FT35

Exactly. I mean look at the bright side...at least we know now that if Kenny is still around, we all know who our 2029 3rd baseman will be! Fresh off his 10-year sentence in SD at the ripe age of 36!

I'm devastated just like everyone else. This one hurt more than any other in the past. But you have to immediately go in to what's next mode. You can't lose any more time with Manny Machado than what's already gone. It's infuriating. It's bitter. I can't even read the ESPN article that has his face on it. Makes me sick. But you can't lament or you will lose even more. And everything you do from this point forward should be fueled by this moment. Manny and Bryce were always MUST signs given the state of our battered franchise. But neither are proven winners...in fact...Machado never delivered a team to the next level. Bryce was a part of some great Nationals teams, but never delivered them to a title. Maybe our focus turns to our rotation. Sale/MadBum...maybe it turns to Arenado. But now the front office knows not to waste time on these types of players if they think they can get them cheap. That will always be the most difficult part of this whole joke. They honestly believed they would get Machado for cheap. It's a shame...they had him--all they needed to do is pay for him. But we've already lost 3 months on this. Time to just purge the Manny Machado saga and save ourselves from more pain thinking about it.

This is the kind of gut punch that can take an organization in 1 of 2 different directions. It's bad enough to quit and it's bad enough to ignite.

See...I disagree. The only difference between now and last week is...they guys started to kick the ball around on the field. The season technically started for baseball activity and that's what's taking place. The teams in the race for Harper/Machado are still in the race because they haven't signed, but SD and Philly are rolling their guys out on to a field now too because it's time to do that...they aren't punting on the FA signings because it's February 18th and it's time to roll with who you've got. I don't think what takes place right now in AZ has anything to do with what our roster composition will be for Opening Day. The guys we have on our roster right now are getting off the buses and shaking off rust, that's about it...if anything...the more the decision makers look around at these guys now, it's becoming more obvious to them how much we need a true 3rd baseman/infield solution.

My only thought would be Davidson's gone--we currently don't have a 3rd basemen--or at least we're down to Yolmer who I think they are looking at him as more of a super util. Jake Berger is, well, on the mend for a while and we do have a good 2B who is working his way up. Moncada has played 3rd before. So he's being considered as a more permanent player there as long as we don't have Machado.

Exactly. They are preparing as though they don't have him because they don't have him! If they lose out on signing Manny...that is awful. But they can't really afford to lose Manny AND their Spring Training.

I don't know...I thought this maybe, but I think they are doing it because now is the time to do stuff like that. Spring Training. They understand they are putting their best foot forward and if it doesn't work out, they know they gave it everything. But they will ultimately have a baseball team this year no matter what, so until Manny actually signs with them, they need to start making preparations for that 2019 baseball team.

Excellent point here. Great conclusion.

I mean I'm not trying to convince you to stay or anything...just working in some logic. First off...if winning was easy, everyone would do it. What are the right moves to make? What is evidence of owners being cheap over prudent? In 2005 Paul Konerko was our highest paid player...at $8.75 million. Yes...different times...but that was good for 30th highest...in the AL. Would you have rather had someone else in the top 29 instead? He would have been the 12th highest paid Yankee that year. Did we mess up by not spending more that year? You said it's not about winning...so does the 2005 championship go out the window because they didn't spend the right amount? Would you have rather been a Yankee fan that year because they did things right? We have the same number of championships as the Yankees in the last 15 years, is there's worth more because they run a better organization? You mentioned Rays, Padres, or Oakland...they run things right???? Why? Because the satisfaction of buying low/selling high on players is better than winning a title? Not trying to live in the past, but who knows about these things...it all comes down to betting on human beings. That's as fluid of a bet as it comes. I suppose you can roll the same set of dice with a different team if you think the random outcome aligns better with your personal set of decisions on how you think it should be run.

If we end up getting Machado...then Lozano owes Preller a HUGE favor...

I want Machado as much as anyone. But people, this is starting to beg the question... Who is signing who, here? If signing him means absolutely crippling your organization with all the opt outs being the player’s, no team opt outs till much later—and drastically overpaying his value by a hundred million dollars...do you still want that just to say you have a superstar? Baltimore was awful with him because there was no team around him. That might be the case here if our prospects fizzle and all the risk of signing him falls on the team. And if our FO decides NOT to cripple itself and go overboard with risk to win this, do you really think they’ll be fired for doing what’s right and what could mean more success for the future of the team long-term?! Fired for doing what we’d do or what we would want them to do? Sign him if it makes sense but don’t turn us into the Marlins in 3 years because you have to please a starving fan base that knows less than we’d like to believe. A Yogi Berra-esque thought: Don’t be out-bid, but to some extent, it’s OK to be drastically out-risked.

