Dick Allen

I was riding my bike along the lake many years ago back when Kendall took up boxing. He was running along the lake on the south side with no shirt on. He is a specimen. His waist looked like it was about 18 inches and his shoulders looked like they were about 80 inches.

The only thing I can think of is maybe they think teams like the White Sox and the Phillies if they lost out on Harper and Machado would be the best match to dump a an undesired contract or two for less than what they are being asked for now

I found this guy. He is in his early 20s. An Indiana grad living in Chicago. Looks like he has some connection with Anaheim with another twitter account. So I am guessing he is either related to or in some way knows someone with the Angels who gave him the Bour stuff. As to Harper, the same guy may have told him he is going to the Dodgers based on opinion or fact. But I would think if an Angel employee knew, it would be more well known.

If they had to reject outright every rumor that came out, they wouldn’t have time to go to the bathroom.

I wonder if they tried to sell Harper on Gio and Lopez as 2 main cogs in the rotation of.a multiple championship run. He probably has a take on them.

I think this write up is spot on. https://www.blogabull.com/2018/12/11/18133119/chicago-bulls-john-paxson-jim-boylen-mutiny

Which is the complete opposite of what your solid source originally said.

Twitter is BS. Facebook is where its at.

If he ultimately signs somewhere else many White sox fans will feel silly. I re upped my small ticker plan today as it was the very last day I could, just on the off chance they sign one of these guys. But if there is no decent improvement in 2019, I will not re new anymode.

Maybe he knows something, maybe he doesn't. It could be he heard the Bour stuff, doesn't really have a continuing solid source but took a shot to remain relevant. Or he could be Magic Johnson and knew Bour early because maybe the Dodgerz kicked the tires. It could be anything but I don't know why it would be so important for a guy to make sure he gets credit if he wants to remain anonymous.

Everyone wants to be like the Cubs or Astros. The Cubs back up catcher had a 0.0 fWAR, the Astros was Brian McCann, he put up a .0.5, and paid a little more than $2.5 million. A lot of teams can't sign a good back up catcher.

I am for that, but in their defense, sometimes you watch how they are caught and you have no idea they caught all of the plate until you see the graphic.

The Sox should trade for Yonder Alonso. He is Machado's brother in law.

Aren't you a bit hypocritical considering your stance on Bryce Harper, despite his defensive metrics?

My take was fine. He put up a 1.5 fWAR in 2017. That is worth $2.5 million. He still has another year of arb. If he sucks, so what? Most back up catchers suck. Since 2015 according to fangraphs, his defense has always been positive. Steamer projects about a half a WAR as a part timer. Right in line. And yes, if your team needs to add about 34 wins to make the playoffs, freaking out about a back up catcher is psycho.

The team was 62-100, and people are upset about a back up catcher.

He is good defensively and put up a 1.6 fWAR in 2017 playing 106 games. He controls the running game, and he's a good framer. It's a decent buy low gamble. If he doesn't hit, he still makes a pretty good back up catcher for his work behind the plate. He's also arb eligible another season, so if he breaks out, they have some control. Grandal would have been nice, but you are looking at having him play an over 30 season for shits and giggles before you are hoping to compete. Who knows what happens then? He may still be great like Carlton Fisk, he may fall apart like Brian McCann, Jonathan Lucroy, and a few others.

They went from 66 to 80 wins, obviously didn't lose too much money as their owner said he was prepared to spend stupid money. 80 is far more attractive than 62. At least you can see real light at the end of the tunnel. That included a collapse. So their projection is probably still up.

But all the info we have really, is based on reports that contradict themselves almost daily. For each report he is a lock to go to the White Sox, there is a report basically saying there is no chance. I do think Lillian may be on to something though. Of all the teams mentioned to be in on him big time, at least with a couple it may be fake Boras news. To me the worst case scenerio has Harper to the Cubs, Machado to NYY. Another bad one would be if LAD and the Cubs were fake and Machado went to the Yankees and Harper to PHI.

The dragging out is what is irritating. When the Sox signed Albert Belle, we pretty much found out about it the night before it was announced. I remember Ed Farmer was a guest on a radio talk show, and he was confirming he was told it was a done deal. Abreu was pretty much the same way. For the Sox to win this, it will require a winning bid and a long drawn out process, something we haven't seen. If their rebuild is banking on getting one of these guys, not getting him especially since it's only for money and a 2nd round pick in Harper's case, would seem like a gigantic setback.

I wouldn't say silly is accurate, but there probably is a bit more optimism than there should be, especially if you are optimistic enough that if he goes somewhere else you are going to be really pissed off.

Actually it was Eduardo Perez who was laughed at for saying White Sox by Bustner Olney and someone else. He basically said it was like ARod going to the Rangers, they aren't going to win anything, and it was on MLBN. The fact is, money usually wins out at the end. If the Sox offer the most they will probably win. No one saw ARod to Texas coming. No one saw Pujols to the Angels coming. Everyone was convinced Cano would stay with the Yankees, let alone go to Seattle. So it's feasible the Sox could win the bidding. Whether the Sox will offer significantly more, it seems doubtful. If winning is very important, trusting RH and KW to win will probably be a stretch, considering he can go to teams that either are already winning or have a better history of doing so.

There is no doubt he has an added benefit to the White Sox other than playing that most of the big boys don’t need. There are others in the Sox boat, but they would never and could never pay him what it will take. I am sure the Sox will have to pay a tax for not being a very desirable destination at the moment.

Why are you so worried about it!? You won’t be writing the checks. It isn’t going to ruin the team, they are one of the worst in baseball. This kid just turned 26. Had a bad year and still put up almost a .900 OPS. And he is left handed. He should be your dream. If somehow they do sign him, enjoy it. There is no need to fret. JR won’t go broke, and he will most likely pay for himself, even if somehow his age 25 season is his new norm.

Nicky played on an under 18 team with Harper. Machado was also on the team.