Soxbadger

Its hard to believe anyone has a really great idea what is going on here. There are probably a handful of people who have actual knowledge of all the moving pieces. They include Boras, Harper and either immediate employees or family members. Even if you have a *great* source, that source likely only has a small piece of a much larger puzzle, unless it is one of the handful who know exactly what is going on. So there is no reason to doubt that people have been given information, but all of it is highly unreliable hearsay. And even if they are getting it from reliable sources, we have no idea whether its information and disinformation. All I can be sure of is Boras loves to be the center of attention. When you compare Harper/Machado and the coverage, I have no doubt that Boras directly is assisting in leaks and trying to create a narrative. If you want Harper and you are a Sox fan, you should just be happy that the Sox name keeps popping up. That is as good as it gets for right now. And while he can say "mystery" teams all he wants, there is no way in the world Boras wont leak those names if he feels that it will mean 1 more dollar for Harper. If Im betting Greg's house, the market for Harper isnt as strong as Boras wishes it was. He is trying to create some mythical way that other teams are going to get involved. But every day that goes by makes it less likely that teams are going to make trades for huge salary guys. Why do I believe that? AZ who came to the meetings looking to deal got rid of Goldy fast. They tried to move Greinke but feel the market will be better during the season. So who out there is looking to take on huge $100mil contracts like Howard? And how does it make more sense in a week/month from now, as compared to today?

Waiting on the Cubs is a fools errand and Boras would be the worst agent in baseball if he lets his client do that. First, the Cubs can sign Harper today and then worry about trading contracts later. There is nothing that stops them from doing this. If you want something really bad, you dont put contingencies on it happening first. Second, if the Cubs were really that serious about Harper, they wouldnt have paid Cole Hamels $20mil for next year, to then turn around and need to shed a bunch of salary. To me the Cubs are nothing more than a boogeyman. Maybe they will sign him, but if they really want Harper, they should sign him first and then worry about everything else later. If they cant add Harper's salary for this year, they arent really as flush with cash as people think.

Thats not really how I see it. IMO the Sox arent going to make a "formal" offer until they are 99% sure its getting accepted and Harper is the guy they want.

Its hard to imagine the Sox signing both. While I would like to believe it *could* happen, I just am being realistic. Even signing 1 of them would be arguably one of the biggest moves that the White Sox have ever made. If I had to bet Greg's house and the options were 1) signing both of them or 2) signing neither, Id bet his house on neither.

All of this makes complete sense. Its unclear if the Sox want Machado or Harper. They havent even met with Machado. How could you submit a formal offer to Harper, if youre not sure what youre doing with Machado.

Sounds like this happened.

Mark Derosa on MLB saying he could see Harper on the Southside with Eloy. Completely just speculation, but Id say in the last day that the national media is starting talk the Sox way more. They actually showed the Sox projected lineup. Derosa did say he thinks Harper wants NY, LA or Nationals, but that he doesnt think any of those teams really make sense.

The part that makes me suspicious about the Dodgers interest is. The Dodgers can sign Harper first, and then move contracts later. Maybe they wont get *as* much talent because people know they are more desperate to move them, but still if Harper is so important you sign him and then worry about cutting salary.

The thing is a 4 year opt out is way preferably to a 4 year contract. If Harper suffers a career changing injury he doesnt opt out and he still makes his $300mil+.

I could see Harper taking a short offer if its something like 4 years 160 mil+. That way he would only need to get 6 years 200 to hit 10 years 360. It seems completely unlikely for a Boras client though as this really is Harpers best time to get a record breaking deal.

Problem is they may never make it to fa, and you could be bidding against much deeper pockets. This year is the chance, extremely low payroll and some big teams not willing to spend.

Its a good idea. Players like that dont hit fa often.

His contract is pretty reasonable so he has a lot of value.

Whats the highest level in Madden these days? And I cant believe this was 9 years ago: Yeah I know completely unrelated but MEMORIES.

Miami?

The hypothetical was, why would he do it. I presented a reason why Boras would. Sox have offers for Machado/Harper both at 10/400 mil. They tell both agents, whoever takes our offer signs first. Machado's people tell Sox that they are close. They circle back to Boras and he then says "You are the leader but we wont sign now unless it for 10/500". /shrugs Again, someone asked why, I answered. I never said it was likely or happening, just gave a reason why it could happen. You dont have to believe it is, but you cant just dismiss that it cant be.

Who knows. Im not saying that this is what Boras is doing, but just answering how/why someone could do it. The only leverage the Sox have is if they are theoretically the highest offer on both Machado and Harper, and have told the agents they will only sign 1. So lets say they are much higher than any other team right now, it creates an incentive for Boras to actually be honest with them. Again this is entirely speculation. But it would put Boras in somewhat of a bind if the Sox are the highest bidder (significantly) and there is a risk that they will entirely pull the bid. A-Rod there wasnt that risk because he was the only game in town.

Depends. I could see Boras say: "Youre the highest offer right now, but other teams are still in the mix. If you offer X, hell sign now."

Which is why rumors are just rumors. And you dont shoot the messenger, unless it turns out that they completely made something up. If someone makes something up for 5 minutes of internet fame, feel free to murder them.

Dont post your source, dont worry about what people say. If you have information and you want to share, feel free. So many times people on this site have called some twitter, message board, internet rumor BS, and then proven wrong.

But it should be a lot better. A lot of unnecessary self inflicted wounds.

Id just take your post down. If you really have inside information, I appreciate you posting it. But being famous on Soxtalk isnt worth whatever damage you may do to your friendship etc.

Youre right they only played 1 game together. But Carter has played 24 games in Hoiberg's system. Too many times he was not being fed the ball in the post so that a guy with no future on the Bulls could jack up a 3. I cant tell you why the Bulls didnt fire him sooner. My guess is that they wanted to give him a shot with Lavine and the younger players. After watching 25 games, it became apparent that Hoiberg wasnt going to intervene and prioritize the young core. I felt that way much sooner, but that isnt a good reason for keeping him longer. Just because I should have fired someone yesterday and I didnt, doesnt mean I should then keep them today. It means that I should fire them today.

Who doesnt agree that the Bulls have a deficient roster? The Bulls have a young roster. They need a coach who is actually going to coach. I never blamed Hoiberg for the Bulls losing, I blamed him for not making it a priority to get the young core better. Maybe its me, but Id rather the Bulls lost by 10 if it meant Lauri/Lavine/Carter were improving and getting better, than if they won by 10 because Blakeney and Holiday made 20 3s. Its possible that the Bulls have a deficient roster and a bad coach. If that is the case, why are we keeping the coach? For sentimental reasons?

Ive been down on the Bulls front office forever. The NBA draft threads were filled with me being annoyed by picks (except the last 2 years I liked). I hated the Butler trade (although it seems they may have won that one.) That being said, just because I dislike their front office, doesnt mean that I then defend the coach. Its probably best that they are all gone and someone else takes over. Complaining about the coach, doesnt mean you agree with the front office. It merely means that Hoiberg's time with the Bulls was up. Maybe he wasnt given the optimum chance to win, but I also never watched a game and felt he was doing the most with what he was given. I usually felt he was just a spectator who happened to get paid to be there.