35thstreetswarm

For decades Hawk has been the voice of my favorite team in the world, and loved them as much as I did. That goes a long way. I still wish I could have heard him call the Paulie grand slam in Game 2 of the World Series.

I knew you would be on here gloating in the wake of this terrible news and you didn’t disappoint. This must be the best day of your year, you fake f***ing fan.

Are you seriously asking for citations to prove to you that there are times when the high bid wins a bidding war? If you’re looking for examples of free agents who signed for the best contract offered, I’d start with “all of them.”

No, the basics of the competing offers get out, too (as in the examples I gave). I did do my own research and found nothing at all - looks like I'm not alone. So I'm back to my original belief (also supported by simple logic) that nobody is giving up $20M because they like a team's "history." I'll be shocked if Machado or Harper take anything but the highest bid.

I don't know about that...the basic financial terms come out pretty regularly. Everyone knew how much the Tigers overpayed for Magglio, for example. The ins and outs of the Heyward deal were well publicized (and a good example where it appeared -- contrary to normal practice -- that he may have taken less money, though that turned out to not really be accurate).

So, I'm seeing the answer to my original question as: (1) nobody can come up with a single instance of a major free agent (not end-of-career short-term deals) turning down real money because of "history" or any other non-monetary considerations, but (2) lots of people are willing to repeat, without any evidence, the conventional wisdom that it happens all the time. Thanks!

But again, the question is where is the evidence any of this matters? Manny Machado is not a historian. He isn’t being asked to decide which team’s story is the coolest. If the Sox offer him the best contract it’s hard for me to believe he would leave millions of real, U.S. dollars on the table because of factors as “soft” as history or quality of narrative.

That's my understanding. I don't think Heyward is an example of a true "underpay."

I have an honest question for those of you who may follow free agent bidding wars/contract matters more closely than I do. Is there really evidence that big-time MLB free agents (not lower-value, end-of-career type guys) turn down money, and accept clearly lower dollar offers for non-monetary reasons? When has that actually happened? I ask because there is a prevailing belief among fans that we will have to "convince" big-name free agents to come here in some way beyond giving them the best monetary offer. As in, they have to believe in Kopech, they have to like the direction of the rebuild, etc. That seems dubious to me. I think the question of whether we get Manny Machado/Bryce Harper boils down to whether our FO is willing to outbid the competition, but I am open to being convinced otherwise.

Wow, you’re incredibly brave

Oh man, he tweeted about the "pussification of America?" That's more annoying than I thought.

I have become convinced that a significant number of posters here are a) young children; and/or b) Cub fan trolls. Looking at it this way helps me stay sane while I navigate my way to the informed commentary.

Awesome. Further confirmation that Hahn gets it.

Will be interesting to see if the DL stint delays the arrival of "September Sale."

So do I. I always assumed they were brought back in an ironic, "so dated and bad they're funny" kind of way. Only recently did I realize that the organization isn't joking.