Jose Abreu

That's fair, I can see the argument for that and it would limit us to an extent. I just disagree with your original idea that we'd have no long-term flexibility if we signed both. It cannot be stressed enough how few long-term commitments the team has right now. I'm sure this is all moot anyway as the chances of signing both are less than 1%.

This is pretty far from the truth

My point is that we don't need to push that threshold like some seem to think

It's a correct assumption... payroll currently projects at 50-60 mil, so adding both in this hypothetical leads to 130 or so. Obviously arbitration salaries will increase over time, but probably not to the extent that we'll have no long term flexibility.

This isn't really true, our payroll would be around $130 million, still about $70 million below the luxury tax for now. Even with increasing arbitration salaries, I don't think it would be hampering

Harper is the better offensive player, yes. But Machado's defense at 3B is nothing short of elite- he's firmly in the Arenado/Chapman tier over there. The slight difference in their offensive prowess is outweighed, in my opinion, by their stark differences defensively. This is all assuming Machado is playing 3B.

My guess is something like 10/330 with opt-outs after year 3 and year 6

And an interest in Harper has reached the media too, which I find interesting because we haven't heard that from you or any of the local guys. Which is why I suppose it could just be conjecture or us being used for leverage.

It would check off the "left handed bat" box, which is as of now only occupied long-term by Collins. Also would likely be a better move for marketing/exposure, even though Machado is the better player

https://www.mlb.com/news/manny-machado-bryce-harper-markets-take-shape/c-300231462 …

Packers and Lions both need to go 7-1 the rest of the way if they want to win the North. Bears should only need to go 5-3. These Bears/Vikings games are gonna be huge.

Check the first page of this thread

Now that three people have quoted it I just wanted to clarify that I meant "a small part of me", not "a smart part of me"

I agree although a small part of me has been wondering lately if it's all misdirection, and that their real target is Harper

I'll add, he also mentioned that he still considers Chris Sale to be a friend, and when the host jokingly mentioned that Chris Sale is a free agent in 2020, Hahn said sarcastically "I'm sorry, you're breaking up". Obviously all in good fun but interesting to hear that they still have a good relationship.

The Phillies already have two first basemen (with no DH spot in the NL) and one of the worst defenses in baseball because of it, they won't be adding any more

That I understand, but he referred to it in a way that implies that it is his profession, which is a funny thing to think about

I like Rondon too, and I always am pro-positional versatility, but I don't know if center field in particular would be worthwhile. We just have so many good center field prospects, it's really hard for me to see us ending up with zero starting CF types. I even think that a healthy Robert would be a league average-ish CF in MLB right now, mainly due to defense and speed/singles alone.

I could be wrong, but I feel like if that were the case, they could've just picked up the option and made a trade later. In other words, why did they have to desperately make a trade before picking up the option if they didn't have payroll concerns?

The same Cubs that just had no choice but to trade Drew Smyly in order to afford Cole Hamels’ option? I’m not too worried about them

It's because he's "injured" and how dare anybody assume he's sitting out for any other reason, the general soreness is just too unbearable. That's actually the angle/tone he took with the media which annoyed me even more.

When Zach is surrounded with guys who can actually shoot (Lauri, Valentine, Portis, etc.) his scoring efficiency and assist rate are only going to get better.

So basically, if we don't get Machado/Donaldson/a big name 3B, Moncada will be moving there. Not sure if I like that, it's probably not really wise to move high ceiling defenders over for guys who are in single A

Ha, they went back and added us after being called out that we weren't mentioned anywhere in the article.

"profession"