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Relax people. Sox are very likely gonna get this done.

Hello everyone. Just want to clear a few things up - someone DM'd me this thread today looking for info/clarification on what I know/don't know. -I know the sox are in a very good spot. This bucket (?) guy probably knows more than me. I don't care that he does, in fact I hope he does. Some people are acting like he's talking shit to me, he's not. We're all sox fans here. We all want what's best for the org -I have zero clue what the financials of the offer are. I do know it's 7 years. I assume they have room to budge if they need to. Right now, as far as I'm aware, they don't need to. I would assume it's for an AAV record of about $35MM, so I was just putting two and two together. I could be incorrect there. I wanted to clear that up because people are speaking as if I was stating it as fact. - I know there are a lot of people that don't like me in here. To each there own. I know my humor and style isn't for everyone. I am who I am. - I typically avoid message boards, facebook forums, etc. They can be good communities but they also lead to fans wanting to jump down each others throat. The few times I've meandered to these forums I saw that, so I haven't been here hardly ever since I knew they existed - if anyone has any questions let me know, because I'm not gonna make it a regular thing posting here. I don't want other people's brains seeping into my brain now that I have to cover the sox for my job PS - I'm blogging this as we speak

Just for some fun

http://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations Take a look at this website. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Catching up in this tread, I just realized every single day is the same: People wake up pisssd off that nothing has happened Several people then claim things are quiet because it’s “the calm before the storm” Posters get desperate and start posting blantantly obvious troll posts “it’s probably nothing, but anyone see this [John] tweet?” Sidebars start ensuring about riveting subjects such as model trains, favorite movie in the Pitch Perfect franchise, etc. Posters start getting desperate again and ask the board insiders for any nuggets, eventually one will show up but only provides vague, semi-positive comments like “be patient, things are happening” Caulfield posts a random article without a link and not in a quote box and proceeds to add his own commentary throughout People start getting really pissed about the lack of momentum and say Rick is an incompetent dick and that cheap Jerry should move the franchise to Portland Finally a rumor comes out from a twitter account with a blue check mark, the board completely loses its shit no matter if good or bad If positive, mock lineups are immediately generated (half with Harper); if negative several posters admit defeat & feel compelled to say we must “stay the course” Bob Nightengale tweets out within 30 minutes “sorry, but that’s not true!”; the board calls him a hack and then debates endlessly who planted what Nothing else happens for a few hours, but some posters remain optimistic something will break later that night and make it clear they’re sticking around Finally the day ends with no real news, but one poster makes the bold prediction “tomorrow will be the day” before we all call it quits for the night Wake up the next day and rinse & fucking repeat. I pray to the baseball gods that by the time I catch up there will be some legit rumors, because I honestly can’t take this endless cycle much longer.

Twas the night before Machado, when all through the thread; Not a poster was stirring, they'd all gone to bed. Bob Nightengale with his smoke and the local news stations; Had prepped all us Sox fans for more negotiations. When out of the blue there arose such a clatter. I went straight to my news feed to see what was the matter. I searched for Machado and sorted by top. Excited and nervous to see what would drop. When to my wondering eyes did appear? But $250 million for a term of eight years! With a crafty, young GM so lively and quick; I knew in a moment he must be Saint Rick. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word but went straight to work. And as the contract was signed, he gave me a smirk. He sprang back to the Rate, to his team gave a whistle. And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight; Merry Machado to all, and to all a good night!

This place has been something lately. 1.) To the comments about me - I haven't seen any of this just been told of it. Nowhere did I say a specific date Machado would sign or that he would at all. No one can provide proof otherwise because it simply did not happen. If you look at the replies of the tweet in question, I specifically say "not necessarily tomorrow" (Tweet was from Tuesday). I have said I've liked the Sox chances in a bunch of different ways the last 10 days or so. That was when it first went around the Yankees were basically bowing out. 2.) To the the new poster with a negative source. Regardless of what he said, someone posting on the board for the very first time and the whole board collectively freaks out? Past that, 2 things on it: a.) I don't know who the guy's source is but I wouldn't suspect the tiny subset of people in the know with the Sox are getting emotional, blabbing about fluid contract negotiations at weekend gatherings. That goes against just about everything the White Sox are about. b.) The source is said to have referred to the negotiations "everything moves so quickly" or something to that effect. And to be clear, I have just seen his main post so I do't know if he elaborated on timing. That goes against just about everything everyone else is hearing. "Waiting game" "it's going to be a while" "Far from over". Maybe this source is right, but they're really bucking the trend speaking to the negotiations. I see no reason to freak out here. We haven't had any notable news today. Enjoy the day off of this stuff.

According to my sources this is a copy of the latest thing the Sox submitted to Machados camp to sway his decision... FWIW.

I got bored. Figured we were all going to need this. Nothing special, but it'll suffice.

