SoxBlanco

Madrigal? (I agree that Machado is a better fit based on our plethora of outfield prospects)

Sounds like Steve Summers read Dan Clark’s tweet.

Seems like conflicting reports. Your source first said that Heyward and Schwarber “will be dealt”. But now your source is claiming there’s a chance they might not be able to unload Heyward. Sounds to me like this is nothing new at all. The Cubs would like to move Heyward in an attempt to sign Harper, but they might not be able to.

I agree with you. I’m just not sure when they should officially offer that max amount. There is almost 100% certainty that whatever their initial offer is, Manny will come back and ask for more, using the other teams as leverage. So are they going to reach that max offer at some point during negotiations no matter what? Or do you call their bluff at some point? I guess that’s why I’m not the one being paid to make these decisions.

Ok, then what if Manny’s camp comes back and says that they told Philadelphia the same thing and Phili upped their offer to $425. At what point do you think you are bidding against yourself?

I’m curious as to how everyone thinks the Sox should handle negotiations. Let’s say they truly believe the Yankees will offer around $300 million. They want to beat that significantly, so they offer $360 million (a 20% higher offer). Then Manny’s agent comes back and says that the Yankees are willing to spend $350 million, and Manny will choose NY if the money is only $10 million apart. What do you do if you’re Hahn?

I’m torn on Covey. My gut says he’s better suited for a relief role where he doesn’t have to face guys more than once, but he looked so good for that stretch last year.

And if 5 or 6 of our prospects hit, it’ll be very nice to have Harper or Machado on the team.

Are there any good examples of guys in the majors now who were drafted out of high school as raw athletes and struggled for a few years in rookie ball before starting to take off? I’m quoting you, but this is a question for anyone. I only recently started following prospects and minor league affiliates, so my knowledge is limited.

McDonald’s seems unlikely as well. Although, Boras could probably get him a $700 per hour contract running the drive-through window.

My son is 3 years old. He will be a Sox fan no matter what happens.

One of my best friends is a Tigers fan. Those years without a title still haunt him. I know for a fact he would choose option #2.

I would rather have one World Series, followed by 50 straight seasons of 60-win baseball than 50 straight playoff appearances with no championships. In other words, #2 without a doubt.

Wanting to play for the Dodgers automatically means he wants to play on the West Coast?

Or somebody in Manny's camp leaked that in an attempt to get the Sox/Phillies to increase their offer.

So if Machado goes to the Yankees, and the Dodgers aren't able to move some pieces around to make it work, where do you see Harper going?

If the Yankees are offering 8 for 300, my guess is that we would have to do better than 10 for 350. The Yankees offer would be a higher AAV.

It's honestly tough to say. You would possibly lose one of the teams interested, but the team that misses out on Machado could be desperate to land Harper. For example, if Machado picks Philadelphia, I think the White Sox would increase their offer to Harper. They need one of them.

I completely forgot Polo was out. Thanks for catching that. I’m really excited to see how Gonzalez and Rutherford do in AA this year.

I hear ya. I actually forgot that he said Machado would be in town until Wednesday. I thought he just said Machado would spend Tuesday in Chicago.

Machado could have departed for New York last night after spending the day in Chicago.

What is the probability, in your mind, that we sign at least one of them?

You know what I did NOT hear from Princess Dye first? ?

If we sign the New York Yankees, we would be financially crippled. Let's hope we only sign Machado.

Sorry if I missed it in this thread, but did you hear anything about today? Was he definitely still in Chicago all day? Thanks for all the updates you’ve provided.