Lillian

The Sox had interest in acquiring him, via trade, for the purpose of letting him get comfortable with the organization. This is a completely different scenario. They would be paying him a huge amount of money, for a couple years, which are not within the projected window of contention. This would be extremely foolish. If he insists on an opt out, any earlier than 4 years, the front office should not agree. To me, it's much the same as the argument over where he would be willing to play. As long as he agreed to play 3RD, he would add great value. If he had insisted on SS, where he is not an elite defender, that could have been a reason to pass on the acquisition. In other words, if he can come to the Sox and help them win, when and how it seems plausible, fine. If not, I'd pass.

OK, I'll contribute to your Psychological exercise: If Mr. Machado is still pining for the Yankees, then I'm over pining for him. If the Sox have actually offered him 8 years and $250 Million +, and certainly extended themselves in other ways to make him feel comfortable, yet he still doesn't want to come to the South Side, I'd be ok with just moving on. This team is not going to compete for the Division, in 2019, with Manny, even if they sign him. I'm personally ok with one more year of the rebuild and one more Draft, after this year's #3 pick. Therefore, I would suggest the following: 1) Trade Alonso and Jay, at the nearest opportunity, even if the Sox have to pay part of the contracts. Neither has any long term usefulness, on the contending team, starting in 2020. 2) Give the outfield corners' playing time to Eloy and Palka, who might also spend a little time DH'ing or spelling Jose at 1ST, while he DH's. If Palka hits enough, he could be a useful piece going forward, given his age and lack of service time. He might ultimately be a first baseman, or a DH. That left handed bat can always be useful, if he gets on base enough. 3) Let Engel start the year in CF, in order to shore up the questionable outfield defense. Once Luis Gonzalez, who is the oldest and probably the closest to Major League ready prospect, is ready, bring him up and let him vie for the position, until Robert is ready, in a couple of years. Monitor the progress of the promising corner outfielders, to see who might ultimately emerge as a viable candidate. Adolfo, Rutherford, Basabe and Walker all have a decent chance of developing into valuable pieces, but playing a corner, they need to hit. Gonzalez may end up moving to a corner, when Robert is ready, and having been brought up early could help to determine if his bat plays well enough for him to fill a corner OF slot. 4) Move Moncada to 3RD and give him a year to get comfortable there. Yolmer goes back to his natural position at 2ND, which he can very capably hold down until Madrigal is ready, hopefully next year. 5) Don't acquire any more veteran starting pitchers, but instead give the starts to the youngsters in an attempt to find out who can fill the rotation, behind Kopech, Cease and Rodon, starting in 2020. There are enough promising arms in the organization to fill the staff, starting with Lopez, Giolito, Hansen, Lambert, Banuelos and Covey. Fulmer may even finally figure it out. Hopefully, a few will emerge and take the pressure off the need to retain Rodon, on an expensive free agent contract, in 2022. 6) Save the financial resources to extend the younger guys, who will hopefully emerge as solid core pieces. Use the rest of the money to fill any holes which still exist starting in 2020. 7) Let's see which of our Minor League players take a big enough step forward, and begin to use that farm system capital as trading chips, after they have established decent Minor League resumes. 8 Mix the newly acquired, veteran bullpen arms with the best relief prospects, in hopes of sorting out who might be counted on to handle the load, starting in 2020. Guys like Burdi, Ruiz, Hamilton, Tyler Johnson and Fry might be good enough to make up the bulk of the relief core, after Herrera and Colome exit. 9) I don’t know what to think about catcher, as there is a good chance that the Sox could select one with their #3 pick, in this June’s Draft. If Rutschman is available at #3, I suspect that the Sox would grab him. Then too, it will be interesting to see what kind of year Langeliers has. If they take someone else, like Vaughn, then I assume that both Zevala and Collins remain the prime candidates, starting in 2020. There, I feel better now. Thank you.

The two instances, in which he kicked the first basemen, in the Post Season. Throwing his bat at the third baseman, after being brushed back, by the pitcher. It is suggested that he meant to throw the bat at the pitcher, but it went to third, instead, which does not excuse the behavior. Getting all bent out of shape, when Donaldson tagged him out, while he was attempting to avoid the tag. Apparently, Manny thought that Josh tagged him too hard, which did not appear to be the case. The dirty slides at second base, which have exceeded even the old rules, regarding intentionally interfering with the fielder. I don't know, what else? I'm not trying to crucify the guy, or defend him. I'm just asking what kind of guy is he?

Yes, here is an account of what happened, just for the record: "But it was in his first month with the Giants that the only truly disturbing Pierzynski incident took place. After he was hit in the groin by a foul ball during a spring training game, Pierzynski reportedly kneed trainer Stan Conte in the groin when Conte asked him how he felt. Pierzynski, who previously denied the incident took place, now says he kneed Conte to give himself some breathing room after three times asking Conte to let go of his chest protector and back away. Giants sources say the story took place as originally reported."

