With the New York Yankees seemingly invested in bringing star free agent Manny Machado to the Big Apple, it’s only fair we, as the fans and analysts, do our due diligence on the athlete.
Reports have questioned Machado’s effort and hustle on the field, ever since the slugger hit a long ball that resulted in a single due to him not hustling. If you’ve played a sport, you know there’s no alternative to running hard and ensuring you give your maximum effort.
In Machado’s case, there’s no fixing his style, as he’s committed to remaining the same type of the player.
The former Dodger stated:
“Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle,’ and run down the line and slide to first base and … you know, whatever can happen. That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I am.
“Should I have run on that pitch? Yeah … but I didn’t and I gotta pay the consequences for it. It does look bad. It looks terrible. I look back at the video and I’m like, ‘Woah, what was I doing?’ You know, just the emotions of the game … I’m the type of player that has stayed in the zone, I’m playing and I’m just in the zone.â€
To be fair, as long as Machado is hitting near .300 I don’t really care if he walks to first base on a ground ball. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner and four-time All-Star. His talents aren’t hard to see, but making him something he’s not is clearly out of the question.
Former Yankees rotational pitcher Zach Britton opened up about Machdo, albeit through his father, stating:
“[Zach] says Manny was a great teammate when they were together in Baltimore. I believe his defense played a big role in Zach achieving The Mariano Rivera award [sic] in 2016.”
The reality is, the Yankees will be a better team with him in the starting lineup and featuring int he infield. Questioning his effort is a fair argument, but if he’s a good teammate and playing on his boy-hood club, we can expect him to respect the Pinstripes.
However, I would also make the argument that his price-tag might be too hefty, and he’s going to want a long-term deal. Paying over $300 million for Giancarlo Stanton currently doesn’t bode well for the free agent, but we are talking about the Yankees here, and they’re notorious for grabbing anyone and everyone.