1 minute ago, Baron said:

I mean is it really not plausible to think that they dont view themselves as the favorites? 

Of course that can be the case. I just dont see any benefits to leaking that then.

1 minute ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Of course that can be the case. I just dont see any benefits to leaking that then.

Just depends who actually leaked it. 

2 minutes ago, Baron said:

Just depends who actually leaked it. 

That fact it came from Nightengale tells me it was a Sox oriented leak intended to misdirect.  That’s how we’ve been using him these past few years.

Nightengale has notoriously leaked a lot of stuff for Kenny in the past. 

5 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Of course that can be the case. I just dont see any benefits to leaking that then.

Exactly. This is the “hey guys, we’re not some crazy high bid, don’t start a crazy bidding war” message.

1 minute ago, bmags said:

Exactly. This is the “hey guys, we’re not some crazy high bid, don’t start a crazy bidding war” message.

100% agree.  And I find this whole leak game to be hilarious, because does someone like Friedman actually read this and go “hmmm, maybe my $300M offer is good enough to win!”.  I mean, it doesn’t hurt to try, but I always wonder the effective of these leak wars.

30 minutes ago, hogan873 said:

I'm exhausted trying to keep up with the rumors.  But, I can't help myself checking SoxTalk constantly and refreshing my Twitter feed.  I've come to the conclusion, though, that there's not much of a chance of Harper or Machado signing this week.  I'd be surprised to see either happen before January.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check Twitter.

I agree it's starting to be all consuming. I guess it's a good thing the semester just ended. I've got nothing but time now.

I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. Constantly refreshing this site and Twitter has become very tiring. Hopefully we get some good news today.

6 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

100% agree.  And I find this whole leak game to be hilarious, because does someone like Friedman actually read this and go “hmmm, maybe my $300M offer is good enough to win!”.  I mean, it doesn’t hurt to try, but I always wonder the effective of these leak wars.

It's the game that needs to be played since the teams can't talk to one another without the threat of collusion.

3 minutes ago, ptatc said:

I agree it's starting to be all consuming. I guess it's a good thing the semester just ended. I've got nothing but time now.

I've had finals all week as well as today and tomorrow. Needless to say that all these rumors have taken a significant bite of out the time I was planning to use on studying. ?

God, please let something happen today.

We all knew the Nightengale cold water tweet was coming. This is less worrisome than expected, as at least there was no talk about year limit or opt-outs.

1 minute ago, Quinarvy said:

God, please let something happen today.

Basically if next major tweet is positive, everyone will say Bob was wrong. If next tweet is pessimistic, people will argue that Bob was right this time.

8 minutes ago, Whitesox27 said:

I've had finals all week as well as today and tomorrow. Needless to say that all these rumors have taken a significant bite of out the time I was planning to use on studying. ?

No kidding. My grading is getting done a lot slower than it should. When the students complain I can blame it on baseball, I'm sure they'll understand.

1 hour ago, bmags said:

That we are in the Nightengale cold bucket phase makes me kinda optimistic we sign one today.

I agree with this. If the Sox do truly have the best offer out there, they'd like for others to think their current offers are good enough. 

I think Kenny & Rick love Soxtalk, so I have no doubt that one of their secret screennames is going to notify us that Santa will be delivering presents this year.  I’d look out for that post on here. ???

11 minutes ago, Quinarvy said:

God, please let something happen today.

Something needs to happen, whether or not it’s Sox related.

I just want to see Harper and Machado sign.. hopefully one with the Sox.. but I need to get my life back!! 

Simply expect absolutely nothing to happen and then be pleasantly surprised when the Sox sign an Ivan Nova. 

14 minutes ago, EvilJester99 said:

I just want to see Harper and Machado sign.. hopefully one with the Sox.. but I need to get my life back!! 

With all of this back and forth talk I've become so crabby around the house that my wife is ready to kick me out. Get one signed, for the sake of my marriage!

As time goes on this is what I think...

A) neither harper or machado are signing this week, but both have a very, very strong idea of where they're going. They probably have 1 and 1A for scenarios.

