Chicago White Sox rumors: Team makes long-term offer to Manny Machado

With details on most offers to Manny Machado still not public, the reported offer in recent Chicago White Sox rumors set a standard for other teams.

The big Chicago White Sox rumors over last evening had the team increasing their offer to Manny Machado to an 8-year, $250 million dollar offer. That level of offer should set the market moving in Machado’s favor.

The first to report the increase in offer was Jeff Passan, now of ESPN and formerly of Yahoo Sports. Previously, Bruce Levine had reported that the White Sox wouldn’t exceed seven years for either Machado or Bryce Harper. The White Sox rumors were backed by multiple writers, but at the end of the evening, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale attempted to calm the fervor, stating that his sources told him that the original 7-year offer was still the current offer.

MLBTR projected Machado to receive a 13-year, $390 million deal, which would average out to right on $30 million per season. The deal in White Sox rumors over the evening would average $31.25 million per season for Machado, seemingly exchanging length of contract for more AAV.

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Whether the offer was made or not, the White Sox are absolutely interested, and Machado would allow the Pale Hose to make a legitimate move to competitiveness right away in the weak American League Central, where the defending champion Cleveland Indians are significantly weaker than they were last were, when they were considered the weakest division champion heading into the playoffs.

While many struggle with the behavior that Machado exhibited in the playoffs, and making him the veteran leader of a rebuilding team would concern plenty as well, Machado’s talent is undeniable.

Of those players who have played 50% of their games at 2B, 3B, and/or SS over the last 5 seasons, Machado ranks 2nd in home runs and 4th in bWAR. Machado is one of the elite players in the game, and he’s entering his age-26 season, making him definitely a cornerstone player.

Whether the Chicago White Sox rumors of an 8th year will end up being true and, if true, will be enough to land Machado remain to be seen, but certainly, they are going hard after the controversial infielder.