 We start off with really a story that blew me away when I read it, Buster only, according to multiple sources telling Buster only, the White Sox have a seven year $175 million offer on the table for Matty Machado. Now this comes three days after other sources told ESPN's Jeff Passon that the White Sox had offered Machado an eight year deal. Now we're going to have Jeff Passon on a little bit later on in the four o'clock hour. But if for some reason, Manny Machado signs for somewhere close to seven years $175 which is the identical offer that the Yankees gave to a 31 year old Robbie Cano and the Yankees don't sign him, then something's wrong somewhere. Now I am not one that fights when people talk about fiscal responsibility. Fiscal responsibility is like when the Supreme Court could not give you a real definition of pornography but essentially said when you see it you know what it is. For each team fiscal responsibility is one thing or another. So maybe they looked at a 10 year, $350 million deal for Harper or Machado as fiscally irresponsible. But here's my take on 7175. If the Yankees or any team forget about just the Yankees but we're in New York. If the Yankees don't sign Manny Machado, if the going rate is seven years $175 and I doubt very seriously that's what he'll sign for. But if that's what he signs for then that's fiscal irresponsibility. That's not fiscal responsibility because with all the warts that come with Manny Machado he's a great player. You know that he dogs it the first a lot. You know that some games mentally he takes off. You know everything about him. There's no secrets with Manny Machado. You talk to people that have been on teams with him. You know what he is. He showed what he was in October. But the one thing that you do know is he is an exemplary talent. If you could get this guy for $25 million a year for seven years which means you'd be off the hook for this contract when he's 33 years old and I think he'll still be a good player then. That's a home run. That going after him at that price is a derelictions of duty in making your team better. And please don't tell me you were loaded in the infield. Let's start with the Yankees. I love the Troy Tulaewitzky signing. Love it. And I know he has a no trade clause. I know he does. If you get Manny Machado for $25 million then you might have to release Troy Tulaewitzky. And what you cost yourself $550,000. The minimum wage. I'm sorry we're dealing in a different realm here if this is the money. Again, I report this and I give my opinion on this with some skepticism because I don't think that anywhere in 2019 will you be able to get Manny Machado for $25 million a year. But if that's the price and no market actually materializes here's what you do people. You make room. Same thing with the Mets with their austerity kick. If you can get Manny Machado for seven years, $25 million a year, you sign him, you put him at third base and you either release or trade Todd Frazier as much as I like Todd Frazier. This guy's a difference maker. And here's another thing that the Yankees should be worried about. Another Red Sox are way over the tax threshold, way over it. Again, if Manny Machado is a seven year, 175 player, the Red Sox should swoop in and sign him and trade Raphael Devers. You know what Raphael Devers war was yesterday? He didn't have one last year. So he was a replacement level player. So 108 win team and there's going to be a lot of free agents for the Red Sox at the end of next year. They might not be able to keep Xander Bogarts. They might not be able. They'll choose not to. Maybe Manny Machado will become the short stuff then. He's not that much different in age than Xander Bogarts. So all of a sudden it's like there's this great car that you never thought you could afford and the company has a glut of them and then they drop the price to something that you can't believe and you already have another car. You know what? You're going to get the great car you always wanted. And if that's the price he signs for seven years 175 then we'll all step back in my opinion and say there's something about him we don't know that the teams know. Because if you're not taking him at that price to me that's a guarantee of duty of making your team better. What am I left to believe then? Because the way you're talking Michael is that this is fantasy baseball and that the numbers are going to help me win my rotisserie league. This is a team sport. Chemistry is important. Having the right people in your clubhouse with a young team is important. What if the Yankees talked to this guy, found out that he wasn't going to hustle, didn't like the way he was and said you know what I don't know as good as he is I don't want this guy in my clubhouse. I've got young players that are that could be badly influenced by this guy's lack of hustle. That he's a bit of a dirty player. Maybe he just doesn't fit in what the Yankees are looking to do. You can't just look at the numbers. Does he fit in the room? We all thought the Yankees were going to walk to a championship where they got Stan. You know it doesn't work out that way. I remember when Kevin Mitchell was a Red Sox. Oh, they're going to win a bunch of championships. That