YourWhatHurts

There we go. That's better.

NBC Sportsnet speculates all the time. It's click bait. I mean look at the article. Right underneath "By Vinnie Duber" it says "Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich." Look I want Escobar too. I hope this goes through. But there are still no corrobating sources. And Bob is still getting the ? silent treatment nationally it's appears.

We all know the Sox are talking to the DBacks about Escobar. Bob's wording implies that the principles have been agreed to.

What I mean is someone else adding new information or confirming the report. The Duber thing I just saw. It's "Bob says," not "sources close to the Sox have confirmed advanced negotiations" etc.

I don't know the story but he's long been considered a mouth piece type used to spread disinfo. I will believe there is real smoke here when someone like Sherman, Passan, Rosenthal etc. confirm it, or one of the guys close to the Sox says something. The mainstream guys are just ignoring this. Surely they are well aware of the comment.

Are the Sox the only team that historically rests good players on Sundays?

Also it's pretty telling to see that MLB Trade Rumors still hasn't acknowledged Bob's comment and neither has apparently any respectable baseball writer.

I think it's more likely that Elijah has real talent than it is that we're all basically being trolled by Marco Paddy and Fernando Sr.

I agree with this mostly but I do think the home runs make him greater than the sum of the numbers just because it is so lacking on our team and it is such an important element to winning a game. To me Lambert is fair and I guess I wouldn't say it like it's low but I do see how it would be seen as low compared to a top 150 prospect or so. And I agree Escobar won't bring back that kind of return. I think Lambert has really been underappreciated and undervalued around the league and will be a good player if he can ever stay healthy. But I do think that if you are the DBacks you shop around and try to beat that as a centerpiece.

Lol wut? Go back into your hole please.

I will say that I will be very happy if it is Escobar + Soria and there's no Calhoun in the deal, because that makes me think we're definitely targeting a better OF (hopefully Marte).

I was thinking that too. Didn't the Sox side bash Nightengale pretty bad over the Machado pursuit? I was wondering if maybe he's playing a bit of the scorned lover role and trying to spill some beans to get back at the Sox. It's a long shot but I think it's pretty unprofessional writing, as been stated here in this thread and all over his twitter feed.

Those numbers are really good for a 2B though. He's on fire and is in full rebound-from-last year mode. He also has a track record and is still at an age where you're not looking at his production as a fluke. I mean let's be real, he's a good player.

I was thinking about these scenarios: -Sox are trying to put pressure on PIT or some other team to get serious about their 2B because the Sox are willing to pay the price on Escobar -Nightengale is doing AZ a favor and letting other teams know that AZ is prepared to move Escobar to CHW very soon if other teams don't get serious about him -Bob is doing AZ a favor and letting other teams know that they need to put in final offers All that makes sense to me.

So what about what I wrote is wrong/inaccurate? All of this kind of stuff has been published before. I don't see how the Sox could/would be operating in stealth Danks-for-McCarthy / Sergio Santos-for-Nestor Molina stealth mode here, where both teams keep things quiet on purpose in order to get the guy they really want. The DBacks are an obvious seller and Escobar is obviously a trade chip. There's no reason for the DBacks to be stealthy about much of anything. They should absolutely be shopping their players to all bidders, and as such, other people should be onto it. Also, Escobar's deal isn't even bad. There's no need to dump that off for nothing. Now if Soria and/or Calhoun are coming with him maybe that's different. I don't buy this that all. Even in spite of your emoji. Maybe the Sox will ultimately get Escobar, and I hope they do. But if it's really that close to being done, there should be a lot more out there than just some accusations by Nightengale.

It was wrong the very moment he was conceived.

If it was that close, there would be a bunch of other guys onto this. Escobar is a pretty big chip on the trade block. It's all a bunch of bullshit IMO.

