iWiN4PreP

Yeah, we have a new clown here. Nice going attention whore Chilli!

I don't believe it one bit and you guys shouldn't either. The logic: Nationals have moved on. They have their OF and their OF of the future, and they purchased Corbin this off season. Boras is using this to try to get some market going or get the contracts higher for Harper from the phillies/White sox. Bowden is shit.

It's getting to be like FOX News up in here with the amount of supposedly 'credible' twitter accounts completely rejecting the idea of the White Sox being "in" on these guys. How these guys can keep their credibility with so many obvious reports that the White Sox are in on these guys is besides me.

Not sure if been posted yet, but... CLE seems less likely yo trade Kluber/Bauer. "According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the chances of the Indians trading Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer "seem to diminish by the day." The Indians were known to be shopping the two star right-handers at the outset of this offseason, but the club has managed to cut payroll by other means and Rosenthal hears from a rival executive that the Cleveland front office is currently more focused on acquiring "cheap roster fillers" than a blockbuster trade involving a starting pitcher. Rosenthal notes that "it's doubtful the Indians would make Kluber or Bauer available in July if they are in contention." Odds are they will again run away with the American League Central this year, especially with Kluber and Bauer still on board." I wonder what this could mean for the possible suitors like Sand Diego, LAD, and the Yankees. If Yankees were expecting to trade Andujar in a trade for Kluber or Bauer maybe their forced to keep him. If Dodgers were planning on Kluber/Bauer and Pollock, maybe they decide to go Harper. If SD wanted Kluber/Bauer maybe they go after Harper. Obviously all speculation and most scenarios don't make a ton of logical sense, but just having offseason fun here. Additionally, it looks like CLE will keep their team together, which I think is a WIN for Sox fans as if they were going to trade Kluber for say, Verdugo ++ that would have made them much better in the future which is our goal.

There's no chance Machado waits until April. There's an extremely small probability he waits until February. He has his three suitors, it's a game of balance now of who offers what he wants and where he wants and that shouldn't take too long. Harper could wait longer, especially since his market is f*cked.

The plan was always for Machado to sign in early January (first or second week). I see no reason why this would drag out. White Sox have him and he's signing this week or next IMO. At worst, this is a last ditch ploy to the other teams to up their offers. At best, it's realistic and we basically have him signed now.

I'd flip Machado and Harper. Harper has an insanely good OBP while Machado seems to be a better pure hitter. Get Harper on base more and let Machado bring them in. I'd also probably put Machado at #3 and Abreu at #4.

Yes and it was magnified by 100 when we realized that the market for the two whales was extremely limited: Machado (White Sox and Phillies with a distant Yankees third) and Harper (White Sox and Phillies).

I said in a Machado thread about a week ago that we are getting both players. Nothing has changed since then. I was initially worried about hte Clarke report, but it made no sense since the Yankees can't compete with us financially (or at least won't compete financially) over Machado. I considered Machado as good as ours as far as 10 days ago or so. Harper, by all indications, should be ours as well. There's no other suitor outside of Philly. We're getting both of them boys and gals!

So on one hand we had a tweet yesterday saying we have offered only 7 year contracts and then today we have a tweet saying we haven't offered a contract to Harper? Maybe I'm not analyzing the necessary details of what a 'formal' offer is and such, but this seems idiotic. This gamesmanship of leaked tweets and such is at the height of ridiculousness. I'd hope that players, agents, and front office people are much smarter and honest than to be swayed by leaks like this. It's hilariously simple-minded.

Yeah, can't be true. You don't get in the position that Hahn and co. are in and expect to sign these guys to contracts with max 7 years when acknowledging historical trends of similar free agent signings. The entire off-season is hinging on these two whales for the White Sox.

Few notes: 1) Only way Nats are back in on Harper is if the $$$ has been dramatically reduced and us fans are over projecting things. I could see it be possible if it is indeed true that the White Sox aren't offering big. I find this line of thinking very doubtful tho, can't imagine the White Sox not committing here when they knew what they were getting into. As long as Harper is getting the big contract that everybody expects, he's not going to the Nats. 2) If the White Sox are indeed offering poor offers, that's a slap in the face to the fans and shows how piss poor this organization is. That remains to be seen, however, as I still feel confident that they will strike.

The only teams that will give Harper the contract he is projected are the White Sox and the Phillies. NO other teams are possibilities. The Dodgers have a very tiny 2% chance of doing something completely illogical based on their great analytical success as of recently, but not likely (and they've even stated as much in recent rumors). If Harper doesn't sign with the Phillies/White Sox it will be because he had to get very creative with a significantly lower than projected contract, but I can't imagine that possibility since he was long projected to get the biggest MLB contract ever and I'm sure Boras wants that. The oddball would be if Phillies/White Sox aren't offering that much, maybe they are playing the market and offering 300 mill or something.

