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They still need a backup catcher if they sign Grandal. It would likely mean Castillo is traded. Total speculation but they could use Alonso and Beef Wellington to pitch Manny. If that fails they pitch Grandal with Alonso and if successful they ship Castillo out to a catcher needy team.

He doesn’t have an extra year. He has a vesting option with a buyout. If he sucks and/or we don’t need him he’s not going to get that extra year.

Palka also probably already in a a corner until you call Eloy up if you think about it. Can flip Yonder later to free up the logjam.

Yeah, I don’t get the gloom. What if they hold onto Abreu until this situation is resolved? Can probably flip Alonso or worst case eat a small amount and ship him. We’re not taking on an anchor hahaha.

It’s been speculated Abreu might have more value than we’re thinking. If that’s the case I think we’d be surprised by the return.

I’m not saying it makes us more likely to get Machado. I’m saying he wasn’t exactly a huge WAR benefit last year even being better than Yonder. We have no idea what Abreu can net, but if it’s better than we’re expecting (think Abrue + for a CF stopgap) then we’re potentially a better team already. And we can deploy the $7-$8 million in the market (on, say Ottavino) then we might be a better team already.

This also saves the Sox $7-$8 million if Abreu is traded, allows them to get prospect or ML value (if Abreu can still net it) and who knows, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he produces similar value to Abreu.

I mean he’s light years better on defense than what we’ve had. That’s kind of what most smart teams go for in a backup.

Did Charlie Morton open the floodgates??

I've lived in Manhattan, San Diego, D.C, downtown Chicago, and a few other places . Philly is 100% a crappy place, LA is overrated and nowhere near as gorgeous as the rest of SoCal, but for a star like Harper/Machado you really can't deny the allure, and NY while gross is an amazing place to be as a young person (if you can afford it). Truly can do anything you want at any time and the food/nightlife/options are crazy. I love Chicago and live here for a reason. But if you embrace NY it can be a really cool place.

Nightengale has notoriously leaked a lot of stuff for Kenny in the past.

I think JD was a bit different, if anything he got a contract well below what he deserved, so the waiting was justified. $400 million offers will evaporate quickly as contenders have to find other ways to fill needs, 3-5 teams aren't going to wait around and hold 1/4-1/5 of their payroll hostage. If anything the contenders for Harper/Machado have already started dropping as trades/signings happen (corbin/goldy).

The Cards president literally came out and said we're comfortable that this is the starting lineup for opening day. Goldy was already adding a lot of salary and they're up against the lux tax and want to re-sign him long term. He's not going to St. Louis.

Soo peavy44 was right?? About the not liking Philly thing.

Yeah, but there's also WAY more people within that area than between Dallas/Houston...