Dan Lozano, the agent for free agent infielder Manny Machado, responded sharply today to reports from ESPN's Buster Olney and USA Today's Bob Nightengale regarding the contract negotiations between the Chicago White Sox and Machado.
Lozano went so far as to cite the Collective Bargaining Agreement and possible violations in the sources that Olney and Nightengale utilized to get their information.
This is coming on the heels of a report on Monday evening from Olney's ESPN colleague Jeff Passan that the White Sox had increased their bid to an eight-year offer. Further reports backed up that offer and reported that the full offer was in the eight-year, $250 million range.
Machado is coming off a mixed season. He set a career-high for home runs and RBI with 37 and 107 respectively, putting together a slash line of .297/.367/.538 between the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
However, Machado stirred up controversy in the postseason when he struggled with the bat, picking up just 15 hits over 66 at-bats and striking out 18 times, but also when he had multiple incidents of what were viewed as poor sportsmanship and lack of hustle, particularly in the National League Championship Series against Milwaukee.
While certainly the Chicago White Sox are in negotiations with the All-Star infielder, no report has yet come out that reaches the reported 10-year desired contract that Machado's camp discussed early in the offseason, which is likely why no deal is yet in place.
Stay tuned to find out what will happen next in the dramatic free agency situation that Machado has found himself in.
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