_________The word palaver has appeared in three articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Jan. 29 in “Why Isn’t Anyone Bidding for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado?” by Michael Powell:Have you, they asked, thought of bidding on outfielder Bryce Harper or infielder Manny Machado, the two young star free agents who improbably have attracted not much attention this winter? Van Wagenen, a smooth-talking agent who has become a smooth-talking general manager, smiled genially. “The outfield is probably not our top priority at this point.” Jeff McNeil, a career minor leaguer until last July, was going out to the outfield, Van Wagenen said, and “he gives us another really good weapon.”That the Mets, a little market club hard by Flushing Bay, will play it cheap is a well-established fact. But Van Wagenen speaks the management palaver of choice this parsimonious winter. No one wants to spend money.

Source: New York Times November 06, 2019 06:56 UTC