caulfield12

Next Transformers movie title?

It seems like it’s more difficult to find elite 3B for the Hall, actually. Rolen was one of the best of his generation, and he’s likely going to struggle to get in. Beltre is the gold standard.

There DEFINITELY is a Harper/Boras meeting with the Phillies on Saturday. Unless they sign Machado in the next 12-18 hours, and probably still, even then.

We would then have the majority of WBC representatives...goodbye, Tim Anderson. On the plus side, we can convert half of Miami and Latin America into White Sox fans.

Anderson was an excellent point guard...in some ways, his skill set and physical resiliency (not wearing down too much from stealing so many bases) would seemingly make him the better candidate for CF. That said, he was really playing much better the second half of the season...almost Gold Glove level, were he on a media favorite team.

If we can keep him healthy...granted, Robert’s injuries this year were mostly related to base running. He played the majority of his time in LF for Cuba and in Series Nacional, definitely has the speed/range for CF and a strong but not Adolfo-esque arm for RF.

Right, and Machado knows already exactly what he's getting into, the comfort level with his future teammates and a manager that can relate to him even better than Showalter (at least theoretically). Other than Miami, you've got a rising team filled with exciting talent in a brand new stadium in Atlanta, the NY market (Mets) and Washington, D.C. as well, all on the East Coast of the United States, which is essentially the ESPN time zone. Not only that, but you've got a rising NL Central and then the Dodgers on the West Coast. Besides Boston, NYY and Houston...the American League is not really all that exciting.

The Phillies have a much better reason to sign Harper, which is to stop him from going back to the Nationals. We have no such scenario to worry about, blocking another divisional team in this situation.

I guess if they don't sign Machado, the reasoning or argument is not going to be the money but the fact that they weren't able to successfully bring him to Chicago during the 2018 season to give him an "audition/tryout" that would have convinced him firsthand of the fit as well as the talent in the pipeline.

Love the confidence of Phillies' fans. Some think they're getting both guys. Then there's the opposite side of the fan spectrum, those of little faith (notice, no mention of the White Sox, either). Yankees. Cubs. Dodgers. Red Sox. Or another: On the other hand if they're only bidding against the White Sox, they should be able to get Machado for a bargain rate.

Marco Paddy or KW quote from the first time they scouted Machado, lol?

To do that, they would have to offer $325-375 million...even then, he'd probably give the Dodgers and Nationals time to make one last final offer to beat those numbers, especially if they were closer to $325 than $400.

Well, the Phillies aren't going to make any decisions on Harper and Machado until at least Saturday..so there's probably no way this gets resolved before next week, unless they (Phillies) have a take it or leave it conversation with Lozano before that Boras meeting ever takes place.

If Machado really wants to play for the Phillies, who have wanted him since the middle of last season, then he better make his mind up very, very soon. Harper meeting could persuade Phillies to turn attention away from Machado | Bob Brookover https://www.philly.com/phillies/bryce-harper-phillies-las-vegas-manny-machado-john-middleton-mlb-free-agency-20190110.html If true, you have to think the Phillies are the favorites to sign the 26-year-old superstar infielder, unless Machado really has a burning desire to play with his brother-in-law, Yonder Alonso, and his close friend, Jon Jay, both of whom have joined the Chicago White Sox this offseason. Know this: If Machado really wants to play for the Phillies, who have wanted him since the middle of last season, then he better make his mind up very, very soon. If he does not, he is going to allow agent Scott Boras to make his pitch as to why Bryce Harper is the better fit and better player for the Philadelphia Phillies. The meeting between the sides is scheduled for Saturday in Harper’s hometown, Las Vegas. ... The second part cannot be argued. Harper is clearly the more-recognizable face and the player more likely to get the phones ringing in the ticket office. According to sportspromedia.com, Harper was the 13th-most marketable athlete in the world last year. He was 22nd on that list in 2017. Machado did not make the list either year. Boras also will argue that Harper will not only improve ticket sales but will drive up television ratings. He is not wrong. ... Finally, the Harper landscape has drastically changed. The Nationals are back in the conversation for the player they drafted first overall in 2010. Should they get him, they will be the National League favorite to reach the World Series, even if the Phillies sign Machado. If the Phillies get Harper, they keep him from the Nats. They also make their own lineup more balanced, with Harper serving as the left-handed slugger who complements the right-handed-hitting Rhys Hoskins and Andrew McCutchen.

Just imagine working in the White Sox marketing department...they will have either the easiest job in the world (or at least fairly easy) or the hardest job convincing anyone to buy season ticket packages or corporate sponsors to jump back on board the bandwagon, depending on how all this plays out with Machado and Harper. Three months of almost unabated excitement and anticipation, or the Evil Eye of Sauron descending on the fanbase.

Seems like it has to get done this week...when all the momentum feels like it's going in the direction of the Sox. How many more "Machado Mates" can we possibly bring on?

See Cavaliers fans/“betrayal” letter from Gilbert the first time LeBron left...although Nats’ fans are already conditioned to Harper probably leaving.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2018/05/24/trevor-bauer-gerrit-cole-ucla-dont-like-each-other/640362002/ Lots of great reasons to sign Gerrit Cole next year...and really up the rivalry with the Indians to another level.

Red Sox won’t do that. They believe Bradley really turned a corner offensively at the end of last year...and love pairing him with Betts defensively in CF and RF.

Or Hoyer sabotaged the Padres to help out his future organization.

Who else would they add? Pollock, Keuchel, Kimbrel, Moustakas, Marwin Gonzalez? Or Harper?

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-rumors-yankees-falling-behind-phillies-white-sox-in-machado-race-nationals-building-momentum-with-harper/ Of course, the other school of thought is that Harper to the Nats will trigger Machado to the Phillies...fortunately, Harper is likely to be the last to sign. "Momentum" for Machado to White Sox with decision looming? The only three teams known to have interest in Manny Machado are the Phillies, Yankees and White Sox. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score in Chicago reports that the White Sox appear to have the momentum here: The prevailing feeling across the MLB landscape is that momentum is building for the White Sox in the Manny Machado sweepstakes. Also of note: The report indicates the Machado decision is going to happen "within a week." Further, it sounds like the deal might end up in the seven-year range and be closer to $200 million than $300 million. While many fans might scoff at such a notion, this is a big problem for the MLBPA. Players are making less money compared to MLB revenue than they have in well over a decade. A generational talent like Machado at age 26 getting significantly less than, say, Albert Pujols did at age 32 seven seasons ago simply isn't acceptable with MLB annually setting revenue records. Regardless, at least one report has the White Sox, who have recently acquired two players close to Machado, as the leader in the clubhouse.

It's funny how you remember games like that one, or some of the ones that the White Sox were losing down the stretch in 2005...late August and early September. For whatever reason, the one that stands out even more than the amazing finish to the 2008 season was the game where Carlos Gomez (Hawk just loved that dude) had probably the best game of his career and Jenks blew a really important game down the stretch...just remember walking around in a daze on the beach in Thailand for 2-3 days after that particular disaster. After the way we had played the Twins from 2001-2007 (with the exception of 2005, of course), it just seemed almost inevitable at that point that the Twins were going to beat us yet again. That was the height of Ozzie's "The Piranhas" Years.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/student-reported-repeated-cyber-harassment-trevor-bauer-indians-twitter-023653665.html More reasons to hate the Indians/Trevor Bauer...one of the STRANGEST stories of this off-season, and there have been quite a few. Just bizarre. And yet somehow perfectly fitting for this social media driven world we live in.

Just don't bring up that Twins' game in late 2003, or Bread & Water, lol...