green monster is going to hit 50 home runs. You know what he never did? As good as Carlos Beltran was as a free agent with the bets. They never won. The Yankees are looking to win a championship and if they look at the guy and say this guy's got tremendous numbers but we think he's a bad influence in the clubhouse for our team to build another dynasty, what would be so wrong with walking away from the guy? You have to have that. Sometimes the wrong fit, trying to force somebody that you don't believe in into your clubhouse just because the numbers say you've got to do it. Sometimes that's bad business. And the fact that that's the offer on the table and you have a Philly team that said they will outbid anybody not making an offer. The Yankees talk to this guy, have not made an offer. You're suggesting the Red Sox should go after him, have not made an offer. So doesn't that tell you that maybe there's something about this guy that they think he's bad in the clubhouse? I don't care how good you are as a player. If you're a bad teammate, if you're bad for a clubhouse, I don't want you anywhere near my team. If somebody told me that off the record, I'd back off and say, you know what, then that's the play. But it can't be we have too many infielders and it can't be money. But you can't do that. But you can't. But I understand that. Off the record, if I find out behind the scenes, hey, this guy's just not a fit here. We think he'd be awful here. You know, I'd back off. We're in the Mets, Brody Van Wagon and just said we have a glut about Bryce Harper. We're not considering Harper because we want to make room for McNeil and the outfield. Are you kidding me? Don't assault me. McNeil's the same age as Bryce Harper. So read the tea leaves, Michael. When the Yankees say they have too many outfielders, one of those outfielders you just resign knowing that Harper was going to be a free agent and the other never plays in Ellsbury. When the Mets are saying they're making room for McNeil and the outfield, when you're hearing these lame excuses, what does it tell you? What am I left to believe is that they just do not believe these guys are worth that money. Or we're not hearing the truth. Right. We're not hearing the truth because you know what, maybe they don't want those reports to get out because they want somebody to sign them for big money. Maybe the Red Sox aren't going to, maybe the Yankees aren't going to say we think this guy's just bad for our clubhouse, hoping that the Red Sox will swoop in and take them and that they'll be hurt by it. Now you're looking at his solely baseball numbers, which translate on paper. But when I'm talking about a room and I'm talking about chemistry and influence, now I never heard anything negative about Harper in that fashion. So I'm not sure where we're going with him. But maybe the lack of hustle and the dirty player of the Machado is that a lot of people believe that he is, is something that some teams just do not want to bring into their clubhouse. Never mind pay a fortune for it. Okay, but this is not a fortune in terms of baseball. And he was on the Dodgers for two months. They made the World Series. He couldn't have been that much of a negative force in that clubhouse. Well, they made the World Series, but they still lost the World Series. Okay, they made the World Series. The World Series then becomes a crapshoot. Yeah. Aren't there a million other, there aren't a million other players who are dirtier than Machado, who all have jobs and aren't nearly the player? Some people can say that Chase Utley was dirty. She seems weird. So I'm just, I'm making- None of it makes sense to me, John. Right. So when you're left with nothing making sense, you start to wonder what would make sense. This is a singular talent in Machado, a singular talent in Harper. But let's stay specific with Manny because that's the offer of seven years, $175 million. And this guy was thinking who's going to make 10, 325, right? That was the speculation. It was speculation. Two years ago it would be 10, 400. So what's the reason? You got all these teams in Major League Baseball, seven for 175 should bring 75 percent of the league into this. Every team. Every team should be. Every team should be trying to make, they should be falling all over themselves to be able to get involved in this. So why aren't they? There's a couple of reasons. One, they think he's a bad guy. Bad for the clubhouse. Not going to do it. Maybe there is collusion going on where these owners are getting together saying, listen, we don't want to give out those contracts. Nobody offer more than seven years, 175. Is that possible? We're always talking about collusion. Baseball's done it before. That's what I think. Could there have been somebody out there that says we've got to control these salaries, we've got problems in Major League Baseball with teams not being able to compete. I don't believe that's happening. No. But then what is it? Because I just think that people don't want to spend a lot of money on players because you said it over and over in the last couple of weeks. Is that going to guarantee your World Series? No. No. It's not going to guarantee your World Series, okay, for