
There’s no question that the New York Yankees are willing to splash significant cash when it comes to signing high-profile free agents, but at the end of the day, the 10-year contracts some of these players are seeking aren’t worth the hassle.
Superstar third-baseman Manny Machado is in the market for a 10-year deal worth north of $300 million, an unrealistic amount at this point in time. Teams are unwilling to go over $250 million and the Yankees are not even willing to breach $200 million, according to reports.
Why should the New York Yankees bail on Machado?
Most are aware of the complications with Machado’s lack of effort and lapses of judgement. From not running hard to first base to watching a long fly-ball smack off the wall resulting in just a single, his persona can be depicted as arrogant or cocky.
While those negative attributes certainly raise some red-flags, there’s no question he’s a generation talent with an above average glove and bat. He’s a well-rounded player with the ability to raise the game of any team. My biggest issue with him is the money and opportunity cost, not so much his character issues – relief pitcher Zach Britton stated that Machado was a great teammate while on the Baltimore Orioles.
The Yankees would put themselves in a tricky situation if they choose to sign the free agent. If Machado and his two Gold Gloves are to feature at third-base, they must find a way to utilize young phenom Miguel Andujar, and I’m hesitant to trade him away.
How franchises are built:
The traditional way to build a quality team is through home-grown players, and Andujar is a perfect example of what hard-work and persistence looks like. Trading him away for a veteran or value deal isn’t in the best interest of the club, despite his 15 errors in 2018. He was just a rookie after-all and had little to no experience in the majors. If he continues to work at his defense he could become the Yankees’ franchise third-baseman for the next decade.
The bottom line:
It really all comes down to their confidence in Andujar and what they would do with him if Machado is signed. The alternative would be to stick him at shortstop and keep Miguel at third. But that would make the signing of Troy Tulowitzki redundant and Didi Gregorius an almost guaranteed goner at the end of 2019.