Precisely. Even if we grant that Harper does increase them a certain (small) percentage, we are talking about a $400 million contract. A small percentage increase vs. an albatross of a contract is not a win here. Compare to the significantly larger percentage increase for a team like the White Sox and we see why it would only make sense for us.

I doubt that.. the cubs are a juggernaut. Sure it might help them reel in a small percentage more, but compare the percentage increase with a team like the White Sox.

2012 to 2018 analysis of Harper vs. Stanton : https://mlbcomparisons.com/bryce-harper-vs-giancarlo-stanton-comparison/ Closer than I thought, but Stanton has 26.7 WAR and Harper has 22.2 WAR. Stanton, after an MVP caliber season, was traded for nothing to the Yankees to get out of his salary proving that even hitting like an MVP can't equal the value of the contract. Wherever Harper signs, it's almost a 100% guaranteed lose on performance value. There's no reason for Dodgers/Cubs/Yankees to ever go down this route for Harper. That's why his only market is us (White Sox) and the Phillies. Both teams who are fortunate to have a ton of salary room AND need the marketing of him. For those afraid of the Cubs here, you can almost guarantee that if they sign him, it's an overall loss on their value immediately and would be the final nail in their coffin when it comes to FA signings (heyward / Darvish, etc.) The only scary thing for us W'Sox fans might be if Harper decides to do a shorter term contract in which case it opens up his market, but I doubt he takes a smaller contract since he's been projected for so long now to get the biggest contract in MLB history.

My guess is that he waits until Machado signs, thus putting even more pressure on phillies/sox (whomever doesn't get Machado) to ante up for Harper. I'd agree that the early opt outs would be a big + for him. He is a very special case where his marketing buzz would be incredibly beneficial to teams with no buzz (White Sox), but his overall play is nowhere near worth a 400 mill contract. I mean, as a fan, I want him on my team 100% and couldn't care about the money, but if I was a business man in an organization such as the Dodgers, there's no way in hell I'd go and get him. Just look @ Stanton's value for comparision (and Stanton IMO is a better producer than Harper has been recently, at least 2 years ago). Stanton signed that huge contract, slugged some 50+++ home runs, and gets traded for nothing because his value is equal or worse than his contract. Harper is going to get a bigger contract than that AND likely produce less and may potentially be a liability on defense thus shoving him to 1b/DH. There's no winning in this contract for the big markets like Cubs/Dodgers/Yankees. The win comes from the marketability offset by teams like the White Sox and possibly the Phillies.

Harper meeting with Philly now is interesting. To me it kinda indicates his market isn't as hot as they thought it'd be. There is no market. We are the market (White Sox). Nats tapped out at 10/300 and went other ways. Dodgers/Cubs aren't realistic, no matter what fan boy dreams want to say. Both teams don't gain the marketing advantage that Harper brings and wouldn't be worth his value AND the cubs have serious financial issues while the Dodgers are more inclined to go other ways (Realmuto/Kluber/Pollock potentially). White Sox obviously would love Harper, but Harper probably doesn't want to be a W'Sox. Yankees don't need an OF and are even hesitant on signing Machado for a big contract. Their out. Phillies have the need like us and the money, but Harper apparently dislikes them more than the W'Sox. There is no market for Harper.

There is no chance he ends up on the Nats. They offered their original 10 yr 300 mil contract in the off season and he rejected it. They then went on to sign Corbin and others. Nats are out.

Only way I'd consider it is if we get one or both of Machado/Harper. If we don't get them, then there's absolutely no reason to go for an oft injured CF in decline for $$$. And still, the only way I'd get him is if he were cheaper than projected.

It's unfortunate to learn today that WSD is an insufferable donkey with a child's brain. Reading that barstool article almost made me throw up. He's on ignore for now on.

All that tweet is saying is : "According to what happened in USA, Machado is a Yankee" could be the same rumors from Dan Clarke, etc.

Just ask yourself what you'd want for Eloy in any potential trade. That is what the Reds and Reds fans would want for Senzel.

Huge advantages. For the players, they get reassurance of a contract + team while not having to play risk with the market. For teams, they get a better picture of their plans instead of being held ransom by the top players like Harper/Machado (Think: IF w'sox miss out on harper/machado, are their plans ruined for this offseason as they missed out on a number of FA's that could have helped them since they were focued on harper/machado). For the fans, sure you might miss the rumors, but I'm sick of the fake sources and rumors, and it's not like they won't be there still... there will still be free agents (without qualifying offers) and trades to be made.

This must mean that we are using up all of our financial resources to sign Harper and Machado this off season. Cool!