GenericUserName

I think part of it is that we all basically know that these reporters are leaked things for specific reasons, so you kind of have to think about why its being reported more than what is being reported. With the no-name "sources" we all know they want attention, but they are also probably more likely to leak something true without an agent agenda than a big national reporter.

Looks like he was also the guy that started that rumor about the Dodgers being investigated similarly to the Braves which MLB has come out saying isn't true.

That guy also had this from a few days ago, so he isn't really changing his story that the Padres are in the lead.

Sounds legit in that he is seemingly a real person with a job in sports, but I don't know how an SID from a small college in New York would have inside info that the national guys don't have.

Ah, the old puff-puff-pufferfish and pass. Edit: Awesome quote from the article: "At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water's surface, apparently mesmerised by their own reflections." Who hasn't been there before haha

Yeah, you're right. MLB would know something was up as soon as we started actually signing more than a handful of guys every year.

Bring some money and sign some 13 year olds for the Sox while you're down there. Gotta get them before anyone else sees them.

I feel like it would be one of those moments where you can tell even through the internet that everyone is just kind of stunned into silence. There would be a gap because the reporters would be calling to confirm the account wasn't hacked or something.

Sweet, they're both done. So, uh, why hasn't it been announced? If the theory was we were keeping one quiet to get the other, what's the theory on why its silent if we already have both?

Hell, we have seen players and teams go to arbitration over a few hundred thousand dollars. In some of those scenarios the cost of the lawyers is probably almost the difference in the sides. Wait, so what is your argument? That he doesn't want to play for the Sox or Philllies so he is waiting for a team to match our offer so he can go there instead? Because I feel like most people here (and the media reports seem to confirm this) believe that, if all else were equal, he would prefer to play for the Yankees, but they are not offering anything close to the highest offers, so now he is simply waiting for a team to reach what he thinks is an acceptable level (probably $300M) and he is willing to wait so that teams feel pressure to move closer to that amount. Basically no matter what he is going to take a huge offer because there are more big offers out there (CHW, PHI, SD) than there are big players, so by waiting he is attempting to maximize his contract while also having very little downside. If he or his agent believe he can get another $30m for waiting another month, why wouldn't he do that? That is literally getting potentially $1m per day for just waiting. And again, what is the downside? They know they have us as a fallback. We aren't going to fill his spot and we don't think we are going to compete this year so if he is still a little rusty at the beginning of the year its not that big of a deal. I don't think its really that ridiculous of a discussion. It plays out all the time in the NBA with the max contract and some teams playing in states with no income tax versus states with large income taxes. IIRC, another sport (can't remember which, likely either hockey or soccer) computes the cap hit as the money that goes to the player and then teams simply figure out how much the contract needs to be to get to that amount for the player. If the luxury tax really does become a hard cap this is something you might see the teams in California arguing for in the next CBA.

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT INCOMING! So personally I don't believe the theories about having Machado signed already and I don't think we would even try hard to get both unless their markets are even worse than we have heard, but I did just think of something that could make it possible. With the new swell-opt contracts it is basically assumed that if the player continues to perform that the team will opt in to the extension and higher amount. But I wonder if there is a case to get both of the guys on contracts with swell-opts in the same year to give the team a ton of flexibility (or at least a lot more than signing both outright). If there isn't payroll room to fit both raises, the team could simply choose to only opt in to one contract, with which being selected depending on past and projected production as well as possible alternatives both internally and externally. So say we get both and then after 3 years when the opt-in deadline comes around we have a glut of great outfield prospects, then we could opt-in with Machado and not with Harper which would put him in the position of either opting out (which would be okay if we have a replacement) or staying at a lower than expected salary (in which case we save money over the projected salary for those years). If this were to happen it would give us both for the years where we could easily fit both salaries in our payroll while also either getting out of one of the contracts or getting it at a lower than expected rate for the back half of the contract. The players would get a higher guarantee than a short term contract while also having upside and a chance to opt out if they are playing well but we can't afford them and the whole time they would likely be on a good team because getting both guys would likely be a huge impact especially in our division. TL;DR - I made a reasonable conspiracy where both guys sign contracts with similar swell-opts.

I feel personally attacked

..........its Thursday.

Well, praying to God hasn't worked so far, might as well switch it up. Hail Satan! Thank you for this torturous journey to 666. Now that we have reached your holy number, can this please be over?

The probably horrible translation from Google: The Yankees are going to wait for the sports honeymoon to finish before announcing the signing of Manny Machado

Yet they have said that is generally what they do because otherwise most prospects ceiling would be MVP, 10 WAR seasons, etc. Instead they use some realistic maximum value as the ceiling because it gives an idea of what could plausibly happen.

Honestly seeing them not really answering Sox questions anymore made me think this too. I worry that part of it is that the Sox development/coaching staff has generally been bad and we are being left behind in the new wave of tech/analytics, so its less likely our prospects will perform close to their ceiling than prospects for other teams, so they bake that into the ratings. I know that might sound conspiratorial, but these guys are often judged by how the prospects perform in the majors compared to their ranking/rating, so they might want to rank a guy in a bad developmental system lower than if that same player were in a good developmental system because even with the same talent he might get worse results.

hyperventilating increases

If he is able to make it back for the end of the year this year, they can do that too and then it would be even less time in the minors to start 2020.

Yeah, he is incorrect. The injury occurred while he was on the ML roster, so he has to be put on the ML disabled list where he still gets service time.

IDK. That guy was a 2x little league gold glover. He might have some sources!!!!

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