Dick Allen

Alonso does. Probably Castillo does, but at least Castillo is a halfway decent catcher. I already said if he signs Machado, Alonso was a great trade, if he doesn't, it's laughable. But you can't continue to fill roster spots with his friends. He can make some new ones. The object if he signs will be to win, not what he will be doing after the game. One of the major guys quoted an exec wondering what happens if the Sox play starts going south after they signed Machado. He thought it could get ugly. But if friends are required, what if they suck? Are the White Sox stuck with them? What if it upsets Manny? The pitch should be to field the best team possible, not we'll just load it up with your friends. If Castillo and Alonso can't make him comfortable enough, it just shows how low the White Sox organization is regarded.

Being naive is loading up 3 or 4 precious roster spots to make someone feel happy. What if all those guys suck, and they need to be punted away? We can't make Manny unhappy. We already may require him to run to 1B, and maybe play 3B for his $300 million. Somehow Manny has done fine playing without Alonso, playing without Castillo, playing without Jones, playing without Britton. Make the best roster possible. This isn't the NBA where 3 superstar buddies make a title contender, and after Manny, at this point, all these guys are journeymen at best. Alonso and Castillo are enough friends unless his other friends can help the team actually win games. These guys are going to move on anyways in a year or maybe less. Then what? Do they have to find more friends? There are a few guys on the roster we better all hope he doesn't become friends with if he signs or Hahn will be handcuffed. One problem with signing a high profiled Boras client, is Boras becomes an unofficial assistant GM. That's nothing compared to this. Alonso can be Manny's jack Haley. That's plenty.

The White Sox don't have enough good players, and Manny's friends aren't good enough either. Exactly what happens if you lure Manny in with his buddies and suddenly his buddies get replaced? Manny's best buddy is Benjamin Franklin. Show him enough of those and you won't need one former Oriole.

Did you know Ribbie and Rhubarb are in the mascot HOF in Whiting, IN?

Manny Machado or not, I don't think re-uniting the Baltimore Orioles is a good way to rebuild.

Yes. I don’t know the exact figure but is around $15 million for ipension, health care etc. every team is charged the same. Cots estimated it was around &13.5 million in 2017.

Plus bonuses, and you have to add about $15 million for benefits.

Competitive Balance Tax

Theoretically not giving back Bailey’s money would have been worth the prospects Cincinnati gave up.

As long as it doesn't take you out of Machado. Absolutely. If you aren't going to get Harper, you may as well get some prospects.

It's been pretty well know from the beginning if the offers were similar, he' s going to the Yankees. So this isn't news at all.

If it's really about repairing an image, I would think chasing the money to play with a loser wouldn't help. Taking less would be the "honorable" thing to the masses. I really don't think his image is really that bad. He shouldn't have said what he said. His incidents during the playoffs shouldn't have happened, and he probably is an ass. But he is nowhere near Albert Belle's league when it comes to that. I would prefer he hustle. I don't see the harm in it. We expect more from NBA players than to run down the floor and back twice a night. Why can't we expect him to run some things out? But I prefer results even more. He would really help the rebuild. I would rather have Harper, but, and only a few people really know for sure, it appears he would rather play somewhere else. Do you give him $400 million with opt outs knowing he would rather be somewhere else?

There are very few people that really know what is going on.Anyone not directly involved, who claims they do is guessing. Right now all the speculation is chalk. Why wouldn’t anyone think he isn’t going to the Yankees? And if for some reason he didn’t, why wouldn’t the next logically spot be a place the owner said they might spend stupidly? Most insiders don’t like the White Sox chances because A. They suck, and B. This would be so out of character. Once they actually sign one of these types, Albert Belle over 20 years ago notwithstanding, they will be given a better shot in the future. i thought trading for Alonso meant the Sox were going to get him. It isn’t like them to spend $9 million on a prop. It still may play out. But of the people who would actually put info out on Twitter, no one has any idea yet.

Yeah I always get a kick out of body language comments. Manny and his wife are getting their asses kissed more than any of us could imagine. How could their body language be anything but great?

Most articles I read are not taking the White Sox very seriously with Machado or Harper. That could be good. That could be bad .

I am guessing Mannys wife probably prefers the White Sox because her brother is now here, but for how long? Manny most likely is Yankees. Maybe the compromise is taking the stupid money in Philadelphia.

Is the fact that most of the Phillies braintrust was in Baltimore when they drafted him good or bad?

Machado was to spend several hours visiting with Phillies officials. He and his wife, Yainee, were to have lunch in a suite overlooking the field and Machado's image on Phanavision. A tour of the clubhouse and other ballpark facilities was planned. The Phillies' welcoming party included Klentak, Kapler, managing partner John Middleton, club president Andy MacPhail, assistant general manager Ned Rice, hitting coach John Mallee and bench coach Rob Thomson. Surely, there would be a give and take, with Machado asking questions about the team's direction and team officials asking about the controversial "Johnny Hustle" comments that he made in October. Dinner, at an undisclosed location, was planned in the evening and Machado is scheduled to return home to Miami on Friday morning.

Portis out 2-4 weeks with an ankle sprain. The tank is on.

Sullivan's write up and the Tribune's tweet don't really sinc up.

He said in the article Stroman admitted it was just his opinion, no inside info.

He is not the Cubs reporter anymore. He is just their baseball guy. He took Phil Rogers' job. He's actually a White Sox fan in real life.

From the NY Post: There was a report that the Yankees want an answer from Machado soon, but an industry source believed the process will go into January.

Yes. I actually like live musicals. But movie musicals I cannot take for 5 minutes.

IMO, to get both, a lot of teams' interest would have to be overstated. The Dodgers and Cubs wouldn't be able to enter. The Yankees would have to lowball, and the Phillies "stupid money" would have to be stupidly average if not even lower. If you have the money to possibly get both, there should be no reason you do not get one.