SoxBlanco

You don’t have to explain the reasoning. I totally get what you are saying. I’m just saying that over the years, RBI has become its own “word” instead of a collection of letters. Even though we still read it as a collection of letters, it has become a single word. Same with ATM. We don’t say “Hey look, this place has three ATM over there.”

That’s exactly my point. If you are reading it as “R” instead of “runs”, then it is fine to put an “s” at the end of RBI.

DFA and RBI have become their own words, where you read them as letters, but together the letters make a single “word”. If you think RBI should never have an “s” after it, then you are always reading it as “runs batted in” instead of “ARE-BE-EYE”. And if that’s the case, then when it’s singular, you would say “he got a RBI” instead of “he got an RBI”, and that would be ridiculous.

Someone who thinks Wheeler is just taking off as a dominant pitcher and wants to save $10M per year for a guy who has 700 fewer innings on his arm. I’m not saying I’d prefer Wheeler, but I don’t think it’s a crazy question.

Would any team want to pay him over $6 million?

Would you rather sign Wheeler for 5 years at $105M, or Strasburg for 5 years at $155M?

BB, I’m hearing the deal is “close” but “complicated”. You hearing something similar?

I’d be very pleased. The people who would be upset are the same people who would complain if we let the Twins outbid us. “We should have just paid him what he wanted...why are we being cheap?!?!” Can’t make those people happy.

Does your gut say something will be official today, in terms of an addition?

I think we all find it interesting. But you said that you think he was told to write that. Why would anybody tell him to write that?

This is pretty much exactly how I feel.

But why would he be told to do so? The White Sox don't want a repeat of last year, so I can't figure out why they would tell Merkin to add that part about Wheeler. The only explanation I can come up with is that the Sox are purposely leaking Wheeler stuff while they go stealth mode on Cole or Strasberg. But that seems very unlikely.

I kind of agree with both you guys. I don't think he did it to generate clicks, but I also don't believe he had any inside knowledge. I think he heard the smoke surrounding Wheeler and the White Sox just like we did and decided to add that part to his piece.

I remember that from last year. The site was down for a couple weeks, if I recall correctly.

True. Although I read the article, and I wouldn't have if there was no mention of Wheeler. (I agree that it was not done to generate clicks)

Thank you, sir.

Which move?

Right, but that doesn't really answer my question. If teams never confirm when a player is placed on waivers, and only confirm it when that player is formally removed from the roster, then why would Merkin feel the need to add that sentence with the word "although" in front of it?

Then what was the point of Merkin adding this to his article?... "Yolmer Sanchez was placed on outright waivers by the White Sox, as first reported Monday by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, although the team has not made any announcement or confirmed the news."

Check out my post above yours. The Sox actually haven't officially announced the Yolmer news, so that could be the answer right there. They might be waiting for something else to be official.

I just read the full Merkin article, and I may have answered my own question. He says the team has not made any announcement or confirmed the Yolmer news yet. Perhaps they are waiting for the Wheeler deal (or some other deal) to get finalized before confirming the Yolmer news.

It certainly seems that way, but why wouldn't the Sox just wait until a deal is official before pulling the trigger on the Yolmer thing?

That's how I read it.

Yeah, he does. He's been posting off and on over the past month. @raBBit, you like our chances at Wheeler?

Is this Bilek's way of saying this was a plant with the White Sox as the target audience?