Wednesday was a wild day of news and rumors for the White Sox. Here’s a breakdown of what happened.
RUMORS:
- Bob Nightengale of USA Today started off the day with a report saying the White Sox believed they were on the outside looking in on Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.
The Chicago #WhiteSox have meetings with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado but don’t view themselves as the favorites
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 12, 2018
- Later in the day, Jim Bowden of The Athletic said the White Sox appeared to be the front runners for Harper.
“The front runner right now, believe it or not, is the Chicago White Sox.”@JimBowdenGM tells @AdamSchein that it’s the White Sox who are in the lead for Bryce Harper’s services. #T2S pic.twitter.com/XoXndaF0F2
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) December 12, 2018
- Jon Morosi of MLB Network dropped a pair of interesting reports in the evening, linking the White Sox to relief pitchers Adam Ottavino and Jeurys Familia.
Sources: #WhiteSox have shown interest in free agent reliever Adam Ottavino. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 13, 2018
#WhiteSox are pursuing Jeurys Familia in free agency, source confirms. The team is active on multiple relievers, including Adam Ottavino. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 13, 2018
Morosi has also commented on the Harper/Machado mania and said he believes the White Sox could be the highest bidder.
NEWS:
- Scott Boras met with the media and provided some interesting insights into the Bryce Harper sweepstakes.
“Bryce is open to a lot of factors,” Boras said.
“This is not a race where every car is labeled.” pic.twitter.com/WWJnB9bIxX
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) December 12, 2018
“Playing on competitive teams with chance to win world championship” important to Harper, Boras says.
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) December 12, 2018
On the Yankees: “When the nurse comes into your room with a thermometer, the issue isn’t the temperature of the patient that day. It’s their health when they’re ready to leave the hospital. And they’re not ready to leave the hospital.” https://t.co/BvAIVsl7uW
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) December 12, 2018
Boras said there has been a lot of meetings, a lot of discussions with clubs re Harper over the past three weeks: “Something could happen quickly. Something also could happen in a matter of weeks. You really can’t put a time on it.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 12, 2018
Boras: “We are certainly at a point where we understand interest level and certainly what clubs want to do .”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 12, 2018
More: “Jerry will do anything that is good business for him. Very successful business man and owner. I would certainly say that he has an opportunity to look at a star player and looking at what he’s done in the past (Belle)…it’s an even greater advantage.” #WhiteSox https://t.co/1aMjbjT4r8
— Slavko Bekovic (@SBekovic) December 12, 2018
Scott Boras said a club’s long-term outlook is very important when considering a fit and confirmed that Harper has been studying up on the farm system and organizational strength of the teams pursuing him
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) December 12, 2018
- Following the Boras briefing, Rick Hahn met with the media.
Hahn: “I’m pretty binary on these things. You either get it done or you don’t. It’s hard for me to say if we are close. We have a lot of conversations going on about various needs….
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “..It’s hard to prognosticate getting something done here, or next week or over the weekend. Before the holidays. We are moving forward in a couple of different fronts.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “I don’t put too much stock in “the White Sox are the frontrunners for this” or even “the White Sox are interested in that” because a lot of the time it tends to be inaccurate. It’s the nature of the business. It’s that time of year, which is a lot of fun for fans.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “We’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of years to put us in a position where we very reasonably or objectively have a bright future ahead of us….
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “And we’ve heard from a number of different players about their interest in being part of it, which I don’t think should be surprising.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “These processes can take some time to play out. All we can do is remain diligent with our message and diligent in our pursuits and look for ways to continue to make an impact on this team for the long term.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “To go to the question of timing, I really don’t have better insight than you do in terms of whether something on a grand scale or even on a small scale comes together in the next matter of days, weeks or we are still talking about this as we get closer to Spring Training.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Hahn: “You don’t want to pushy. You want to be respectful of the process they’re going through on the other side and the magnitude of the decision they have to make.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
More Hahn: “At the same time, obviously we have to look out for our alternatives and make sure we’re in a position to convert when opportunities may arise elsewhere. So it’s a balance.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
More Hahn: “In the end it’s going to come down to rings. If this doesn’t ultimately land us in a position to win multiple championships, then in my view it would not have worked.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
Rick Hahn on @Burgatron13: “He’s progressing nicely. He’s still coming along nicely. We’re projecting him, provided everything goes smoothly to hopefully be active at an affiliate come June 1.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 13, 2018
To stay up to date, follow us on social media @SoxOn35th and subscribe to our website.
