Rumors have intensified in recent days about free agent infielder Manny Machado, particularly relating to reported negotiations with the Chicago White Sox. In an unprecedented step, Machado’s agent is pushing back against some of those rumors.
Dan Lozano, who represents Machado, issued a statement Wednesday blasting two specific recent reports as “inaccurate and reckless,” adding that reports about Chicago’s negotiations with Machado are “completely wrong.” He further suggested that someone may be violating the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s prohibition of conducting negotiations through the media by leaking information to reporters, specifically USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and ESPN’s Buster Olney.
Dan Lozano of MVP Sports Group, the agent for Manny Machado, released the following statement regarding recent reports: pic.twitter.com/MmKy9doaFz
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 16, 2019
One major catalyst for this seems to be Olney’s report that the White Sox have offered Machado a seven-year, $175 million contract. Reporting from other sources has disputed that figure, and Lozano is clearly calling it inaccurate.
The fact is there are a lot of people on both sides of negotiations selectively leaking to the media for various reasons, and there are contradictory reports everywhere you look. It is unusual, however, for an agent to take the step of releasing a statement singling out some of these reports as false.