the Mets or the Phillies. But when the Yankees are right there, okay, when the Red Sox have already won a World Series, you would understand the risk involved. Like the White Sox, honestly, I don't get the White Sox because I don't think they'll win in the seven years that he's going to be there. They could. They've got a great farm system. I don't know. It's not going to guarantee anything. Harper has been killing it in Washington. This team hasn't won a playoff round, right? So if you're in a business of winning, you could look at it and say, well, I don't know. I don't know if Harper helps me win. He didn't win in Washington. Why is he going to win here? So collusion? I'm sorry. It's got to be on the table. Bad character. It's got to be on the table because if it's purely stats, how does it make sense that this talent that you believe is one of the top 100 players in the history of baseball can't get more than seven years, 175 million dollars? I also love this narrative that's going on, too. You're hearing it from a lot of people in the business and fans are parroting it as well. Well, the Yankees aren't going to make a move here because they're going to wait on Aronado. Really? Aronado is going to be that different? And then all of a sudden it's going to come out. Well, maybe he's not the same player outside of Corsfield. So I mean, we really think the bank is going to be broken from Nolan Aronado, but not for these singular talents of Harper and Machado. Now I reiterate, I do not believe with every fiber of 35 years covering baseball that that will be the contract that Matty Machado signs. If it is, every team that's not in on him on that money, they should be ashamed of themselves. No matter what kind of poison viper he is in the clubhouse. That's unfair. I'm sorry. That's unfair. Because I was told by really smart baseball minds, if you have a really good clubhouse and a really good coaching staff and manager that patrols that clubhouse, you can absorb that one jerk unless you don't think you have that great a clubhouse. Well, it's still, I can understand somebody interviewing him and going, I just don't like this guy. Sorry. Stats are great. I just don't like the guy. I don't think he hustles. I don't think he's good for my club. I like, you can like the clubhouse. Listen, Aaron judge is a good guy. I don't think anybody's going to influence him in a poor way. But if you bring in somebody that can corrupt a good room, what does it with Steve Young say? You police your room, but it's very difficult to police a room when the guy walks in there making more money than anybody else. Maybe they just don't want to test the clubhouse in that way. Yankees have a lot of young players. So would it be so wrong if they looked at this guy? And I think this guy's a jerk. I couldn't stand being in the room with him. I don't think, I don't think he's a winner. So you're going to let the stats take that vibe from you? Why did you interview him in the first place for? Why would you, why would you, why do you have the dog and pony show bringing these guys in and talking to them? You saw the stats make an offer off of that. So obviously the kind of person he is talking to a one on one. You really believe that the 90 minute session with him changed everybody's mind? The White Sox met with them. They didn't change their mind. No, well, that's different. They're in a different place than the Yankees. I think the Yankees, since we have no idea, we're talking right out of our, you know what? Right. Because we have no information on anything. But it doesn't, all we know is that nothing makes sense. That the Yankees had a preconceived notion of this not being a Yankee. And the 90 minutes confirmed it. Would it be so wrong if that was the case? And they say, I know this guy's got great numbers. I just get a bad vibe from him. I think he'd be an awful teammate. I think he'd be bad for my room. As great as I love my room, I'm still going to bring in a guy for making a ton of money that's going to influence my own players. It does speak to the short meeting. They saw, they did it, and they all kind of looked at each other like, are you getting what I'm getting? I'm not into this. 90 minutes confirms this to me, that whatever their preconceived notion was, it's the same when he walked out the door. If you go four hours, it's while I'm still not sure. Yankees had a preconceived notion on him. It was confirmed after 90 minutes, negative or positive. Peter's right. That explains why it was such a short meeting. Now, what's the excuse? I'm not saying what the Yankees, but with every other team in baseball about Harper, have you ever? And I will say about Machado, because from the very beginning I was not a proponent of signing him, because I thought he's going to command at least $35 million. And they've got a really good player in Ann Doohar. But everybody, this is not breaking state secrets. I'm very close with Buck Showalter. I've spoken over the years with Buck Showalter about Machado. Never has he told me he's a terrible guy. What you see in the field is what you get. Sometimes he doesn't hustle. It's addressed. He doesn't bring anybody down in the clubhouse with him. He's not that guy.