Southwest Sider

There is only a slight blur under Manny's supposed "S". The Sox hat shown here has approximately 33% of the hat as part of the o and the x. Manny's S is too different, whatever it is.

Definitely not a traditional Sox hat. The "S", or what we perceive to be the S is far too big. There's too much being made of the S shape, but not enough about the lack of an "ox" shape. On to the next thing.

Not that I'm complaining, but Lozano probably became who he thought JR would love to deal with. A professional negotiator. By all means, Lozano may no longer be a sleaze, but I think he does know the White Sox are his best chance at getting his next big payday, which unfortunately for him means dealing with JR. He may secretly hate working with JR, but he has no choice and has to act the role necessary to get paid. /tinfoilhat

I wonder if Lozano is desperate for a huge payday again. Been awhile since the Pujols contract... given the deadspin article, unless he has changed he likely could have blown through most of that money by now.

The latest for Passan is concerning. If Machado makes too much sense for the Yankees, then we must be talking about another level of sense for the White Sox. The lowball offer garbage better not be true. If we keep fucking around in the low 200 range and the Yankees swoop in with a 200 million deal, Machado may just take that. And the Sox won't have a chance to increase because they've proven they won't budge if no one out bids them. Sox need Machado. Increase the bid based on the "you have been a shitty organization for 12 years tax" and at least make it harder for Manny to choose the Yankees. The last place you want to be is sitting with the highest bid in the low 200s in February if the Yankees are willing to come close to that.

From North Aurora. Commute to Dekalb 4x a week. If the Sox sign Machado, I'll meet some of you assholes for a celebratory drink. ?

Lozanos phone prob blew up with lowball offers today

Any chances its Philly with the leaks?

I really believe that if the Sox sign Manny, they will circle back to Harper and attempt to make a deal. Whether or not it actually happens is another thing, but I don't expect the hot stove insanity to be over when/if Manny signs here. Adding one is a huge win for the franchise, adding two puts you in a much better spot competitively down the road. You get to rely less on the volatility of prospects with 2 known quantities. Sure, it's possible these guys flame out, but the odds of that happening are worse than the odds of them being productive players IMO. Think of the possibilities... the Sox's if/then scenarios become a lot less volatile, and opens the door for many many possibilities when inevitably we hit on some prospects and miss on others. Now to put down the pipe. I seriously doubt we get both. Machado to the Sox probably pushes Philly into finally putting their crazy money where their mouth is. It could get out of control quickly, and it would be tough for the Sox to keep up, IMO.

Yesterday was D-Day in the sense that the social media negotiation wars hit an apex.

Good podcast. I felt like it was pretty sobering, however. Cooper details how our farm really doesn't have a ton of impact talent compared to the very best farms. He still loves our farm, but we do require Eloy to be a cornerstone and several of our best prospects to 'hit' for this to be success. To me, this clearly highlights how badly we do need to add a player like Machado, especially if we want to reach Rick Hahns goal of critical mass of talent.

It's a small sample, but I was at O'hare New Years Eve and easily saw way more people wearing Sox stuff than Cubs stuff. Moments like that help me to remember that there is a sleeping giant of a fanbase here.

There's been some cryptic hints towards that by some. I forgot exactly who. I'll say this though. Personally, I believe that if the Sox sign Machado, we will soon get some news saying that "now the Sox will be focusing on Harper", and I believe it won't be altogether untrue (like an agent plant).

Negotiations could have been nearing an apex at the end of this week and it may be believed that real, final progress may be made after the weekend. In other words, if they all took the weekend off of negotiations, they all have a critical point in negotiations to begin or finish on Monday.

notHahn, sadly I believe that at this point you should no longer try to get info from this source. If he voluntarily offers it, great, but it seems what with his irritation with whale questions that he may have gotten yelled at/talked to about the leak. Honestly, he was probably feeding you some fake info at this point. I'd bet money that the Sox monitor this forum, especially when there is info that they are annoyed with leaks. Good luck.

Assuming you're referring to NotHahn's latest... I was wondering if his source would start giving him some fake news sooner or later. ?

Most people aren't driving faster than 35 mph right now so I wouldn't be surprised if he was stuck driving for awhile. Everyone chill, grab your drink of choice, and listen to some music, come back in a bit and he probably will have posted. Why so eager for "bad news" anyway?

That's disheartening. I wonder if other insiders will be getting info like this soon.

Just out of curiosity, do you disclose to your source that you share the info you get? It's pretty neat to have that kind of connection. I'm fairly certain he naturally witholds any info that could hurt negotations or cause huge uproars anyway. But i do get a funny picture in my head of you (however you look) talking to a guy saying "yeah my sox fan buddies on soxtalk are dying for a nugget, you got anything?".

Quoted for emphasis. I highly doubt Jay and Alonso are the kind of guys who would come in and shut off their clique to everyone else. What mystifies me the most is that while Machado is seemingly so hated by other players around the league, he also seems to have a TON of friends. If Manny signs, I look forward to Yolmer becoming one of his new besties. I think Jay and Alonso know that part of the deal with them is not just to play baseball, but to develop a positive clubhouse culture through a losing season. There can be no BS and fingerpointing when the team loses 8 of the last 10, just picking each other up and playing baseball.

Its for the goose island field goal challenge.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/cody-parkey-field-goal-challenge-win-free-beer-year-eagles-nfl-bears-fans-pressure?fbclid=IwAR0Kqpz5SQAPAHnP_wJChJqquunIOVuUFFFe0kVIFLO8_mO6fkiBebK-vGQ

Post limits would be amazing. Then he can only repeat himself a couple times per day instead of ruining threads.

I'll echo Mother Bunch, good brewery. Tempe is a must for night life. You can take the light rail right to Mill Ave. It can get fratty, but its easily avoidable. There's every kind of bar you can imagine. Clubs, taco/margarita bar, irish pub, dueling pianos, a place to grab pasties, and more. For food, if you can make it to a Chompies, I would suggest it. Theres a lot of ither good food but I'm really only familiar with the Gilbert and Chandler area. I have family so transportation is never an issue, but Id rent a car if I didnt. Stadiums are spread out pretty good and if youre trying to go to just Sox games you will be driving all over the place. Camelback is awesome, try to get there early especially if its against the Dodgers or Cubs because it will take awhile to get off the highway and get parked. If youre airbnb is close to the light rail it may be convenient for drunken escapades and easy transportation home. If i think of anything else I'll be sure to add it.

I get that it is good business savvy to not put your best offers forward too soon, and to not bid against yourself. It makes complete sense. Is there any argument for the Sox to just go ahead and blow everyone away, get closer to 300 million than 200 million, and try to push this thing to the finish line? Manny was obviously expecting 300+, and a slow market has caused bidding to stay low. Isn't there some incentive for the Sox to go ahead and get this deal done instead of fucking around and playing the normal bidding game? They have gone so far to show Manny that he is wanted by "attempting" to trade for him, to trading for Alonso, why not go the extra mile, put a few more dollars in his pocket and try to seal this deal? Isn't he, by WAR standards, worth say a 10 year/290 million contract? Heck if he's so bent on 300, why not offer 10/300. If nothing else, Lozano can call it a huge win (if reports are true that offers are closer to 200), and stick it in Boras' craw by having Manny sign a contract that Harper turned down at the beginning of the offseason. I don't know, I just continue to think that the Sox are not a top destination due to poor handling of the franchise over the past few years. I feel like the price you pay for that is that you might need to blow a player away with an offer to get it to the finish line. Or, I could be wrong since we're not within WSD's 5 day expectation yet.