That allegation has been vehemently denied. I don't know what the truth is. Let's leave A. J. out of this discussion. I'm not the one who brought him into it. Whether, or not, A. J. was a jerk, or a club house cancer, is not the point. The question is; what kind of person is Machado? One has to wonder if his character is dampening interest in him. Why were the Yankees' brass divided on the decision to pursue him? Why did the Dodgers not have any interest in bringing him back, after he spent half of last season with them?

Perhaps A. J. was more of a jerk than I thought. In any case, that does not however, make Machado any less of one.

I think the exact Ozzie quote was: "If he's on the other team, you hate him. If he's on your team, ... you hate him, a little less". Comedic timing was one of Ozzie's gifts.

Touche! LOL. Aside from "being left handed," A. J. was a very smart player, with a high baseball acumen. He could grate on opposing player's nerves, and I know that he had a reputation of being "one of the most hated players in baseball". If I had to sum up my impression of the difference between the two players, in respect to their character, I would say that A. J. seemed to enjoy playing a villain, but Machado seems to actually be one. With A. J. it was often a "work," in the tradition of Pro Wrestling, something for which he had a fascination. I think he enjoyed the theatrics. By contrast, Machado seems to be serious about being a jerk, at times. At any rate, it's all very subjective.

I just watched the "Manny Machado being Manny" video again. If the Sox don't sign him, watching that video might be a good way to get over the disappointment. He can be a hard guy to like, at times. I appreciate guys who play the game hard and play to win, but some of the stuff he has done is hard to appreciate.

Machado is not that good of an on base % hitter. The OBP projections from FanGraphs and Steamer have Eloy starting out at about where Manny is now. I suspect that Eloy will surpass Manny, in a couple of years, in that one category. I'm guessing that Eloy will ultimately be a .300 hitter, with an OBP closer to .400. However, of course, it's too early to tell.

Yes, and I suspect that Eloy is going to emerge as the stronger leader, in any case. He seems to be such a magnetic figure, with an infectious personality. If he becomes the star, most people envision, he will likely become the team leader. He is very likable and would make a terrific role model. He is "the bess".

I assumed that it was probably about the "dirty player" moniker and, or his comments about not being "Johnny Hustle". Those couple of plays at first base, where he kicked the first baseman's ankle in one instance and stepped on another's foot, looked really bad. I have been concerned about his character, from the start, because the Sox have a lot of young Latin players. It would be a shame if he were to become their role model. They all seem to be such good kids, and hopefully they would not be negatively influenced by any one player, with questionable character. To me, that might be the biggest benefit to having both Alonso and Jay around. They are purportedly really great guys and have mentored Manny, for a long time. They would likely keep him in line.

Never mind, I found this article, which I can read, without subscribing to The Athletic:, although it doesn't really give a specific description of the Dodgers' disillusionment, with Machado: https://www.dodgersnation.com/rosenthal-dodgers-out-on-harper-machado-and-explains-their-spending-practices/2019/02/02/

What was it about Machado, that caused the Dodgers to "become less enamored of him"? Was it what we all saw, during the Playoffs?

OK. You convinced me. Good Night.

Because the person might have been given permission, but not to disclose who they are, or their source. At this point, no one can point a finger at anyone. Look at us. A few of us are speculating about who, and the rest of us think that's crazy. None of us know anything, just wild guesses. Again, complete plausible deniability. But again, the question is; Why do this?

LOL. Well, if it's a prankster, the prank is working. I'm not staying up all night. I'll just wait til the morning, and likely not be greeted with any "real" news.

Yes, but wouldn't that entail disclosing their identity? They wouldn't want to make this official. This way, it's totally unofficial and anonymous. Hell, I don't know. It is weird. If turns out to be true, then I will be very curious as to who this person is, which I suspect that we would never know.

I'm just trying to attach a motive to someone, regarding tweeting such a message. It's anonymous, so that pretty much negates the idea of an attention seeker. Why would someone do this, and who is the most likely author?

Setting aside all of the other factors, which would be part of any consideration for one of J. R's sons to tweet that, can you see how they might desire to anonymously and secretly provide some good news to the fan base?

Well, they aren't putting their name to it. That's just some of us speculating. They have complete plausible deniability.

I don't know. I was trying to figure that out. So what do you think? Is this some kid, playing a prank?

I wasn't referring to Jerry Reinsdorf, but rather one of his sons.

Tell us more. And, would it be permissible to disclose that? Also, would it be disadvantageous for the Sox?

I'm buying it and still think that this burner Twitter account is the Reinsdorfs. As I said earlier; perhaps Machado's team was trying to maximize the leverage of Sox Fest, knowing that the front office would have loved to have been able to answer all of the fans' questions about Manny, in the affirmative. Now that Sox Fest is over and the Sox didn't give in to Lozano's demands, I think Manny signs soon. The Pederson trade has other contingencies, as we have discussed, on both sides. My only question is; Would such a tweet be in violation of the CBA?