Jose Abreu

Wasn't me but I was definitely one of the bigger Clarkin supporters. He was having a fine year before the injuries, after a good 2017. Wouldn't be surprised if he became a MLBer eventually but at the same time, his durability concerns are real so I understand the decision.

"Probably"? I think you mean definitely. But no, I think leaving two spots open means we want room for a FA, but not one of those two (necessarily).

Ryan LaMarre is now on the Braves. That's why the number changed

Might have happened here

Man 8-3 would look so nice but I'm not getting my hopes up

I have a really weird feeling about the Bears game where they're either gonna come out and make a statement and win 35-10, or get completely embarrassed and fall by the same score. Now that I'm posting this the final score will probably be something like 24-21.

The Samardzija trade rumors were intense on Thanksgiving week too, then died down the next week and picked back up again at the meetings. However I agree with Bigsoxhurt35 that we probably won't hear much this time around.

There's way too much "Harper is overrated because of WAR" going on here. We're talking about a guy who, over his last four seasons, has never had an OBP lower than .373. That's not even factoring in his power or the fact that he is just now entering his prime. Diminishing him to "he's just 17 WAR in 6 seasons" is a pretty weak argument to me. If you really think that Travis Shaw and Marcus Semien (higher WAR than Harper in 2018) were better than Harper last year then I don't know what to tell you other than you might want to rely less on WAR.

Grandal is an excellent framer and maybe a top 3 hitting catcher in baseball but I just don't see why we'd be a top suitor

We have no evidence that Bryce or Manny like ANY organization, unless you actually believe the Nightengale reports that they've had agreements with the Phillies/Yankees respectively for months

Good job, Seahawks.

It is for those reasons about the Nats that I think the White Sox are one of 2 serious contenders. However I'd guess that the Phillies have around a 50% chance while we're closer to 25%, with the other 25% being the field.

$300 million with zero opt-outs isn't a serious offer IMO. It's more of a "hey look, we tried" thing for the fanbase, as he obviously wouldn't accept a deal without any opt-outs unless the total money was outrageous

How? The last few years, the Bears have rarely had any prime time games. Unless you meant the opposite situation of the Bears right now, in which case I'd agree.

Levine: Industry source says "White Sox are serious about Harper/Machado"

What does Fangraphs define as high leverage? What I see on bbref is a career .882 OPS in low leverage, .855 in medium leverage, and .862 in high leverage

Nobody is offended, we're just pointing out that what you're saying is demonstrably untrue. Yes, he is a solid hitter. Yes, he is a poor defender. Yes, he is a good clubhouse guy. But "he doesn't hit when it matters" is just flat out wrong. His career OPS by leverage is remarkably consistent. His month by month career splits show that he is an above average hitter in every month of the season. You saying he can't hit "when it matters" is just the manifestation of some weird bias against him.

I think Harper will get way more than 325