caulfield12

The Brewers have eight starting pitchers, two dominant relievers...an MVP caliber player in Yelich, plus Cain, Aguilar, Grandal, Shaw and Braun. Even Arcia was really good down the stretch and into the playoffs. That’s much more than a team of middling veterans. Up the middle offensively might be their biggest weakness, and that changes dramatically with Bumgarner and Panik added.

http://www.philly.com/phillies/bryce-harper-phillies-free-agency-mlb-contract-20190113.html Phillies really confident....they will get at least one. Like the line about hiring Machado's gardener. For some reason, they are sure they will offer the most, the overconfidence here a bit strange, but it has been consistently present since the stupid money comment came out. The meeting ended as expected without Harper’s signing a contract, yet there are still ways for both parties to label it a success. Harper met with Middleton, general manager Matt Klentak, and manager Gabe Kapler for a few hours on Saturday afternoon before the Phillies' contingent flew back to Philadelphia. The Phillies, according to a source, remain optimistic that they will end the offseason with either Harper or Machado on their roster. ... The White Sox -- who already this winter acquired Machado’s brother-in-law and workout partner and could be looking to add his gardener - are the Phillies’ stiffest competitor to sign Machado. It would not be wise to ever dismiss the Yankees, but the momentum for Machado to land in the Bronx continued to fade on Friday when the Yankees signed second baseman D.J. Lemahieu. For Machado, it very well could be coming down to the Phillies and White Sox.

Leaks to drive down Harper market...they need Bryce a lot more than Manny.

Basically, this whole process is like Iowa or Iowa State recruiting against the powerhouses in the Big Ten and Big 12. The main difference is we recruited two close friends and have the attractiveness of Chicago on our side, as Richard Justice superbly pointed out with his article on the 7 positive factors that favor the Sox.

Buddy Bell was the worst.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/best-and-worst-moves-of-the-garpax-era-gallery/

Multiply the thread views by 6 or 7 and you have the total season attendance for 2018.

Pippen's son is the second wave...

As long as Kris Humphries isn't part of the package.

Might sell more tickets than Moustakas and Pollock. Definitely more Instagram likes and followers. Yahoo News would have at least 2~3 stories on the Sox per week.

Kyle Murray

They are just going to dump Turner? He's the heart and soul of that team, in many ways.

What would the consensus SoxTalk results be for the Fulmer, Collins, Burdi and Burger picks? Couldn't be much worse. That's also on Hostetler....unless you buy into the storyline that Hahn was forced into Shields and Burdi from on high to compete in 2016 without significantly adding to payroll.

How many successful teams haven't been able to buy out at least 1~2 years of free agency with 3 or more of their younger players?

Would any of them get similar or higher positions with other MLB or NBA teams? At one point, the Blue Jays wanted Williams, although it might have been a ploy to move up higher in the Sox hierarchy.

Basically the exact same thing we’re hearing about the Sox, minus the stupid money quote... Philadelphia is right to court Machado and Harper hard because coming out of this winter without either of them would be a disappointment. With stupid money to spend there’s no reason one of these superstars shouldn’t end up in Phillies pinstripes. If the Phillies do land Harper they could use one of their young outfielders as trade bait for a left-handed pitcher. They could also sign Mike Moustakas to replace Maikel Franco at third and swap Franco to a team like the Padres, who have wanted him for years. Should Machado sign with Philadelphia another outfielder such as A.J. Pollock could be signed. Franco would more than likely be moved to make room for Machado at third base. Buckle up, because the next week could be very interesting for the Phillies.

https://thatballsouttahere.com/2019/01/12/phillies-rumor-team-las-vegas-courting-bryce-harper-today/ Looks like more plane-stalking...regarding the Harper meetings in LV.

Guess the next big news to hit today will be any hints from the Boras camp...then the Phillies’ fans can be down in the dumps when no contract is signed. Although at this point, I guess we’re 50% rooting for Harper to sign with Philly, right?

I’m not sure how well those talking points will go over at SoxFest if they end up getting shut out.

This whole idea of magical presentations winning over players/agents....well, it might have worked with Luis Robert, but it still comes down to opening the checkbook.

Or the Theranos board meeting before the WSJ story hit...

What are the odds he could possibly know ahead of time what will happen with Harper, when they could get Machado in for a physical...and signing press conference, it’s not the type of thing anyone but Reinsdorf, the front office and shareholders will know until the final hours if everything comes together quickly.

This whole thing about waiting until Wednesday seems completely arbitrary though...more of an in-joke about how many big Sox moves have gone down on that day in recent years. That said, it will fit the one week timeline of the Gomez news.

As a married guy, I think I’ll settle for a whale...or even a whale-tail at this point. Something.

Well, if the Phillies somehow manage to get both guys...we can ship them all of our newly-acquired vets for more Tier B/C prospects. Maybe notHahn works for Dan Clark Sports, lol. How would anyone know?