“May we please put you on hold?”
That could have been the appropriate line for White Sox players and coaches making phone calls to season-ticket holders Thursday from Guaranteed Rate Field, a day ahead of SoxFest.
As far as anyone knows, neither Manny Machado or Bryce Harper will be unveiled this weekend, which means more waiting for a fan base whose hopes have been raised since Machado met with the Sox on Dec. 17. Machado is believed to be mulling a seven-year deal reportedly below $200 million, and waiting to see if teams besides the Sox and Phillies join in the bidding with less than three weeks until the start of spring training.
That would be more than double the largest contract ever given to a Sox player, and if agreed to, send a power surge through the team’s rebuild. Machado will be at the forefront of everyone’s mind this weekend. As expected, it was a topic fans wanted to talk about while on the phone with prospects Dylan Cease and Zack Collins and newly acquired first baseman Yonder Alonso. Alonso, Machado’s brother-in-law and good friend, was asked about Machado on his first call.
“Work on it, will ya?” the fan said.
“I’ll work on it,” Alonso said. “A lot of surprises are going to come our way.’’
Alonso may have been talking about 2019 in general and not specifically about Machado with the Sox. But when he met with the media, he kept fans hoping.
“The future is bright for him and his family,’’ Alonso said. “And like I said, he might be my neighbor.’’
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For fans, the maybes and maybe nots have been dragging on much too long in a slow moving free-agent market. In the meantime, they would welcome another upgrade via trade — the Sox are said to be among the teams talking to the Dodgers about outfielder Joc Pederson — to create some fresh buzz around the Hilton Chicago this weekend.
But don’t get your hopes up on that one, either. Manager Rick Renteria wasn’t expecting any surprises for fans this weekend.
“It would be fun, but not that I’m aware of,’’ Renteria said Wednesday.
If nothing happens, the sold-out event will have plenty to hang its hat on with Ozzie Guillen making his first appearance since he was manager, a seminar featuring five Hall of Famers (Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Tim Raines, Carlton Fisk and inductee Harold Baines), Guillen and vice president Ken Williams on stage with Dewayne Wise reminiscing about Mark Buehrle’s perfect game, autographs from top prospects such as Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Cease, Michael Kopech, Nick Madrigal and questions for general manager Rick Hahn about Machado.
There’s just no getting around them.
Even Cease, the Minor League Pitcher of the Year, who hasn’t worn a Sox uniform yet, was asked about Machado on Thursday.
“Yeah, I mean it’s fun to dream about all that, but that is way above my pay grade,’’ Cease said. “Hopefully it happens. You never know.”
