KnightsOnMintSt

I'm not as upset about missing out on Manny. Yes, I wish he would've chosen the White Sox, and yes, I was fine with giving him well over $300 million. However, when I really sit back and look at things, I realize one really important thing: Regardless of if we would've signed him or not, most of the success still relies on the how the prospects from the rebuild turn out. If guys like Eloy, Robert, Cease, Moncada, Kopech, Lopez, Madrigal, and Collins live up to their hype, then the White Sox will be a good team regardless. Now, would I like to have Machado in the middle of that future lineup, of course. But look at Mike Trout in LA. If I recall correctly, he has never made the playoffs, or he has made the playoffs once, and lost in the ALDS. Now that is absolutely no shot at Trout, more of just a statement on how hard it is to win in baseball, and how many really good players you need to have. I know that not all the prospects are going to pan out, but the White Sox have A LOT of options at various positions. Lets say this is the lineup, and their realistic potential: 1. Yoan Moncada (.270 hitter with a .330OPS. Can hit for power and is quick on the base paths). 2. Luis Robert (Otherworldly skill set. True 5-tool player. Can do everything on the field) 3. Jose Abreu (Consistently one of the better 1B in baseball). 4. Eloy Jimenez (Arguably the best prospect in baseball. Huge power. Can hit to all fields). 5. Zack Collins (Huge power. Gets on base). 6. Tim Anderson (Showing improvement each year. Very athletic). 7. Luis Gonzalez (Solid power. Good speed. Gets on base). 8. Jake Burger (Big power potential. Could exclusively be a DH). 9. Nick Madrigal (Not a lot of power, but gets on base a ton for guys at the top of the lineup to knock him in). Lets also not forget a couple of things. This would be assuming the White Sox did not add a single free agent by the 2020/2021 season. And I'm not saying it has to be Arenado/Trout/Betts... Just any veteran free agent. And like I mentioned above, not every prospect pans out, but we still have guys like Basabe, Adolfo, Rutherford, Zavala, Sheets, and Walker. Then we get into pitching. Lets say the rotation is: 1. Kopech (Top 10 prospect before getting hurt. Seems like one of the hardest workers in the game). 2. Cease (One of the best pitching prospects in baseball now. Will probably be Top 10 by the time he gets called up). 3. Rodon (When healthy, the stuff is nasty). 4. Lopez (Finished 2018 very strong. Nasty off-speed stuff) 5. Giolito (Top prospect in 2016. Struggled last year, but you can see that he has nasty off-speed pitches). And again, not all these guys will work out, but we still have prospects like Dunning, Hansen, Lambert, Stephens and Medeiros. And just like the lineup I posted, this is assuming the Sox don't sign one veteran pitcher to add to the staff. Moral of the story, I am bummed that we missed out on Machado just like everyone else, but in baseball, you need more than one guy, no matter who it is. The White Sox have a of depth in the minors, and have a number of guys with ridiculously high ceilings.

The piece of hope that I am holding on to is that the White Sox wouldn’t go $300 million for Machado, but that they would be willing to go $300 million+ on Harper. Maybe the marketability of Harper would make it worth it to the White Sox FO.

Now that we have missed out on Machado + we see Moncada at 3rd base, I think it’s oretty clear which direction the White Sox are going in. Looks like they will ride out the prospects, kind of like the Cubs did. 3B- Moncada SS-Anderson 2B Madrigal 1B- Abreu/Collins/Sheets LF- Jimenez CF- Robert RF- Gonzalez/Rutherford/Basabe DH- Abreu/Collins/Burger/Sheets C- Zavala/Collins Rotation- 1. Kopech 2. Cease 3. Rodon 4. Lopez 5. Giolito I would guess by 2020/2020 they’ll try to add one top pitcher (Sale, Cole, etc...) as well as an outfielder. If they’re unable to make a big splash, I would guess the lineup I posted is most likely what we’ll see.

Going to be really interesting to see attendance this year. I think that very well could gevthe story of the season.

I read this as all three teams have interest, but the Sox have the strongest interest. Padres and Phillies are interested, but aren’t as convinced they need to spend $250 million+ on Machado. Is that what everyone else took away from it?

I dont know why, and I dont want to jinx anything, but I do not see Machado going to the Padres. With everything that has been mentioned (tax rates, signing bonuses, etc..) I just dont see San Diego's offer being so much better than the White Sox. I do think that San Diego will make a really nice offer, but that would be a lot of money wrapped up in him and Hosmer. Plus, the Padres already have Urias, and will have Tatis on the way at some point this season. I dont think having those guys will stop San Diego from signing Machado, but I would think it would stop them from making a huge offer like 8-year, $280 million.

And I would assume this was always the point. I dont think hat signing Jay and Alonso were meant to tip the scales in a huge way, considering Jay signed a 1-year deal, and Alonso has 1-year left on his current deal. I would assume the idea was always, if the Sox offer and say the Padres offer, were the same, then having his friends would tip the scale in our favor. But if the Padres offer is $40 million more, then I dont think having his friends makes up that difference.

To answer MLB.com’s question: Yes.

I’ve seen Eloy in person a few times. He has a great presence at the plate. He seems to be so on top of it that it’s really incredible to me that a pitcher is able to get the ball by him. I think he’ll have great success at the MLB level because I think that plate presence will translate very well. If he keeps that same approach, he should see instant success. He also is able to put the ball to all areas of the field. His opposite field power is very impressive.

I very much believe the reports that Machado is holding out for $300 million. Why wouldn't he? Have to think that some team, at some point, eventually will just do it. Maybe its tomorrow, maybe its the day before Opening Day, but I think he holds out for that. And if its true that he has offers in the 8-year, $260 million range, I have no reason to think that whoever those teams are offering that, would have no problem adding an extra 2 years and 40 million on to that offer.

At what point does Machado start to lose leverage. If this really drags into March, we could see teams start to sign Moose, Kuechel, etc...

This is an interesting point. If they did get permission from Machado, I would think that he would understand what people would assume seeing those colors.

Everything seems to pointing in the White Sox direction. This is really exciting.

7 or 8 years at $220 million sounds about right to me.

That realistically only eliminates the Giants, right? Maybe the Yankees if they're even in the running.

I’ve never been more confident that a prospect will succeed as I am with Eloy. I’ve seen him a good number of times in person, and what’s so impressive about him at the plate, is how much of the plate he can cover. When you see him up to bat, it’s actually incredible that pitchers are able to get the ball by him. Not to say that he will be the AL MVP this season, but he will have immediate success.

Luis Gonzalez is a guy that I am really excited about. Hope to see him in Triple-A by June or July. I really think he has a chance to fly up the prospect rankings.

Wish I could be in town for this. Lucky to have seen Eloy a few times here in Charlotte!

I think the video being posted in he first place is pretty interesting. The fact that it was deleted is what really caught my eye.

If you watch the video, they flip the shoe and it shows #17.

From Manny’s Instagram story...

MLB At Bat is running with the story.

When I first saw that report about the Yankees offering a 7-year, $220 million contract, I was kind of disappointed. But now that I think about it, I think that has to be a leak from Lozano. And if that’s the case, it probably means it’s a last stitch effort to up the White Sox offer. Don’t want to jinx anything, but I think our Sox are in a good position.

?

I read that Rogers tweet as Machado is coming to the White Sox, and there really are no competing offers. Maybe the Johnny Hustle comments were more damaging than people thought?