I heard Jesse Rodgers on the Score make the same ridiculous arguement. Just because baseball teams are flush with cash and Harper /Machado are the best free agents available on the market doesn’t mean baseball teams should be tripping over themselves to sign these guys to “market value” deals. At a certain point, when these contracts get so big, there has to be an intrinsic value to the player that justifies giving him a contract that in most cases is equal to 20% or more of the value of the entire franchise that he plays for. In what other industry are key employees without an equity stake in the business paid at levels which equate to 20% or more of the enterprise value of the business that they work for? I can’t think of one. I realize Sports are unique but in order for a player to be worth that much money, I think he has to be a guy who has proven that he can take you over the top and win a championship. In my opinion, neither Harper nor Machado have shown to date that they can be that type of player. You may disagree and that is fine but the guys who get paid to this for a living at the MLB level seem to have a view on these players that is a lot closer to mine than yours.
Nope. Different teams have different positional needs, different financial situations, etc.
The White Sox timed their rebuild targeting this free agent class in particular(Kershaw, Jose Fernandez, Harper, Machado, Corbin, were all at one point going to be free agents this year) by shedding payroll and accruing prospect capital. That's why the Sox are "in" on these two players. Same with Philly and maybe SD.
The Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and other "rich" teams now have a CBT that they have to deal with that acts as an ipso facto salary cap. Sure they can bust through it if they choose, but they won't because of the overage taxes and eventual loss of draft picks if they are over it for 3+. Gone are the days of the Yankees and Red Sox buying the best players every offseason.
So you take the "rich" teams out, as well as the "poor teams" like Tampa Bay, Oakland, etc. as well as teams just starting their rebuild process like Seattle, Cleveland and others and you are left with the publicly known suitors for these teams, Sox, Philly and maybe SD. Why would Seattle, for instance, drop $300MM+ on Harper knowing they aren't ever going to win with him? Again, it's supple/demand.
If you argued that they're not signing crazy deals because baseball is f*cked heading into a new CBA then you'd be dead on. Arguing that teams don't view these players as building blocks because of their attitude or leadership is FAR from correct.
The Yankees discussed financial parameters with Machado and Lozano, but they wanted him at their price because they're going to have 4-5 guys that are up for long term extension in the coming years. Same with the Cubs with Baez, Bryant, Rizzo eventually, etc.
The White Sox have the ONLY official offer for either of these two on the table right now for Machado. Harper doesn't have an official offer. Machado is rightfully sitting on it, as he would do if the Sox had 10/$300MM on the table for him. If he has an offer banked, why sign immediately? Why not ride it out and see if another team bids it up? And the Sox won't move from the current offer they have on the table for him right now because they'd just be outbidding themselves. That'd be really, really bad negotiation on their end.
That's what's happening right now, and that's why there's a big stand still with these two. And this is before even mentioning neither Lozano or Boras want their client signing first.
