Chicago White Sox

Which is the most likely scenario. I still maintain all the Yankees (Machado) & Dodgers (Harper) hype/speculation is agents using the typical big spenders to force the team eager to spend to up their bids.

No one for Sox. Bryce to Dodgers and Machado to the Phillies.

Do they though? San Diego is barely a top 30 media market and he’d have to pay the ridiculous California state taxes for half his games. I just don’t see it, even if it’s close to Las Vegas.

Bowden did put that quote in his Athletic article last night about where the top 15 remaining free agents would go. How Jim Bowden has connections to Manny’s friends and whether there is any truth to those statements remain to be seen. My guess is this is simply a game of telephone ad Bowden is taking what someone else “heard” and acting like it’s first hand knowledge.

Better than the Cubs or Dodgers.

Wow, this should be interesting.

They have to be if Bowden included them in an article he wrote last night.

Those mystery teams are interesting. I no doubt believe he’d like to go to the Dodgers or Cubs, but if those guys aren’t willing to pony up would he rather play in San Diego or Atlanta over Chicago if the money was the same. That’s the part I’m struggling with is you’d think the are prepared to spend as much as anyone on Harper but who knows.

My thing about the Dodgers is it sounds like they have no interest in going 10 years, so Bryce would really have to pass on a ton of guaranteed money to go there. I just can’t see that happening if the Sox or another team in a decent market is willing to play ball.

Sounds like they didn’t even meet with him at the Winter Meetings right?

I don’t see why we wouldn’t do the same thing and it seems like Harper would much rather play in Chicago than Philly.

And if Bowden actually heard this, then it’s from before his tour because there is no way in hell he talked to Manny’s friends last night before his Athletic article was published. Regardless, when it comes to the Yankees, we need to play to win and that means making an offer well above what we think he gets from them.

Care to elaborate?

No doubt, though I have wondered if Hal’s comments about the Johnny Hustle stuff “not playing here” created any sort of animosity towards the organization. These guys all have massive egos and it’s not far-fetched to think Manny didn’t take that comment too well, especially if the Sox & Phillies have been buttering him up and telling him he’s the best at everything.

Gotcha, and fully agree. Definitely seems like a plant on Machado’s side unless Manny immediately called up all his buddies last night and told them this and then they somehow called Bowden this morning to tell him.

What just happened here?

God I hate Jim Bowden. Not that I don’t believe him necessarily, more that he’s a complete hack. But I don’t see how this changes anything, because unless you believed Joe/Chili’s rumor, this what we have been assuming. The Sox (or Phillies) need to make sure there is enough separation in their offers to prevent him from fulfilling his dream of playing for the Yankees.

I guess we play chess differently then 😝

This is going to be a long fucking day. I just need something, anything to scratch that itch. I’m literally fiending for some Machado rumors.

Exactly, we have to be prepared to overpay to some extent. And quite frankly, I don’t think the Sox trade for Alonso on a nine million salary unless they’ve already communicated they won’t be beat. Yonder is nothing more than a tie-breaker at this point, but a potentially valuable one if us and the Phillies end up around the same spot.

Lol...let’s not speak of those days in the “Endgame” thread, I’m trying my hardest to keep things optimistic here. But in all seriousness, I truly believe the organization is operating much differently today than it has in the past. Signing a 20 year old Cuban amateur for $50M was the tipping point for me, as that was fifth largest free agent expenditure in franchise history. I think Hahn has much more leeway and financial might to accomplish what his goals in free agency now.

And guess what, Hahn ain’t playing checkers bro. Adding Alonso was like taking out the Phillies’ queen. Now it’s time to knock their king off the board with a fat stack of cash and land our Moby Dick once and for all.

Unfortunately the dry spells result in too much bickering and the mods are forced to shut things down and start anew. Hopefully this is our last Machado thread until he actually signs a contract.

I believe Rock lost his source, so even if he ever returns I’m not sure he’ll have much inside information.

Alright, with the last thread blowing the fuck up, figured we needed new one. Hopefully we get some better discussion in this one. edit: Latest scuttlebutt is on dodger talk podcast the host heard from a person close to manny he's considering white sox.