MiddleCoastBias

Maybe ESPN will even remember us!

People talking about how Machado or Harper might reject all offers and take a 1-year contract to maximize their money next year should remember what Ian Desmond did with the Nationals. Has a huge year, declines a 7/$107M contract extension because he thinks he's worth more, than craters out and never gets anywhere near the contract that he could've. Not to say Machado and Harper will fall off and not be worth money, but it's MIGHTY risky to eschew big contracts now for the chance of a big(ger) contract tomorrow. They would be betting on sustained production and health, and gambling that next year's market will be more favorable - no guarantees.

You'll be back. They always come back.

I want to make sure we have Manny locked up before we trade for Joc. If a Joc/Hill trade frees up space for the Dodgers to make a run at Harper, thereby giving the Phillies more competition, I want to make sure the Phillies can't backtrack and make a bigger push for Machado.

I feel like this fake mystery team can let everyone save face - -White Sox have to 'up their bid' to beat this so-called mystery team (aka the $170M initial bid gets bumped up to say $250M where we may have always intended to sign him) -Lozano gets a 'win' by being able to say he brought more bidders in and was able to drive the price up for his agent -national media guys can all say their numbers were right *at one point* but the mystery team changed things

I'm not gonna lie, this has been kind of fun. I can't think of another thread that has allowed so much stream of consciousness from the whole breadth of posters, and this FA period has brought in new users and unearthed some oldies in the process. The process has been stressful and annoying but wildly entertaining at the same time. Just enjoying the ride!

I've got a good feeling about this source, you guys.

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I honestly didn't know if this was a new thread or the original until I opened it. I wonder what the equivalent for A's Talk and Rangers Talk looked like back in 2013 when they shipped Adam Rosales back and forth all year.

This is absolutely how I feel. cc: Bruce Levine

I'll add "poor employee" to this list for myself as well.

Seriously - I've never been this excited to hear how a one year old's birthday party went; I'm jonesing for some info.

"it's a metaphor for how our phones isolate us from each other while we think they bring us together." - Black Mirror episode writer, probably

You know, part of me kind of misses Cowley in a hate-read kind of way. When I need a smile, I fire up the YouTube machine and watch the video of AJP throwing him out on the basepaths after Cowley continued to say anyone could beat his throw to 2B.

Next stop, Hall of Fame!

Giggity.

With the recent update to the Addison Russell fiasco, I would bet on the Cubs over the field. I can't imagine the Cubs will want to keep Russell around, and a lottery ticket Tulo could spell Baez et al infield.

I just had to Google who Casey Stern was so maybe that guy shouldn't get too big for his britches. Wikipedia says he hosted a show about the "Red Sox Nation" and is a die-hard Mets fans, so yeah, his opinion doesn't mean much to me either.

Reinsdorf is supposedly selling Harper on being the next Jordan. Jordan wouldn't be Jordan without having a Pippen to help him win those titles.

The pitch prior to this, he was badly fooled by a curveball in the dirt. You could see he knew it after he swung and stepped out of the box and shook his head at himself. Clearly that mental adjustment paid off on the very next pitch. But I'm no scout - just there to enjoy what I can!

Not really contributing anything to this conversation as we've all seen the box score today, but I was able to swing over to Pawtucket this afternoon and caught a few innings of the game between other obligations. I was able to catch Eloy's oppo HR - if anyone else was there, I was the one in the Knights hat going nuts down the 3B line. Chose to take a photo instead of video so I could actually watch the AB - this was just prior to the HR.

Mostly worthless tidbit of information - My friend is at the Seattle game today in lower box seats and sitting next to a credentialed scout. He said the scout (from unnamed team but wearing a hat with the California state flag on it) didn't write anything when Tim was batting, but was actively watching Leury's first AB and was typing away, then finished up in the middle of Abreu's at-bat. Leury to the A's, you heard it here first! /green Sure it doesn't mean anything, teams are always scouting each other for one reason or another, just something to pass along to the masses.

It sounds like Boston wants to keep him now. The thought when Pedroia came back was Swihart would be the one shipped out, but Hanley came as a surprise to most. To some of the Boston writers, the Red Sox still want to hold onto Swihart (despite his calls for a trade through his agent).

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jan 22, 2018 -> 01:05 AM) Another view of potential future uniforms someone came up with a few years ago. It doesn’t focus on featuring the “white” aspect of things, but rather “punching up” the color on the current uniform scheme while tethering the suggestions to the team’s varied uniform design history. https://clumsytuba.wordpress.com/2013/04/04...e-sox-uniforms/ I came to this thread hoping there would be a reference to those red mock-ups - I've been in love with the top one for a couple years now, and I was also thinking it would be a good re-brand for the new era with the rebuild. I would love to see that thrown in as the Sunday alternate, doesn't need to be the full takeover. Keeps everything we love about the current jerseys and just adds a little red, throwback to jerseys in the '50s but with the modern touch. Big, big fan of this.