Machado's agent blasts two reporters for being 'inaccurate and reckless'
Earlier this month, general manager Rick Hahn was asked about all of the rumored reports regarding the White Sox's pursuit of free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.
"From a club perspective, quite frankly it's frustrating," Hahn said. "There's a lot of misinformation out there. There's been reports of offers or non-offers, being in, being out that under the rules we're not allowed to respond to, so you just have to let those things play out.
"I realize it's part of the business, but especially when you're talking about negotiations, which are understandably and purposefully confidential and not something that we conduct through the media, the amount of rumors out there can get frustrating."
Dan Lozano, Machado's agent, unloaded Wednesday on two national baseball reporters - USA Today's Bob Nightengale and ESPN's Buster Olney. The have both reported the Sox's offer to Machado is seven years for $175 million.
"I have known Bob Nightengale and Buster Olney for many years and have always had a good professional relationship with both," Lozano said in a statement. "But their recent reporting, like many other rumors in the past several months, have been inaccurate and reckless when it comes to Manny Machado. I don't know if their sources are blatantly violating the Collective Bargaining Agreement by intentionally misleading them to try and affect negotiations through the public or are just flat out lying to them for other reasons. But the truth is that their reports on the details of the White Sox's level of interest in Manny are completely wrong.
"I am well aware that the entire baseball universe - fans, players, teams, and media members alike - are starved for information about this free-agent market for all players, including Manny. But I am not going to continue to watch the press be manipulated into tampering with, not just with my client, but all of these players' livelihoods as they have been doing this entire off-season. The absence of new information to report is no excuse to fabricate 'news' or regurgitate falsehoods without even attempting to confirm their validity, and it is a disservice to baseball fans everywhere when the media does just that.
"Moving forward, I will continue to respect the CBA's prohibition on negotiations through the media, and hope that others would do the same."
Moving up:
Last season, his first as a manager in the White Sox's minor-league system, Omar Vizquel guided high Class A Winston-Salem to an 84-54 record.
On Tuesday, the Hall of Fame candidate with a brilliant 24-year playing career with the Indians, Giants, Rangers, Sox and Blue Jays was promoted to manage AA Birmingham this season.
"You look how he matched up with the team he had, last year was pretty heavy with priority players," said Chris Getz, the White Sox's director of player development. "We felt those priority players developed well. They took a lot of steps forward and we felt like it made a lot of sense to move those players forward with Omar, along with (hitting coach) Charlie Poe.
"(Vizquel) created a great culture at Winston-Salem and those guys responded. We expect something similar to happen at Birmingham at a higher level."
Roster move:
Designated for assignment after the Sox signed Jon Jay last week, outfielder Charlie Tilson cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Class AAA Charlotte.
A New Trier High School product, Tilson batted .264/.331/.292 with 11 RBI in 41 games with the White Sox last season.