Typically this is how it goes: All the main newsbreaker types have access to the league office. Usually things are pretty quiet until the papers get sent into the office. Then, everyone starts to know at once, and that's when the local beat guy and preferred writer types are likely to get the extra scoop, because the papers are already in and everyone already is going to know. This obviously isn't finalized. The papers aren't in otherwise as is typical, all the big baseball writers would be all over it. Secondly, the Sox aren't the only team bidding on Escobar. The DBacks also aren't out to make the Sox better, they are out to improve their own team. Typically, when a deal is close, the trading club will call the other bidders and ask them to submit final offers. Again, here is a point where other writers start chiming in. Other teams' writers start saying they think they will or won't get a guy, etc. We aren't there yet either. This is a Boob plant IMO. IMO what makes the most sense is that it's probably a comment designed to get other teams to up their offers to AZ, which actually hurts the Sox. So fuck Bob.

Obviously there's nothing that close. Bob should have said "My opinion is.." or "I bet..." or "My guess is.." etc. But I guess people call him "Boob" for a reason.

Rodon's performance this year is the biggest reason I am okay with the Sox trading prospects to add. He's their Game 1 ace. He's the biggest horse. You get rid of him and our chances to win anything of consequence in the playoffs drop considerably.

Its going to suck when no such trade actually goes through. It's been light-years in trade rumor time and nothing from anyone else. Feels like a plant. Now it's just a matter of waiting for Rosenthal/Passan/etc. to be like that security guard and come take the popcorn away. "Escobar to Sox isn't close" etc.

Lambert is fair. Luis Gonzalez is a bit more than a bag of balls but not much more. He could be the second piece in the deal if the DBacks wanted to use a roster spot on him.

Quite obviously, the assumption on Blackmon is that the Rockies are not going to get a needle-mover of a prospect no matter how much salary they eat, and their best hope for a quality prospect is probably to eat all of it and end up with a Sheets + McClure kind of return. And so if that assumption is true, owners always want the salary relief. I remember getting the laugh emojis thrown at me over the offseason when I said that Arenado would clear waivers. Well, that was true. The Rockies ate a shitload of cash just to get back nothing. Blackmon is also a guy who would clear waivers. The Rockies probably just want the most salary relief possible, so that's why they would do that deal. Eaton at least fills a hole and is a possible flip candidate. Or you can cut him and pay the contract, who cares? The money is spent either way. And they definitely would try to flip Marshall the same way we did with Clippard when we got him from the Yankees. Maybe they could get a bit of money back on him. Even if not, he helps fill a hole and eats some innings. It's not like the Rockies have a bunch of world-beater prospects to throw out there.

I think if it is a Blackmon deal we would be getting some money back in that. Also, in my proposal, we are sending out Eaton's 2021 + Eaton's buyout + Marshall's 2021 salary, so we aren't taking it all back. But yeah, I think we would definitely be getting some cash back on Blackmon. Of course, I would really prefer Starling Marte. But that's a tougher guy to get, obviously. We will have some competition there for sure. And I would rather risk some $$$ and get a guy who could help us win this year before 1 or both of Rodon + Lynn depart in FA than just hang our hopes on Marte and come up empty. Again, IMO a Blackmon deal wouldn't (or shouldn't) necessarily take us out of the running for Marte. It just gives us more quality veteran depth. I mean let's just be real here, do we want the likes of Goodwin/Leury/Hamilton hitting in the 2-hole or Blackmon? That's a total no-brainer.

Vaughn for Carson Kelly, as a base Vaughn + Crochet + Madrigal for Carson Kelly + Ketel Marte, as a base Vaughn + Crochet + Madrigal for Zac Gallen + Ketel Marte, as a base Etc. Not sure any of those could/would happen, but those are multi-year solution types of players coming back (and also going out). I do think that Madrigal's last 1-1.5 months of play really lifted his trade value. Unless the hamstring is a potential issue going forward, it's a lot of control over a guy who could be a quality starting 2B with 1 truly elite tool.