Jose Abreu

All I meant is that if it’s over (to you) then it’s over, so there’s no need to make fun of people who don’t believe in Clark.

I can't make you believe or not believe him, but I think that the reactions of Orioles fans who are familiar with Clark speak volumes. This is a guy who has tweeted out rumors (on a smaller scale) in the past and deleted them when they are wrong. He did leave up the Markakis one which he got wrong, which I suppose (?) I give him credit for? Anyway, it's fine if you think he could be right, I just don't appreciate when other people feel the need to mock those who don't believe Clark, especially given his track record.

If you’re so sure that Clark is right and Machado has signed with the Yankees, why do you feel the need to continue posting in the Machado thread?

Just a lot of whining about how the big guys aren't gonna give him any credit when Machado signs with the Yankees, and how he's putting his entire reputation on the line as if we need to commend him for it

I hope those who believe Dan Clark are enjoying his total meltdown (much of which has been deleted) on Twitter

It’s one thing to live and die with every rumor, it’s another to adhere to the time of the rumor’s appearance as if it’s not something that could’ve existed before...

Who’s to say they didn’t?

What does our interest in those two say about Harper, though? In other words, there are optimistic and pessimistic angles for pretty much every leak

This is a lot of past tense for two guys who are currently free agents.

This is where I’m at, pretty much. If we don’t land a whale I’d be fine if the FO got a shake-up. There is no excuse, this was my expectation from the moment they traded Sale and later set themselves up for having zero significant payroll obligations in the future. If you can’t make yourself appealing to a FA when you’re the team offering them the most money, I’m not gonna be one of the fans who’s saying “at least you tried”.

You guys really believe that Harper and Boras "haven't even entertained other teams since the Winter Meetings"?

Elaborating on an earlier post, I'd guess: If the Sox sign Machado, Abreu and Alonso will split 1B/DH duties. If the Sox sign Harper, Alonso will be traded. Encarnacion or Martinez will be acquired as DH, with Abreu as 1B. If they sign neither, I have no idea but I don't think they'd need to trade for any more 1B/DH types.

Brought back a lot of memories, I was there. Especially since half of the stadium was on the "M" while the other half was on the "P". Could never get it in sync, both in 2011 and now

If Machado were a typical free agent who will sign for a year or two then yes, I think the Yankees would be more inclined to chase him after the injury. But the 3 months still is nothing compared to the whole length of the deal. Hypothetically, when it's year 7 and they're paying him $35 million, they won't even remember May of 2019 when they were missing their former shortstop. Not to mention, Gleyber Torres is a capable shortstop as is, so he can slide over.

Yes. There's just no way that an MLB front office would allow a 3 month injury to alter their pursuit of a free agent who will likely haul in 8+ years and 250+ million.

Well now Dan Clark has a great excuse if Manny signs with us/Philadelphia

I think they'd trade Alonso in the event that we don't get Manny but do get Harper

This is correct but we also have Bob Nightengale who reported that Corbin would sign with the Yankees, and then reported that he would actually sign with the Phillies, and then he actually signed with the Nationals. Yet people still listen to him

I thought that Bob was "reporting" that we aren't getting either of them, but that's neither here nor there since we both know he's just guessing as always. There has been little news of substance either way, in my opinion. There hasn't been much positive news, yes, but there hasn't been much negative news either from the reporters I listed. Morosi and Heyman each predicting that we land a whale (Machado for Morosi, Harper for Heyman) is still pretty significant to me.

If it's not Rosenthal, Heyman, or Morosi then it's not worth reading into, IMO

Something positive is tweeted about the Sox chances: it’s fake, not a real source etc. Something negative is tweeted about the Sox chances: I WAS RIGHT. I knew it all along and you guys didn’t!

Have I missed Machado and Harper signing with other teams?

This confirmation bias/trolling is gonna look really funny in a week or two when Manny signs elsewhere and people realize Dan Clark isn’t a trustworthy source

Encarnacion + Harper is one plan Alonso + Machado is the other That’s the way I see it in terms of why we’d still have interest in a DH

He throws a ton of stuff out there based on other people’s rumors and reports and about 25% of it ends up being right even though it’s just speculation. Any of us could do what he does