Yes! I wonder if he realizes he could have posted that tweet in December and it would still apply? All his stuff is very “safe” and obvious.

Agree and agree. We might have to win before top FAs sign here again. It’s all the risk of a rebuild. I’m sure we also burned a few bridges with players who we signed to long-term/team-friendly deals “to be a part of something special here in Chicago for a long time” only to turn around and leverage the value of those deals to get more in trades (Sale, Eaton, Quintana). Nothing illegal or dirty about that, but that sorta practice resonates with players. Still think though, we have the talent and resources to put together a more attractive future for a top FA. Just might have to win first.

It would suck...but there are a lot of other reasons to stick with this team. Plus, if we don’t get Machado/Harper, we’ll still have all the cash we set aside to land 1 or both. Lots of talent, lots of options still. Just a different path.

I think the other factor is that Bryce Harper is simply not a $350M+ baseball player. He might bring that value to a franchise, but a decent size portion of that value is his face. So you think, what teams would pay the premium for his face over his numbers? You'd think the Sox would need a face as much as the numbers at this point in their position. But Philly needs his numbers more than his face, so the offers are coming up short because Harper COULD be worth a TON more to a team who needs his...wait for it..."face value."

I think it's people trying to figure out what the delay is. It's certainly not logical that we would sign both...but it's almost down to the "OK something NOT logical is the only explanation." There's really no reason why these guys shouldn't be signed by teams now. It's either a DRASTIC value discrepancy (likely) or someone is trying to pull off the improbable and negotiate both--and has both agents on board to hold out till they know if it can be done.

Honestly think Moose would be a great fit in SD. He's got that Ken Camaniti feel plus they would be assembling half the Royals WS infield.

But man he started off great--lots of MLBTV guys agreeing he was the best player on the field for them...all kinds of ultra positive accolades. I'd like to think he just lost all confidence at the first sign of struggle, but then the truth hit me...the decline corresponded perfectly with the day I added him in a competitive fantasy league. He's got an Ian Kinsler skill set but a long way to go.

PLUS...you can not convince me that the "White Sox way" doesn't involve some sort of social media piece...it's too much of how they work. See...Nicky be DEL-MINE-ICO. Come on...it's too much a part of the fabric of how they operate now.

BINGO! All someone needs to do to divert us from what's actually taking place by, oh, I don't know...posting a bunch of random junk like videos of questionable hats, baby shoes, baseball gloves...let the masses consume the "stupid" diversions! It's classic "WATCH THE BIRDY!"

See!? The dialog sorta writes itself!!

Peeps...I don't mean to speculate, but think about this. There have been many people saying the Machado deal has been done for a while--it's kind of been a repeating theme with many random people...then you have Alonso saying "when" it happens. You have the Sox leaving a locker empty...it's like they know it's coming as if they HAVE KNOWN it's been official. They way they are speaking about Machado and letting these tidbits of info out--there's no way MLB would allow this UNLESS Machado was already property of the Sox. There is a LOT to suggest that it's POSSIBLE that the deal IS done and being kept from release. Now...let's make a critical mistake and make an assumption that it's true. Now ask WHY? Why would this be kept a secret? It could be that they are trying to navigate the corresponding strike of signing both Machado and Harper. Working out all the details of that so they can have 1 magical "reveal" that would consume the sports world for a long time. Maybe the solution to the super agent's standoff of "who signs first" can be solved by saying hey, we'll both sign together--on the same team...no one gets up-staged. They don't announce the Machado signing then a few days later--THAT'S over because it's all about Harper...or vise versa... Get what I'm saying? Coordinating strike? All the pieces coming together at once? Rock the world? Ra team?

Someone’s been to DC and taken good notes!

Still think this is all a big “organized chaos” PR campaign from the Sox to build up to the news. Kinda fits their M.O. —techy/quirky/off the wall. It screams “planted” to me. Also...something new comes out every couple days from “random” people. I think they’re playing us...

Then there lies the problem. This would suggest that the players are as much to blame for this FA mess as the owners. If they all want a big market team then why don’t we just can most of the teams in this league and go with an 8-team super league. It’s comments like Texiera’s that prove there’s more to this than owners manipulating profits. Guys turning down hundreds of millions of dollars cause...sniff sniff...”it’s not the Yankees...” Just makes me love our 05 team even more. They just showed up and played baseball better than you.