Roughneck

I don't agree with that. Manny could still sign with the other team (or a mystery team if there is one). He also take a crazy risk like signing 1 year/$40 mil with the Yankees and hitting the market again next year. Those might not be good options, but they are options. The Sox *need* Machado. He's the best fit for the team, and outside of Harper, there are no available players who would provide any similar impact. And this is the Sox' only chance. They don't get another shot to sign a Machado next year. I think the Sox have way more to lose in this standoff.

Not me. I wasted way too much time following this, and the process has been frustrating. But if we actually sign Machado, it's party time.

Hahn gets put through a table, Moncada gets knocked off the stage with sweet chin music, Eloy runs down for the save but gets a Stunner, and Stanton puts Jerry in the Camel Clutch and makes him watch in agony as Manny signs the Yankees contract.

Bah Gawd, that's Steinbrenner's music! What the hell is Hal doing at Soxfest?!

No flying cars, hoverboards, self-tying shoes. But we have internet porn which can be accessed at light speed on tiny handheld devices. You take the good with the bad.

Could be. Whit Merrifield is definitely a '70s gameshow host. But I think Cheslor Cuthbert is just like a bad alias someone thought up on the spot. Joey Joe Joe Jr. Mrs. Doubtfire Dr. Chim Richalds Cheslor Cuthbert

I'm still not convinced Cheslor Cuthbert is a real person. That sounds like a horrible pseudonym; like someone picked 4 random syllables and stuck them together. Maybe the feds are letting the dude play baseball while in witness protection.

It's cute looking back on how much KW was mocked for that quote, considering the Sox won the division and finished 14.5 games ahead of the last place Tigers.

Yeah, we'll all be furious if we come out of this offseason with a Carlos Boozer. That is going to bring canceled ST packages, lots of no shows who already bought tix, loud booing at all games, and basically the top response to every team tweet for the next year being rage. But we're not there yet. If the Sox sign Machado, we're all going to get a second wind here. I don't think so. The Sox can't keep things under wraps on a deal this big. News was going to get out, and all teams play the press in response to rumors. This is the first time we've ever been in on a fish this big or a deal like this, so it seems unprecedented.

How exactly are fans pressuring Jerry? By being angry on twitter? We're angry on twitter 24/7. In fact, everybody is miserable on twitter. That's what it's for. If there were thousands of people screaming outside the park, that might get Jerry's attention. But yelling online and a dozen people calling their ticket agent threatening to cancel their package for next year unless we sign Machado isn't doing a thing.

Yeah that's nuts. If the reported $250m deal is accurate, he's nowhere near $325m right now. Right now it's only the Sox and Phillies, so it's super hard to imagine bidding getting so hot that he gets another $75 mil at this point. He might get another 1-2 years or higher AAV, but he's not raising the contract that much at this point in the game.

Their concern would be not just about taking back bad salary, but also having to give up valuable and cheap talent in a package just to get someone to take Heyward. Would trading Heyward, Quintana, Happ, and others for next to nothing be worthwhile if they took all the money they saved and signed Harper? That sounds like the team is worse than it was before.

But with a player of Machado's stature, there was always going to be smoke nationally. He's a 26 year-old on a path to the HOF and he very well might get $300 million when it's all said and done. When you're talking about a deal this big, it's a lot harder to keep things in-house, as more people want details. That's way beyond signing a 32 year-old Torii Hunter. Don't be discouraged by it.

What is the record for posts in a thread? Around 6,000 flat? We're 150 away so, if so, we'll break that record by the morning. I'm going to predict news breaks around 7:15 tomorrow morning that Manny is signing with the Sox.

But you're essentially saying "You aren't really worth this, but we'll give it to you today only." So you risk pissing Manny off. Even aside from a mystery team. Manny could sign a one-year deal for $40 mil and hit the market again next year. Or maybe Harper doesn't sign until February, and next week the Phillies sign Manny for less than our temporary offer because he doesn't want to deal with us anymore. Here's how the bluff works: Manny still signs and plays somewhere in 2019, over $30 mil a year, for either a 1 year deal or longterm. Maybe he even goes one year with the Cubs just to stick it to the Sox. The White Sox miss out on a generational talent, have no franchise player and set their rebuild back a long way, the fanbase burns the park to the ground, they are laughed at nationally, and future agents don't want to deal with them after word gets out of how they dealt with Manny. It doesn't seem worth it to act a tough guy and try to intimidate them into signing today.

Not true if Rick Hahn goes into the board room during negotiations and drops his nuts on the table.

But that is only a threat if there is an alternative for the Sox. "Either we sign Machado longterm of we add this pitcher for 5 years and the OF for 4." That's not the case. They are signing nobody else. That "pot sweetener" will still be there at a later date, and at that point the Sox will essentially be crawling back to Machado. Also, the longer you let this go on, the more you risk another team making a trade and opening up payroll to sign Machado. So you might alienate Machado, make him stay away for another few weeks, and then have to offer a whole lot more since there's now a new bidder. The Sox would be smart to be persistent, but not do something to alienate Manny. They need Machado a whole hell of a lot more than he needs them.

Machado knows that the extra special 24 hour deal will still be on the table in a month if he is unsigned. The Sox aren't spending that money elsewhere. JR isn't going to de-authorize that money at 5pm tomorrow. Lozano would laugh at using that language. No upside to making such an offer, and only potential downside. This only works if the Sox are a potential playoff teams saying "We are either signing you or instead giving big contracts to these 2 guys, leaving no money. If you don't sign with us by tomorrow, we go in the other direction." Right now, there is no other direction for the Sox.

But then you're being unnecessarily combative and risking pissing them off. They'd have no choice but to accept the Sox current offer? Then there is no risk to them. They could go back to the Sox in a week and take it if they aren't able to rope other teams in. Or maybe you piss him off to the point where he wants to take a short-term deal elsewhere just because he doesn't want to play for the Sox. No use calling it "take it or leave it" when you're acknowledging that's not the case and you'll still negotiate with him later if he wants.

That's a bad idea. The Sox want him as much today as they would on Sunday. Why bluff and then give him all the leverage if Harper doesn't sign tomorrow? So can't go crawling back with the offer he already turned down. Now they have to go much higher to get back into the game.

He should have donated to the Human Fund.

Yeah, but the Phillies payroll is about $50 mil higher than the Sox before any signing. It's unlikely for the Sox, but it's insane for the Phillies.

Yep. Dave said that the Yankees were never really serious and weren't fully in on Machado.

Yeah. Isn't that Balta's position?

I'm talking about a catastrophic injury. But regardless, that's still only $20 mil and he's not signing a $300 mil deal next year if he is coming off an injury. So he's going 1-year again and kicking the can down the road further on the mega deal.