Look at Ray Ray Run

He's not a good manager, and I'm not signing a manager for marketability. Madden the most overrated hack since LaRussa.

I said it before, but Lopez's second half was the most exciting thing to happen to that team last year. His September he threw 33 innings, struck out 35, OBAA of .164 and an ERA of 1.09. The improved strike out rate his final 8 starts showed the advancement of his secondaries as the year went on. I'm excited for Reynaldo this year. He also had a FIP under 2.8.

Madden is an asshat.

I honestly don't understand how their roster was better last year - not sure why people continue to say that. Who have they lost that was worth anything? Their roster is better this year because they're a year older, and because all they "lost" was Avi and Davidson who are bad.

Yes, he is different. He lies to his clients, and plays two face. Lozano is about as shitty of a human as you'll find. Give this a read if you're interested: https://deadspin.com/dan-lozano-albert-pujolss-superagent-king-of-sleaze-5861982

They can't "walk out." It's literally illegal and a breach of contract which would void all their abilities to negotiate.

Who cares. Lozano just wants the most money; Lozano is the biggest dirt ball in the agent world which is truly saying something. He's not going to leave commission on the table because he got mad at the White Sox. He knows he leaks bullshit all the time. None of this is personal.

White Sox are projected to win 70 games and be 4th in their division - projected to win 27 less games than the Indians. Phillies are projected to win 85 games, and finish 4 wins back of 1st place.

No.

Bowden said he couldn't confirm it with Boras or the Phillies GM, but he heard it from other people and that he received short term offers from the Dodgers and Giants, but it looks like he's going to get at least 10 years and 300 million from the Phillies.

He said he heard it from a source; he wasn't regurgitating the report from Martin.

You can't use year to year defensive metrics to determine the abilities of a player due to a lot of factors; mainly being put out opportunities can vary significantly year to year in the outfield.

Everyone has been wrong this off-season, but for Rosenthal who just hasn't said anything really. This is the first time he's said it's almost done, and as I said... no reason not to believe him over most of the dopes we've quoted here the past month.

The exact quote is as follows: "I keep hearing there's a lot of momentum and traction here on [Bryce Harper] going and signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. He could be rounding third and heading home shortly." -@JimBowdenGM says Bryce Harper could be making his announcement very soon. pic.twitter.com/WxIFU27…

Eh, Engel is a top 3 defensive cfer in baseball. I'm not sure I would say Robert is a better defender at all.

Yeah. Rounding third base would seem to mean years and dollars are set but details are still finalizing. Also seems like a lot of smoke the past two days and Bowden just lit a bonfire.

Gonzalez is who I'm talking about. Said it in my edit.

Yes but given his past GM local, it would make sense that he would have connections in philly. I believe Bowden here. He has zero reason to lie.

Pal, this isn't how it works. The Phillies have had the best offer for some time now I'd imagine. Other teams havent been willing to beat it. They're not suddenly gonna be like oh shit... now hes gonna sign so we might as well offer more than we planned on offering. This is how things leak... someone formidable says it's getting close, and then bang... final.

Roberts range of outcomes is probably the widest. He has the most variance. He could be a bonafide mlb superstar or he could be a guy who never ever hits consistently enough for average to make an impact offensively. His defense and speed is so good that he can impact a game but his hit took needs to improve and he needs reps for that. Health needs to be better. I think the white Sox safest mlb prospect after eloy is Luis. I honestly think he has around a 50% chance of being a 3+ WAR player for multiple years. He has no holes in his game. He reminds me of the guys like Jose Ramirez who produce produce produce in the minors but doesnt have any really load tools so hes underrated and underappreciated. Gonzalez is a straight up baller.

Bowden isnt in bed with the agents. I believe Bowden's connection is in the front office - likely the Phillies. Bowden I believe because of his connections with front office people.

I have said from day 1 that Harper wasnt the target and never made sense. Sox were kicking the tires but it never made sense. They wanted to trade for manny. Had discussed interest in machado for two+ years. He was their clear and obvious target but if something crazy happened they wanted to be in on Harper at least. This is all coming together like last offseason it was clear and obvious that jd was going to Boston but fake stories popped up over and over. Sox were Machado's clear destination but it didnt mean dollars weren't gonna be milked by Lozano. Looks like this is wrapped up by Monday, finally.

The irony is that Bowden tweet is probably the most substantial thing said by an insider yet and no one is talking about it. Bowden says this is pretty close to done. Yet... a bunch of random Twitter dorks stir up more discussion with their fake takes.

Yes, the key word is prospects. Manny machado, Tim anderson and yoan moncada were/would be our only average or above average MLB players from last year. Theres zero reason to worry about prospects when signing machado. Yoan was the #1 prospect in baseball a year ago and now you're talking about moving him because of another prospect who wasnt as highly acclaimed. A lot of the prospects wont work out. The Sox are hoping to get 4 position players out of the bunch and probably 3 starters and more relievers. That would be considered a big success. Maybe 2 additional useful pieces that arent real impact guys.

Hmmm interesting. Phillies always seemed like the logical place.