year fix until we hopefully get one or two of our younger OF's up. Pederson gives us a better chance to field a competitive team in 2019 and 2020. He has a similar profile to Palka, just higher upside and can play the field better. Simple as that. Sox fans need to really start separating themselves from some of these players.. Palka, Yolmer, Leury are not your keys to success. As I've stated many times before try fitting those guys on the Yankees, Astros, Red Sox... Yolmer is about the only one that could have a future with this team. The rest won't sniff any Sox team that has a true chance at the WS.

I never understood the narrative that Sox Fest matters in any way at all. It's a group of a few thousand DIE HARD sox fans, many that probably post on this board along with kids/families. Those fans are going to be there regardless unless JR really drives this franchise into the ground. The event already sold their ticket packages and is a minimal revenue driver. Adding Machado doesn't add any revenue.. so what incentive at all does the FO have to sign anybody beforehand? They just need to get the deal done before the season to get their marketing tuned up and ready to sell season ticket packages. Harper and Manny likely have their destinations pretty well figured by now, but obviously the deals aren't blowing anybody away so no rush to sign them. MIght as well wait it out.

Not much if you're looking for a playoff run, but I think there are arms much more serviceable than what we have to offer.. I still like Keuchel for all the reasons that have been discussed over and over. I like ground ball tendencies, how he'll likely age, price, probably only 4 year contract, etc. Other than that I'd love to explore a 1yr + option deal in the following order: Santana, Buchholz, Gio, Hellickson, Pomeranz. All th rest I'd pass on. I'd even lean on passing on Pomeranz and Hellickson. Pomeranz mostly because of health issues... forget what he injured, but I thought his velocity is truggling...

It's not proving anything. its the players union saying take the highest AAV and waiting. At some point this will boil over and there will be a big meeting about FA spending and contracts.

Maybe not 8/250, but 7/175, I'd say its better chance he accepts a 1/40 than 7/175. Players unions have say and power.

A wise man once said ...A zebra doesn't change it's stripes... JR has always been cheap and has been one of the most vocal figures siding with ownership pushing back against the players union. Hes the guy who wont go over a certain amount of years for pitchers, one who stood his ground heavily during the strike, the guy who has never given a contract over $68mm (giving $100mm contracts to guys who ultimately get $150mm doesn't really count ... that proves hes even more hard headed and unable to be flexible). I am thinking we get neither of these guys. Just my personal opinion. Phillies will land one and the other will sign one of these short term high AAV contract ala what Grandal just did. With how this FA market is going its going to be very important to the players union to establish a high AAV contract and they will push them to do so. Ultimately we'll file away this offseason like all others... JR coming up short on a major FA when in reality we never had a shot.

Baseball is screwed.. totally hitting another strike.... A-Rod got 10 years at $25mm in 2000! We are 20 years later and you're telling me Machado can only get 7 years at the same price? Yikes. Look at the highest paid NFL, NBA, and NHL player contracts at that time til now... then look at tv revenues and mlb attendance during the same time... MLB players union won't stand for this and won't end pretty.

It's called wanting your cake and eating it too. Want the stability and the all the positives of marriage, but still want to have fun at their disposal. Back to the important leaked news of the day though. $175mm of 7 years would be absolutely hysterical if true. If we got him for that I'd stalk Hahn's house and give him a big fat kiss... that'd be the easiest contract ever to absorb. Wouldn't even shock me if somewhat true... that's JR for you. He's about as tight pocketed as it comes. I can't wait until we finally put together our perfect team and then MLB goes on strike... if Manny signs for 7/175... yikes... player union is going to go even crazier. Don't forget who JR Is... he's the guy who is very pro-owner and won't budge worth shit. He's all about lining his pockets.. greedy people don't change at age 83. he's going to line his pockets til the day he hits his grave. He's not about winning.. he's about winning money.

it's remarkably longer during work hours than at night.

"When you assume it makes an ass out of u and me. " -- Applied to every single post ever about what's really going on in both Machado and Harper negotiations.