Harper: My guess is that right now the Sox/Phillies have very similar offers out there. Which is higher, who knows. I do honestly think that Harper will come to the Sox if those were just the two options on the table. However what his rush to sign? Yes it's screwing over teams like the Phillies and Sox to wait around -- but that doesn't matter to him. I think he'd be fine taking either of those two offers, and would be a White Sox sometime around the new year. That being said I think he's clearly waiting for the Dodgers or Cubs to make moves to free up cap space and would easily sign with either of those two teams for slightly less money. The fact the Dodgers are so clearly wanting to move pieces around?? Scary. Harper would be close to home. Hollywood. It's a match made in heaven. Odds: Dodgers 60% Cubs 15% White Sox 15% Phillies 10%

 

Machado: Same story basically. I think the Phillies and Sox have the best current offers out there. I truly believe the only other team in the hunt is the Yankees. Again I think the chances are about equal and will come down to whoever puts the most money on the table, but I think Machado is going to wait around to see if the Yankees can make some moves and acquire him. If they're out he'll take the most money on the table.

Odds: Yankees 70% White Sox 15% Phillies 15%

35 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

I agree with this. If the Sox do truly have the best offer out there, they'd like for others to think their current offers are good enough. 

This is perfectly stated.

I'm taking Ken at his word. He said in so few words that this organization has let the fans down and they want to build that trust and loyalty again. This tells me the Bob tweet is wrong and they see themselves very favorably in all of this. We have to remember that we don't know much but they do. Agents, teams, players, friends, etc talk all day about these things even if the public isn't in on the conversation. Our guys know where they stand and what they need to do. 

12 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

As time goes on this is what I think...

A) neither harper or machado are signing this week, but both have a very, very strong idea of where they're going. They probably have 1 and 1A for scenarios.

Harper: My guess is that right now the Sox/Phillies have very similar offers out there. Which is higher, who knows. I do honestly think that Harper will come to the Sox if those were just the two options on the table. However what his rush to sign? Yes it's screwing over teams like the Phillies and Sox to wait around -- but that doesn't matter to him. I think he'd be fine taking either of those two offers, and would be a White Sox sometime around the new year. That being said I think he's clearly waiting for the Dodgers or Cubs to make moves to free up cap space and would easily sign with either of those two teams for slightly less money. The fact the Dodgers are so clearly wanting to move pieces around?? Scary. Harper would be close to home. Hollywood. It's a match made in heaven. Odds: Dodgers 60% Cubs 15% White Sox 15% Phillies 10%

 

Machado: Same story basically. I think the Phillies and Sox have the best current offers out there. I truly believe the only other team in the hunt is the Yankees. Again I think the chances are about equal and will come down to whoever puts the most money on the table, but I think Machado is going to wait around to see if the Yankees can make some moves and acquire him. If they're out he'll take the most money on the table.

Odds: Yankees 70% White Sox 15% Phillies 15%

Good way of looking at things. There is no reason for them to rush the process, but at the end of the day money always talks. Offer a player the most money and 90% chance he's signing with you. 

25 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

I'm taking Ken at his word. He said in so few words that this organization has let the fans down and they want to build that trust and loyalty again. This tells me the Bob tweet is wrong and they see themselves very favorably in all of this. We have to remember that we don't know much but they do. Agents, teams, players, friends, etc talk all day about these things even if the public isn't in on the conversation. Our guys know where they stand and what they need to do. 

It does you no good to let it out you actually think you will land one of these guys. The Phillies owner will never live his line of spending stupidly down if they fail and the guys they sign instead don't get the job done. 

What the White Sox leak out really means squat. The fact is, they leaked out enough to stick their necks on the line. If they don't convert, the backlash they get is well deserved. If they don't offer enough money, it was unrealistic to think they had a shot. If they do offer the most money, and the player looks elsewhere, they created the undesirable situation.

If they leaked out nothing, we would think they have little shot, so we all go about our days. Now they leak enough to think it very well may happen. If it doesn't, think of all the time they made you waste. And I know some will say that isn't on them. I disagree. They know their fully engaged fans are totally into this whole process right now.

Edited December 12, 20187 yr by Dick Allen