Chicago White Sox: What Machado news means going forward

The Chicago White Sox missed out on the big free agent fish this offseason. So that makes us ask, what does this mean moving forward?

The Chicago White Sox lost their guy. Manny Machado signed a ten year, $300 million dollar contract with the San Diego Padres. With multiple reports that the White Sox were in it and perhaps even the favorites, this hurts and White Sox fans should be disappointed.

With all of that said, what does it mean for the team moving forward? That is a great question. Well, you all read the reports that Yoan Moncada very well might be playing third base this season while Tim Anderson plays shortstop and Yolmer Sanchez plays second. It makes you wonder if the team knew this was coming yesterday.

The White Sox could feel this during the season because Machado has the ability to be one of the great game breakers in all of baseball. There could be a hole in the middle of the lineup but a team that went 62-100 in 2018 isn’t going to have that many expectations anyway.

They also have, according to starting pitcher Michael Kopech, the next Babe Ruth in their organization in Eloy Jimenez. What if he becomes as good if not better at the plate than Machado? That is the hope, and there is also all that money he would have made to spend on others in future offseasons. Yeah, it would have been nice to have them both in the same lineup but maybe someone else could be that lucky.

There is also the rest of this offseason. Who is better between Manny Machado and Bryce Harper? That is a debate for a different time but we can all agree that they are both very good baseball players. What if the White Sox see how crushed their fans are and see the missed opportunity as a chance to swoop in on Harper. The reports are that he and the Philadelphia Phillies are close to a contract but now that Machado is off the table, some teams may pursue him further.

If the White Sox somehow landed Harper that would probably relieve all the pain of not getting Machado. That would mean they landed the other huge free agent fish this offseason and all the speculation of getting one of them wouldn’t be for not.

Just because they didn’t get Machado and Harper is unlikely, doesn’t mean that they are going to stink forever. Fans can look forward to another year of development for Anderson and Moncada, the always steady Jose Abreu, Jimenez coming up, the possibility of Dylan Cease, and Kopech returning next season. The world is not falling on all of those guys just because Manny Machado chose to go to San Diego. Time to forget about him now, we want guys who want to play for the White Sox.