The Rundown:
- Recap the Winter Meetings activities which was a lot of Bryce Harper rumors. What was a fantasy two months ago could be a dream that becomes reality as the White Sox are front-runners to sign Harper. What is next and how serious should we take the rumors?
- Manny Machado is planning to visit the White Sox. What is the sales pitch to Machado, and what should the White Sox do if Machado is ready to sign sooner but Harper is the top target?
- Breakdown the Ivan Nova trade as the former Pittsburgh Pirate replaces James Shields.
- Finally, our takeaways from the 2018 Winter Meetings, and other rumors attached to the White Sox at the moment.
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To listen, click play below:
Yeah, I think the Sox are at 10 years $350 million for Harper. I think Harper is waiting to see if anyone else want to get involved. I think the Phillies and Yankees may not have made that offer to Harper because they want Machado more. If Harper believes in the Sox multi year plan then he could pull the trigger.
Boras is a prima donna. I don’t think he can stop Harper from pulling the trigger, and he is not passing up $35 million himself just to say he negotiated the biggest contract ever.
I think the Dodgers and Cubs can’t and won’t clear enough payroll for Harper. Once that becomes clear, he’ll probably sign with the Sox.
i listened to hahns interview on xm and its pretty clear get machado or harper or continue rebuild and see what is out there next offseason… personally i like this take as im not really interested in brantly because of this; adolfo last option year is in 2020 so if we get harper i believe they are gonna look for a trade involving him, if we dont get him he will probably have a decently aggressive promotion timeline saying first couple of months of 2020 at the latest when he is in chicago…
that being said, if we do get harper, what kind of trades would you like to see white sox go for with them using their outfield depth as the main trade pieces (basabe,adolfo, rutherford, gonzalez , steele prolly some non frontline pitchers needing to be included as well) as our future outfield would be set of jimenez harper and robert and one of basabe,gonzalez, rutherford whoever doesnt get traded as the 4th of
also in that interview i loved that he said im not interested in longterm pitcher this year as only choices left at this point for good options are kikuchi and keuchel and those arent frontline pieces with keuchel declining and scouts are saying they believe kikuchi to be more of a 3 or 4, i believe now that he makes a move for a top line pitcher next year as that class is much more stout
The trade I would really like to see the Sox make (and I’ve mentioned it here many times) is getting Whit Merrifield. I know Dayton Moore says they are not trading him, but he has to be realistic and know that he only has him for 4 years and they are going to suck for at least 2 of those. If the Sox sign Harper, then by late 2020 at the latest their outfield should be Harper-Eloy-Robert. I would offer Madrigal, Dunning and his choice of the rest of the outfielders. I have a hard time believing he would pass something like that up- 6 years of 3 very good prospects.
Merrifield would be perfect in the Sox lineup, and he wouldn’t cost anything this year. A top 5 of Moncada-Merrifield-Abreu-Harper-Eloy can rival almost any other team. Getting rid of Madrigal would be tough, but Madrigal’s ceiling is probably what Merrifield is now.
If they offer less then 10 years and 300 mil that the nats already offered this was all a dog and pony show.
The sox need to be the top bid, what happens after that so be it.
I think if the White Sox do sign Harper or Machado, they should get Encarnacion. Seattle doesn’t want to keep him so they may be willing to eat a little of his salary or part of next year’s buyout in order to get rid of his contract. It would put another bat in the middle of the lineup and fill the DH spot for a season.