turnin' two

Yes, this is true. But they aren't a great team. They lost most of their bullpen. They lost Brantley, Gomes, Donaldson... Their whole offense is two guys, one of whom is hurt and the other collapsed in the second half last year. Their rotation is top notch, but they aren't a juggernaut.

I'm in this boat with you. I really want them to sign Harper, and I keep having to check myself mentally because I am generally optimistic, and don't want to get my hopes up, but I really want it to happen. The opportunity is still there. All the reasons he (or Machado) made sense at the outset of the offseason are still there. Just get it done! *** reminder to self. 1% chance.

I get being mad at the FO, but taking it out on guys like Yolmer and TA is ridiculous and unwarranted. These guys have done nothing but play hard since they came to the Sox.

Small sample size, but I will definitely go to games when Eloy comes up just to see him.

This is what it means to be a Sox fan apparently.

I doubt his contract is deferred over 10 years. It is 40 million, that is correct. But over 10 years. 4/year. It isn't Marwin. It is having a Jon Jay caliber player on the team each year. I'd rather have Harper and an Engel sort, than miss out on Harper to save 4 mil/year.

Todd Ritchie? He was probably never good enough to be considered washed up.

I asked that before, it got ignored. You wouldn't be able to sign him for 5 years. I feel confident in that. He'd have gotten 10. Probably 25-26 per year at that time. Something like that.

So, just want to be clear here. You would go to 310. So I assume over 10 years. But you wouldn't go to 350. You have been clear about those numbers. Please think about them for a second. You would lose him for 4 million in AAV. 4 Million. The difference is being able to sign Jon Jay. That is insane. Completely insane. To lose a player like Harper over 4 mil per year. How would the Sox better spend that 4 per year to help the team. I expect you'll ignore this and make some other reference to Bonds.

Good grief. Are you for real? I never even did that. And have stated so like what 3 times since you started being intentionally ignorant.

A lot. Again that doesn't matter in this context. It was hardly the point. Sorry I used him as an example. Stanton? How about him? Bryant? Cabrera? Hamilton? Pujols? Howard? Cespedes? Votto? Cano? Encarnacion? Any of those will do. And many, many more.

Ok ignore everything else and grab on to that one comparison you are purposely mis-interpreting. You legitimately think Bonds was the only bad defensive player to make bank because he could hit? There are hundreds (figure of speech, please don't hold onto it literally!).

Cmon man. I wan't comparing them as hitters. I was showing how if you can hit, defense doesn't matter. I don't know how much it would cost to sign him. I never said I'd give him 350... yet. Hell yes I would. You can't compare him to Machado anymore. They can't sign Machado. He is gone. Off the market. They screwed around and lost out on him. That should make them more aggressive in signing Harper. If that means more giving them more money, that is what needs to be done. Machado isn't a free agent. If that drives up Harper's price, well that is economics. This team should do what needs to be done, which, clearly they won't.

I believe this to be true. And I hate the last part. Well, they may play for the White Sox actually, when they are 38. That is the White Sox way.

Want to bet that Harper is worth more? Ban bet? ?

Ah. Well reasoned. I hope you enjoy watching guys like Jay and Alonso. Guys get paid because they hit. Some play the field well, others do not. Many whose bats justify it get shoehorned into 1B, or LF. But they get paid to hit. Good defensive players are a dime a dozen( See Engel, Adam, Sanchez, Yolmer). You think Barry Bonds would have continued to play the OF if he was in the AL? The last season he put up at least 1 WAR defensively was 1992. No one cared. Guys don't win MVP because of their defense. You pay for hits. You pay for HRs. You pay for impact offensive players. For an offensive player of Harper's caliber, his defense doesn't matter.

I thought you didn't like using one stat? You said... Yet, you only seem to be citing one stat. Harper isn't about the defense. Who cares. DH him. He gets on base. He draws walks. He hits doubles. He hits Home Runs. He is an offensive force.

Hahah. OK, well interesting theory. I think being a free agent at 26 is different than being a free agent at 30, and that will impact the duration of the contract, which impacts the overall value. I also think there is a premium to be paid for what can be expected to be a players prime years, which will impact the AAV. I never said Bryce was the better hitter, but there is reason to believe that he could be in time. And that the comparison is so distant it can't even be made in terms of production through the same age.

Ugh. I will not get my hopes up, I will not get my hopes up. Thinks to self "largest contract in MLB history is what will be required". Ok hopes back in the gutter. Thanks.

Probably true of any 10 year contract. If you want to reap the benefits of having the star player through his prime, you have to bear their decline. The good part about Harper, is that his decline, would hopefully be a smaller percentage of the contract since you'd be signing him so young. Dammit, why am I doing this. I know they aren't signing him. He sucks, I don't want him anyways. Who cares. So he hits dingers and gets on base. And has beautiful hair.

I get what you are saying, but OPS isn't really one stat. It is OBP (BB, AVG) and SLG (AVG, 2B,3B,HR). And the OPS thing isn't an opinion, it is statistical fact at this point. How I value it and how you value it may differ, but where he stands as an elite in that category isn't an opinion. And is JD a better hitter? He was last year, that much is certain. But through the same age, well, JD was good enough to be released. He hadn't accomplished really anything. As he aged, gained more experience, and learned, he has become elite. Through his prime years he has been one of the best hitters in baseball. Harper will play this entire season at age 26. Do you believe he has maxed out his talent? Could his experience and age mean the best is yet to come? JD put up a .307/.371/.586 for an OPS (oops! Sorry!) of .958. If he had become a free agent at 26, and had produced anything that could have led teams to believe this output was coming, what do you think he would have received upon signing? One major stat, that you failed to calculate in your comparison of Harper and JD, is just frankly age. JD received 130 million for years covering his ages 30-34. If you pay Harper that same rate for those same years, shouldn't you expect there to be a premium on his years 26-30?

And here I thought that a .900 OPS was demonstrating fairly elite baseball skills. I guess I was wrong, upon checking, that is only good for 64th all time. So there are like 63 better offensive players in the history of the game (an oversimplification, but you get it).

I think the people on Padretalk would be very interested in your thoughts and opinions.

Yeah, which makes the failure that much worse, and more glaring. They made all these supplementary moves, then they cheaped out, and were out maneuvered when it came to the most important part of it.

.728 OPS away from Coors in his career. And road OPSs of less than .650 the last 2 years. I wouldn't read to much into this for a lot of guys, but for an aging vet that has showed decline anyways, this is a huge red flag to me.