Jim Duquette was the GM for the Mets in 2004, and then he worked in the Orioles front office. Now, he’s on the radio and making fans go crazy over his rumored Yankees offer to Manny Machado.
According to Duquette, the Yankees offered Machado a seven or eight year deal worth $220 million.
Duquette was on SNY Saturday morning and passed along this Yankees rumor. Again, this is just something he’s heard, which he makes clear later on.
“It’s been very difficult to find out a lot of this because the agents, both Dan Lozano and Scott Boras for (Bryce) Harper, are keeping it real tight. But what I’ve been told here recently was that the Yankees’ offer — a lot of times these are out there and they’re not necessarily in writing but they’re hypothetical — was somewhere in that seven-year, eight-year range for $220 million,” he said. “The problem is, there’s a lot of teams that are in that range, also, and it doesn’t really distinguish them from others. I do hear there’s another club that’s gone further than that.
“It’s not much different than what we were thinking earlier in the winter in terms of, I don’t think the Yankees are going to be the highest bidder, even though they’re willing to make an aggressive offer. That’s an aggressive offer. Machado’s going to have other options that are probably higher in other cities, including Philly and other places, and he’s going to make a decision.”
All right, so in reality White Sox fans shouldn’t actually be freaking out. Because for one, unlike the White Sox offer that was reported as fact, this one is just coming from someone who might have heard something from someone else.
To clarify a report out there attributed to me, I was only speculating about a recent rumor that I had heard, not “reporting it as fact” .
— Jim Duquette (@Jim_Duquette) February 9, 2019
But hey, maybe as a White Sox fan you’re not feeling optimistic after seeing this rumored offered by the Yankees. Well, if you want to believe Duquette, then you also want to pay attention to another specific detail he said.
“I do hear there’s another club that’s gone further than that.”
And every White Sox fan’s favorite reporter Hector Gomez is still saying the White Sox offered Machado $250 million over eight years.
According to my source #WhiteSox offered him US$250 million for 8 years. https://t.co/EjZ7AMSYms
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) February 9, 2019
What a messy offseason full of rumors being shot down, more popping up and even Machado’s agent calling some reports flat out false.
On Friday, Ken Rosenthal reported that Machado is still seeking a $300 million offer. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training next week. Maybe something gets done before the position players also report.
Oh No, Jerry Better Not Screw Up This Manny Machado Pursuit For The White Sox
But at this point you just have to take any rumor or report with a grain of salt until something is official.