Good evening, Rick. While I assume that you will never actually read this, just wanted to say a few things in the event that you or someone who you work with actually reads White Sox MB's. I am a long time White Sox fan. When I saw my first game at Comiskey Park, Bill Veeck owned the team, Harry Carey was the play by play man, and the White Sox had not yet played a game on Sports Vision. I have seen at least one home game every year since then and even a World Series game. I have been with this team through thick and thin. I remember the thin years when Ivan Calderon was our best player. I recall the Frank Thomas era with so may great teams from 1990-2005. I recall the frustrations or the Kenny Williams post-World Series after-glow with all of those band aid fixes to try and keep the team competitive while trading away solid prospects for past their prime veterans or giving away deals that bloated the payroll. You have done an admirable job of cutting the waste and rebuilding the farm system. All of the bad contracts are gone, and their is hope again on the South Side for a bright future. It is an exciting time to be a White Sox fan even if some of these prospects go the way of Scott Ruffcorn or Gordon Beckham which some of them most assuredly will. With how White Sox fans are viewed nationally by ESPN and others, we need something tangible to take away that stench. There is no payroll to speak of for the foreseeable future. Giving out a massive contract is not only not going to break the budget, but it would be criminal if it did not come to pass. You and this organization are not going to have to start handing out massive contracts like the ones the Cubs players are starting to hand out for another 6-7 years if these hyped prospects even pan out, and there are no assurances that they will. Kopech may never get back to his hard throwing self. Moncada may never live up to his hype much like Jurickson Profar never will. You never know how things may play out with prospects. When you have a player that has a track record of elite level production, that player commands a large salary. That is a cost of doing business in MLB. What I know for certain is that the next television contracts will be much larger if there is a marquee product to sell. When you have all-stars and elite players, you have more leverage to ask for more money from television networks. In business, you have to spend money to make money. That is where a large contract for Machado or Harper makes sense. Plus, it helps give credibility to the organization. Think of the extra media revenue. Think of more people in the stands. Think of more jerseys and merchandise being sold. Think of the extra playoff game revenue. Think of excitement from casual fans if they could see a Machado or Harper playing for the White Sox. That casual fan then buys a White Sox hat instead of a Cubs hat and takes his kids to White Sox games instead of Cubs games. That is how you rebuild the fanbase!! Even if you ignore all of this extra revenue coming in that the organization currently does not have, doesn't what I say make sense? If you truly want to get things going here, now is the time to act. The financial flexibility for this move is here. All of the large market teams other than the White Sox or the playoff teams do not have the finances for this move. Jerry is not getting younger. If he wants one last shot at the championship, the time to act is right now. Not in 4-5 years. Is putting all of your eggs in the prospects basket and praying for development and good health really the prudent move? If the price is 8-10 years at over $250 million, that is an investment you have to make. Trust me here. If you build it, we will come. Stop beating around the bush. Make the right offer and get us back! Don't make this move for yourself. Don't make this move for Jerry. Don't make this move for the organization. Make this move for the fans! We want it. We need it. We deserve it.

Does Manny have any friends that are good?

I say it's consistent with just about everything they've put out over the last two months. Both Olney & Nightengale have been drumming down the idea of the Sox spending some exorbitant (or even FMV) amount of money for Harper/Machado. Has nothing changed since then? Is is the same source providing this detail? The amount of suitors in it for Manny is alarmingly low if you're Lozano. I am just spitballing but this leak is either from Lozano with the intention of inviting teams back in as the price may not be as high as one would think. The other side is this is a Sox leak trying to paint the market for MM/Lozano to be bleak as the team supposedly leading the way has a pretty underwhelming offer. To me, it calls to question what Phili did this last week. Why weren't the Sox pressured to increase their offer as a result of Phili? Did Phili not beat our offer? Did they not extend an offer? In any case, you cannot live and die by individual media reports. They have been a roller coaster. The Sox are all about patience with this process. There has been a "guarded optimism" for a few weeks now and that hasn't changed with the media being all over the place. That doesn't concern me. What concerns me is the fact that we're not Machado's preferred high bidder. The bottom line is, the Sox know they need to convert here (whether we are speaking to Harper or MM).They are willing to spend a lot. I think they'll surprise many. At the same time, and given JR's involvement specifically, they are very much focused on not spending a dollar more than they have to. As it absolutely should be. We will see what Phili drums up and they're the linchpin in the sweepstakes, but it doesn't seem the Sox have been pushed to increase their offer into the mid-higher range of what they're willing to spend. Sox will not bid against themselves.

Nightengale, Merkin, DVS, Garfein, Levine, a few hours from now: Per a source, the White Sox are NOT putting a full court press on for Machado, nor do they have any edge. Their pursuit has been described as a "half court press", or by some, as little as a 2-3 zone.

Just wait until Passan tweets out "The White Sox and Machado has agreed in principle to an 8 year deal" and then Nightengale fires back with "No deal has been reached yet". We will all lose our shit.

ban-able offense imo

Seeing You've chosen to ignore content by peavy44. has really given me life.

Some douchebag

I was really starting to get annoyed that we weren't talking more about the cardinals chances with Goldschmidt I'm glad he brought it up

I know more about it than Dave does

I would love for there to be a basic literacy and writing test that must be passed prior to registering for this site.

I see it's time to dunk on Rick Hahn because of some conflincting tweets, and guess what? I saw Rick Hahn at a grocery store today. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him about the ongoing Manny Machado negotiations. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

So let's summarize the positives so far: 1. Chili's source said that Machado loved the Chicago visit and wanted to sign with the Sox (the same source that had the Herrera scoop). 2. Sox sign two of Machado's closest friends in Alonso and Jay. One of them happens to be the brother of his wife. 3. A Dodgers insider said he talked to one of Manny's former teammates, and that teammate said he thinks Manny will sign with the Sox. 4. Bucket came here and told us to relax because the Sox were VERY LIKELY going to get this done. 5. WSD has confirmed via his sources that the Sox are indeed in a very good spot to sign Manny. 6. We all know that we have the space to spend big, and Y2Jimmy0 recently reminded us that the Sox are not being cheap. 7. raBBit seems very optimistic lately, which is different than how he felt prior to this past week.

Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. 😆

I’m here for the nostalgia

Bro.. please just stop. Log off and forget your username and password and never come back.. Sincerely, SoxTalk