I know we're all just commenting to pass time and out of boredom or frustration. All I can say is that although this sucks .. I trust that Hahn and JR are very tuned into the market and what's going down. If it were as easy as "tell Machado this is our deal and he has 24 hours to accept or its gone, then if Harper signs with the Phillies hes screwed" then Machado would be ChiSox by now. They're negotiating MILLIONS of dollars right now. The negotiations are moving up or down by our LIFETIME salaries. There's no loyalty or ultimatums being put forward because it doesn't work that way. .

That's a fair take. The question we should always be asking in 2017, 2018 and 2019 is "Does ______________ have a chance at being a valuable contributor on a playoff team?" Now as much as Avi drove us as crazy as this Machado negotiation process I think we can all admit that he has a better chance of being a contributing member than a Delmonico, Cordell, Tilson, etc. He's probably somewhere around Palka's value, just a bit higher. Avi, all things considered still has a chance to be a decent player. That being said, I'm okay with letting him move on. It's a coin flip if I'd rather have Jay or Avi for the same price really.

I could be wrong, but I don't think he was close to that line at all... I'm guessing he signed a 1yr, $6mm deal with incentives and a mutual option. He's still 1-2 seasons away from being a minor league contract type deal in my opinion.

Wish him luck. He always tried his hardest and can't fault him too much that results weren't consistent. There's part of me that thinks he's destined to be JD Martinez Jr.

Sale got 5/$33mm ... so 7/100 for Rodon seems verrrry on the heavy side.

You may have to change your signature up a bit...some of those names won't even sniff the MLB roster ha. It's finally happening! Welcome Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez, Luis Basabe, Dane Dunning, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose, Bryant Fleet, Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets, Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, Ti'Quan Forbes, AJ Pucket, Andre Davis, Casey Gillepsie, Ryan Cordell, Nick Madrigal, Steele Walker, Konnor Pilkington(More additions to come)

Necessary because of what the free market dictated. I think baseball is fully in the "information age". There are more stats than ever that are driving contracts. Before you had more of the Hawk Harrelson eye test going on, but I think that's over. I mean, if we sign Harper or Machado to 8+ years I think it's very likely we don't get our full value on the guys either.

I'm not sure where all the positional talk started or the root of it all. But my personal take mirrors more of the Joe Maddon school of thought. These guys who in the MLB were the stars of all their teams growing up... they pitched, were the best hitter, the best fielders, etc. It's not like Tim Anderson can't play more than one position. Every guy should be able to bounce around a few positions. So Anderson should learn SS, 3B and CF. Moncada 2B, 3B, OF. Machado SS, 3B. All OF should be taking time at 1B. It allows lineup flexibility and the ability to field the best lineup.

Harper has less than 1% chance signing with the Nationals. I think that meeting and leaking of the $300mm offer was a "favor" to Boras. It was leaked out to help establish a floor... you must go ABOVE $300mm if you want a chance otherwise we have the Nationals. And then once that didn't work, I think they let it be known they were meeting again.... to again establish that if the current teams don't up their offer that he'll just resign w/ the Nats. Based on the luxury tax -- I just don't see that being real. If the Manny Deal truly comes in at under $250mm then I think its realistic that the Harper deal comes in under $300mm. We're in a very weird time in the MLB for free agents. The Miggy Cabrera & Albert Pujols deals never made sense but were necessary, now there's significant pushback. I actually see this as an opportune time to strike. Very opportune.

All the Opening Day starters... there were some others intertwined in there as well. The list would've been too long! haha

I forgot if it was Bret Morel, Brent Morel or Brett Morel... he was that unimportant that I didn't go look up how it was actually spelled... but somehow started two opening days for us. Above all us, this is why the Machado signing is so important to me personally. WE haven't filled this position in a DECADE. When you look at the pipeline it's basically Moncada maybe? (assuming Madrigal does well and plays 2b) ... or Burger?? but we all know in our hearts that's not likely. I'd love to have Machado for obvious reasons, but plugging a hole we cant seem to plug for the life of us would be awesome